Ortuga

The remote sland of Ortuga is a refuge chosen by many pirates in hiding. In addition to the winding port city of Sargossa, where rum and whores can be found in abundance, the island also known for its picturesque beaches and tropical waters.

It's the home of conch magic and forbidden voodoo rituals brought by the tribal shamans of the jungle. The legendary Wavewalkers, famed for being able to cast conch magic and walk on water, are reported to live in Ortuga.

## History

The history of the islands of Ortuga and Hornkap dates back to ancient times. Back in the day, the islands were mere fishing towns, with barely any population living in there, since the frequent storms and winds would ravage the land over and over. The population there lived very poor lives, always weary of the tribal groups living inside the deep jungles in the deeper parts of Ortuga. Many of the human towns were also frequently raided by the native populations of kobalins, who raided Ortuga from time to time from their spawning grounds in Hornkap. This made the human population living in Ortuga very hardened individuals, accustomed to fight constantly to survive, while also having to battle the elements and the sea to even feed themselves. The development of the island was considerably backwards, as the other travelers of the Sea of the End avoided the archipelago at all costs. In fact, the coastal peoples at the shores considered the inhabitants of Ortuga and Hornkap as madmen, living in the death trap that were the islands, hence the name of “The Island of Madness”.

However, it all changed with the strengthening of trade between the two sides of the world. The first attempts of creating solid trade relations between the western and the eastern seas increased the importance of the sea trade from the many azanese trade factories in the Zulutaur Steppes. At the time, the Zidazzi were pretty isolationist, and weren’t particularly interested in defending the caravans, focusing instead on the protection of the flower fields. And the bagdassi raids were a problem for the trade, looting anything they could get their hands on and leaving before there could be any retaliation. Sea trade, however, presented a much faster method between the Zulutaur Steppes and the lands of the Mona Ki Ngi Xica. This meant that sea trade grew quite fast, and the number of ships crossing the Sea of the End skyrocketed. This also meant that, due to the irregular nature of the Maelstrom, many shipwrecks ended up in Ortuga. Within these wreckages, it included treasures that ended up in the coast, falling into the hands of the local populations. Of course, this meant that the traders organized many expeditions to recover the goods, which started the occupation of the island by the sea merchants. While the control of the island was not particularly profitable for the trading companies (the island’s weather and constant fighting ate too much of the profits), it resulted in a great boon for the fishing towns. Suddenly, their level of technological and social development skyrocketed, though they found themselves under the thumb of the merchant companies. But more important than that, the local populations became enamored by the exotic goods arriving to the island. After a particularly bad storm and a following kobalin raid forced the trading companies away from the archipelago, the locals decided they no longer wanted to return to their previous life, and thus the start of the pirating activity in the area began.

The first thing that the seashore towns did was to establish a series of alliances with the tribal communities within the jungles of Ortuga. Promising them riches and sharing the goods that were left on the island, they agreed to help their old enemies in their search for treasure, using their mystical powers to the task. They also began constructing fortresses and ships for their use, though these would be of much lesser quality than what could be found in the continent. Their main strength was their knowledge about the maelstrom and the remoteness of the island, which allowed them to find safe harbor. Another element that allowed them a lot of initial success was that, up until this point, piratical activity within the Sea of the End was minimal. The western shores were guarded by zulutaur mercenaries and other groups paid by the trading companies, and the zidazzi had a strong grip over their side of the sea. Thus, the pirates from Ortuga were able to rack up a substantial score of successful raids, increasing both their treasure and their fleet. However, this did not last for long. After a decade of assaults to trading ships, a series of attacks to zidazzi coastal towns ended up with a massive zidazzi fleet retaliating against the inhabitants of Ortuga. The war between the zidazzi and the ortugan pirates ended up with the victory of the zidazzi, who razed the towns to the ground. However, their attempts to occupy the island to continue the conflict towards the jungles ended up badly, as the land did not generate enough flowers to maintain the numbers of soldiers deployed, and bringing honey from the mainland could be difficult due to the maelstrom. As such, they decided to abandon the island, allowing the inhabitants of Ortuga to lick their wounds.

