Skull River Bay (Map) is one of the principle pirate havens and trading centers in the The Northern Reach. Lying as it does at the far south eastern edge of that scattered and wild archipelago, it serves as the last civilized gateway into an unexplored region. It’s proximity to the more populated islands of the The Inner Archipelago to the south and the excellent harbor the bay and river provide make it an import center for trade.

The area around Skull River Bay was originally populated by the First People. The town itself began as a small naval outpost of the Annwyn Empire,  In Imperial times the area was known as a good harbor and hurricane hole and the Empire maintained a small outpost there to support patrols and forrays deeper into the Reaches. This outpost was intended to be expanded as a jumping off point for a more thorough conquest of the Reach, however when The Recall sounded, these plans were abandoned. 

During the Interregnum, the community was mostly abandoned following the general anarchy and associated economic crash, being populated only by the remnants of the original tribes and a few hardy fishermen and seafarers.

Once order was restored and the Era of Independence  got underway the island still remained an unknown backwater, though it was during this period it began its long arc as a haven for criminals and pirates.

This all changed with the coming of Mithra. While a native of Haven Towne, Mithra spent his later life as a blacksmith at Skull River Bay. It was here he had his Great Revelation and from here that he undertook his Journey Into Darkness that resulted in his deification and the founding of the Church of Mithras.

As a result, Skull River Bay became an important religious center and pilgrimage destination during the early years of the Mithran religion. It was during this time, approximately 150 years ago, that the Church of Mithra Risen, the Monastery of the Bells and the Abbey of St Claire were all built.

However, 129 years ago the Mithran Church suffered the first of its major schisms. When the Conclave of Pader ruled on several major doctrinal disputes in favor of the Orthodox Church of Mithras, the older but far less rich and  populous churches of the Reach refused to accept the ruling and splintered into the Reformed Church of Mithras. This resulted in a schism between the Orthodox Church (centered in Haven which today contains the vast majority of believers) and the Reformed Church which is mostly active in the Northern Reach and Valoria.

While the two churches refuse to acknowledge the authority of their respective hierarchies, relations between them are for the most part cordial if strained. However the Orthodox Church has gradually deemphasized the spiritual importance of the Mithran holy sites in the Northern Reach in favor of those closer to Haven and has refused to accept as canon the writings attributed to Mithras during his time in Skull River Bay (called the Books of the River).

Today the holy sites in Skull River Bay are not visited often and rarely see pilgrims outside of the local region. 



Economy

Skull River Bay’s economy is built around seafaring and Trade. As a free port, it is one of the few places in The Thousand Isles where goods and services can be freely exchanged without the necessity of providing a percentage to the local  Merchant House, Guild or some other entity  It’s Pirate Market is notorious and legendary across the Isles. In addition, while lacking a formal dry dock, the shipwrights of the town are superb at building and refurbishing the small, fast deep water ships that the Northern Reach is known for.

The town is also a notorious Pirate port. The ambiguous legal standing it exists in allows its Governor great latitude in the extent to which he prosecutes piratical activity and over the years a succession of Governors have discovered that aiding and abetting piracy is far more profitable than suppressing it.

Government 

Skull River Bay is ruled by a Governor appointed by representatives of The Republic of Haven, The Antilles, The Twins and Etmarch. The Governor serves for life and other than appointing his successor the Inner Islands have little direct authority over his actions.

This system has been in place since the end of the last The Pirate Crusade 75 years ago. This campaign occured when the governments of the Inner Archipelago finally became fed up with the depredations of the pirates of the Northern Reaches and launched a joint military operation to clear out their havens and destroy their ships. Three years of scorched earth persecution hunted the pirates lords to near extinction and also dealt severe colotoral damage to the communities of the Northern Reach

While the original intent of the charter and governing system for the town, put in place following the crusade, was to suppress piracy, it has failed spectacularly. However the signatories of the treaty (some of which benefit from the current situation) have been deadlocked in amending it. 

