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

Dominion of the Isle of Dread

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
marc
Jan 27, 2004 19:30:32 Just a quick one.

Does anyone have any official info on which nation has claim to the Isle of dread or otherwise. I was planning to incorporate a side adventure into the campaign which leads the pc's to the isle of dread (nothing related to the offical adventure considering it is mainly an exploration type module).

My assumption at the moment is that the isle is autonomous and I have a feeling the pc's will want to claim it. However, consedering Ierendi and a few of the other southern countries have quite good fleets I find it difficult that no nation would have posted their flag on the isle.

I'd be interested to hear what others have done with this famous landmark if anything
#2
eric_anondson
Jan 27, 2004 20:57:24
Originally posted by Marc
However, consedering Ierendi and a few of the other southern countries have quite good fleets I find it difficult that no nation would have posted their flag on the isle.

I don't know of any official source stating a nation has a claim.

However, going out on the hypotheticals, instead of Ierendi staking a claim, I would think that Thyatis or a Minrothad princeling would stake claim first, being that those nations are the more expansionist or explorationary.

I believe there has been some fan who tried to retcon the claim that the Ispans (who colonized the Savage Coast) came from Thyatis. The take that I remember was that the Ispans were an offshoot of the Kerendans who left the mainland of Brun to settle some of the Thanegioth Archipelago (where the Isle of Dread is), but then left those islands (also giving up claim over the isles they tried settling) for the Savage Coast.

I found it a rather believable proposal, always wondering just how the Ispans were to have fit into the greater Thyatian history.

Regards,
Eric Anondson
#3
zombiegleemax
Jan 30, 2004 14:12:31 No one would settle it, I should think. It's hardly hospitable. Most of the island is mountainous, it's crawling with monsters and headhunters, and a heck of a long way from anywhere. The more easterly islands would be the first to be colonized, if even they were worth the trouble. Sort of like the Pacific islands on earth - most of which never were really colonized, with a few exceptions like Hawaii, and those only recently - possibly the last places on the planet to be settled during our age of colonization, with the exception of the African interior.
Some places are meant to be wilderness, even in Mystara. Look at how there are vast tracts of wilderness surrounding Darokin, or how more than half the Isle of Dawn is untamed ... or Karameikos. The world of Mystara is set in an "early 15th century" or so milieu, a good while before there was any mass overseas colonization in our world, and when vast tracts of Europe were still more or less wild.
Still, I could see one situation: the Thyatians might decide to put up some kind of outpost on the far eastern tip of the island chain, to resupply ships on the way to the Hinterlands, and perhaps as a drop-off point for slaves and resources from there. But I would see the Isle of Dread itself, barring unusual circumstances, as a no-go.
#4
marc
Feb 01, 2004 20:27:02 I agree that the isle shouldn't be 'settled'. However, I think that any nation would extend it's borders if it had the opportunity even if the place remained un settled.

The tyatian outpost theory would be pluasible in my mind and even the locals (small contingant that they are) would have some sort of natianality background.

I think the isle would be a perfect pc base of operations, leave the hostile environment to keep any unwanted intruders at bay.
Also the distance thing can easily be mitigated with teleport...
#5
zombiegleemax
Feb 01, 2004 20:50:09
Originally posted by Marc
I agree that the isle shouldn't be 'settled'. However, I think that any nation would extend it's borders if it had the opportunity even if the place remained un settled.

The tyatian outpost theory would be pluasible in my mind and even the locals (small contingant that they are) would have some sort of natianality background.

I think the isle would be a perfect pc base of operations, leave the hostile environment to keep any unwanted intruders at bay.
Also the distance thing can easily be mitigated with teleport...

