Arawaki Islands

## Description

Just south of the Eluvian Continent is the seemingly endless number of tiny islands known as the Arawaki Islands. The tropical climate, vast waterways, dangerous reefs and many uncharted islands make this area a haven for pirate activity. Several groups of pirates have been known to form a base of operations in one of the smaller islands where natural hazards make it far too dangerous for officials who might wish to hunt them down to follow. There is also at least one major island that is completely run by pirates.

Though the full count is unknown, there is estimated to be about three thousand islands in the area that range from small plots of land some thirty feet across to sizeable islands some two hundred miles long. About forty of the three thousand islands are known to be inhabited, not counting those that serve as secret pirate lairs. The inhabited islands are the largest ones and the individual populations of each of these islands range from about five thousand to fifty thousand. The locals tend to stick to their islands, though a few of the more warlike ones do take canoes across the water to other islands where they attack other tribes and kidnap a handful of the people for various uses such as slavery, torture, or cannibalism.

While the people are risky to meet on these islands, they are by far not the only danger for the would-be explorer that would dare sail through the Arawaki Islands. The chief concern is the coral reefs that cover the area and make navigation treacherous at best. Many a ship has met an end after shattering its hull on the razor-sharp coral. This has led to many tales of pirate or cargo ships that sunk beneath the waves carrying huge loads of treasure as well as other tales of ghost ships. These tales often lure treasure seekers to their deaths.

Sharks, sahuagin, sea elves, and many other sea creatures also make the waters treacherous. Such creatures usually have specific territories that can be avoided if one knows where they are. The trouble, of course, is actually knowing where these territories are. Captains that frequent the area, especially pirate captains, highly prize such information.

If that were not enough, there is also the constant threat of disease. The tropical climate of the Arawaki Islands breeds all manner of strange diseases. The locals are largely immune to them, but many who travel to these islands are not. Some are nothing more than a nuisance, causing diarrhea, nausea, or fever for a short period of time before going away (assuming the victim is given rest and nutrients). Some of these diseases are far more sinister with symptoms that include death, undeath, loss of limbs, loss of senses and transmutation. Even those normally immune to such things, such as paladins, have fallen victim to some of these diseases, leading sages to speculate that they must be magical curses rather than diseases, perhaps remnants of evil worship long since forgotten. Whatever reason for it, ships known to have traveled through the Arawaki Islands are typically quarantined for at least two weeks to ensure they have not brought back any of these diseases. Even the less reputable ports are sure to follow this guideline because they know full well the consequences that could follow should they bend the rules for a bribe. In fact, since the less reputable ports tend to have more ships that come in through the Arawaki Islands, they are even less likely to bend than some other ports which receive far less traffic through those areas.

The people of the Arawaki Islands are often abducted by ships all across the Eluvian Continent and forced into slavery. Views of the local governments on such actions vary from disdain to acceptance. In larger cities where such slavery is frowned upon, the natives of the Arawaki Islands are sold to brothels and deviant nobility as sex slaves, amoral magic users for all manner of human and demi-human experimentation, and illegal gladiatorial pits where they are forced to fight, often to the death. In areas where slavery is more accepted, the slaves are usually put to work as servants, bodyguards, or occasionally farmers. Their naturally high resistance to disease also makes them excellent medical workers.

Of the islands scattered about the area, a handful known as the Allied Kingdoms have formed a trading and defensive alliance with the kingdom of Aquaria serving as both the geographical and political center of the alliance.