The town does benefit significantly from it’s official standing as “Archipelago Port”. This means that the three trading houses that own exclusive charters to trade in the Reaches cannot apply that monopoly to Skull River Bay. Normally this designation would also mean that only chartered merchant companies would be allowed to run cargo into and out of the port. 

However since the Governor generally turns a blind eye to unchartered traders bringing cargo into the town (assuming they pay the relatively high import taxes) the town is effectively a legal loophole that allows the free traders of the Reaches direct access to Inner Archipelago markets and also allows the rest of the merchant houses that don’t own a monopoly charter similar access to the Reach.

Districts

Skull River Bay is an old town, parts of which date back for over 500 years. Most of the buildings are much newer however, since the town was seriously damaged in a great Tsunami 120 years ago and then partially burned during the Pirate Crusade 75 years ago. However The Redoubt and the stone docks date back to the Annwyn Imperial era, and the Temple of Mithras Rising, The Governor's Palace and some of the other larger buildings in the center of town are several hundred years old.

There are four main districts of the town

  • The Dockside is dominated by a long avenue paralleling the docks called the Rumbala.  This street mostly consists of inn, taverns, cat houses and the like, the two most notorious of which (Bella Bell’s and Sally Brown’s) bookend the street.

  • Cathedral Squarethe center of town, contains governmental and religious buildings, including the grand Cathedral of Mithras Rising, the Governor's House and the Port Authority. 
  • The Bayou This part of town on the far side of Skull River abuts the great Mangrove Swamp and is wholly devoted to maritime activities like fishing and shipbuilding and maintenance.
  • The Pirate Market This is a large fairground in between the rear of Cathedral Square and the southern wall. It contains few permanent buildings but on certain days it hosts the infamous Pirate Market.


Inspiration 

In addition to the same 17th century Caribbean inspiration of the overall The Thousand Isles, Skull River Bay draws heavily from Santo Domingo with regards to layout and geography. Tortuga and Salt River Bay, both major pirate havens in the real world, also leant much inspiration. Finally there is a bit of New Orleans and Barataria in there (which inspired the Pirate Market)

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The Thousand Isles is a tropical archipelago, stretching over approximately 5000 leagues (15,000 of our miles) of ocean west of Valoria and north of Mbo It contains countless volcanic island chains, most importantly ten extremely large islands in The Inner Archipelago and thousands of smaller ones scattered in two outer reaches, The Northern and Southern Reach

History 

Further information: History and Demographics of the Thousand Isles Timeline of the Thousand Isles

While the Thousand Isles has been populated for millennia by an assortment of indigenous tribes, collectively called the First Peopleand had occasional contact with neighboring cultures, up until 500 years ago it’s society was relatively insulated and tribal, with no large cities, low population densities and late stone age technology levels.

That all changed with the coming of the great ships of the Annwyn Empire. Unlike in neighboring Mbo and Valtentis, the An aggressively and extensively colonized the Thousand Isles especially Bonny Isle and the nearby major islands of the The Inner Archipelago. This colonization had disastrous effects on the indigenous populations of the First People that lived in that area, as they were overrun and displaced by waves of immigrants from the Annish home islands. The Annwyn Empire built up Haven Towne (then called West Haven) as their primary military base in the western ocean and the The Inner Archipelago became the furthest reach of an Empire that seemed intent on colonizing the entire Thousand Isles. 

When the Annwyn Empire unexpectedly withdrew from the entire region , its colonies were left to their own devices. After a period of warfare, social upheaval and a widespread reclaiming of sovereignty by many of the tribes of the First People (a period known as The Interregnum), a rich polyglot maritime culture emerged from the wreckage, spreading across the extent of the Isles. 

The island populace is still sparse by continental standard, and primarily human, though orcs and halflings are numerous in the The Northern Reach, there are rumors of Tortles in the south, and giants dominate the island of Gianthome in the far north.  Elves, tieflings and dwarves are uncommon though not unknown.