While the inhabitants of the shores began rebuilding their strongholds and ships, the tribal groups searched for new ways to use their magical knowledge to defend the island from further attacks. After many failed blood rituals, they managed to find a way to create powerful wizards, known as “wavewalkers”. These wavewalkers could only be brought forth from children born during certain circumstances, and thus would be extraordinarily rare, but their powers would allow the ortugan pirates success against ships of bigger tonnage and armament. However, their numbers were still too small, and avoided the zidazzi fleet as much as possible. Their enmity against the zidazzi made the ortugan ally with bagdassi bandits and contrabandists, bringing them things such as weapons and alcohol. The arrival of weapons, especially gunpowder-based ones, became a great boon to the ortugans, since the zidazzi fleet was designed around wax ships, and was quite vulnerable to gunfire. The Ortugans participated, alongside Hibila’s bagdassi, in the Battle of the Queen Xibianix’ Strait, allowing the fall of the zidazzi and the rise of the Confederated Chiefdoms of Badgassi Mara Honi.

The fall of their main enemy allowed an explosive expansion of the piratical activities, and also allowed them to build the defenses of their main outpost, the pirate city of Sargossa. Nowadays, the ortugan pirates have become a sore for the trade in the region, allowing them to cross in exchange for high “protection fees”, and taking the ships and cargo from those who do not pay for it. The old friendship between the bagdassi and the ortugans still stands, and thus the pirates are allowed to roam free throughout the sea. In recent times, the pirates have begun colonizing the island of Hornkap, creating human towns in the previously exclusive kobalin island, and bringing kobalin mercenaries into their crew.

## Society

The inhabitants of Ortuga have become a hodge-podge of different peoples dedicated to piracy in the Sea of the End. Aside from the native inhabitants of the archipelago and the kobalin mercenaries, we can find badgassi raiders, pigfolk bandits, servalala fiends, buccaneering harpies, Mona Ki Ngi Xica exiles… all seeking refuge from their lands and finding it in the rainy archipelago of Ortuga and Hornkap. This has made the island into a very unique culture, all centered around piracy. Unlike other piratical nations like Künt or the Blind Bastard’s Domain, Ortuga does not really form a singular state, nor does it have an overarching structure of any kind. The closest thing to that would be the “**Laws of the Sea and the Island**”, known to the outsiders as the “Pirate’s Law”, a series of non-written rules that all living in the archipelago need to follow. The laws are memorized by all those who decide to take up the profession of buccaneering, and they are considered as somewhat sacred by the inhabitants of Ortuga. While they are somewhat ever shifting due to the oral nature of the laws, they are designed to be as easy and straightforward as possible, to avoid any possible confusion. They mostly center on keeping the usual fighting between pirate crews from plunging the pirate haven into chaos: not stealing from other crews within the island, murders are forbidden but honor duels are not, all pirates need to warn from threats to the island and fight if it becomes necessary… There is not a body enforcing these rules, but all pirates generally agree to follow them. Those who broke them are not welcomed in the island, and could be hanged if they ever dare to return.

The Sea of the End is a closed sea, and due to it being far from most powerful nations of the world, the size of the ships sailing it is much smaller than in other oceans. This also applies to the pirate ships, who are mostly junks of different designs, mostly designed to be fast and nimble, preferring to attack in group and surround the trading vessels before boarding. As such, most pirate junks are no more than 20 people per ship. Many pirate captains will command multiple ships at once, and the biggest pirate captains could command more than a dozen. Up and coming captains will ally with each other to increase their numbers, since trading ships are capable of fending off one or two pirate junks. Most junks only have a couple of cannons at best, since while gunpowder is plentiful in Ortuga, manufacturing cannons is more complicated, since the island lacks iron deposits to make them. Thus, acquiring cannons for their junk is a very important task for the pirate captains, more so than acquiring the ships themselves. Most of the cannons come from contraband with the fellow pirates in the Zulutaur Steppes or the badgassi. The badgassi in particular do push piracy in the Sea of the End as much as possible, since not only are pirates good clients and old allies, but piracy in the sea makes the trade routes through badgassi land much more appealing, and can thus tax them more.

