recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Crab Claw Cove

Eight Finger Driscoll's base of operations, located in the centre of his territory. Its deceptive reefs and rock formations mean those unfamiliar with the safe routes are likely to crash their boats long before they offer any threat to the island.

Since *the Matricide's* crew see their ship as their home, they mostly stay on it even when they dock at the island. Driscoll's subordinate crews tend to do their own thing and don't visit the island unless they're summoned by Eight Finger in exceptional circumstances, such as when *the Cockatrice* and *the Fortunate Fool* encountered a Rumidian ambush. As such, Crab Claw hasn't been build up very much. The people who stay on the island permanently are those that have lost their ships in the fight against Mother Shandy but don't want to fight on King's crew and live on Longreach. These people have errected a number of shacks on the beach that serve as houses, drinking dens, gambling halls, fishing stores, small warehouses, and whatever else they need to live out a quiet life.

The residents of the island generally stick to shore and beach, rarely venturing deep into the island's forest. When wood was needed for buildings or ship repairs, they've been careful to only take it from the tips of the island's 'claw'. A strange wood spirit used to attack people who harmed the central parts of the forest, but the creature was otherwise benign and so was left alone. The party encountered this 'spirit', a wood woad, and slew it after a fruitless conversation.

Strange tidal currents drag all flotsam to the far side of the island, dumping it in a place that's come to be referred to as *the Bone Site*. Will-o'-the-wisps have been known to appear over on that side of the island at night, leading the wayward astray.
Black Tie

When travelling between Hideno Island and Tortuga, the party stopped off in Bisquay to resupply and recover from recent events.

Clark made his habitual visit to Bisquay's premier souvenir vendor to replace the t-shirt that Malak had planted in the sand to claim Hideno Island. While there, he bought out the vendor's entire t-shirt stock, and inquired as to when more stock would be coming in. The vendor mentioned that he was not ordering more stock until next year, when the tourist season was due to start.

He mentioned branching out into tuxedo production, although his wife thought it was a bizarre and pointless venture for a souvenir salesman. Unable to walk away from the prospect of owning Bisquay-themed suits, the party made an advance order for six tuxedos from the man, at a cost of 30 gold apiece.

The tuxedos will be ready come spring, and will need to be picked up and paid for when they are.
The Great Twelve

Legendary playwrights whose works almost exclusively feature the beautiful, alluring, fickle, tricky, and often dangerous lands and denizens of Faerie.

* **Pliny the Quick**
	+ Wrote '*The Dusk*,' the most famous of the Great Twelve's plays. It tells the story of Mab trying to steal the moon, heavily featuring Pliny's interpretation of Faerie's Gloaming Court.
* **Three-String Koto**
	+ A lute player whose music almost never uses the lowest strings.
* **Weeping Ronan**
* **Five Coyotes**
	+ Wrote most of her plays in operatic style, with incredible range required by all of the lead parts to successfully perform. Fans of vocal performance praise '*The Winds before Springturn'* as her magnum opus. However, historians and Fae loremasters take more interest in '*The Grim Dawn'*, the only play of hers that features no singing whatsoever. A small but lively branch of Fae scholarship is devoted to debate as to whether or not *Grim Dawn* is correctly accredited.
* **Saoirse the Lamb**
	+ Wrote '*The Death of a Morning Knight*', the story of her living in Faerie among both courts, charged with investigating the murder of one of Titania's great knights. The murder had been blamed on Mab but was, it turned out, not the fault of the Queen of Air and Darkness. When Saoirse eventually left Faerie again, her music was now greater than most mortals could ever imagine!
* **Gungnir Widehands**
	+ A pianist who must have had a massive hand span, given the octave leaps that feature in his pieces.
	+ His best known work is probably '*the Plight of the Onions*,' a tale of the birth and quick downfall of the vegetable peoples of Faerie. The onion folk were the only ones that survived the wars and many deaths, and they still weep to this day, sharing their tears with others at every opportunity.
* **Dawn-Eyed Arget**
* **Crowfoot**
* **Zato the Blind**
	+ Zato is known to have been a blind man. Some believe in blindfolding themselves while playing, or occasionally taking more extreme measures to that end, to approach the true heart of Zato's music.
* **Ghillie Greenbottle**
	+ Greenbottle is still a thriving Saltwater Halfling family name, with Ghillie and her legacy being a big source of pride for that Hin lineage.
* **Robert the Widower**
	+ His stories feature a disproportionate amount of marriages, often to fey beings, and subsequent deaths.
* **The Unnamed Twelfth**
	+ There exists a single work that is reminiscent of the style of the Great Twelve at large, but not attributed to any of them. When this fact was combined with numerous suggestions in both third-party texts and several of the Great Twelve's works that imply the existence of twelve contemporaries, the widely accepted belief of the Unnamed Twelfth was born.
	+ The leading alternative theory is that the 101st tale should simply be attributed to one of the other eleven. Fans of poetry counter-argue that the Great Eleven doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
25. Swamp Things

