Spiteful Shores
“You scramble in the raging waters, imagining the cold, icy grasp of the ghostly figure caress your exhausted limbs beneath the waves. You press on, your feet finding purchase on rugged rocks as your hands claw at driftwood and debris caught on the shoreline. You drag yourself onto the warm sand, rolling onto your back and breathing a sigh of relief. Dark, green clouds mask the final vestiges of the setting sun; their shapes twisting and writhing like seagrass on the ocean floor. You hear coughing and spluttering a few feet from you as other figures drag themselves ashore.
“Eyes up! How many of us are there?” you hear Akrus shout, his voice trembling and filled with trepidation. You and the other survivors sound off, gathering around an outcropping of rocks. You shudder as a familiar shriek pierces the morbid silence, the ghastly wail distant, but all too real.
You look to the captain, his bedraggled garments torn and saturated, and his arm battered and bloody. He stares out across the sea, watching the lights of The Twilight Shepherd wink out as it vanishes into the growing fog.
“Make a fire, set up camp, and gather whatever we can together. I don’t know what that thing was, but I’ll be damned if we stay around here to find out.” He limps towards the dense jungle canopy guarding the beach, wincing in pain, and begins gathering firewood.
You take one last look at the vast watery expanse; its deathly silence broken only by the lapping of wave against rock, before turning, heading inland to help set up camp on what you will come to know as the mysterious island of Spiteful Shores.”
Spiteful Shores was the name given to an island that suddenly appeared in the Sea of Swords by Captain Julius Mitchell of the Calm Delilah after he awoke marooned there with the other survivors of the mutiny and shipwreck. The island appeared to be teeming with beautiful golden beaches and magnificent wildlife. However, it was in fact bound and created by the curse of Lavina Wisp, and was discovered to be partially made up of pieces of land from various different realms, planes, and times pulled together by the dark magic of The Sapphire Rose. Over time it became even more twisted and decayed; transforming into a grisly, undead hellscape.
The Moonlight Marauders, hired to investigate the disappearance of the Calm Delilah by Lady Phane Prestside, found themselves marooned there as well. Only by navigating the islands dangers and puzzles were they able to collect all of Lavina's possessions and destroy them along with her remains, breaking the curse and causing the island to vanish.
Lavina attempted to draw in victims to the shores of the island by means of a battered waterlogged book, The Logbook of Captain Mitchell. The book found its way into the possession of a fisherman and then to Phane who hired Commodore Akrus and the Crew of The Twilight Shepherd to investigate it.
The island had a strong corrupting and necromantic influence on the people and animals there turning them undead over time through continual resurrection until eventually they become zombies completely under the sway of the ghost of the mutineering first mate, Lavina Wisp, as part of her growing pirate crew. When a person dies on Spiteful Shores their body turns to dust and they are resurrected a short while later on the shore of the island. Each death and resurection increases Lavina's infuence until they are comletely under her control.
Other Localized Phenomena
- While appearing as a tropical paradise during the day, at night Spiteful Shores is beset by a thick, ominous fog. The fog creeps across the ground and heavily obscures the island and its contents, but remains 30 feet away from any natural source of light or fire, such as a campfire or lit torch.
- If anything native to the island is consumed, a person may find themselves waking up the next day retching and vomiting up their previous meals, that now seem spoiled and decayed. Even after gorging oneself on native food a person will still feel hungry, as if they haven’t eaten in a few days.
- Additionally, on one occasion, while the Moonlight Marauders were there, the rain and all of the fresh water they had with them turned to blood.
