A Traveller's Guide to the Tortles' Tears

The Republic of Darokin may be a civilized and prosperous nation in the heartland of the Known World, but one would be mistaken to think the nation is devoid of wilderness or its attendant perils. The “Orclands” of the northeast are a prime example, as are the Silver Sierras that mark the northwestern border with neighboring Glantri, and of course the seemingly impassable Malpheggi Swamp ends more than a few adventuring careers prematurely every year. What many do not know, however, is that the great swamp to the south also contains a “secret realm” unlike any other—a chain of ten islands a few miles from the eastern-to-central marshy coast, known colloquially as the “Tortle’s Tears.”

Location of the Tortle's Tears in the Malpheggi Swamp, http://pandius.com/TortleTears.png

particular from Darokin, 2 2/3 miles per hex by Mike Phillips http://pandius.com/m_dkn223.html

Geographic Overview

Of the ten islands, two are bare outcroppings of rock. Once the tops of mountains marking the frontier between the vanished realms of Taymora and Intua, their forbidding peaks now rise up from the sea, and their rugged geography makes it highly dangerous and difficult to effect an approach or landing on them. The rock spire furthest to the east and facing Solon’s Point is called The Spur by local tortles; the one to the west at the end of the island chain is known as The Tooth.

The remaining islands are the result of sedimentation that started with the sudden sinking of Taymora in BC 1750 that caused some of the lands immediately to the north—including Malpheggi Swamp and its surrounds—to uplift. Immediately following the sinking, the region was a shallow bay dotted with a few hilly islands. The uplift altered the flow of rivers, which in turn began to deposit silt and other sediments that slowly gave birth to the swamp as it is known today. This process is still continuing slowly, and is what created the Tortles’ Tears—first as sandbars around BC 1500, but growing and becoming more stable over time. In the centuries to come the coastline will steadily creep southwards, reaching towards the islands like grasping fingers, while the northern regions of the swamp dry out.

Four islands sit in close proximity to Malpheggi Swamp, with two miles or less of shallow coastal waters separating them from the mainland (or each other). Three extend out from easternmost of the four great (and as-yet-unnamed by Darokinians) river mouths that drain from the swamp, and one sits just at the mouth of the river just to the west. These were the first islands which tortles learned to call home as they migrated into the area, but they had to be subsequently abandoned as lizardfolk tribes continued to expand their territory. Collectively, tortles refer to these as The Lost Lands.

The last four islands—known to the tortles as the Home Lands—sit in a rough line, each about five miles out from the coast. Deeper waters, and the frequent storms that rise up quickly in this humid region, make it more challenging and riskier to reach these islands, compared to the ones closer to the coast. For hundreds of years, the Malpheggi tortles have quietly lived and prospered upon these islands, living, for the most part, in quiet seclusion. From east to west, the tortles call these islands Brother’s Land, Sister’s Land, Father’s Land, and Mother’s Land. Though they do not often refer to these islands as a group, some tortle adventurers who have left the Tears refer to their homeland as “Chelonia.” Each of these islands is presented in more detail later.

Tortle by Justin Pfeil: https://justinpfeil.com/

History

“Life, death—both are the river of time, without sorrow. To fight the river, to control it, brings true sadness.”

The Malpheggi tortles first arose on the sandy coastal flats of what is now Thanegia Island, which in prehistory was connected to the Serpent Peninsula. They enjoyed a peaceful existence in their remote villages, having been ignored by the Carnifex as being too passive to be useful slaves, and having refused to aid the Lhomarrians in their crusade against those same dark forces.^¹ The tortles continued their peaceful existence well after both powers had fallen into obscurity, and had little to do with any outsiders save the secretive Karimari of Ulimwengu, who valued the simple crafts of the tortles and visited them annually in great caravans of elephants. All that ended with the arrival of the Blackmoorians, whose technologically advanced civilization hungered for resources. While the tortles were willing to share what they did not need, they soon realized that the newcomers craved more than mineral wealth; they viewed the pristine beaches as ideal playgrounds for their elites, and before long vast stretches of tortle territory were taken up by pleasure palaces and villas whose luxuriousness has never before—or since—been equaled.

