Origin of the Isle of Dread - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Origin of the Isle of Dread

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Dec 16, 2005 11:33:12 This was requested at Dragonsfoot, so I've typed out a brief outline of the history of the Isle of Dread in my campaign. A little more added here.

Briefly, not long after Landfall, a set of isolationist Alphatian mages set out for a distant set of Islands so that they wouldn't have any meddling authorities getting in their way.

Their leader, a man named Thaneg, led a small group to settle on one of the larger islands in a little known archipelago. They constructed for themselves a palace on an island in an inland lake, and from there they successfully enslaved the whole human population (who, in their Alphatian way, the settlers saw as brutal savages). In reality, the original inhabitants of the Isle of Dread were ingenious and productive craftsmen, skilled in construction and in ways of the Forest and the Jungle.

Thanegia and his followers were the first Alphatians to meet up with the former Flaems, now in Glantri, and they had largely peaceful relations with the Flaems (Thaneg was not a follower of air, he had no quarrel with the Flaems, nor they with him). Amongst the things traded between 'Thanegia', as the colony was known, and the area later to become Glantri were gemstones, slaves and worked goods. Included amongst these slaves were Glantrian Rakasta, the first Rakasta in the archipelago. It was only with components bought from the Glaems that Thanegs goal could really be achieved; as part of his quest for immortality, he and his apprentices studied the remains of long extinct creatures found in the rocks, and set about magically recreating them. Their exploits soon came to the attention of various immortals, who were split in their opinion on how to react. But it was not an immortal event that saw the downfall of Thaneg and his followers, it was an uprising against them led by Kopru denizens of the island, who led the slaves in a revolt that saw Thaneg and most of his apprentices killed.

The Kopru, of course, wanted the wealth of this new Alphatian colony for themselves, but the humans turned out to be too difficult to control. The villages on the Southern peninsular of the island managed to overthrow the Kopru, but after this there were few natives remainin. No one knows when the Wall was built, but it is supposed that vestiges of their earlier culture still survived at this time. With the constant raids from dinosaurs and other monsters on the island, it is a testament to their courage that they survived at all.

The Rakasta made the most of their new environment, and flourished in the forest. The islanders retreated into superstition and isolationism, under the constant threat from Kopru and dinosaurs. Even now, the few who know of the central plateau and the island in the lake refer to it as 'Taboo'.

Thaneg himself is little remembered today, but his legacy remains. The nation known to outsiders as Thanegia, and the idland chain the Thanegioth Archipelago, bear testament to his former importance, and the Isle of Dread remains a 'lost world' to this day. There are unconfirmed rumours the beneath the Island, beneath the realm of the Kopru, the caverns in which Thanegia and his followers still remain, untouched.
#2
yellowdingo
Dec 17, 2005 1:18:24 I always thought it was built by the Elves of Yav? You know, before they intermarried with humans and moved to establish the Divinarchy of Yavdlom.
#3
zombiegleemax
Dec 19, 2005 7:43:56
I always thought it was built by the Elves of Yav? You know, before they intermarried with humans and moved to establish the Divinarchy of Yavdlom.

Yeah, maybe. That would work very well. But that isn't how I did it in my campaign.
#4
yellowdingo
Dec 19, 2005 9:54:24 The lords of Alphatia wont like that. Considering what they did to the gnome who wapped a bunch of bogus names on a world map and bluffed his way to a fortune. They still find pieces of him...

Seriously though, If you can find it, you need the Poor Wizards Almanac 1010AC, 1011AC, and 1012AC. They have lots on the history of the western Thanegioth Archaepelligo. If the Isle of Dread is in the Eastern part of the island chain then you probbably have a better history for the Isle of Dread. Considering the proximity of the Emerondians (ex space pirates from the asteroid belt) it is as good as any possibility. For all we know it was built by a drunk Alphatian wizard keeping the wild life out of his vegetable patch.
#5
zombiegleemax
Dec 20, 2005 6:03:51 I have the almanacs, but by the time the first of those almanacs had been released I had already sorted out the history of the Isle of Dread. That's the problem with game worlds being released piecemeal, you often end up with published facts contradicting what you've already designed and used.

The info on Thanegia, the Thyatian Hinterlands, Emerond and suchlike has made for some fun additions to the Island chain, but I've kept the Isle of Dread as an old, failed Alphatian experiment.