Most pirate raids against trading ships limit themselves to stealing the loot and leaving the ship behind. While taking the ship as a prize is something that most pirates do in other seas, the truth is that the pirates do not have the facilities to maintain big vessels, and most of them see them as lumbering targets, too slow to catch up other ships and too vulnerable to the weather. Plus, over the years many forms of moving goods from the two sides of the world, both through the lands of the badgassi and the old azanese Onyx Strip, now mostly controlled by other powers. As such, the groups with the interest and capabilities of manufacturing vessels into a closed sea have been suffering ups and downs, and with less ships, less booty. Many pirates will thus leave the ship behind or, at most, ask for a ransom. This allows the captured vessels to go back to business faster, allowing the shipment of goods to resume as fast as possible.

The tribal populations in the deepest parts of the islands have become a common sight in the coastal towns, and have adopted many customs from both their neighbors and the outsiders. However, entering into the tribal hideouts in the jungle is strictly forbidden, under pains of death. The secrets that they have to produce wavewalkers are highly secretive, and many have ended up gutted and with their entrails tied to the trees for snooping around where they should not. The wavewalkers themselves are highly sought after crew, though their value is mostly as defenders of the island in case of attacks. Once in a while, the trading companies will hire mercenaries and renegade soldiers to try to destroy the pirates in Ortuga. And since the fortifications in the island are not as developed as other pirate havens in the world, they have been known to actually land in several occasions. Wavewalkers are essential to break the enemy ships from underneath, with their conch magic allowing them to walk on water and spend many hours under the water. Wavewalkers are also highly resistant to the effects of the pressure from the deep, which allows them to recover elements from sunken ships. However, using this magic has severe effects upon their bodies. At first, their skin will turn paler, and their bodies will lose strength. If they continue to use magic, their bodies will begin to adopt a strange liquid complexion, and will eventually melt completely into water. There is no known form of cure or treatment for reverting these effects. As such, wavewalkers do not tend to live long lives, usually achieving so only during periods of peace.

## Religion

The coast, being a haven for pirates of many races and colours, is also the home of a plethora of many different religions from all around the southern parts of Giantstep. What unites these people, however, is the “Laws of the Sea and the Island”, known to the outsiders as the “Pirate’s Law”, which, although stricly speaking, is not a religion, it is not unheard of pirates forsaking their own gods and instead following these series of oral laws as if they were a sacred text.

The natives of the inland jungles of Ortuga, however, follow a different faith, even when they partake in buccaneering and piracy. They worship, strange, otherwordly gods, who have no specific form, and are believed to come from a different dimension. These so called Old Gods of Ortuga are said to rule over the Mare Tenebrosum, a realm that consists only of water, and that the Kobalins are their children. Not only that, but they believe that the Maelstrom acts as both as a portal to the Mare Tenebrosum, as well as the mouth of the Old Gods, of which they are able to transport sea creatures over to our own dimension. The native Ortugans perform sacrifices before and after every one of their raids, and many of their voodoo rituals and dances are religious in nature.

## Foreign Relations

### Confederated Chiefdoms of Badgassi Mara Honi

The friendship between the Badgassi and the Ortugans still stands, which allows the Ortugan corsairs free roam in the Sea of the End (of which the Badgassi are the main political power), and in turn are not the target of raids, and sometimes even get a share of the spoils.

The Badgassi consist the main trading partners of these pirates, who supply them with gunpowder, alcohol and more.

### Asvaran, Zulutaur Steppes, Tuarapon

Ortugan pirates periodically raid these locations, for plunder and slaves. Even so, many Asvarans can be found in the coastal towns of Ortuga, with many being pirates themselves. Many of Tuarapon's towns are under Ortuga's de facto control.

### War-Wel

War-Wel used to be a famous meeting point and hub for selling off their treasure, before its ruin.

