Balnibari Archipelago Cluster
Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2015 7:20 pm
Perhaps 200 or so miles south, southeast of the Isle of Demise in the Sea of Sorrows is a quartet of islands called the "Balnibari," which translates as "Foolish Children" in Low Mordentish.
The largest, and easternmost of the Balnibari is Caina, an egg-shaped, rainforested island 10 miles long going from north to southwest, and almost 6 miles at its widest. The eastern shore of Caina is littered with an armada's worth of wrecked ships blown there by countless storms. Very few maroonies have been able to survive long in Caina's forests as they inevitably fall victim to the island's cats, which range in size from unnaturally vicious, blood-drinking wild cats smaller than tabbies to enormous sabertoothed tigers larger than horses. The largest cat on the island is a white-furred horror known simply as "The Great Beast." Those who seek shelter in Caina's caves, collectively called the "Tombs of Utopia," find that the cats avoid the caves at all costs, mostly because the cats, even the Great Beast, dislike encountering the original inhabitants of these tunnels.
As such, the only humans and humanoids found in Caina are either new maroonies who have not yet succumbed to the island's dangers, or are hunters and herb-collectors from the other three islands.
To the west of Caina, across a placid, mirror-like lagoon is Caina's inverse, inverted twin, Babil. Whereas Caina is beautiful with its feral, pristine wilderness, Babil is a hideous, blasted wastland of scattered ruins, pollution-sterilized badlands, and hidden pockets of toxic and malevolent vegetation. The ruins of Babil suggest that it was, at one time, a fabulous, populous nation of arcane might, but was laid low by a series of catastrophes caused partly by incompetent rulers and by uncontrollable disasters. Now, the descendants of this nation labor hard to eke out a living as subsistence farmers or scavengers in some of Babil's more sheltered ruins. The primary permanent settlement in Babil is Etemenanki, a rebuild remnant of a forgotten nation's fabulous capital. Unlike in the various scavengers' thorps, Etemenanki's citizens live in a self-sustaining paradise where all their needs are met and wants satisfied through arcane technologies. Of course, one can only become or remain a citizen of Etemenanki if one can prove their worth to the Immaculate Council, the ruling body, or the Marquise of Brilliance, the mysterious, tyrannical head of the Council. Anyone found wanting by the Council, or worse yet, the Marquise, for whatever reason, is taken to the upper floors of the Tower of Brilliance, never to be seen from again.
To the north of both Caina and Babil is Uhrinsel, a small, and lushly forested island with one settlement, Uhrenstadt. The languange, culture and architecture of Uhrenstadt appear to be Falkovnian in origin, and that the town guards wear avian armor identical to the Talons of Vlad Drakov apparently cements such an origin. But, besides the fact that no Falkovnian record mention a (lost) town of "Uhrenstadt," none of the Uhrenvolk dare speak of how they came, lest they be executed on the spot for inappropriate behavior. The town garrison swears allegiance to the Uhrenfuhrer, Vilhelm the 4th, who shares his rule over Uhrinsel with his grandfather and his grandson in an odd triumvirate.
Beyond the southern tip of Babil is the island of Kydonia. Like Babil, Kydonia is littered with ruins of an ancient arcane nation. Unlike Babil, Kydonia is covered in lush vegetation (though, no less malevolent or toxic than Babil's), so that the island feels more like a botanical garden run amok. In the north of Kydonia is Ichthyon, a Babil fishing settlement, while to the south is Conchtown, a Blaustienian colony. Both towns trade with each other, and with Uhrinsel, and both towns pay tribute to a being called the "Peerless Emperor of Resplendence," who claims to rule all life on Kydonia, and lairs in an opulent manor in the dead-center of the island. All Kydonians know the way to the Emperor's manor, though, all Kydonians also know that only those bearing gifts and tribute survive the perils of that trip.
The largest, and easternmost of the Balnibari is Caina, an egg-shaped, rainforested island 10 miles long going from north to southwest, and almost 6 miles at its widest. The eastern shore of Caina is littered with an armada's worth of wrecked ships blown there by countless storms. Very few maroonies have been able to survive long in Caina's forests as they inevitably fall victim to the island's cats, which range in size from unnaturally vicious, blood-drinking wild cats smaller than tabbies to enormous sabertoothed tigers larger than horses. The largest cat on the island is a white-furred horror known simply as "The Great Beast." Those who seek shelter in Caina's caves, collectively called the "Tombs of Utopia," find that the cats avoid the caves at all costs, mostly because the cats, even the Great Beast, dislike encountering the original inhabitants of these tunnels.
As such, the only humans and humanoids found in Caina are either new maroonies who have not yet succumbed to the island's dangers, or are hunters and herb-collectors from the other three islands.
To the west of Caina, across a placid, mirror-like lagoon is Caina's inverse, inverted twin, Babil. Whereas Caina is beautiful with its feral, pristine wilderness, Babil is a hideous, blasted wastland of scattered ruins, pollution-sterilized badlands, and hidden pockets of toxic and malevolent vegetation. The ruins of Babil suggest that it was, at one time, a fabulous, populous nation of arcane might, but was laid low by a series of catastrophes caused partly by incompetent rulers and by uncontrollable disasters. Now, the descendants of this nation labor hard to eke out a living as subsistence farmers or scavengers in some of Babil's more sheltered ruins. The primary permanent settlement in Babil is Etemenanki, a rebuild remnant of a forgotten nation's fabulous capital. Unlike in the various scavengers' thorps, Etemenanki's citizens live in a self-sustaining paradise where all their needs are met and wants satisfied through arcane technologies. Of course, one can only become or remain a citizen of Etemenanki if one can prove their worth to the Immaculate Council, the ruling body, or the Marquise of Brilliance, the mysterious, tyrannical head of the Council. Anyone found wanting by the Council, or worse yet, the Marquise, for whatever reason, is taken to the upper floors of the Tower of Brilliance, never to be seen from again.
To the north of both Caina and Babil is Uhrinsel, a small, and lushly forested island with one settlement, Uhrenstadt. The languange, culture and architecture of Uhrenstadt appear to be Falkovnian in origin, and that the town guards wear avian armor identical to the Talons of Vlad Drakov apparently cements such an origin. But, besides the fact that no Falkovnian record mention a (lost) town of "Uhrenstadt," none of the Uhrenvolk dare speak of how they came, lest they be executed on the spot for inappropriate behavior. The town garrison swears allegiance to the Uhrenfuhrer, Vilhelm the 4th, who shares his rule over Uhrinsel with his grandfather and his grandson in an odd triumvirate.
Beyond the southern tip of Babil is the island of Kydonia. Like Babil, Kydonia is littered with ruins of an ancient arcane nation. Unlike Babil, Kydonia is covered in lush vegetation (though, no less malevolent or toxic than Babil's), so that the island feels more like a botanical garden run amok. In the north of Kydonia is Ichthyon, a Babil fishing settlement, while to the south is Conchtown, a Blaustienian colony. Both towns trade with each other, and with Uhrinsel, and both towns pay tribute to a being called the "Peerless Emperor of Resplendence," who claims to rule all life on Kydonia, and lairs in an opulent manor in the dead-center of the island. All Kydonians know the way to the Emperor's manor, though, all Kydonians also know that only those bearing gifts and tribute survive the perils of that trip.