1404 — Monument Island

A large island. Once populated, but all that remains now are the foundations of houses, stone lined cellars, sheep bones, and a scattering of carved stone monuments.

A particularly ambitious group of 37 transcendentalists reached the island by sailing from the shore in an ancient but well preserved longboat they found there. They now subsist on fish, crabs, kelp, and seabird eggs. Dry fuel and sturdy building material are scarce, and the tents they brought across and still dwell in are falling into disrepair – some of them are determined to stay, but more of their number argue for abandoning the project every day. With only one working boat, however, stranding the remainder of them on the island would be unconscionable to those who argue that they should leave.

The Occult-Futurist fleet arriving along the coast has caused much consternation to the community, who rightfully worry about an inevitable confrontation.

This village is fully disconnected from the smuggling economy of the wilds.

Some notable denizens and locations:

Lovis (they/he) is the primary voice arguing for staying on the island. The rhetorical claims they make revolve around proving the capability and self sufficiency of the transcendentalists, but their actual motivation is much simpler: they saw Chorda beneath the water one night, and it was such a powerful experience that they are desperate to repeat it. They take frequent nighttime walks, hoping to spot the dragon’s luminescence once again.

A monument nicknamed “the fountain” by the transcendentalists sits in the center of the old abandoned seaside town, surrounded by the ancient foundations and new tents. It is a tall stone tube riddled with small holes. The transcendentalists have misrecognized what it is: it is not built for water to flow through, but rather to catch the wind and produce sounds that change when different holes are blocked, like a giant flute. A piece of it is missing: a curved funnel-like wooden piece that would slot into the top and be turned to catch the wind. now the anchor of the nightmare on the island.

In a small patch of woods on the center of the island sits a monument that resembles a stone wineglass placed upside-down. An ancient nightmare dungeon sits under it, a history of painful austerity. It calls to those who would deny themselves pleasures for the purpose of discipline, urges them to hold those who won’t in contempt.

Claire (she/her) is a practicing witch and an excellent fisher. She acts endlessly annoyed by most of the transcendentalists she has fallen in with, but tries to teach them how to catch sea life and repair their clothes and tents anyways. There is an affection she has for some of them, but she hides it under a veneer of ill temper around all except Genevieve (she/they), with whom she has started a romantic relationship.

On the northmost shoreline is a monument built of multiple stacked boulders, each carved to resemble a monstrous face with an astonished expression. They look north to the sea.

The island does not use an encounter table from the mainland. Instead, each day there is a 1-in-6 chance of an entity emerging from the local nightmare. Will link the encounter table when said dungeon is fully written.