Medalti Island

## About

For hundreds, if not thousands of years, the islands that make up the archipelago off the western coast of Galrond were frequently visited by pirates. They used the main island's northern lagoon as a convenient location to anchor and re-supply, and found its interior an excellent place to hide buried treasure. Control over the lagoon passed between numerous pirate captains over the years, but none established any permanent settlement there

This changed after the Holy Wars, when the imminent end of the Oath Wars in Ushus left the Red Lotus assassins in need of a new home. Following a vision from their god Achaekek, they relocated to Medalti Island, and began to build their Crimson Citadel in the deep jungles of the island's interior.

Once the Citadel was complete four decades later, the Red Lotus established what would become the city of Bofrya, which they intended to be a convenient place for them to meet and assess potential clients. They built it beside the northern lagoon used by the pirates, and it soon became a popular "free port" for pirate vessels seeking to avoid the laws and taxes in place in other ports. The fearsome reputation of the Red Lotus has also foreign navies from launching punitive expeditions against Bofrya's pirates.

The appearance of the massive, permanent hurricane called the Eye of Abanar a little over a century ago has forced the traditional trade routes along the coast of western Galrond to relocate further west, greatly increasing the amount of trade which passes by Medalti Island.

### GOVERNMENT

The civilized parts of Megalti Island are run in an extremely laissez-faire manner by the Red Lotus; they allow the pirates to go about their business unmolested as long as they do not interfere in the assassins' affairs. The Red Lotus in turn are ruled by the Vernai, a council of senior assassins, and the Blood Mistress. Since the assassins keep their identities secret, anybody in the street might be an assassin. In addition, they allow and even encourage the use of their signature sawtooth sabres by non-members, to maintain the atmosphere of uncertainty. This helps to keep crime down to moderate levels, despite the large numbers of criminal and lawless types who inhabit the island.

The only other government figure is the mysterious Mayor of Bofrya who lives lives in the topmost room of the otherwise unused lighthouse overlooking the harbor. Any citizen is able to gain an audience with the mayor, day or night, without an appointmentâ€”those who wish to do so simply stand in line and will be seen once the mayor has dealt with earlier arrivals.

### INHABITANTS

It is sometimes said that Megalti Island was uninhabited until the Red Lotus settled here. In fact, the interior has long been home to tribes of lizardfolk and kobolds. The former occasionally raid the outskirts of Bofrya, whilst the latter engage in sporadic trade with the city. In addition to these two, there is also a sizable population of goblins who fiercely defend their arboreal village of Ocrax in the northwestern third of the island. These so-called monkey goblins are expert climbers and are skilled in the use of poison and net, making the territory around their settlement a dangerous one to explore. Lastly, the island's most dangerous inhabitants are a variety of dinosaurs that have been known to attack the city when hungry.

The island's lagoons and outlying waters are home to the Kaneano tribe. The Kaneano are members of a race of shark-like humanoids known as adaro. While they may occasionally aid shipwrecked sailors, there are plenty of incidents where they have been accused of devouring them instead. Despite this, many of Bofrya's citizens appreciate the Kaneano, as they are believed to keep down the populations of other aquatic predators.

### GEOGRAPHY

Megalti Island is defined by its isolation, located in the Arcadian Ocean northwest of the raging Eye of Abanar (though nowhere near as close to the storm as the The Shackles). Despite the island's large size, it does not appear on many maps or even in the right location on those maps that do feature it. This is a deliberate bit of deception, designed to make the home of the Red Lotus Assassins even harder to strike.

The island itself is, for the most part, covered in tropical jungles that teem with dangerous creatures including various types of dinosaurs, savage girallons, and even rarer weretigers.

### SETTLEMENTS

Bofrya

Crean

Ocrax

The Crimson Citadel

### LESSER ISLANDS

Megalti Island is by far the largest of the islands in this archepelago, but is not alone there at the edge of the Eye of Abendego. A number of small, sparsely populated islands surround it.

The Decayed Atoll

Bleak Island

Temple Haven Island

Tillborg Island