Post by DM Leverage on Jun 8, 2013 5:34:16 GMT -5
Nelanther Isles
Capital: None
Population: 2,822 (orcs 30%, humans 20%, half-orcs 15%, lizardfolk 15%, ogres 10%, humanoids 9%)
Government: Armed anarchy
Religions: Beshaba, Cyric, Talos, Tempus, Umberlee
Imports: Anything natives can steal, loot, or salvage
Exports: Slaves, stolen and salvaged goods of all types
Alignments: NE, CE, CN
The Nelanther Isles are a widely scattered chain of nearly a thousand islands sprinkled from Amn into the Trackless Sea. More than half the islands lack water and are fit only for wrecking ships upon. The hundreds of islands that have drinkable water and can support life are fought over by seagoing pirates who prey upon the shipping of Amn, Calimshan, the Sword Coast, and the Moonshae Isles.
Aside from their dependence on violence and larceny, the Nelanthers have surprisingly little in common with the Pirate Isles of the Dragon Coast. The Pirate Isles are predominantly human, while the Nelanthers’ pirates are nonhumans such as orcs, lizard folk, ogres, and minotaurs. The various races and factions of Nelanther pirates war on each other as often as they war on outsiders.
Life and Society
The raiders of the Nelanther Isles live by the winds that fill their sails on the Sea of Swords and die by the gales that smash them to Umberlee’s depths. Unlike the swashbucklers of the Pirate Isles who sometimes observe strange forms of chivalry, the Nelanther reavers torture their victims and leave them to hideous deaths. The pirates here are born into the society’s violent cycle and escape only by dying, usually while young. Nearly all able-bodied adults fight aboard ships, while the weak, crippled, and surviving children are left ashore to make repairs or salvage wrecks.
Major Geographical Features
Aside from the sea itself and the innumerable rocky islands of the Nelanther Isles, there are no particularly notable features. No single island is large enough or densely settled enough to deserve special mention.
Important Sites
Instead of erecting permanent settlements, the pirates of the Nelanther Isles live in their ships or in huts that can be abandoned at a moment’s notice. The only permanent structures in the area were built long before the arrival of the pirates.
The Sea Towers: High towers made of hard stone just out of several of the islands and occasionally straight out of the sea. The sea towers of Irphong and Nemessor are leftovers of a previous civilization or civilizations. Most are magically locked and warded against intrusion by simple bandits (including Nelanther raiders who have tried to get in). Others have become the homes of monsters such as ogre magi or Bane-worshiping gargoyles. In either case, the Sea Towers have a bad name among the Nelanther pirates, who avoid them with superstitious dread.
Regional History
Tethyr’s Velen peninsula and the Nelanther archipelago have always divided Faerûn’s northern seafarers from its southern waters. With the rise of the mercantile powers of the northern waters--Amn, Waterdeep, and the cities of the North--traffic through the Nelanther Isles burgeoned into a rich steam of trade. And that activity, of course, attracted pirates like a battlefield draws crows. For centuries now, the Nelanther Isles have been more or less as they are today.
The Sea Towers tell a different tale, though. The furnishings, scrolls, and tomes discovered within newly breached towers indicate that there was a time when the islands of the Nelanther were home to other than cruel tyrants and vicious buccaneers. Much of the history of this vanished civilization has been lost to the tides.
- Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Capital: None
Population: 2,822 (orcs 30%, humans 20%, half-orcs 15%, lizardfolk 15%, ogres 10%, humanoids 9%)
Government: Armed anarchy
Religions: Beshaba, Cyric, Talos, Tempus, Umberlee
Imports: Anything natives can steal, loot, or salvage
Exports: Slaves, stolen and salvaged goods of all types
Alignments: NE, CE, CN
The Nelanther Isles are a widely scattered chain of nearly a thousand islands sprinkled from Amn into the Trackless Sea. More than half the islands lack water and are fit only for wrecking ships upon. The hundreds of islands that have drinkable water and can support life are fought over by seagoing pirates who prey upon the shipping of Amn, Calimshan, the Sword Coast, and the Moonshae Isles.
Aside from their dependence on violence and larceny, the Nelanthers have surprisingly little in common with the Pirate Isles of the Dragon Coast. The Pirate Isles are predominantly human, while the Nelanthers’ pirates are nonhumans such as orcs, lizard folk, ogres, and minotaurs. The various races and factions of Nelanther pirates war on each other as often as they war on outsiders.
Life and Society
The raiders of the Nelanther Isles live by the winds that fill their sails on the Sea of Swords and die by the gales that smash them to Umberlee’s depths. Unlike the swashbucklers of the Pirate Isles who sometimes observe strange forms of chivalry, the Nelanther reavers torture their victims and leave them to hideous deaths. The pirates here are born into the society’s violent cycle and escape only by dying, usually while young. Nearly all able-bodied adults fight aboard ships, while the weak, crippled, and surviving children are left ashore to make repairs or salvage wrecks.
Major Geographical Features
Aside from the sea itself and the innumerable rocky islands of the Nelanther Isles, there are no particularly notable features. No single island is large enough or densely settled enough to deserve special mention.
Important Sites
Instead of erecting permanent settlements, the pirates of the Nelanther Isles live in their ships or in huts that can be abandoned at a moment’s notice. The only permanent structures in the area were built long before the arrival of the pirates.
The Sea Towers: High towers made of hard stone just out of several of the islands and occasionally straight out of the sea. The sea towers of Irphong and Nemessor are leftovers of a previous civilization or civilizations. Most are magically locked and warded against intrusion by simple bandits (including Nelanther raiders who have tried to get in). Others have become the homes of monsters such as ogre magi or Bane-worshiping gargoyles. In either case, the Sea Towers have a bad name among the Nelanther pirates, who avoid them with superstitious dread.
Regional History
Tethyr’s Velen peninsula and the Nelanther archipelago have always divided Faerûn’s northern seafarers from its southern waters. With the rise of the mercantile powers of the northern waters--Amn, Waterdeep, and the cities of the North--traffic through the Nelanther Isles burgeoned into a rich steam of trade. And that activity, of course, attracted pirates like a battlefield draws crows. For centuries now, the Nelanther Isles have been more or less as they are today.
The Sea Towers tell a different tale, though. The furnishings, scrolls, and tomes discovered within newly breached towers indicate that there was a time when the islands of the Nelanther were home to other than cruel tyrants and vicious buccaneers. Much of the history of this vanished civilization has been lost to the tides.
- Source: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