The Great Rain of Fire proved to be the greatest leveller of all. The geologic upheavals of Mystara’s axial shift sundered the peninsula and submerged the Blackmoorians’ monuments to excess, as well as what remained of the tortles’ homes. The survivors migrated to the northeast, guided by their spiritual leaders and soon enough they found a new home on the western shores of the lands that would one day become Taymora, at the mouth of a great river along whose banks they built several villages. The nosferatu-dominated Taymoran city-states began to cast their influence over the area, but again the peaceful nature of the tortles ensured they would largely be left alone; although some—such as the Queens Jadikira of Tamoraz and Samane of Karituja—were fascinated by their deep connections to the land and sought various ways of obtaining that natural power for themselves. None succeeded, but many tortles found their way to Taymoran cities, never to be heard from again. Intua to the north prized the tortles’ shells for their beauty and ritualistic value, and its armies preyed upon outlying communities. All too often the peaceful folk found themselves caught in the middle of bloody conflicts between the two regional powers.^²

The geological upheavals of BC 1750 which sank Taymora, also forced the tortles to move once more—this time further north to a newly-formed bay that would one day become Malpheggi Swamp. There they sought to rebuild their communities, but the arrival of lizardfolk refugees from fallen Mogreth—starting as a trickle in BC 1800, but becoming a wholesale migration by BC 1600^³—disrupted their nascent society. While many of the lizardfolk were devotees of the once-outlawed Ka the Preserver, some were followers of the reptilian Outer Being known as Rosheg-K’ha^⁴, who was widely venerated in Mogreth. Over time, competition for resources escalated into open conflict, and the less aggressive and less numerous tortles found themselves at a disadvantage, and were slowly driven south to what are now The Lost Lands as the bay turned into a swamp.

By AC 0, the Home Islands had begun to resemble their current shape and had become home to vegetation and birds. The tortles had already visited them and a small number had settled there to escape the conflicts on the mainland. Sporadic trade existed with some of the more peaceful lizardfolk tribes, but on the whole the tortles maintained their longstanding tradition of isolation. Competition for resources continued, however, and by AC 500 the last remaining tortle settlement on The Lost Lands was abandoned.^⁵ A tiny handful of tortles can still be found on the mainland, but these are either lone wanderers seeking to maintain sacred sites out of veneration for the past, the occasional youth with “fire in their shells”, who feels a need to make a name for themselves as heroes of old once did, or the odd misfit deemed unable to live in tortle society, yet unwilling to wholly abandon the place they call home.

Of interest, there is one occasion in recent history where the tortles of the Tears did interact with outsiders. In the late 8^th century, the Minrothad Guilds was embroiled in conflict with Ierendian pirates^⁶, with numerous sea battles along the southern coast of the Known World. The pirates made occasional use of the Tears as naval bases for several years, until Minrothad convinced the Duchy of Malpheggi to take its side in AC 772C. From that point until the conflict’s formal end with the Peace of Vlaad in AC 775, the waters around the Tears saw considerable conflict as Malpheggi entered the fray, and its own navy also dropped anchor there to resupply. While the pirates had generally been respectful of the tortles, and even gave them seeds and fruits acquired during their travels (some of the descendants of which are still grown on the islands today), the Duchy considered the islands to be its sovereign territory, and the tortles to be their vassals. Although the tortles did not revolt openly, they pursued a policy of “benign non co-operation” that hindered the Duchy’s activities in the region.

The Republic of Darokin is aware of the tortles—or at least, a handful of bureaucrats in Athenos and Port Tenobar know the islands are not uninhabited—but the general view expressed in memos to the Chancellor, usually in a footnote, is that “Navigation channels are clear, and there are no known obstacles to trade in the region outside of the usual levels of piracy.”

http://pandius.com/TortlesTears_details.png
Map of the Tortles' Tears in 1 mile per hex

The Home Lands

“Mother. Father. Brother. Sister. By Sun and Sea, we tend and cherish. From you we arise, to you we return.”

The four islands of the Home Lands are both the homeland of the tortles as well as a physical expression of their relationship with the world itself. A home is more than a place to live; it is where one demonstrates one’s connectedness to the patron Immortals of the tortles, and the land itself, by building structures with local materials taken directly from the land itself, which are also harmonious with the environment by blending into the landscape as much as possible. Tortle settlements tend to be difficult to spot, and their extensiveness is not apparent to the outsider.