In the The Inner Archipelago, over the past five hundred years, ethnic Annish have mixed with local populations of First People to create a polyglot ethnicity called Creole, though some noble families, most notably of The Republic of Haven, The Antilles and Etmarch  are still jealous of their more pure Annish blood.

Elsewhere, In the The Northern and Southern Reach, and The Garden Isles,  where The Annwyn Empire's touch was light, it is a different story. Here a revilitzied and technologically equivalent First People rule, with only an occasional town or settlement even remembering the Annwyn Empire

In general, due to their historical position as a major trade corridor, creatures of all races and creeds can be found here, the islanders are remarkably worldly and accepting of other faiths and races,  

While the Thousand Isles are small by population and not aggressively expansionist they are consummate seafarers and far ranging traders. They have retained more of the old Annwyn naval technology then the adjacent continents have managed to do. Their ship building, metallurgy and naval warfare is well in advance of most of their neighbors, though still well behind the peak of the An Empire (mapping to roughly mid 1600’s in our world while most neighbors are two hundred years behind that). 

Geography and Travel

Further information: Inner Archipelago (Map), Northern Reach (Map), The Western Sea (Map)

5,000 leagues or 15,000 miles is a huge geographical region, roughly 2/3rd of the circumference of Earth. However, the planet on which the Thousand Isles is located has over twice the circumference of our world (while maintaining the same gravity), so the stretch of ocean covered by the Thousand isles is still only around 30% of the planets circumference, roughly proportional to the distance from LA to Singapore. 

While these distances may seem daunting it is well within reach of the nautical technology of the time. The square rigged Galleons that dominate long distance sea trade, given moderately favorable winds can consistently average three knots of headway (note this is different from measured ground speed) or 1 league / hour, 24 hours a day. If the winds are contrary, that speed will drop in half, however if the winds are favorable (such as sailing with the Trades) it can double. 

Thus to sail from one end of the Thousand Isles to the other will take on the average 200 days, however that time can range from as fast as 100 days to as slow as 400. As a result, long range journeys are almost always carefully planned to coincide with the pattern of the trades (Easterly in Spring, Westerly in Fall). Similarly, if the pattern of the Trades is respected, the 3000 league trade routes to and from Valoria can generally be completed in two months.

Trade

Further information: Trade in the Thousand Isles

Trade is extremely important to all major cities and states in the Thousand Isles. Sitting astride the seasonal east/west trade winds allow the Islanders to enjoy a privileged position connecting the trade of two continents (Valtentis and Mbo) in addition to allowing them to easily move their own local goods to those markets. Trade has allowed some elements of society to become extremely wealthy. It is said in Haven Towne that there is no good produced anywhere in the world that cannot be had for a price. 

Climate, Weather and The Trade Winds

Further information: Weather in the Thousand Isles, Climate of the Thousand Isles

The Thousand Isles has an oceanic tropical climate, warm and humid. Temperatures are stable all year round, varying from the low 90's F during the day to the low 80's at night. Precipitation is highly variable, depending greatly on the direction of the dominate Trade Winds.  During the springtime rainfall is greater in the northern and western (windward) coastal areas and mountains, averaging 50 inches annually; much lower in the eastern (leeward) areas. However the heaviest rainfall generally occurs in the fall and winter, when the Trade Winds reverse, and the southern and eastern coastal areas receive the lions share of precipitation. 

The trade winds regularly sweep the Thousand Isles and are the key to the trading routes and strategies of the merchants. These winds blow reliably and quite strongly from Valtentis to Mbo, one way in spring, the opposite in fall. They stretch north to south from approximately the northern tip of Etmarch to the coast of northern coast of Mbo.

Weapons and Warfare

Further information: Warfare in the Thousand Isles

Cannon and gunpowder exist in the Thousand Isles but are expensive, ungainly and still rare (roughly late 16th century equivalent). While it is not uncommon to encounter individuals sporting matchlock pistols and rifles, they are usually a mark of wealth and success or membership in a military organization or militia. Armor, melee weapons, bows and crossbows are still common fair. With regards to ship weaponry, heavier warships and larger merchants can and do carry cannon however smaller crafts generally can’t, due to both size and expense. 