* From the safety of Pyt's drum hut, the party fight a shambling mound and some will-o-wisps.
	+ The wisps are using their shock attacks to heal the mound.
	+ Clwyd is turned into a giant ape by Wilfred after she is engulfed by the mound.
	+ Wilfred eventually loses concentration, Clwyd is engulfed again and is dying. Quinn pulls her out the mass of vines and heals her up with a healer's kit.
	+ Pyt turns himself into a mammoth.
	+ Malak gets the final blow on the mound, killing it. The wisps flee.
* The party find the mound's root-stem among the rotting detritus of its corpse. It looks like a piece of black wood with a faintly glowing fractal pattern on it.
	+ Wilfred dispels the magic on the root-stem.
	+ As the magic dissipates, Malak intuits that the mound had been born of a storm in some way.
	+ Clwyd informs the group that the island they're on is roughly in the storm path, meaning it's hit by the full force of the migratory storms at least once a year.
* The next day, they explore the swamp.
	+ They note that there are no large creatures in the place. Mostly just birds, frogs, snakes, insects, and the like.
	+ They find the top of a stone hut that had been a troll's house. The building seems to have sunk into the swamp, but there's a small hole in the top that leads within.
	+ Before they descend, Wilfred catches sight of a large, injured creature in the forest that's watching them. It runs away, but not before the gnome surmises that it was about the size of Bigly.
* The party head under the swamp.
	+ They find a series of worked-clay tunnels that link the igloo-like stone troll huts under the swamp's surface.
	+ A swarm of stirges - animals that look like a cross between a bat and a mosquito - attack the party in one of the troll huts. The party eventually kills them all.
	+ There's a trail of small, circular footprints in the bat shit on the ground. The group follow it to another hole that descends downwards again, into another dome-shaped room.
	+ They descend and find that this lower room is much the same as the ones above, though it opens up to more of a cavern.
	+ The 'cavern' they are now in has a stone floor and roof, with a number of the troll huts on this level serving like support pillars for the ceiling and that above it. The walls resemble packed earth. There are also a tonne of bio-luminescent mushrooms around the place.
	+ Wilfred concludes that the trolls who lived here were idiots. Their homes kept sinking into the swamp, so they just kept laying a floor of stone down on top of them and then building their houses on top of that, only for it to eventually sink as well.
	+ Wilfred approaches some of the mushrooms and one of the larger ones gives off a piercing screech, revealing itself to be shrieker fungi. The party hear a large number of figures stirring from all around the cavern in response to the sound.
Banshees

Banshees resemble humanoids, though they have spectral bodies of torn flesh clad in tattered clothes. When a creature is consumed by deep sorrow in death and is prevented from moving on by some great force, they risk becoming a banshee. A banshee's wails, carrying the deep sadness that has bound them in undeath, beckon the living to make the transition to the Land Beyond Life.
Kind

On Tortuga, the Proprietor is a figure shrouded in mystery. The closest those who do dealings with the Shell Lord get to him is meeting with Kind, the Proprietor's right-hand man. There are a great many who think Kind himself is the Proprietor, though it's not obvious what the ruse would be to the benefit of.

Kind is no nonsense. He doesn't make threats and he speaks calmly, but all who deal with him regularly know not to test his patience. His proficiency with the arcane is well known throughout Tortuga.
Badger

A human man and the captain of *the Hogshead*, one of the original crews that revolted against Mother Shandy with Driscoll at the start of the Fifth Lord's War. For most of the Brothers' Feud, Badger sided with Dancer. However, he switched allegiances, joining Driscoll in the final moments of the conflict.

Badger was the one who got the information on the Rumidian scout ship Driscoll's forces attacked one month prior to the start of the story. It should have been an easy target, but the skirmish ended with *the Cockatrice* destroyed and *the Fortunate Fool* in tatters.

Badger is a bit of a collector - a habit Driscoll believes he picked up from their mother. Badger had a sacred artefact from Starth's monastery on him when the pair met, and Duster believes Badger has managed to acquire Dancer's old ring at some point since the end of the Brothers' Feud.

