It made me think: Forgotten Realms has Maztica and Greyhawk also has some island kingdoms of pirates or some such near sea lanes where wealth is transported, but what does Mystara have?
Apart from the Hinterlands (which does not seem very wealthy) are there any "New World" colonies in Mystara from which empires bring home fleets of treasure for pirates and privateers to raid?
:-) Jesper
Regards,
Gary
Apart from the Hinterlands (which does not seem very wealthy) are there any "New World" colonies in Mystara from which empires bring home fleets of treasure for pirates and privateers to raid?
Would the Savage Baronies count? That region is relatively recent, and features similar sorts of "New World" exploration/colonization/mining.
Areas of the Isle of Dawn, possibly. (I'm thinking specifically of the Provincia Meridiona and Provincia Septentriona regions).
for a long time now I have wanted to place a Sargasso Sea somewhere near the Known World. Anybody got any ideas/suggestions where it might fit in?
I am thinking somewhere in the Sea of Dread east of the Isle of Dread, south of Minrothad Guilds...
:-) Jesper
Would the Savage Baronies count? That region is relatively recent, and features similar sorts of "New World" exploration/colonization/mining.
Areas of the Isle of Dawn, possibly. (I'm thinking specifically of the Provincia Meridiona and Provincia Septentriona regions).
The original Savage Coast adventure pretty explicitly made GOLD the reason for going there, too... By the time of the Savage Baronies, though, I think the region is too independant for treasure fleets. You could either say the Savage Coast is pre-Red Steel, or if you want treasure fleets to coexist, I'd say put a more advanced civilization for Thyatis to conquer nearby the Hinterlands.
Or, after WotI, you could decide that Thyatis moves in to take over the ruins of Alphatian civilization and starts shipping its former wealth back home via the Isle of Dawn.
Apart from the Hinterlands (which does not seem very wealthy) are there any "New World" colonies in Mystara from which empires bring home fleets of treasure for pirates and privateers to raid?
As JNC pointed out about the 'Savage Coast' being in the past, the gold and treasure fleets could have occured there up to about a century ago, but now the area is settled and 'civilized' with the 'great wealth boom' used up. Now they've pushed further west as far as the Immortal's Arm where there have been discoveries of vast treasure from ancient ruins and civilizations.
And then there's the mysterious island of Zyxl! What lies there? Is it Wealth untold or will Death unfold?! (Sounds like the back cover of an OD&D module ;) )
As JNC pointed out about the 'Savage Coast' being in the past, the gold and treasure fleets could have occured there up to about a century ago, but now the area is settled and 'civilized' with the 'great wealth boom' used up. Now they've pushed further west as far as the Immortal's Arm where there have been discoveries of vast treasure from ancient ruins and civilizations.
Hmm, that would make the Savage Baronies excellent bases for pirates as the treasure fleets move past them on their way back to Thyatis.
The more I think about it, the more I think treasure fleets should move past Ierendi and the Five Shires, to make sense of all the mentions of Halfling pirates... so the Savage Coast area would be ideal.
I read a Greyhawk scenario once, in which a merchant sailor discovered a "ship graveyard" in a Sargasso Sea far out on the ocean. Most of the hulls were battered and rotting and nearly sinking but help up by the thick grass carpet. However, from afar the merchant sailor recognized the hull of a legendary treasure galleon that disappeared at sea 70 years before with a cargo full of gold and riches.
The merchant sailor returns to port and asks around for adventurers to help him return to the Sargasso Sea and fight any monsters or other dangers that might lure in or around the ship graveyard. Unfortunately, one of the crew members is a spy for a gang of pirates and they set sail following the merchant sailor and the adventurers.
What follows is a dangerous exploration of the ship graveyard (which is populated by monsters and the restless souls of doomed sailors), the liberation of the treasure and a bloody pirate battle before returning home.
:-) Jesper
Hmm, that would make the Savage Baronies excellent bases for pirates as the treasure fleets move past them on their way back to Thyatis ... so the Savage Coast area would be ideal.
Except for the recent spread of the Red Curse. Most Sailors won't spend more than a night or two on land in the Baronies lest they find themselves trapped by the Coast (unless they can tolerate the legacy withdrawal that is).
The City States would be a better option. Of course, anyone on the Coast actually doing the mining is virtually immune to Known World reprisal for revolt, since any Army sent from the Known World becomes stuck on the Coast.
Except for the recent spread of the Red Curse. Most Sailors won't spend more than a night or two on land in the Baronies lest they find themselves trapped by the Coast (unless they can tolerate the legacy withdrawal that is).
The City States would be a better option. Of course, anyone on the Coast actually doing the mining is virtually immune to Known World reprisal for revolt, since any Army sent from the Known World becomes stuck on the Coast.
There are several areas in the SC that can be havens for pirates, especially the colonies in the Haze like Bom Jardim and Porto Maldicao.
Of course, due to the Red Curse, most trade route go through Slagovich or Yavdlom, where SC merchants sell their wares to local or Minrothaddan or Thyatian merchants.
So the "gold route" would be from Narvaez, Texeiras and Vilaverde to Slagovich, Hojah and Zvornik down to Kladanavich, and from there either by land to Tijaret or by sea to Tanakumba.
Darokin and Sindhi merchants would pick up wares in Tijaret and move by land to Darokin.
Sea merchants from the KW would likely make their purchases in Tanakumba and Tijaret, and move back towards Darokin, Minrothad, Thyatis and Ierendi.
I agree that the Savage Coast is a likely origination of many trade routes, and the culture of the Baronies certainly supports the idea of piracy flourishing. Several other areas reveal potential, though: I agree that the first step is to identify important trade routes... pirates will naturally be attracted. Here's what strikes me as the top trade routes:
1) Bellissaria to Alphatia: while it doesn't represent easily portable wealth, the grain ships are critical to the survival of Metropolitan Alphatia. The lack of safe harbors and easily-plundered wealth means that these routes are probably largely free of piracy.
2) Tyjaret to Tyatis, and points in between: While these routes are not dominated by any single cargo, there is a constant exchange of goods among the ports in the north part of the Sea of Dread, particularly around Ierendi and Minrothad. The area also is home to what I think are the two biggest slave markets around--Jaibul and Fort Doom. There is plenty of opportunity for piracy, even if a pirate not know offhand what they'll find on a particular ship.
3) Arm of the Immortals to Kladanovic: already extensively discussed
4) Esterhold to everywhere: More along the lines of the Spanish treasure fleets, enormous mineral wealth sails out of Esterhold's ports, and the isolation of the region must make piracy very attractive.
5) Norwold to everywhere: While I don't think it is as lucrative as the Estehold routes, Norwold also produces a significant amount of mineral wealth for export elsewhere. Pirates out of Landfall, Ostland, and Caerdwicca likely take a chunk of the wealth.
1) Bellissaria to Alphatia
2) Tyjaret to Thyatis
3) Arm of the Immortals to Kladanovic:
4) Esterhold to everywhere
5) Norwold to everywhere
I'd also add some other routes:
6) Gombar to Tangor (lot of trade there, as Gombar and Suma'a are colonies of distant powers)
7) Ierendi to Karameikos and Darokin (Ierendi has a surplus of gold and a lack of silver, making these specific routes quite rich)
8) Kastelios and Garganin to Yavdlom and the Gulf of Hule
In the future, if the Savage Coast powers (Renardie, Bellayne and the Sea Powers) manage to establish colonies in Davania (see Geoff's map of the Addakian Sound for potential locations), there may be new routes from Davania (Addakian Sound region, but also Brasol and Pelatan) to the Savage Coast.