Brother’s Land

As the island easiest to reach from the coast, Brother’s Land is the most fortified of the tortle settlements. Squat and sturdy sentry towers stand at either tip of the long curved shoreline facing the mainland, and two low fortified walls curve from the dense tropical forest of the island down onto the beach and back up, forming two defensible positions to repel invaders. The interior jungles and swamps are a hodge-podge of flora cultivated by the tortles that mix the noxious and poisonous in with the nutritious side-by-side, which would make safe foraging difficult for those not well versed in local plant life or geography. The interior is dotted throughout with training grounds that could double as defensive positions or challenges for enemies to overcome in the event of an assault.

The center of the island, and highest part of the land (about 40' above sea level), is home to Shell Village, which is unique among the tortle villages of the Tears as it has been designed with defense in mind. Fifteen-foot-tall and ten-foot-thick walls of rock and mud surround the village, and much of the interior of the wall is taken up by rectangular dwellings and storehouses. The interior of the village is dotted with the dome-shaped structures that are typically preferred by tortles, serving useful domestic, community, and religious purposes. The domed structures also hide a network of underground tunnels and caverns that contain holy relics, emergency food stores, a freshwater wellspring, a cache of weapons, a special room for tortle egg incubation, and space in which to evacuate the village in the event of an overwhelming emergency.

Approximately 300 tortles live in Shell Village, most of whom are trained and skilled warriors, though all also practice a craft or have a secondary occupation which supports village life. There is also a small community of shamans devoted to the tortle deity they call Brother Shell. While there is a roughly even mix of male and female tortle inhabitants on Brother’s Land, by custom only male tortles are initiated into the Brotherhood of the Shell. The “Little Brothers,” as the shamans are called, play both a central role in the day-to-day administration of village life, and train alongside the warriors of the village to become leaders in battle.

The last especially notable feature on the island is a low-lying, small swamp lake near the southwestern edge. This area has been developed as a home and “stable” for about two dozen water salamanders (see description at the end of this article), which the tortles use both for individual transport between islands and as amphibious mounts in combat. There are always tortles posted at the salamander stable to protect and care for these creatures.

Sister’s Land

To the southwest of Brother’s Land is Sister’s Land, the largest of the four Home Islands, and the island with the largest interior area with land high above sea level that is fit for traditional agriculture. This island is the breadbasket of the Tears: While bananas, papayas, mangos, and other tropical fruit are cultivated across the Home Islands—along with a variety of edible greens, flowers, taro, cassava, and fungi—Sister’s Land is the only place where staples such as rice, corn, chickpeas, and sorghum are cultivated on a significant scale.

Unlike Brother’s Land, there is no single village on this island. Rather, dwellings in small groupings of four to eight are spread across the interior, with only a few larger structures in the center of the island such as storehouses, a temple of Sister Grain, and a few communal gathering places. In addition, there are no obvious defensive structures as on Brother’s Land; although half a dozen treetop watch structures with low huts at their bases are occupied by groups of three trained warrior tortles from Brother’s Land apiece, and these structures sit at the edges of the island’s sandy beaches.

Altogether, roughly 400 tortles live on Sister’s Land. Of those, only about 50 are either warriors or have received basic combat training. While the shamans known as “Little Sisters” spend time each day at the temple, they are spread out across the island in different farming pods. The priory also operates a distillery, producing a clear spirit from sorghum that is comparable in depth and complexity to whisky and is used for ceremonial and celebratory purposes.

Father’s Land

The third of the home islands is Father’s Land, which stands out from the others of the Tears in that it resembles a bowl with high craggy stone walls rising from the ocean, with only a handful of broken gaps capable of allowing small vessels ingress into shallow lagoons. Perhaps the last remainder of an ancient volcano, the soggy interior of Father’s Land behind its sharp and steep walls is filled by dense jungles that host the greatest diversity of plant life on the Tears—including some species which have long been considered extinct or are otherwise unknown elsewhere in the Known World or Savage Coast.

Father’s Land hosts the smallest population of tortles, numbering about 150, all living in a tiny village named Father’s Home, close to the center of the island and protected by only a couple dozen trained warriors. The village’s few low huts appear the most primitive and disorganized of the tortle dwellings in the Tears, with the only notable feature being a single mound of dirt around which the huts huddle. A number of entrances have been dug into one side of the mound, which lead to a series of chambers for storage, religious, and community purposes. Deep within these chambers is a small altar that serves as the shrine to Father Earth—though the tortles regard the entire island as a temple to their Father, and they show this in a way of living that is even slower, more deliberate, and more considered than tortles usually are.

