Squall Islands
A sprawling archipelago of jagged rocks and wave-swept beaches lying off of the west of the Wexan mainland. The island chain shelters The Nesses from the worst effects of the vicious ocean currents and the frequent storms that give the archipelago its name.
The craggy, broken western faces of the outer islands are the eroded remains of once towering pink granite and quartzite massifs brought low by wave and by storm. The volcanic rocks mark the islands as a part of the Aspideas mountains of north-western Wexe. The edges of the islands facing into The Nesses are typically dominated by wide, curving sandy beaches. The southern most part of the archipelago is dominated by extensive beds of columnar basalt that forms an isthmus connecting the southern islands to the mainland at low tides. This isthmus is walk-able, if studded with countless tide pools and made treacherous underfoot with a dense mat of slippery algae and seaweed.
The straits and channels between islands are narrow and treacherous with submerged shoals and powerful currents. Only a few channels are safe to navigate at any time other than high tide or a rare calm day. The islands are popular with scavengers, looters, and other outlaws who take advantage of the misfortunes of ships that run aground and break up on the hard volcanic rocks. There are many Lighthouses constructed across the island chain to mark out both the hazardous and safe channels. To man the lighthouses is a harsh, miserable task due to the equally harsh and miserable weather, and is given primarily as a punishment to criminals caught in towns along the shore of The Nesses. Lighthouse keepers rarely last long in this role, with many abandoning their posts before long to join a looter or smuggler crew.
Some local fishermen say that on the frequent dark, stormy nights, The Hollow, the waterlogged bodies of drowned ship crews lured onto the rocks by outlaws, arise from the shallows to enact their revenge...
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