During Driscoll's attack on Shandy's island hatchery, Badger was sent to Tortuga to spread the word that the Matricide was about to take on a fleet of Shandy's ships on its own.
Griffons

Ferocious, avian carnivores with the muscular bodies of lions and the head, forelegs, and wings of eagles.

In the wild, griffons hunt in small prides, flying high over plains and forests near their rocky cliff-side aeries. Many who live in less inhabited regions dread the griffon's piercing cry, rushing to prepare themselves for the bloody fight that inevitably follows.

In captivity, griffons can be raised from the egg and trained as mounts. However, such training is time-consuming, expensive (mostly because of the ample food the creatures require), and often dangerous. When completed though, a griffon is a fierce and loyal steed. It bonds with a master for life, fighting to the death to protect that rider.
Hellfire Engines

These semi-autonomous bringers of destruction can turn the tide of any battle in mere moments. On the bloody tundra that is Glacia, the first Hell, scores of demon hordes meet their end to hellfire engines, either crushed beneath them or rent to waste by the magics these constructs send forth.

These creations are one of the most valuable military assets of the Hells, and their need for hellfire fuel is the chief reason a whole layer of the Hells - Pyren, the fifth Hell - is devoted to hellfire's production.

Hellfire engines come in many forms - roaring carriages the size of buildings, mighty galleons that spew death from the waters of the Styx, giant golems with destruction as their only goal. Regardless of form, hellfire engines all have one thing in common: they force the souls of mortal creatures slain by them to join the infernal legions. Without the intervention of powerful magic users, such souls will join the ranks mere hours after their body's death. The powers of the Hells would love nothing more than to modify this magic so it worked on those souls now malformed into demons, but such a discovery has eluded them so far.
Freetown

The most densely populated of all the Pirate Republic's islands, Freetown resembles a full and lively town in every sense.

Both sides of the island possess beautiful beaches with budding, steep-shelved reefs in their waters. Worn, packed-earth paths cut across the island where people walk and carts are pulled. And the whole of its 6-mile length is filled with vistas, villas, stilted abodes, huts, shacks, dens, and domiciles of every kind that the many residents from every walk of life who've come to the Republic have erected over the years.

Mary Freed started Freetown, and she still runs the show in the background - though she prefers to leave all of Roger's People on the island to settle their own grievances and look after their own as much as possible. That was always her vision for a town that was free, at least. New arrivals to the island are well advised to go and meet Mary, have a friendly chat with her, maybe offer to help with whatever work she's doing at the time, and to part with anything they don't need that might benefit the town. They can rest assured knowing that Mary Freed will never take more than she needs, and she'll pass it round to her friends on the island who might need it more than her.
Narzugons

Paladins who make deals with devils and carry their twisted sense of honour into the afterlife are especially valuable to the archdukes of the Nine Hells, who want unquestioning champions to grace their courts or lead legions into war.

These narzugons, wielding lances of hellfire and riding nightmare steeds, roam across the infernal layers and other planes to carry out the will of their masters.
The Ramshod

A ship flying the flag of Eight Finger Driscoll. *The Ramshod's* crew were pirates of little renown before they joined Driscoll's forces during the Brothers' Feud.

When Driscoll called for each of his crews to provide able bodies for a joint operation, *the Ramshod* sent Vic, Clark, and Wilfred. Vic had grown up on the ship, and was sent because Icke thought meeting new people and seeing some more of the world might be good for the quiet girl. Clark had found his way onto the ship almost half a year prior. He'd taught Vic to read, and the pair had grown close enough that Icke felt the half-dwarf might look out for Vic during whatever mission Driscoll had planned this new group. Wilfred had been a more recent arrival on the ship and as such was Icke's first choice to meet Driscoll's request. The gnome had insisted on going where Clark was going anyway, since the cleric had saved his life at sea.

## Notable Crew Members

Arriety - A human woman and a keen knife fighter. Stares at the horizon a lot.

Fat Hamish - A human man. Boasts that there's not a lock been made he can't charm. His record on a three-pin chamber is 9 seconds while using one hand, apparently.

Old Nami - An elderly human woman fond of telling stories.

## Disappearance

Shortly after Driscoll's gambit against Shandy, sometime during the two weeks that passed while the party were trapped in the Land Beyond Life, the entire crew of *the Ramshod* as well as the ship itself disappeared suddenly and mysteriously. The crew were scattered about the island of Longreach at the time - some of them in the drinking hall, some in the bathing pools, some elsewhere - and all of them disappeared. Cups they were wearing and the cloths on their backs fell to the ground, as did a lot of the cargo aboard the ship. Nobody within Driscoll's forces had ever seen anything like it.

