Island Discovery 7 / Campaign Diary: Archipelago Adventures - Pt. 29
Over the last week few weeks we have discussed morale and mutinies, and I made a promise that a certain mutiny has inspired me for our next island! Well, here I am now to deliver on that promise! Today, I’m showing off two more islands to be used in our adventure! For the PDF of this island adventure, check the bottom of the article.
Welcome… to Gunn! (and Coll)
Our two islands are named Gunn and Coll! Why? … I just like it really. There is a Clan Gunn I was looking at the wikipedia page for and if you click through to other clans, you’ll eventually find a Clan Coll… so yup. That’s how I named these islands! But don’t worry, these aren’t Scottish island adventures… or do worry, if that is what you were hoping for.
Instead, these two islands showcase a very RP heavy event. A ship’s hull was destroyed when the captain, Captain Iza Roksana sailed her ship up to island Gunn and dashed it on the rocks that surround both islands. Of course, this wasn’t intentional as she was just trying to stock up on some fresh supplies for her journey… but these things happen. As time went on, she sent some of her crew to go over to island Coll and search for more supplies as well as anything that might help them get off the island… unfortunately for her, the crew she sent over mutineed and established their own colony on Coll, claiming independence from her and her crew.
And that’s where our adventurer’s come in! After several months, there has been a stalemate between the two islands… and thanks to poor leadership on the part of the Captain’s officers, she still has a busted up ship that can’t be sailed.
But Not Everything Is As It Seems!
It bears repeating… NOT EVERYTHING IS AS IT SEEMS! Not only do the players get to determine who they want to help, they can also start discovering some foul plans are a foot on the islands. Captain Iza Roksana is… SPOILERS: a yuan-ti pureblood! The vast majority of her crew doesn’t realize it, nor do they realize they are traveling to a yuan-ti held island to be sacrificed and become slaves for the serpent guards.
This can be a fun adventure for your players who jump into the politics of both islands, and this could end in a variety of ways for all parties involved. No one, apart from the yuan-ti’s themselves, know that the rest of the crew is supposed to be a sacrifice… though… and I’m a little pleased with myself for this, the name of the ship is The Repents…. which just happens to be an anagram for The Serpent!
But I’m getting ahead of myself. How does this adventure begin?
Sailing to the Island
When the party first sails up to the island, they can see off in the distance as two rowboats, one from each island, begins quickly setting off for them, almost as if they are racing to be the first one to greet the ship.
The men on the rowboats will keep the party from getting too close to either island and will wish to share their story of events and beg for some sort of aid. The island of Gunn will send their first mate, Iwo (who is secretly a yuan-ti) while Coll will send their elected leader, Navin. The two will ask for assistance for one island over the other, and it will be up to the party to decide on what they want to do. Iwo, sent by the Captain, will ask for help in dealing with mutineers of Coll and help in repairing their ship, the Repents. Navin will ask for help in trade and resources, and helping them set themselves up as a free and independent city on the island of Coll.
The players are free to visit whichever island they feel drawn too, and they can start learning more and more about each group. Navin was elected by his fellow crewmembers, and yes, while they did defect from the crew of the Repents… they weren’t on a ship anymore and is it really mutiny? While the Captain of the Repents will still enforce her authority, but she is charming and kind to the adventurers.
Gunn vs Coll
Now, I can’t imagine all the possibilities for what can happen in your game, and so specific details are left out with just a handful of clues to help the party. Exploring either island, the party can discover that something isn’t right. On Gunn there are small shrines to some sort of serpent god, while on Coll the talking birds are repeating grave tidings they’ve heard involving Navin’s fate.
Obviously, I want to see the party succeed and stop the Captain and her officers from taking the human/half-elf/halfling crew to be sacrifices but if the party never stops that from happening, but helps… imagine their surprise when they arrive at Island #24, Maja (to be created in the future) where yuan-ti are in the process of sacrificing the very people they helped get off the island!
History
But, where exactly did this idea come from? When I was researching mutinies, there was a famous one that stood out to me. The Batavia experienced a shipwreck off the coast of Australia, and the crew was washed ashore of an island. There a mutiny was started, and one side was forced to flee from one island to a nearby island. Its horrible experience, but is filled with ideas on how you can replicate this in your own games.
My favorite part, if you can even say such a thing from such a horrendous event, is that when the shipwrecked crew are finally found, the two hostile islands each sent out their own rowboats to the ships that found them so that they can be the first one to share their story and cement the help of the ship for their own purposes. Its striking tale, and I think one that could work really well in our own games… though, for the purposes of this adventure I kept only a few pieces of the inspiration while removing the more gruesome parts as some tables may find it too unsettling.
That’s Our New Islands!
This was a very exciting event to write about, and get us to 5 island done out of 100… at this rate, I may get done before the heat death of the universe!
PDF of this adventure:
Next week, we are going to go back and keep the storyline moving! For now, enjoy this super quick encounter!
Floating Island (Uncharted)
Off in the distance, the crew can see something off in the distance, and you could almost swear it is moving… but it looks far too large to be able to move by itself. Many of the crew are shouting in alarm, and you can see strange dark shapes flying over the island off in the distance. As the ship moves closer, you can start to make out what look like large birds soaring around the island in colorful plumage, they are easily the size of two men, and on the island itself you can start making out the distinct shapes of hills and mountains.
As it moves ever closer to the ship, the crew start shouting, gasping and pointing. On the sandy shores of this island appears to be a strange creature. It has an extended long neck that ends with a short head on top, and a massive body below it with legs the size of columns. At the end of its body is a long tail, and it seems to be watching you curiously as it is slowly eating a leaf.
The ship has stumbled onto the floating island of Lacerta. See island #96 for more information on the floating island of the dinosaurs.