Unlike the temples on Brother’s Land and Sister’s Land that host communities that may have half a dozen or more Little Brothers or Little Sisters, the tortles only recognize one “Little Father” on Father’s Land at any one time. While a Little Father has a small number of acolytes or apprentices who are educated in his shamanic ways, an apprentice is only chosen to become a Little Father upon the death of one of the four Little Fathers spread across the islands of the Tears.

Mother’s Land

The westernmost of the inhabited islands of the Tears is really more of an atoll than an island proper. Ancient coral reefs around its edges have built up sandy beaches that protect and enclose a complex web of mini-islands and lagoons within. While these islands offer the smallest footprint for food production, the tortles of Mother’s Land make up for this by using the lagoons to farm sea vegetables, shellfish, and other aquatic creatures.

While there are low structures spread across the islands to assist and enable the tortles’ husbandry of the atoll, a set of three interconnected islands near its southern edge host the village of Amnion. About 200 tortles call this village home, with about a quarter being either trained warriors or having some skill or facility in combat. The temple to Mother Ocean is separated into two parts, with one being at the bottom of a lagoon on the southern edge of the atoll, and the other under the lapping ocean waves just across the atoll beach within the ocean proper.

As with the Little Fathers, there is only one “Little Mother” on each island at a time, and all acolytes of Mother Ocean that may one day be elevated learn from the Little Mother of Amnion. The acolytes also have the important duty of caring for the water salamanders who share the atoll with the tortles. A natural population of these creatures, who shuttle from the lagoons to the ocean and back, predated the arrival of the tortles, and it was on Mother’s Land that they were first domesticated. As such, beside the partially wild natural population that remains, there are a number of islands and lagoons set aside for the hatching and training of salamander mounts, of which there are about 50 at any given time.

Society and Culture

The culture of the tortles living in the Tears has grown out of their history, their faith, and a particular curiosity of their reproductive cycle. Their history, as outlined above, has ensured that most of their foundational stories are sad ones. They view themselves as a people committed to living in peace and harmony with nature and each other, but who are forced to endure disruption at the hands of races that struggle for dominance and control. This influence has maintained an insular culture in which preservation, husbandry, and fulfillment in the present moment typically takes precedence in informing actions, relations, and decisions.

The faith of the tortles recognizes four Immortals: Mother Ocean, Father Earth, Sister Grain, and Brother Shell. These are understood to function together in a family unit, in which each is supreme in their sphere of influence, but each also relies upon the others for support and sustenance. Since no one Immortal is higher than the others this forms a basis upon which social relationships are modeled: each is unique in their strengths and weaknesses, but none stand above others.

Their biology is perhaps the most important cultural determinant. Once tortles hatch, they grow quickly to adulthood, reaching maturity by about age 13. However, they then typically live their lives to the age of 50 or 60 without any mating or reproductive urges. They may choose partners or form close cohabiting groups during this part of their lives, but this apparent “marriage” or polyamory is purely fraternal. When they reach their fifth or sixth decade of life, this is when their biological rhythm prompts them to find a mate. If a male and female bond during this time—which could be up to 20 years—they choose one of the four islands and settle there to have their children. Within 2 months of the female tortle depositing her clutch of eggs (usually between 4 and 12), both the father and mother naturally pass away. When the eggs hatch after 23 weeks, they are raised by the community. In this way, tortles regard themselves as parents and children of the entire islands’ populations.

This is perhaps why the tortles of the Tears do not have family names, but only given names. As they are all of the same family, a family name would be redundant. And both the generosity and tight-knit nature of these tortle islands are best understood as an outgrowth of this sense of family that supports and protects each other.

Government

The tortles of the Tears see no purpose in complicating life with laws, regulations, or reporting structures; they see themselves as a community in which everyone has a role to play, working for the benefit of all. Just as one has obligations to look after the other members of one’s immediate family group, so, too, do the tortles feel a sense of duty to their community as a whole. Where governance structures of any kind exist, they are at the local (or extended family) level and function as community gatherings—called Family Circles—where everyone has an equal voice.