The disappearance put Eight Finger's forces on a knife edge. Combined with other recent set backs, the sudden loss of another ship could be the end of him if Mother Shandy or any other party interested in his defeat were to find out.
Badger's Parley

Badger arranged for a meeting between a number of the pirates gathered on Tortuga. He intended to discuss the future and their roles in shaping it. They used Lady Rouge's brothel, the Red Velvet, as their meeting place. Malak and Pyt saw the procession heading into the building on the party's third day in Tortuga.
Victoria Trizna

**Victoria Trizna** (Arthes, Reino Tribulante, Mayo 6º, 3E A2) —alias **Tori**— prestigiosa bailarina y meretriz de los bajos fondos de Arthes, de gran renombre, su fama prescribe más allá del mundo artístico y los tratos clandestinos, es la líder del Triunfo Carmesí, una organización rebelde de tintes terroristas.

Huérfana desde su niñez, paulatinamente fue desarrollando una fuerte aversión hacia las figuras autoritarias que regían Tribunalia, al mismo tiempo que, en contraste a la miserable y desafortunada situación en la que se crió, los nobles y burgueses gozaban de todas las comodidades con la que solo los pobres podían soñar, lo cuál le generó una fuerte envidia a aquellos que ostentaban grandes riquezas.

Convertida en la artífice de la Conspiración del Décimo Acto, la cuál consistía en asesinar a la sacra reina Starxius van Trula III, dando lugar al encendimiento de una mecha revolucionaria que haría alzarse a la clase baja en contra de la clase media acomodada y alta. Dicha conspiración quedó frustrada gracias a la intervención del centurión arthesano Lyon de Chevalier.

No obstante, dicha conspiración en parte dio sus frutos, pues conseguiría llamar la atención de muchos conspiradores, iniciando una organización a la cual bautizaría posteriormente como Triunfo Carmesí.

## Biografía

### Autobiografía

Abandonada por sus padres, Victoria vivió desde pequeña en lo más bajo y como podía. A medida que pasó el tiempo aprendió muchas cosas de lo más bajo, entre lo cual se incluyen las artes de la pasión que la llevarían a ser una de las mujeres más deseadas y bien pagadas por sus servicios del reino y rituales de oscura procedencia que también la ayudaron a ascender y escapar de más de una situación peliaguda impune.

Viendo ahora la crispación que hay entre el pueblo y los que rigen el poder, ve una oportunidad para interferir entre las sombras para crear un conflicto. Buscando esa importancia que siempre quiso desde que se restregaba por el fango desde niña y una mejor posición que la actual, imposible de alcanzar actualmente. Todo esto infiltrándose en ambos bandos, aprovechando la fama de su buen trabajo para intimar de más de una forma con miembros importantes de todos los lugares y procedencias.
The Banshee

A ship flying the flag of Eight Finger Driscoll. *The Banshee's* crew are Rumidian. They joined Driscoll's forces during the Brothers' Feud.

When Driscoll called for each of his crews to provide able bodies for a joint operation, *the Banshee* sent Malak and Elio, both of whom were new on the boat.

## Notable Crew Members

Fang - An imposing half-orc man. The quartermaster.

Lao - A human man. The ship surgeon.

Marcos - A human man. The shipwright.

Rurik - A reefbeard dwarf man. The helmsman.
Duster

A doppelganger, capable of changing his appearance at will and able to determine truth from lies with some manner of mind reading. Duster serves as the quartermaster of *the Matricide,* managing the inventory with a military precision.

During the party's early stint aboard *the Matricide*, Duster kept a close eye on them, changing guises frequently so they never noticed. In these early days, whenever they interacted with him, he also projected a meek, unassuming personality to further throw them off his scent. In reality, he's as loud and tenacious as they come - you'd have to be to keep a crew like Driscoll's in line.

As quartermaster, he has the right to veto any out-of-combat orders his captain gives on *the Matricide,* so long as he believes the orders to be damaging for the crew. The party saw Duster call for quartermaster's law when Driscoll had forgotten their plan amidst Zephyr's attacks on *the Matricide* while they fled Shandy's island hatchery.

Duster is also a capable helmsman, as seen when he guided *the Matricide* through Shandy's fleet of 100 ships, making use of a narrow gap King, Laylin, Wick, and some of the party were creating through the fleet just in front of the ship.
Redcaps

Smaller than a gnome, strong as a goliath, and as subtle as a flung battleaxe. Redcaps clomp about in heavy metal shoes, brandish wicked-sized scythes, and always, always wear red hats.