As and when I get round to it, I'll post describing some of the other islands in my campaign. And I promise, I'm a more reliable source than that gnome...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Dec 16, 2005 11:33:12	This was requested at Dragonsfoot, so I've typed out a brief outline of the history of the Isle of Dread in my campaign. A little more added here. Briefly, not long after Landfall, a set of isolationist Alphatian mages set out for a distant set of Islands so that they wouldn't have any meddling authorities getting in their way. Their leader, a man named Thaneg, led a small group to settle on one of the larger islands in a little known archipelago. They constructed for themselves a palace on an island in an inland lake, and from there they successfully enslaved the whole human population (who, in their Alphatian way, the settlers saw as brutal savages). In reality, the original inhabitants of the Isle of Dread were ingenious and productive craftsmen, skilled in construction and in ways of the Forest and the Jungle. Thanegia and his followers were the first Alphatians to meet up with the former Flaems, now in Glantri, and they had largely peaceful relations with the Flaems (Thaneg was not a follower of air, he had no quarrel with the Flaems, nor they with him). Amongst the things traded between 'Thanegia', as the colony was known, and the area later to become Glantri were gemstones, slaves and worked goods. Included amongst these slaves were Glantrian Rakasta, the first Rakasta in the archipelago. It was only with components bought from the Glaems that Thanegs goal could really be achieved; as part of his quest for immortality, he and his apprentices studied the remains of long extinct creatures found in the rocks, and set about magically recreating them. Their exploits soon came to the attention of various immortals, who were split in their opinion on how to react. But it was not an immortal event that saw the downfall of Thaneg and his followers, it was an uprising against them led by Kopru denizens of the island, who led the slaves in a revolt that saw Thaneg and most of his apprentices killed. The Kopru, of course, wanted the wealth of this new Alphatian colony for themselves, but the humans turned out to be too difficult to control. The villages on the Southern peninsular of the island managed to overthrow the Kopru, but after this there were few natives remainin. No one knows when the Wall was built, but it is supposed that vestiges of their earlier culture still survived at this time. With the constant raids from dinosaurs and other monsters on the island, it is a testament to their courage that they survived at all. The Rakasta made the most of their new environment, and flourished in the forest. The islanders retreated into superstition and isolationism, under the constant threat from Kopru and dinosaurs. Even now, the few who know of the central plateau and the island in the lake refer to it as 'Taboo'. Thaneg himself is little remembered today, but his legacy remains. The nation known to outsiders as Thanegia, and the idland chain the Thanegioth Archipelago, bear testament to his former importance, and the Isle of Dread remains a 'lost world' to this day. There are unconfirmed rumours the beneath the Island, beneath the realm of the Kopru, the caverns in which Thanegia and his followers still remain, untouched.
#2 yellowdingo Dec 17, 2005 1:18:24	I always thought it was built by the Elves of Yav? You know, before they intermarried with humans and moved to establish the Divinarchy of Yavdlom.
#3 zombiegleemax Dec 19, 2005 7:43:56	I always thought it was built by the Elves of Yav? You know, before they intermarried with humans and moved to establish the Divinarchy of Yavdlom. Yeah, maybe. That would work very well. But that isn't how I did it in my campaign.
#4 yellowdingo Dec 19, 2005 9:54:24	The lords of Alphatia wont like that. Considering what they did to the gnome who wapped a bunch of bogus names on a world map and bluffed his way to a fortune. They still find pieces of him... Seriously though, If you can find it, you need the Poor Wizards Almanac 1010AC, 1011AC, and 1012AC. They have lots on the history of the western Thanegioth Archaepelligo. If the Isle of Dread is in the Eastern part of the island chain then you probbably have a better history for the Isle of Dread. Considering the proximity of the Emerondians (ex space pirates from the asteroid belt) it is as good as any possibility. For all we know it was built by a drunk Alphatian wizard keeping the wild life out of his vegetable patch.
#5 zombiegleemax Dec 20, 2005 6:03:51	I have the almanacs, but by the time the first of those almanacs had been released I had already sorted out the history of the Isle of Dread. That's the problem with game worlds being released piecemeal, you often end up with published facts contradicting what you've already designed and used. The info on Thanegia, the Thyatian Hinterlands, Emerond and suchlike has made for some fun additions to the Island chain, but I've kept the Isle of Dread as an old, failed Alphatian experiment. As and when I get round to it, I'll post describing some of the other islands in my campaign. And I promise, I'm a more reliable source than that gnome...