Yes, I can imagine you could locate quite a few "hidden bases" of different factions throughout the Thanegioth, its absolutely ideal for that. That's one of the main reasons I like to think of it as unclaimed, unsettled wild islands.
#6
zombiegleemax
Feb 03, 2004 10:03:02 Also, as far as the Ierendi and Minroth and others, they might have good fleets, but ... I can't remember in which supplement, but it was stated the central part of the Sea of Dread is very very poor sailing, usually dead calm, interspersed with random and extremely violent storms ... so no one is going to want to risk sending a fleet of any size right the way across over a set of small, mountainous, jungle-infested scraps of land filled with hostile natives and monstrous creatures. Even pirates would be unlikely to be interested in it very much as it lies so far from any major trade routes (though a route is shown going to Tanaroa in the DoE, I would presume it is fairly minor). The only spot I can see being of any importance would be the far tip of the most eastern isle of the Thanegioth - either to Thyatians as an outpost for resupply of ships bound to the Hinterlanders, or possibly pirates as a staging ground against same.
If the PCs wanted to establish an outpost there, the major problems I can think of are (a) where will they get stonemasons or carpenters to build their stronghold? Few will likely want to come and those that do will be prohibitively expensive - double or triple costs and time, at least, for all buildings; (b) How will they protect the workers etc from dinosaurs, rakasta, aranea, headhunters, etc; (c) There are likely large tribes of natives on the other islands, they will likely interfere against such an encroachment; (d) Because of the infrequency of trade, they will not be able to supply their outpost with manufactured goods of any kind appropriately, and the limited tools weapons etc that they can acquire will be extremely expensive.
Now that's just for a stronghold. If they're considering a dominion, they might as well forget it - there's no way they will be able to attract settlers, the only possible dominion is to take control of Tanaroa, and it would be a very meager dominion, with the players really only able to influence the society so much.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 marc Jan 27, 2004 19:30:32	Just a quick one. Does anyone have any official info on which nation has claim to the Isle of dread or otherwise. I was planning to incorporate a side adventure into the campaign which leads the pc's to the isle of dread (nothing related to the offical adventure considering it is mainly an exploration type module). My assumption at the moment is that the isle is autonomous and I have a feeling the pc's will want to claim it. However, consedering Ierendi and a few of the other southern countries have quite good fleets I find it difficult that no nation would have posted their flag on the isle. I'd be interested to hear what others have done with this famous landmark if anything
#2 eric_anondson Jan 27, 2004 20:57:24	Originally posted by Marc However, consedering Ierendi and a few of the other southern countries have quite good fleets I find it difficult that no nation would have posted their flag on the isle. I don't know of any official source stating a nation has a claim. However, going out on the hypotheticals, instead of Ierendi staking a claim, I would think that Thyatis or a Minrothad princeling would stake claim first, being that those nations are the more expansionist or explorationary. I believe there has been some fan who tried to retcon the claim that the Ispans (who colonized the Savage Coast) came from Thyatis. The take that I remember was that the Ispans were an offshoot of the Kerendans who left the mainland of Brun to settle some of the Thanegioth Archipelago (where the Isle of Dread is), but then left those islands (also giving up claim over the isles they tried settling) for the Savage Coast. I found it a rather believable proposal, always wondering just how the Ispans were to have fit into the greater Thyatian history. Regards, Eric Anondson
#3 zombiegleemax Jan 30, 2004 14:12:31	No one would settle it, I should think. It's hardly hospitable. Most of the island is mountainous, it's crawling with monsters and headhunters, and a heck of a long way from anywhere. The more easterly islands would be the first to be colonized, if even they were worth the trouble. Sort of like the Pacific islands on earth - most of which never were really colonized, with a few exceptions like Hawaii, and those only recently - possibly the last places on the planet to be settled during our age of colonization, with the exception of the African interior. Some places are meant to be wilderness, even in Mystara. Look at how there are vast tracts of wilderness surrounding Darokin, or how more than half the Isle of Dawn is untamed ... or Karameikos. The world of Mystara is set in an "early 15th century" or so milieu, a good while before there was any mass overseas colonization in our world, and when vast tracts of Europe were still more or less wild. Still, I could see one situation: the Thyatians might decide to put up some kind of outpost on the far eastern tip of the island chain, to resupply ships on the way to the Hinterlands, and perhaps as a drop-off point for slaves and resources from there. But I would see the Isle of Dread itself, barring unusual circumstances, as a no-go.
#4 marc Feb 01, 2004 20:27:02	I agree that the isle shouldn't be 'settled'. However, I think that any nation would extend it's borders if it had the opportunity even if the place remained un settled. The tyatian outpost theory would be pluasible in my mind and even the locals (small contingant that they are) would have some sort of natianality background. I think the isle would be a perfect pc base of operations, leave the hostile environment to keep any unwanted intruders at bay. Also the distance thing can easily be mitigated with teleport...
#5 zombiegleemax Feb 01, 2004 20:50:09	Originally posted by Marc I agree that the isle shouldn't be 'settled'. However, I think that any nation would extend it's borders if it had the opportunity even if the place remained un settled. The tyatian outpost theory would be pluasible in my mind and even the locals (small contingant that they are) would have some sort of natianality background. I think the isle would be a perfect pc base of operations, leave the hostile environment to keep any unwanted intruders at bay. Also the distance thing can easily be mitigated with teleport... Yes, I can imagine you could locate quite a few "hidden bases" of different factions throughout the Thanegioth, its absolutely ideal for that. That's one of the main reasons I like to think of it as unclaimed, unsettled wild islands.
#6 zombiegleemax Feb 03, 2004 10:03:02	Also, as far as the Ierendi and Minroth and others, they might have good fleets, but ... I can't remember in which supplement, but it was stated the central part of the Sea of Dread is very very poor sailing, usually dead calm, interspersed with random and extremely violent storms ... so no one is going to want to risk sending a fleet of any size right the way across over a set of small, mountainous, jungle-infested scraps of land filled with hostile natives and monstrous creatures. Even pirates would be unlikely to be interested in it very much as it lies so far from any major trade routes (though a route is shown going to Tanaroa in the DoE, I would presume it is fairly minor). The only spot I can see being of any importance would be the far tip of the most eastern isle of the Thanegioth - either to Thyatians as an outpost for resupply of ships bound to the Hinterlanders, or possibly pirates as a staging ground against same. If the PCs wanted to establish an outpost there, the major problems I can think of are (a) where will they get stonemasons or carpenters to build their stronghold? Few will likely want to come and those that do will be prohibitively expensive - double or triple costs and time, at least, for all buildings; (b) How will they protect the workers etc from dinosaurs, rakasta, aranea, headhunters, etc; (c) There are likely large tribes of natives on the other islands, they will likely interfere against such an encroachment; (d) Because of the infrequency of trade, they will not be able to supply their outpost with manufactured goods of any kind appropriately, and the limited tools weapons etc that they can acquire will be extremely expensive. Now that's just for a stronghold. If they're considering a dominion, they might as well forget it - there's no way they will be able to attract settlers, the only possible dominion is to take control of Tanaroa, and it would be a very meager dominion, with the players really only able to influence the society so much.