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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.