### Moreaux

The Ortugans used to raid this island in the past, but have mostly stopped doing so when the island swarmed with failed experiments, summoned demons and abominations of all kinds. The descendants of the Mona Ki Ngi Xica who live on the coast used to be target for slave raids, but their hardy nature and ability to retreat in the jungle and hides their homes well led to many pirates perishing in their raids, and now very few pirates even attempt to raid them.

### Eldritch Jungle

It was a common occurence for Ortugan pirates to voyage deep into the jungle in search of long forgotten treasure. Although the first ones were met with success, as pirates sacked the Asvaran colonies and enslaved most of its population, the subsequent voyages deeper into the jungle were met only with death and disease. No one from Ortuga ever stepts into the accursed jungle anymore.

### Mona Ki Ngi Xica

The Mona Ki Ngi Xica's limited seafaring abillities have made their interactions with the Ortugans relatively rare, although exiles from this land joining a pirate crew is not unheard of.

### Maneater Islands

The two pirate peoples' territories overlap in Asvaran, with some pirate crews either fighting and killing each other over the others' plunder, or cooperating in order to raid Asvaran itself. There is an unwritten agreement between various pirate captains of these islands that the Ortugans are not to raid to the north of Asvaran, and that the pirates from the Maneater Isles are not to venture beyond the Tuarapon strait and into the Sea of the End.

## The Maelstrom

The Maelstrom is an enormous whirlpool always surrounding the archipelago of Ortuga and Hornkip. Unlike most tropical whirlpools, the maelstrom is a stable phenomenon in the Sea of the End, existing all throughout the year, though with different levels of intensity. The Maelstrom is not in a fixed position within the sea, but is constantly moving through the waters. Its movement patterns are surprisingly predictable, since they always follow a similar trajectory, a three bodied lemniscate with its nucleus in the center of the Sea of the End. The exact trajectory and speed is somewhat changing, and the reasons it deviates from time to time are not well known. During the periods of higher humidity, massive tropical storms seem to swirl around the Maelstrom, buffeting the lands near it. These storms never pass directly over land, only grazing it with its outer winds, though the strength of the storm is considerable nevertheless. The damage this can cause is still quite extensive, and the local populations have learned to prepare for the storms and strong winds. The inhabitants of the island of Ortuga usually have underground refuges where they can protect themselves during a passing of the Maelstrom’s storms. In fact, many of the junk ships have been designed to be dismantled, so when the storm season comes they are disassembled and brought to a safe place, to then be reassembled when the time comes.

The inhabitants of Ortuga consider the Maelstrom a good omen, since its presence near the archipelago means that attacks from the outside are always difficult and easy to predict, since they’ll come from the direction furthest from the whirlpool’s currents. They celebrate great feasts and festivals the days after the storms pass the archipelago, with many captains bringing their finest bottles of rum. They will also build effigies made out of palm leaves and hay, burn them down and dance around them while drinking. The natives will join the festivities as well, bringing their traditional dances and drugs only found in the deepest parts of the jungle. The native tribes worship the Maelstrom as the mouth of their god. They believe that, if they ever are swallowed by the storm, they will be brought to the sea where the dead reside. However, they are not allowed to willingly sacrifice themselves into the Maelstrom, for that would betray a weakness of character. They also think that the maelstrom is the source of the wavewalkers’ powers, but in which way is not known, since they keep their secrets well guarded from outsiders.

One of the weird weather phenomenons regarding the Maelstrom's storms is that instead of water they are raining dead fish, molluscs and other small sea creatures. Also, the great Leviathan is said to have once emerged from the Maelstrom. Scholars speculate that it might function as an entrance point to the Mare Tenebrosum, a legendary realm that according to the Ortugan faith, consists only of water, and is the source of the "Old Gods" and the Kobalins. This theory is reinforced by the fact that a species of crab, known as the Silver Red Ortugan Crab, had once rained from the Maelstrom, being the first time it was seen anywhere in the world.