In Terca Mahres, they spawn from red toadstools that grow when innocent blood is spilled in a place and time of fey influence. However, the mushrooms almost always need to be tended to by someone in order to sprout mature redcaps.
Gnomes

In many ways, gnomes are to halflings what elves are to humans: a little taller and a lot more magical on average. Some even say that gnomes were once People of the Hin, but they strayed into the land of the fey and were forever changed by it.

Gnomes have distinctive, prominent noses and pointed ears, but otherwise resemble halflings for the most part. Their affinity for the arcane has led to them being highly valued and well respected within the Rumidian Empire, with many of them rising to exalted ranks. Elsewhere in the world, there are gnomes who have continued to push the envelope of magical and technological advancement. Many a gnome tinkers in their spare time.
Tinker, Sailor, Soldier, Spy

## Overview

Driscoll put together the crew of the Drunken Dragon hoping to create a neutral group of newer recruits without deep ties to their former crews. Having done this, he entrusted them with a mission he couldn't give to people who'd been working for him for decades.

Driscoll strongly suspects the presence of a Rumidian spy among his forces, despite him publicly denying the idea. Having confirmed to his own satisfaction that no member of the party was the spy, he entrusted them with the task of identifying the spy and reporting back to him once they have.

The party have been given little to go on to help them actually identify a traitor, but Driscoll has been forthcoming with his theories on who the traitor might be:

* Driscoll doesn't suspect any of the crew of the *Matricide,* seeming to think that they are above suspicion.
* Either Badger, Nemmonis, or one of their crewmembers are the primary suspects.

To that end, Driscoll had ensured that both Badger and Nemmonis were docked in Tortuga when the party arrived. Under the relative safety of Tortuga's rules, it might be easier to meet and talk with other crews to find a potential traitor.

## Information

* Badger spent most of the Brother's Feud fighting against Driscoll with Dancer. Driscoll suspects Badger has returned to the site of battle since to retrieve Dancer's Ring of Mind Shielding, which, according to Clwyd, may contain a manifestation of Dancer's consciousness which its wearer would be able to communicate with.

## Plans

* Ascertaining whether or not Badger recovered Dancer's ring will change our level of suspicion of him drastically. Attempting to cast *detect magic* or *identify* on his person would be a good start to this, if it can be done subtly.
* We have as of yet been given no good reason to suspect or exonerate Nemmonis, other than Driscoll's own suspicions. Her actions in Tortuga will be the only clues we have as to her loyalty.
* If the party aims to steal from the Rumidian Western Margrave, we ought to be careful discussing these plans honestly in front of a potential traitor. On the other hand, carefully misinforming the traitor could lead to a perfect opportunity to strike.
Galeb Duhr

These creatures of earth and stone are bulkier than the average human, and more intelligent than their stony visage might lead one to believe. When they curl up and remain motionless, they are indistinguishable from any other boulder, but when they want to, they are capable of rolling with quite some speed and force.

Galeb Duhr are capable of magically animating nearby boulders into facsimiles of themselves, though these creations lack any of the intelligence of the original.
23. Blood and Gold

* As a result of killing Derrick, the party have to go to a trail in Bisquay.
	+ They must pay a weregild of 5000 gold pieces by Winter's End, a time limit of a little under six weeks. If they default on the payment, Bisquay severs its ties with the Eight Finger Pirates.
	+ In light of the town's relationship with Driscoll and their recent struggles without their goliath mercenary protectors, the aldermen also ask the party to look into the fey disturbances around town. If they should do this until the Scars of Mir come back from their winter Frost Hunts when the Strait thaws - in roughly two weeks' time - they will build good will with the town.

* Their investigations led them to Powlie, the halfling potion aficionado, and Grizwald Goodman, the gnomish owner of the Mud Skip pub.
	+ The pair had both studied in herbal healing and botany. Their relationship was now somewhat estranged.
	+ The party decided Powlie wasn't their guy.
	+ They questioned Goodman and he deflected their inquiries. He also refused to let them enter his home since he recognised some of the group as the people who burned down his inn and killed some of his patrons.

* Half the group left to fetch a guard so that Goodman would agree to let them enter his home. While they were gone, Goodman burst out his home on the back of a redcap, with three others in tow.
	+ The party gave chase and managed to kill three of the redcaps.
	+ Grizwald Goodman and the redcap he was riding escaped into Bisquay's fey crossing.

