Bastion Bay

Bastion Bay is a small town with a population of around 3,500 people. Its roots are steeped in privateering and smuggling but nowadays it is a (somewhat) respectable port and trading town. Nonetheless, the people of Bastion Bay haven’t forgotten their heritage and are quite... exu- berant in their approach to most things. The town is governed by a “Capa” and the current Capa, Capa Meriosa, has done her damnedest to clean up Bastion Bay and ensure it is welcoming to merchants and travellers alike.

Demographics

A healthy mix of all manner of races and backgrounds.

Government

De facto dictatorship. Capa Meriosa presides over a council of other ship captains but she holds all the power. Dissenters tend to disappear or have unfortunate accidents.

Defences

200 strong town guard known as “The Chain of Command”, supported by a large majority of the townsfolk who know well how to use a blade. Can call upon the ships of the captain’s council for any attacks by sea; no defensible wall for land attacks.

Industry & Trade

Basic supplies can be easily found in Bastion Bay and the near constant stream of merchants means that lucky shoppers might stumble across a rare find - perhaps a magical weapon, some rare ingredient, or an ancient arcane artefact. Particularly lucky shoppers may even find these items in the possession of a merchant who doesn’t know their true worth...

Guilds and Factions

There are numerous small groups and organisations in Bastion Bay: treasure hunters, brewers, fishmongers, shipwrights, and many more. One of the longest standing organisations in Bastion Bay is the Jetsam Gents, a group that goes about pairing up cast aside sailors with a new crew. Recently, a group of merchants have been trying to set up a true merchant’s guild in the town, though every time someone new takes charge they seem to suddenly leave town within a few days. Alongside these, there are temples to Nairedes, goddess of the sea; Hasnaer, god of travel; and there is also a small shrine to Rukton, god of storms.

History

For years the port town of Bastard Bay was a notorious hive of scum and villainy. It served as home and hideout for the most infamous pirates of the Mirror Sea, and it was said that blood flowed as freely in the streets as rum from a bottle. A tenuous alliance of the most feared ship captains served loosely as a ruling body, with a “Capa” dispensing judgments. Being the Capa of Bastard Bay was somewhat of a cursed chalice (sometimes literally) and those who took the seat normally didn’t last longer than a few weeks.
After years of living in what can kindly be referred to as a state of organised chaos, a young ship captain, an elven woman by the name of Meriosa, became Capa of Bastard Bay. To everyone’s surprise she lived more than a handful of weeks, and set about putting a semblance of order in place.
She created a dedicated force of town guards (jokingly referred to as “The Chain of Command”), set to building a proper docks, and slowly began to convince the other ship captains that there was more money in honest trading than in privateering. As her final stroke of legitimising the town she renamed it “Bastion Bay”.

Lore & Rumours

There’s an old sunken wreck somewhere out in the Shipyard that contains a mysterious black box. The box is said to hold untold riches but no-one who has gone looking for it has ever returned - begging the question of exactly how people know about the box.

Some people think that the recent spate of shipwrecks and deaths have been planned by Capa Meriosa as a warning to some of the other captains, or perhaps the would-be merchant’s guild; others think that the spirits of the previous Capas of Bastion Bay have cursed the town for abandoning their pirate roots; a number of others believe some crazed witch or wizard have resurrected the Old Man to hunt down the people of the town for some unknown slight.

There are some in the town that think Sister Ilia is in truth the goddess Nairedes walking upon the earth. Some claim to have seen her, late at night, take the form of a dolphin and return to the sea.

Whispers around town claim that members of the Unloved Property Reclamation Society never truly gave up their lives of piracy. The “salvage” they sell is in truth ill-gotten booty from raids on merchant ships further north along the coast.

The red curtains covering the booths in the Last Call tavern are so that the other patrons cannot see the blood spray from a slit throat.

Dozens of sailors claim to have seen an ancient ship with tattered sails, crewed by the dead, sailing north to south along the coast on the night of the blood moon. The ship is supposedly called “The Titan”.

Children are warned from catching tadpoles anywhere in or near Bastion Bay. Parents say that if they do they will be kidnapped by grotesque frog people in the middle of the night and raised in their swampy home to replace the young they captured.

Type

Town

Population

3500

Location under

The Continent of Ria

Included Locations

• Caskmates Tavern
• Last Call Tavern
• Temple of Hasnaer
• Temple of Nairedes
• The Mercantile
• The Red Square

Owner/Ruler

Capa Meriosa