### Silver Red Ortugan Crab

The Silver Red Ortugan Crab is a species of crustacean unique of the island of Ortuga. It was first discovered during a particularly powerful tropical storm brought by the Maelstrom in 3.001 ABE, when there apparently was a rain of crabs that filled the island of these animals. While many of the individuals were dead due to the winds and the fall, enough of them survived to make it a common species in the island of Ortuga. The Silver Red Ortugan Crab has a central body with many appendages sprouting from its underside. Its shell is decorated with metallic looking patterns, which have an uncanny similarity to stellar patterns and old constellations. It lacks particularly powerful claws, instead using its small appendages to feed itself from carcasses, rotten fruit or the remains of organic matter at beaches. Its shells is considerable durable for a creature of its small size, but its low strength makes it a victim of the playful cats brought to the island by the pirates, who playfully bash them around until they get bored and move to something else. The tribal people of Ortuga consider it a gift from the Maelstrom, and frequently use it as a dish for particular festive dates.

The most curious thing about the Silver Red Ortugan Crab is that, before the storm that brought it to Ortuga in 3.001 ABE, the species was unknown to exist. In fact, other than in the island, there are no signs of the species living anywhere else in the world. And since the crab doesn't show any particular capability to endure the pressures of the deep, many speculate that it came from the Maelstrom itself, giving weight to the theories that the Maelstrom is somehow a door to the Mare Tenebrosum described by the tribal populations and the kobalins.

## Kobalins

The Kobalins, also known as the "Deep Tribes" are a race of sentient amphibious beings that originate from the island of Hornkap. They have notoriously for having the wildest sexual dimorphism of all sentient races in Giantstep, to the point many argue that these were two different species that interbreed enough until they became a singular group, though how they retain their radical differences is still debated by the experts. Their history mostly consists of hunter gatherers in the island of Hornkap and in the depth of the sea near it, as well as raiding the neighboring Ortuga. It is only relatively recently that the kobalins have begun to adapt more civilized elements, entering more and more in contact with the pirates of Ortuga, working as mercenaries and sailors.

The females are roughly the size of humans, with a tendency of being somewhat taller, but much thinner. The upper half of the body is also human shaped. Their head is proportionally bigger and rounder than that of humans, with hair that’s reminiscent of anemone, and with the same toxic effect when touched. Their eyes are massive, and are designed to see in the darkness of the deep, with heavy translucent eyelids that darken the more they get in contact with sunlight. This gives them a very poor eyesight once they are in the surface of the water or in land. Their mouths are retractable, with a bifurcated jaw that hides multiple rows of sharp teeth, similar to shattered glass. Sprouting from their backs, a massive cartilaginous structure can be seen. This cartilaginous structure is apparently used as a lung for breathing underwater and on land, and as such, it cannot be covered least the female kobalin suffocates. Despite not being mammalians, they appear to have breasts, mostly containing stores of fat. The lower half of the females is similar in shape and texture to a starfish. They have between 5 to 9 strong elongated arms full of tubular feet, allowing them to stick to most surfaces. This, alongside the muscular nature of the arms, allows them to walk on land upright, though due to the way their lower half is shaped, they cannot sit, having to stand up or lay on their backs. When underwater, they can either crawl through the sea floor or swim using their muscular arms, though they are more comfortable with the former. Their greenish blue skin is scaleless, covered in a thin coat of mucus that protects them from losing heat.

The males are completely different from the females. Almost twice the size of the females, their bodies are massive, and covered in dense fur, filled to the brim with algae growing within it. Their head is an elongated oval, with a massive mouth capable of swallowing a gnome whole in one gulp. Their mouths have a first row of a singular massive tooth, similar to a beak with lips, and behind this, rows of triangular teeth. Their eyes are beady and located at the sides of the head, and they have to move their head to the side to look forwards. Their body is a strange mix between a hippopotamus and a sloth, with a massive dorsal fin throughout their back. They have a pair of strong arms, ending in webbed hands with four digits each. Each digit has a retractable claw, sharp enough to cut wood and coral with ease. Their lower half is similar, but they have webbed feet instead. This allows them to walk faster and more precisely on land, but their swimming is somewhat clumsy. Instead, they prefer to crawl around the sea floor, but cannot reach the depths the females can. They have a long, prehensile tail, with fins at the end of them, allowing bursts of speed while swimming. Unlike the females, the males do have gills and lungs, and are much more capable of staying longer periods above water, though they still need humidity or their bodies will overheat.