* The group searched Grizwald's house.
	+ They found more redcap mushrooms growing
	+ In Grizwald's diary, they found evidence that he had been growing and using the redcaps in a plan to kill off his rival business owners.
	+ The party figure out that Clark killed an innocent man in the bar and the first redcaps grew from his spilled blood, hence Clark being 'the Maker'.
* The group retired to the accomodation that had been provided for them, rooms in a little inn called the Naughty Seal.
	+ In the night, they are awoken by someone smashing down doors. Derrick's corpse stood in a doorway, glaring at Cormorant. Though his body was dead, his eyes were very much alive, and full of hate.
Chain Devils

*Rank 3 in the Infernal Hierarchy, sharing the rank with barbed devils.*

Known as *kyton* in Infernal, chain devils are employed as jailers, torturers, and guards, and are often called upon to torment mortal souls to various ends. Chain devils are particularly useful for transforming lemures into nupperibos, increasing the kine's value in the Hells many times over. They wear chains like a shroud, animating them as well as other chains nearby, making them sprout hooks, blades, and spikes, and sending them forth to eviscerate.

Chain devils and barbed devils have a relationship much like those devils below them that share a rank. On the whole, barbed devils are favoured more for battle and the Upper Hells, while chain devils are preferred in the households of the Lower Hells.
Flail Snails

These huge conch-like creatures spend their lives traversing the deep ocean floor. They do not survive for long once removed from the water.

Their scintillating shells are prized by artificers for their innately anti-magical properties. They are capable of emitting light that dazzles would-be attackers of the snail, stunning them, and they can also store and reflect the energy or effects from spells cast towards the snail.
Elio

## Overview

A monk from the Order of the Hawk monastery at the edge of the Rumidian Empire. Elio left his home to answer the calling of his god, who commanded him to destroy evil wherever he saw it.

## History

### Before *the Drunken Dragon*

Elio barely survived an attack by pirates on a small trading ship he was travelling aboard. Malak and the crew of *the Banshee* saved him from the water as the pirate ship burned. Lao, the ship surgeon, nursed Elio back to health as the boat travelled to Crab Claw Cove, answering Driscoll's summons. The monk decided to find and burn away any evil he could within the ranks of the pirate lords, so initially he wasn't troubled when Captain Nemmonis selected him to be one of her ship's representatives in answer to Driscoll's request for able bodies. Thus, Elio found himself aboard *the Drunken Dragon*.

### Part One: Reigniting the War

Elio soon became dissatisfied by Eight Finger's methods, thinking his mission to attack Shandy's island hatchery was little more than a reckless revenge fantasy. When *the Matricide* returned to Longreach with the party aboard, Elio confronted Driscoll, and then ultimately took his leave. He rowed away from the island on his own, intent on carrying out his mission to eradicate evil.
Imps

*Rank 1 in the Infernal Hierarchy, sharing the rank with spined devils*

Imps often serve as the errand runners of more powerful masters. In their natural state, they resemble tiny humanoids with leathery wings and scorpion tails, but they have been known to assume the guise of animals in the wild, leading to many folk stories that feature hunters and foresters being led astray by a crafty imp in disguise.

Since spined devils are generally more suited to large-scale battle than imps, it is not uncommon for a soul to be transformed from an imp to a *spinagon*for the duration of their service in the infernal legions of the Upper Hells, and then to be turned back to an imp when they return to their household.
High Elves

The old songs say the elves left the Feywild for Terca Marhes long ago and have been losing their magic ever since.

Pale hair, pointed ears, androgynous features, and tall, slight frames are the hallmarks of a full elf - with them averaging six-and-a-half feet in height.

The rare elf that one runs into is always several centuries old, leading the other races of the world to conclude that either elves are simply born ancient or they're secretive with their children to the point of conspiracy.

An elf encountered in Terca Mahres tends to be the only one of their kind in the area, and they often integrate themselves within the foreign society as fully as they can. Many have half-elf children with human spouses lifetimes younger than them. These elves rarely speak on the mysterious habits of their kind.
Triton

Triton are rare, but not unheard of, throughout Terca Mahres. Those that make regular contact with surface humanoids belong to small semi-nomadic shoals, and often trade pearls or crafted whale bones for exotic goods that can't be produced on the sea floor.

Stories speak of a great triton city somewhere in the ocean.

While triton can live and breath comfortably on land, they are most at home in deep water. Many get anxious if they are out of it for too long.
The Cherries

A pair of big rocks at the edge of Sawtooth Basin and the Pirate Republic, looking out towards the Rolling Blue.