Piracy 

Further information: Piracy, The Pirate Crusade

Pirates are a continual problem for the entire region. Most of the naval resources of the Inner Archipelago go into building and maintaining the large fleets of war galleys that dominate the inner archipelago or the great merchant fleets of Galleons and Fluytes that make up the yearly cycle of the great trade fleets. Deep water ships to hunt pirates are something of an afterthought for the merchant houses and governments. The galleys are useless in the open ocean of the Reaches and the merchant ships, while well able to protect each other in mass formations are too slow to catch the pirates. 

Religion

Further information: Religion in The Thousand Isles

The Thousand Isles are home to a polyglot of cultures and as a result home to many religions, Religions and philosophies from both east and west, from Valoria to Mbo and even beyond meet and merge here, giving way to a bewildering array of gods and beliefs. 

Nonetheless, two faiths stand above the rest in terms of popularity, the Mithric Religion  and Voodoo. Confusingly, despite the fact that these two religions hold somewhat contradictory beliefs, a majority of Islanders follow both, at least to some degree.

Inspiration 

The Thousand Isles is primarily inspired by the 17th century Caribbean and French Polynesia, economically, culturally, and historically. However 15th century Venice inspired the governmental systems, especially of The Republic of Haven. The geography of the larger islands steals heavily from 17th century Indonesia in size and demographics, as the islands of The Inner Archipelago are considerably larger than their Caribbean counterparts. There is also considerable borrowing from Ursula Le Guin's "Earthsea".

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Overview 

Haven Towne (Map) is the largest city in the The Thousand Isles, and capital of the The Republic of HavenLush, tropical and inviting, the town still manages to maintain an island beauty, despite being home to over 50,000 residents and a major center of commerce and industry. 

The bay is warm and reasonably clear, with craggy volcanic cliffs towering over white sandy beaches lined by palm, coconut and bamboo . Colorful birds abound, monkeys scamper over red tiled roofs, and balmy breezes bathe the island port. 

Far to the west, the mountainous interior of Bonny Isle is barely visible out of the tropical haze, great green volcanic cliffs rise, and far above looms the peak of the mighty volcano, Bynack Tor, that forms the backbone of this island. Far far away and yet so tall that it is still barely visible from the coast

Geography

Haven Towne occupies a narrow peninsula that juts into the wide Haven Bay. The Bay is almost entirely landlocked, only connecting to the sea via a narrow 1/4 mile wide channel called The Gullet Two rivers, River Bonny and River Sur empty into the Bay on either side of the Peninsula. 

The Bay is rimmed by steep cliffs to the south, and sheer headlands to the east, but the northern part of the bay is much lower and swampy in places. 

Both the Sur and Bonny River valleys are wide, temperate, well watered and lush, fertile volcanic valleys studded with small farming hamlets. Here farmers till the rich black volcanic soil year round, making these valleys into the breadbasket of the metropolis.

In addition to the barges of grain and produce that flow from the valleys into the city, the rivers also allow transport of goods arriving at Haven Towne into the interior of the island.

A system of aqueducts, originally created by the Annwyn Empirebrings fresh water from these rivers into the city, to supplement the wells that dot the city.

Several days journey up the Sur and the Bonny, the wide valleys narrow and rise into a series of cataracts that mark the edge of civilization. Beyond this point, the highlands begin, the land becomes increasingly steep, and the jungle becomes dense. Only small isolated mountain villages can be found, isolated deep in the tropical jungle. 


Climate

The climate and weather of Haven Towne, as is typical of the Thousand Isles is characterized by a two-season year, tropical and uniform temperatures everywhere (except at high elevations), is generally wet especially in the spring and fall, with high annual rainfall, and high relative humidity. However, dry, almost desert regions also exist, in areas in the shadow of the mountains, precipitation can be quite variable depending on those rain shadows. 