For the most part, Family Circles are calm affairs where individual tortles may bring up matters of discussion for the whole community, or when a tortle commits an act requiring punishment or some form of restitution, for which a decision must be made. Meetings last until everyone has had a chance to speak or the matter at hand has been settled; it is not unknown for Family Circles to last half a day or longer. By tradition, a shard of the oldest known eggshell (which is held by the oldest family member or resident of the community) is passed around the gathering during the meeting, and the tortle who holds the shard has the right to speak. Out of deference to the Immortals who watch over them, the oldest shaman presides over the Family Circle and acts as adjudicator should a dispute arise.

Should the tortles ever be threatened by a foreign power—something that has not happened in living memory—the tortles will call a War Circle. These are sober, focused affairs attended by representatives from every tortle community in the Tears, and presided over by the most senior warrior tortle (known as the Home Warden) from Brother’s Land. There is no pre-set location for War Circles to meet^⁷; it is chosen by the Home Warden according to the situation and communicated by messengers to those who will be attending for their communities. Once decisions are made at a War Circle, instructions and plans are sent back to every community, and executed.

Economics

The tortles of the Tears do not use money, nor do they engage in traditional barter. While they understand these conventions and are capable of engaging in them with outsiders when necessary, within the community of the Tears such forms of exchange are regarded as distasteful and exploitative. Instead, the islands function on something closer to a “gift economy,” in which goods and services that fulfill needs are proactively and freely given from those who make or deliver them to those who need them. They are given freely and without any specific requirement for exchange in the future—which, given the uneven needs of individuals and groups, can easily be misunderstood by outsiders as indicating some kind of obscure hierarchy of tithing or servitude. It is an economy geared towards the satisfaction of tortle needs rather than the growth or generation of wealth.

As their internally focused economy does not take any regular inputs from the outside world, they are largely self-sufficient, making do with the resources available on hand. However, the tortles consider themselves and their islands to be integrally related to each other, and each island does specialize, and produce surpluses, in valuable goods and services. As such, the gift economy that is practiced between individuals is also practiced between islands.

While the tortles do retain some elementary knowledge of shipbuilding sufficient to construct crafts that can travel between the islands, this mode of transport has not been used regularly for generations, and no islands have anything that could be described as a harbor. Instead, the tortles have adapted to make use of two species native to this region to facilitate travel and transport. For individual transportation and small loads of goods (up to 600 lbs.) between islands, domesticated water salamanders are the conveyance of choice. For groups or large loads of goods (up to approximately 30 individuals or 20,000 lbs.), higher-ranking shamans can call on a giant sea turtle for aid.

Among the generally sober and hard-working tortles of the Tears, virtually all individuals produce something of value to others, and so the giving and receiving of gifts largely ensures that the essential needs of the community are met—and also allows individuals enough freedom and time to pursue specific projects that benefit themselves or their own interests. In cases where tortles are unwilling or unable to engage in the production of value or the custom of gift-giving, this unusual behavior is examined by the shamans of the island where they reside. Though highly unusual, tortles who cannot—or refuse to—conform to the communal life of the islands are provided with the necessary goods and skills to travel safely away.

Religion

Reflecting their very deep and direct spiritual relationship with the world itself, the tortles of the Tears venerate Immortals who have existed, in many cases, since the beginning of creation itself. The following table presents the four deities of the tortle pantheon, and which Immortal fulfills that role.

The tortles practice a shamanistic faith where practitioners interact directly with the deities through dreams and visions. Shamans are spiritual guides who help “lay-tortles” interpret whatever divine messages they might receive, and help their neighbors live in accordance with the wishes of the deities and act as advocates for the tortles themselves to ensure their continued survival.

The tortles’ “calendar” does not have dates or months; it is centered on the ebb and flow of the seasons and the position of the moon and stars. Specific days are also dedicated to the Immortals:

New Growth (Thaumont 15): This day, marked by the full moon, marks what the tortles consider to be the beginning of a new cycle of nature after the relative dormancy of winter, as they do not mark years as other peoples do. Although the Tears do not have noticeable seasons as the mainland does, cyclical patterns do exist for those who take the time to look for them. This day is marked with a low-key festival in honour of Father Earth, where tortles consume a good deal of what remains of last year’s food, express their hopes for the coming season, and plan anything that requires considerable work. No work is done on this day.