Wicked currents swirl around the Cherries, pushing up through the middle of them and then breaking both left and right around the outcroppings.

While there's no place to land a boat on the rocks, the channel that runs between them gives access to a cove on each island.

For a long while, a group of five pirate crews had agreed to eke out their lives on the Cherries, united by their love of humanoid flesh; they were cannibals. These crews kept a watch from the top of the Right Cherry and preyed on any ships that limped into the Republic after a long journey across the Rolling Blue.
Dwarves

Dwarves originate from the Calm Sea, a place where it's said no wind blows and no waves roll. Ancient dwarves claimed these lands and seas the only way possible: through strength of arm and strength of oar. They rowed.

Many dwarves pride themselves on being the best rowers on their boat, in their town, or even in the whole damn world in their eyes. It's a deep source of honour for the dwarves who choose a migratory life at sea, those known as Ironoars.

At four-and-a-half feet on average, the dwarves are the largest of the small folk. They're the hardiest too, with some able to dive to crushing depths with ease, holding their breath for many minutes at a time in search of sea treasures and food both. Such sea diving clans are known as Reefbeards.

*Note:* Ironoars = mountain dwarves. Reefbeards = hill dwarves.
Barbed Devils

*Rank 3 in the Infernal Hierarchy, sharing the rank with chain devils.*

Known as *hamatula*in Infernal, barbed devils are powerful warriors in every sense, particularly for lesser devils. Their namesake barbs pierce and rend flesh at the slightest touch, and they can conjure the fire of the Hells from deep in their blood to hurl at their adversaries.

Those who lead the fight in the Upper Hells find great use for barbed devils both within their ranks and within the walls of their keeps. Those who politic in the Lower Hells make use of them as particularly dangerous guards, though its more common for them to favour chain devils down below.
David Godella

Dave is the owner of the Hole-in-the-Wall in Bisquay, a drinking establishment at the end of a series of alleyways that has no name and no menu, and is little more than an open hatch at head height to a human. There's only one drink on offer, but it's well worth the trip. Dave produces an exclusive kind of orange-coloured wine that's a steal at only 1 silver piece a cup. Just make sure you hold on to the cup for your time in the alley.

Dave's two kids are often in the back, spending time with their dad, occasionally washing some cups.

Once the drinking spot started getting popular, Dave took on Terrence to run security on busy nights.

Dave's had a number of problems with Bisquay's aldermen on the nature of what sort of licence he should have for the shop.
Barge End

## Overview

A merchant stop near the end of the Strait's chain of islands, hiding in the shade of the Chelonii Atoll's coral wall. The town of Barge End floats on the water, composed of hundreds of retired ships that are chained together and anchored in place.

A beautiful mix of pirate flags, Rumidian colours, and other symbols from all the free seas flap in the wind above Barge End, strung between the few masts that have been left on some of the ships. Though it's past its prime now, in its heyday, many would make a special trip to the town towards the end of their ship's life.

Like all the stops on the Strait, Barge End is famous for a few particular products. The kelp forests that grow on the seabed below the town is renowned for its flavour, preservative properties, and versatility. Many types of fish also thrive among the seaweed, making fishing both an enjoyable pastime for the locals, and often a fairly easy way for them to turn a profit during the merchant season.

## History

Hundreds of years ago, a collection of sailors realised their ships were approaching the end of their lives. Being followers of the Old Ways, rather than consigning their ships to the cold sea floor, they decided to take what money they'd made on their travels and make Barge End, a community where their ships could stay afloat and they could stay with them. Word got out, and others starting heading to the small settlement above the waves. Some people just dropped off their ailing vessels and left them. Some stayed on Barge End themselves. But all the boats were strung together and anchored in place, and the little community eventually grew into a full town made up of boats from all across the world.

People's attitude to the sea and their ships changed with the passing of time, and eventually the practice of travelling to Barge End to retire a ship was all but forgotten in the world. It's a rare crew now that brings an old ship to expand the floating town. Barge End survives now thanks to its abundant seaweed forests that the locals nurture. While it might not be as glamorous a product as Bisquay's many wines, it brings enough traders to keep the place afloat. The community that live in the town has changed as a result. Many younger folk left, and Reefbeards proved to be particularly good at kelp farming, the dwarves naturally being hardy enough to hold their breath for great lengths of time, such that they now outnumber any other race two-to-one.
Nilbogs

Goblin myths speak of an ancient trickster that was defeated and splintered. But he was determined to get the last laugh, and so survived as a possessing spirit. Goblins have no name for this creature and dare not give it one, instead just referring to its manifestations as the possessing spirit and any goblin it inhabits as a nilbog.
Bigly

A heavily armoured troll in the employ of the Proprietor on Tortuga. He often works together with Cataleya. Bigly is fond of chickens and wine, and he has big dreams.