Locations on Spiteful Shores
Primary Camp
The camp is in a large clearing, located at the centre of Spiteful Shores. Upon approaching the camp, it was found to be infested with giant wolf spiders clambering around the remaining collapsed tents. Thick webbing was spread across the floor, making the terrain around the camp difficult to cross. Nestled in the centre of the camp is a large camp fire, and a large stone arch is located to south-west. Webbing covers the stone arch from top to bottom, and wrapped up at it’s base is the half cocooned, skeletal remains of Captain Mitchell.The Barrow of the Dwarven Prince
A dwarven tomb located uncharacteristically within an area of thick jungle undergrowth. The barrow has 3 different rooms, containing the remains of a long forgotten noble house, which have all since been plundered by adventurers looking for ancient treasure. The traps and puzzles found within were all sprung initially until they became reactivated by the Moonlight Marauders. Of note, the broken blade of the Spiteful Blade was discovered here.Eight Eyes Crag
The black stone that makes up the vast crag overlooking the eastern shore of the island is riddled with a number of open cracks, crevasses and ravines. It is difficult and dangerous to climb, and at the top is an open space covered in webbing as well as a large Crack revealing a cave entrance. The cave was home to a giant Jungle Spider Queen and her brood. The Moonlight Marauders exterminated the spiders and William Ray used the Spider Queen's fangs to make a pair of daggers. The Hand of the Mutineer was also found within the cave.Monkey Ruins
The island is overrun with small monkeys. They congregate in a large clearing covered in the ruins of a temple. This structure was once a large monument, dedicated to Umberlee, goddess of the sea. The grounds surrounding the ruin were once consecrated and are still hallowed and blessed, as with the hallow spell. The monkeys are completely insane, having had their minds addled by the curse of The Calm Delilah. In addition, many of the monkeys have, over time, amassed a great deal of minor magical items and wands, which they use to relatively mediocre effect.The Sunken Well
The well is an ancient structure, which measures 35 feet deep and 10 feet wide. A large, rusted, metal grate sits over the top of the well. the bottom of the well, it opens up to reveal a large cave, filled with small cracks gaps in the rock large enough for a tiny creature to fit through. Small star shaped holes cover the cave walls, and the floor is littered with a layer of rotting fish and crustaceans 1 foot thick. The Moonlight Marauders managed to open a secret chamber within the cave by placing gemstones into the different holes in the cave walls and ceiling to bend a beam of light into the correct pattern. Within the secret chamber was found the Black Powder Bag of Lavina Wisp.The Castaway's Graveyard
This graveyard was built by Captain Mitchell and the surviving crew of The Calm Delilah. The graveyard is a simplistic one, with a small clearing and a basic chapel-like structure, built from rocks and other nearby materials. Each grave is marked with a mound of stones and damp, upturned earth. Over the few days Captain Mitchell spent on Spiteful Shores, many of his crew died; either due to traps, exploration, wildlife, or by Lavina Wisp and her crew, and were buried to rest here. Lavina Wisp attacked the Moonlight Marauders here causing a massive maw to open up in the ground and raising the corpses of the dead to do her bidding. She used this tactic as a distraction to attack the main camp while the Marauders were stuck there fighting for their lives. After the attack The Sapphire Rose was found locked within the small altar inside the makeshift chapel.The Bone Fields
The Bone Fields isn't a natural location, unlike other areas of Spiteful Shores. Hidden beneath the tall jungle canopies, this vast, desolate area is littered with bones and caked in the foul stench of death. Necrotic power hangs over this area like a thick, foggy shroud, twisting the already necromantic nature of the island. If a character dies in the bone fields, they are immediately ressurected, returning to full health. However they are now marked by the bone fields and it's twisted ruler. This area is actually part of a Domain of Dread normally situated in The Shadowfell, but transported here by the power of the Curse of the Calm Delilah and the magic of The Sapphire Rose. Since Domains of Dread are inexorably linked to the will and power of their Dark Lords, a part of that lord's power was transported along with the Bone Fields themselves and became the insane creature known as Bony Tony. The Moonlight Marauders fought with Tony and eventually came to an uneasy truce. Noting that their desires to break the curse and escape the island lined up with Tony's own goals, but not before both Winnie Diggle and Tobius Wavesong had been killed and resurrected by the power of the Fields.The Tide Pool
located in the rocky outcroppings on the edge of the Spiteful Shores coastline is a deep tidal pool. The pool is filled with kelp, seaweed, barnacles and other aquatic vegetation. The deep pool is bathed in darkness, but a glimmer of golden light was spotted flickering at its base. This proved to be a powerful magical weapon called Myhriss's Kiss. This golden dagger is currently wielded by Winnie Diggle. A family of merrows live in the pool, transported to the island from wherever they originally called home when the island was formed.The Mountain Pass
Located on the North side of the island is an area where the dense jungle gives way to piney forest. The temperature drops significantly and the winding jungle path turns into a wider road. Along this road the Marauders discovered the charred remains of a large, military caravan, that appeared to have been burned by dragonfire. The caravan stretched for nearly a mile, but there were no signs of life. Any cargo it had once transported had been taken, but the caravan was otherwise untouched. The soldiers all dead where they stood, dusted with snow, and burnt to a crisp. The region was completely anomolous to the surrounding tropical jungle area.The Caves of Silence
Under Spiteful shores is a vast, intricate series of tunnels called the caves of silence. The caves house a number of dangers in their meandering ways and appear to be lifted straight from The Underdark. In one chamber the marauders found the corpse of the elf sailor Ivariin and his Letter to Margot. At the core of the tunnels is a huge underground lake set within a massive cavern. Resting there like the beating heart of the island was where the Moonlight Marauders found the wreck of the Calm Delilah itself. After Lavina possessed and reconstituted the ship, the cavern wall was destroyed revealing a bay that opened up into the wider ocean. Lavina's escape was short lived however as The Twilight Shepherd and her remaining crew, thought to have been sunk and killed respectively, returned in time to assist the Marauders in fending off the ghost ship long enough to break the curse. Like the rest of the island, the caves vanished with the ghost of Lavina Wisp, likely returned to whatever part of The Underdark they'd been taken from.
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Island
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