High Summer (Felmont 1): By tortle reckoning this day marks the day when Sister Grain is dominant, for this is when crops are coming into their own, animal young begin to become independent, and the fruits of the tortles’ labors become evident. This is a day of communal thanks for everyone’s hard work, and is marked with a modest feast and recounting of notable deeds committed thus far.

Harvest (Sviftmont 15): This day marks the gathering of the crops, the preserving of food for times of need, and a period of watchfulness for fall storms, for this is the time of year when Mother Ocean—who can be both generous and spiteful—rules. Tortles who feel they have something to be thankful for, or who have lost someone they wish to remember, make small boats out of dried leaves and grasses and cast them out to sea. According to tortle tradition, if the boat vanishes from sight before sundown, the wish or person remembered was accepted by Mother Ocean; although what that means is unique to each tortle.

The Ending (Nuwmont 1): Brother Shell rules this day, which is actually a two-day festival starting on midday of Kaldmont 28 and ending on midday of Nuwmont 2; although the main events occur on the 1st. On this day, tortles acknowledge that everything they set out to do on New Growth has either been accomplished or remains to be done, and it is up to each individual to decide whether they are happy with what they did. No new endeavours are undertaken during The Ending (and it is considered bad luck to do so), and this is considered a time when those who have passed on may visit their loved ones. The greatest tales of the tortles are told at this time, and the names of those who passed during the year are remembered.

Novel Creatures

Water salamanders are sinuous, blue-green amphibians that grow up to 15 feet long. They live in marshes and coastal areas that have plenty of caves and other secure nesting sites, and subsist on a diet largely composed of insects, fish, and crustaceans. Although they are not truly social animals, water salamanders tend to live in close proximity to each other in loose “colonies.”

In combat, water salamanders will use their claw and bite attacks to keep predators and opponents at bay, but if pressed they can shoot a concentrated jet of water from their mouths at any target up to 20 feet away. This counts as an attack, which is made in lieu of a bite, and if successful the target must save vs. death ray or be knocked over by the force of the blast and stunned for 1d6 rounds. Water salamanders can also produce this jet of water while swimming, in order to allow them to retreat up to 120 feet from harm’s way. This counts as an action and makes them effectively immune to melee-based attacks in the round in which they retreat. It should be noted that this water is magically produced by the salamander due to its connection to the Elemental Plane of Water; it does not need to swallow water to produce it.

Being creatures who originated on the Elemental Plane of Water, water salamanders are immune to water-based attacks and take half-damage from cold; however, they take full damage from fire-based attacks.

Giant sea turtles are a gargantuan sub-species of the common sea turtle, whose shells can be up to 30 feet wide and 40 feet long. Like their smaller cousins, giant sea turtles spend the majority of their lives in the open ocean, but females periodically return to their hatching grounds to lay eggs. They primarily eat algae and sea grasses, but will hunt jellyfish—even giant varieties.

Due to their immense size, giant sea turtles have few predators, but even so they shy away from threats as much as possible. If pressed, they can defend themselves with their formidable bite, which they can use once per round. If the giant sea turtle hits a target that is human-sized or smaller with a natural “20,” they swallow their opponent whole. Anyone trapped inside the turtle’s mouth takes 1d8 damage per round, due to the serrations on the inside of the creature’s throat. A swallowed victim may escape if they manage to inflict more than 10 damage in a single attack (the inside of the throat has an AC of 5).

Giant sea turtles are occasionally used by the tortles of the Tears for transportation.

1The tortles were well aware of the machinations of the Y’hog Carnifex but their isolationism and deeply peaceful bond with their homeland shielded them somewhat from the cosmic horrors of the Outer Beings, making any effort to conquer them a campaign of dubious value. The Lhomarrians, for their part, recognized the tortles’ connection to the land and sought to win them over, thinking to use their power against the Carnifex. While some tortle heroes did leave their communities to fight alongside the humans, they were few in number and their deeds are mostly lost to history.

The ancient conflict between Lhomarr and Y’hog is remembered in the songs and the slow, rhythmic poetry of the tortles, but is so highly allegorical that many hours of research would be required to decipher the true meaning.

2According to Inti tradition, kings were mummified upon their deaths and through ancient rituals their spirits remained to animate their desiccated bodies. Afterwards, they would govern the lands they personally conquered in life—this drove expansionist policies as each king feared becoming destitute in the afterlife.