The trade wind blows more or less along the length of the island from April  through June,and then again in the opposite direction from September through November.

The town is sheltered by the bulk of Bonny Isle from the spring westerlies and the associated storms , but the harbor is more exposed to the fall easterlies. Haven gets most of it's rainfall in the fall and winter, where storms and hurricanes are not uncommon. However it often has relatively dry springs and summers. 


History

Haven was founded over 600 years ago by the Annwyn Empire as a major Anchorage and fleet base. It marked the high water mark of their empire, their most remote outpost.

When the Annwyn empire issued The Recall, and withdrew their military forces, the small island town was left to its own devices. The vacuum left by the retreating An plunged the entire The Thousand Isles into chaos and anarchy for a century. Due to the leadership of Haven’s first ruling Governor (Marcus Madrigal), the island not only survived this period but emerged as the leading mercantile and military power in the region. 

Districts  

Harbormasters

University District

NorthPort

Merchants Town

Governors District

The Armory

New Towne

The Castillo

The Gullet

Other Havon Bay Fortifications

Tillage

River Sur

River Bonny

Inspiration 

In addition to the same 17th century Caribbean inspiration of the overall The Thousand Isles, Haven specifically draws from old Havana and San Juan. Venice also inspired the governmental system. its history also has a dash of ancient Carthage and Umbar from Lord of the Rings 


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Dungeons and Dragons and Pirates! What could possibly go better together? It's like peanut butter and chocolate right? Well, as scores of failed supplements have shown, it's actually a trickier mashup then you would think. While the spirit and style of the pirating in the age of sail is a natural and additive match to Dungeons and Dragons genre, there are a number of complications that can easily wreck or divert such a campaign. Unless you as a dungeon master are aware and proactive in your world building and scenario generation, you are likely to miss the mark of your expectations.

The purpose of the The Thousand Isles campaign setting is to create an historically accurate and internally consistent sandbox campaign setting compatible with dnd 5e for low fantasy age-of-sail pirate adventures. 

This campaign setting does not require any rule changes to 5e though I do Suggest some.

In a previous blog post I’ve talked about some of the issues with creating a good age of sail pirate experience under the dnd 5e settings, especially if you care about enabling player agency via internal consistency.

I’ve also described how I intended to solve or work around the these issues. I discussed key world building elements that foster the emergent thematic properties I want, then made specific suggestions around 5E game mechanics, specifically managing the magic system and ship combat.  

It’s probably a good idea to read those two blog posts and get an idea if what I am going for is what you are interested in. I did have a very specific theme and set of goals in mind while building this world, if your goals or philosophy differ too far from where I started, well that is totally fine, but this supplement may not work for you.  

This campaign world reflects those solutions. It is intended to be a “drop in” early 17th century region that can be easily incorporated into any 5e fantasy campaign works that features a sizable and relatively unexplored ocean with a focus on Tall Ships and Piracy. In this document, the excellent (and free) Dwarven Forge campaign world of Valtentis is used as that starting point but it is relatively trivial to replace the few references to Valtentis and Valoria with whatever fantasy campaign setting you are currently using.

All you need to do is give your characters a reason to get out of their own particular dodge and a ship to take them away and you are off! The HMS Lady Jezebel was designed expressly for this purpose and the city of Haven Towne or Skull River Bay would make good initial destinations. If you want an example of making that transition, check out the Hightower Bay chapter on the blog.

Finally this setting is an amateur home-brew setting released under the Open Game License. I have no intention of making any sort of profit off this setting, it’s entirely for fun. However this also means it’s a bit bare bones at the moment. While it does have a fair amount of detail put into certain areas it has virtually none in others. While I do plan to keep contributing to this setting it’ll likely never reach the completeness or polish of a commercial product. C’est la vie. The upside of this is those blank spots are entirely up to you as a DM to fill in. If you come up with something especially clever ping me over on my blog (https://dndpirate.blogspot.com) and maybe we can incorporate your contributions here! 

Hope you enjoy and happy pirating!

Guy Bayes