The kobalins’ society is quite a mystery for outsiders, since they mostly live their lives underwater, in the shallower areas of the Sea of the End. There, they are able to gather enough food for survival, even if they aren’t capable of practicing any kind of agriculture or husbandry underwater. They live in tribal groups, with a female for every male in the tribe. Their reproduction and child rearing is mostly above water, since there are many dangerous sea creatures within the Sea of the End, not to mention the moving Maelstrom being a very real threat for any underwater being. Once every two years, they will come out to the surface to lay a singular egg, located near the shore so as to maintain humidity. Once it hatches, the family stays in the island just enough for the child to be able to survive underwater, and then they go back to the deep. Kobalin technology is very limited, since anything that cannot be used under the sea is useless to them. The kobalins will only use things beyond stone and bone tools when working for the pirates of Ortuga, since they need their services above the water, and the pirates give them the weapons. In general, kobalins dislike being around other groups, preferring to stick to their own species.

Kobalins are omnivorous, though they gravitate towards a meat-based diet. In particular, they are very fond of jellyfish, an animal found in plentiful quantities in the Sea of the End. They usually fish near the coral reefs and near rock formations, where they can use spears made out of hollow bone to hunt for fish near crevices, as well as turtles, crustaceans and mollusks. They are able to eat quite a lot of poisonous substances, though they are nowhere as resistant to venom as other species like ogres or snoloths. One thing to take into account is that kobalins cannot process alcohol, it being a very dangerous substance for them. This weakness to alcohol, combined with the massive amounts of it always present near pirate havens, means that kobalins will stay out of the pirate towns unless they have an important reason to stay, finding even the smell of alcohol noisome and dizzying.

## Captain Ishmael

Captain Ishmael is a tall, weather-beaten, sinewy man in his late fifties, with graying hair and a frighteningly intense presence. His charisma makes him appear larger than life to others. This impression is only reinforced by his hard, wrinkled features, piercing eyes blazing with the fire of madness, and a wide, shallow scar running from his hairline to his face and down his neck, making him even more intimidating.

Many rumors and legends surround Ishmael's eventful life. He was born on the island of Hornkap. His mother, an insane widow, died when he was only twelve months old and is said to have cursed him with her dying breath. Mostly left to his own devices, he grew into a strong, independent boy who knew how to hold his own in a tough world. He is rumored to have attended college, lived among cannibals, and experienced wonders fathomless than the tides.

He first went whaling as a young harpooner at the age of eighteen and has since found his place at sea. Over the next few years, his restless spirit propelled him along the iron rails of life until he became the captain of his own whaler.

When his ship was caught in one of the notorious typhoons off Ortuga, and all the masts were broken, the whole crew feared that the next wave that would crash over them would sink them and pull them all down. Ishmael, however, took the rudder and managed to save everyone on board and steer the badly damaged ship to the nearest port for much-needed repairs.

During his last voyage, Ishmael, who was in his late fifties and past his prime, had a fateful encounter. His venerable ship, the Nautilus, adorned with bizarre whalebone trophies, crossed the path of an unusually gigantic albino war-whale, widely known as Monstro, and the subject of numerous legends, as it made its way through the oceans.

When Ishmael blew to hunt the mighty, ancient whale covered with harpoons all over his body, the wild beast did not flee but counterattacked. Before the whalers could react, Monstro dived under and smashed Ishmael's boat from below. The captain fell between the sharp ivory teeth of the whale, which bit off his leg as effortlessly as if he had cut off a blade of grass with a scythe.

While Monstro escaped into the unfathomable depths of the sea, the badly wounded Ishmael was brought back on board and painstakingly patched up. He survived his injury but was henceforth dependent on a crude prosthetic leg made of pale whale bone. When he's not chasing Monstro, Ishmael can be found drunk in the Sour Barnacle bar on the Hornkap Isle.