One Inti king in particular, Totzlituac, learned through his spies of the Taymorans’ research, and believed that tortle blood could prolong his life long enough to allow him to embark upon a prolonged military campaign to subdue vast portions of what is now Sind, and thus make him wealthy beyond all imagination. His aspirations were cut short when he realized that not only was this untrue; he was also deathly allergic to tortle meat.

3While most scholars versed in the ancient history of the Known World date the fall of Mogreth to the collapse of the Raismyr Glacial Wall in what is now Rockhome, circa BC 2000, vocal critics—particularly those in Thyatis—claim that the survival of the eastern city of Theliir until approximately BC 1700 marks the true end of the reptilian nation. Although the heavily-fortified port city ultimately fell to its human neighbors amid the general antipathy of the era towards anyone with scales, its strategic value, at least, was appreciated and it lives on after a fashion as the Thyatian city of Tel Akbir. This might explain the widely-held superstitions among the local populace concerning snakes and the like.

4Although Rosheg-K’ha (alternatively known as “She Who Provides” and “Father of Lizards”) is part of the Outer Being pantheon, He/She/They take an active interest in lizardfolk and is not inherently antagonistic towards the multiverse. Ka is aware of this, which makes countering Rosheg-K’ha’s plots problematic because, on some level, they have similar goals. Most lizardfolk, however, have long memories and blame their former devotion to Rosheg-K’ha for the loss of Mogreth and their former position of dominance in the Known World.

5The tortles were chased from the Lost Lands by the advancing lizard men, but the victors only hold on to one of the islands now. The remaining three have become the roaming grounds for a nuckelavee, which chased the new occupants out amid much carnage. The creature’s history is uncertain: The lizard men blame its appearance on a tortle curse and see it as an act of revenge, while some tortles regard it as a form of karma, or divine punishment from the Sea, upon their aggressors. Most tortles, however, regret the creature’s presence and take it as a sign that they will never be able to return to the Lost Lands.

Unless, perhaps, a high-level adventuring party tried to help them out—but this is something for a Game Master to consider.

6Please see “The History of Ierendi and Minrothad”, by Simone Neri in Issue #5 of Threshold Magazine, for more information about this particular chapter of local history.

7Although the origins of this practice have long been forgotten by the tortles themselves, they arose during a period of intense conflict between Taymora and Intua (c. BC 2300), much of which took place in tortle territories and caused considerable destruction. The normally reclusive tortles harried forces from both nations through acts of sabotage and strategic ambushes, all of which were planned by a tortle warrior named Papek, who had worked for both sides as a guide at various times. Knowing the enemies’ movements and tactics, Papek ensured that the tortles were constantly on the move, and as few individuals as possible attended meetings to minimize the risk of capture.

Ten years of successful guerrilla warfare were sufficient for both Taymora and Intua to quit the field. Although a sizeable bounty was placed on Papek, he was never captured. Knowledge of Papek and his exploits has been lost in the passage of time, but some clues to what he did—such as a weathered tomb somewhere in the swamp—may remain to be found.

8According to the Red Steel boxed set (p. 127), the roles of Sister Grain and Brother Shell were taken up by the lupin Saimpts Ralon and Mâtin, respectively, “within the last century.” In the authors’ views, this adoption makes little sense in the context of the tortles of the Tears’ migrations and history, as outlined in this article. Thus, while the tortles of the Savage Coast adopted the Saimpts in the past century as outlined in the boxed set, the ancestors of the tortles discussed in this article have revered Terra and Ordana in the roles of Sister Grain and Brother Shell for centuries, or possibly millennia.

This distinction can be chalked up to a case of convergent cultural evolution, and will mean very little to most players. However, this may be of interest to Gamemasters who want to throw a curve ball at their players from time to time, as well as Mystaraphiles who actually read these footnotes to acquire a bit of extra lore. You know who you are.

Tortle Deity	Immortal	Role in the Tortle Pantheon
Mother Ocean	Calitha	Oceans and lakes, bounty of the sea, storms and weather.
Father Earth	Ka	Cycle of life and death, changing of the seasons, passage of time.
Sister Grain	Terra^⁸	Growth of plants and harvests, nature’s bounty.
Brother Shell	Ordana	Protection, survival of the tortles, resoluteness in the face of foes.