#Island25 Day 3 — Central Arukash
Further boiling the proverbial stew of ideas
Day 3! I’ve fallen really behind, life hit me hard but I’m allowed to take it slow. :) Let’s keep pushing this system through The Crucible and get these doable within a more comfortable timeframe each day.
I like “The Quest Board” - it’s a functional jumpstart to the island that lets it live and breathe. I think the quests for Arukash North were a little too isolated to just the island though, so we’ll add one that has some larger-scale ties.
I like things coming in threes, but I think I also need a segment for the names of folks who are important but not interesting. Folks the players might ask about that aren’t directly tied to Cool Adventure Shit™. Maybe this belongs in a region overview article though - an example name list and a series of common jobs in each town.
I wanna chuck a classic adventure - or part of one - in here somewhere, something that I can pull from. I’m thinking we can slot in the Caves of Chaos from Keep on the Borderlands! Play with the design and theming of course, twists are fun.
Lets see where it goes with Central Arukash!
Name: Central Arukash
Allegiance: Free Skylean Empire (FSE)
Altitude: Altospheric (5000m)
Cloud Base: Altocumulus Stratiformis
Descriptive Appearance: a wide, almost circular island. Cubryna Peaks a tall mountain range dividing the island, more land on Slupsk side than Dukla. Slupsk Woods are vast, and head from the
Weather: 2 in 6 for wind, 2 in 6 for rain.
Demographic: Dominant orukin, minority men and ælves, enclave of fellfolk.
Notable Export: Marble, mined from the Cubryna Peaks.
Notable Import: Incense - scents commonly used in religious rites aren’t easily found here, so are imported in.
Main Settlements: Slupsk, the coastal capital of Arukash, Sejny, a central small town on the road through the Cubryna Peaks, and Dukla, a high-ground town on the other side of the mountains.
Locations of Note
Mooncrux Monasteries: a collection of brutalist monasteries at the very tops of the Cubryna Peaks, dedicated to lunar worship. Traversal between them seems unclear, and the residents simply say “the moon lights the path…” which isn’t of much help to most.
Old Dukla Mines: About an hour from Sejny, the old mines have many an entrance within the mountain face. Dukla residents warn against anyone visiting, claiming the mines are now host to various unsavoury beasts and neer-do-wells.
The Wandering Tower: A tall tower that has uprooted itself and walks around the island erratically. Supposedly belonging to a long-dead mage, the tower likely holds many secrets within, however nobody has managed to get within as the entrance is a hundred feet off the ground.
Movers & Shakers
Eklipse Karina: The orukin leader of lunar worship within the Mooncrux Monasteries. Much of her time nowadays is spent in isolation, as she fights a personal battle over the strength of her faith, unbeknownst to anyone else. She still performs normal rites for any visiting followers.
Aaron’s Band of Messy Merriment: A wandering adventuring party led by a lanky fellfolk troubadour, Aaron. Known for diving for any job they can take and usually resolving it in a loud and chaotic manner, Aaron has recently started to grow tired of the unprofessionalism and is considering departure.
The White Wodequeen: Named as such for her marble throne, this ælven queen resides at the heart of Slupsk Woods. She treats the edge of the forest as a hard border and tightly negotiates entry contracts with the orukin in order to maintain order within her forest. She’s feeling some semblance of her high nature slipping the longer she stays in this forest...
Common Combatants
Mountain goats: Particularly aggressive in this neck of the woods, mountain goats are a considerable extra challenge for travellers on their way to Mooncrux, alongside the lower temperatures.
Soldat Lunaris: The FSE national guard. All FSE citizens must do 3 years mandatory service. Presence on Arukash Central is noticable.
Marble golems: animate piles of rubble, a few are known to escort the Wandering Tower from time to time. Can pick parts off of the bodies of other marble golems to heal!
The Quest Board
Walking Into Trouble: The Wandering Tower has been circling Sejny with increasing frequency, and marble golems have been attacking the town’s walls at night, as well as making the path to the new quarry dangerous. The town councillor believes someone has finally managed to enter the tower and is controlling it, but needs proof before requesting Soldat Lunaris intervention. There's good pay for anyone who can find a way inside and discover who's behind it.
Faith Excised: One of the Mooncrux Monasteries has vanished entirely, leaving only a perfect cubic depression in the mountaintop. The remaining monks are tight-lipped, but Eklipse Karina is offering generous compensation to investigate - though she'll only meet petitioners during the new moon.
Forest in Stasis: The White Wodequeen has fallen into a coma, and all border contracts have defaulted - no entry. Nobody can travel through safely without the looming threat of the ælves within. In-island trade is grinding to a halt and rumors are surfacing that the FSE is considering a military intervention. A sole ælf is in the town square of Slupsk, watching for capable individuals to investigate the White Wodequeen’s condition.