When the party first arrived on Tortuga, Bigly and Cataleya were sent to greet them, show them around town, and then lead them to various meetings with people about the island.
Brineskimmer

An enormous, animalistic sea dragon that nests in the waters between Longreach and Mother Shandy's territory. Brineskimmer makes her home in a cave formed of coral. She's decorated it with hulls from a large number of destroyed ships.

King first showed Malak the sea dragon and her lair when *the Matricide* was heading to Mother Shandy's island hatchery with the party on board. At the time, King had just wanted some back up while he checked the dragon was too preoccupied to bother their ship as it passed by; Brineskimmer had recently destroyed some of Shandy's ships and a large number of the sahuagin horde they had been herding into Driscoll's territory - some of the same group of sea devils that went on to attack Yeddow. Malak where she lived proved fortuitous, however. When King was injured during the confrontation with Shandy's fleet, Malak was the only one left who was fast enough in the water to lead Brineskimmer without immediately being caught and killed by the sea dragon. The triton stabbed her in the eye with King's trident, sending her into a rage, then successfully lured her into the heart of the already weakened armada. Her rampage destroyed all but the luckiest of the ships.
Hell Cats

Hell cats are not a naturally occurring creature and they cannot be bred. A pregnant cat is imbued with hellfire, and on occasion its kittens will be born as hell cats. Such a birth invariably kills the mother, but the offspring can sometimes grow to be as large and as fearsome as flaming lions. Many devils grow and keep hell cats as trophies and tokens of wealth.
The Pieces

The Pieces are the run-down favelas that occupy the upper-right corner of Tortuga. Spreading from the front-right fin of the zaratan onto the shell, narrow stinking alleys cut through piles of ramshackle wooden dwellings for miles. This is the home to Tortuga's poorest, and the place where the Crooked Warden procures his child workers.

In many places the ground is coated in sand that has been deliberately spread.

## Notable Residents

* Cap, a gummy old human man who spends most of his time playing dominoes at a small parlour.
* John-John, a human boy, and his gang of kids:
	+ Feeler (deceased), a young human boy whose house was raided by an oni.
Bisquay

A small coastal settlement that produces a lot of wine from the island's many grape and berry varieties.

Bisquay is located at one end of the Merchant Strait, and the entire half of the strait on its side is named the Wine Side for the importance of Bisquay's product in trading. Its location near the edge of Driscoll's territory makes it an immensely useful place for Eight Finger, since he has nowhere else to reliably buy and sell equipment without leaving his waters for some time. He's negotiated some kind of accord with the local leadership of the island to allow his crews presence on the merchant island.

The locals in Bisquay often leave helpings of wine out at night for fey creatures. In return, broken cobblestones, furniture, and sometimes even windows often get repaired by morning, due to the diligent work of brownies.

Bisquay has a number of interesting taverns scattered through the streets between its docks and covered market:

* **The Ruddy Grape**: An expensive, up-market establishment with over 60 different barrelled wines on offer, including a special that changes every month.
* **The House of Waves**: A small, homely eatery-come-wine bar run by Bisquay's oldest wine-growing family, the Thimblefulls.
* **The Fine Vine**: A small, unassuming wine bar that recently started turning some good profit when it found its niche in offering strong varieties of brandy. However, the owner, Derrick, sabotaged his growing reputation with a brazen display of indecent exposure through town. The aldermen were forced to call him into a meeting.
* **Mud Skip**: A dingy, musky pub with a low ceiling and lots of dark wood. The only place in Bisquay that sells beer. Known as the place where Simon, the little drake of Bisquay, spends a lot of his time. Recently, Mud Skip was the scene of a violent altercation.
* **The Hole-in-a-Wall**: A place with no name, no menu, and no adverts. People only learn about it from word-of-mouth. Follow a number of narrow switchback lanes and you'll eventually come to the end of an alley where a standing crowd have gathered. Each will be holding a wooden cup. Through the opening in the wall - built at head height for a human - Dave, the owner, waits to offer the only thing available: his exclusively grown, orange-coloured wine. It's delicious beyond compare.
Clark

## Overview

Clark is a half-human, half-dwarf cleric. He has spent most of his time in the past few years aboard various ships, acting as a freelance sailor.

After a particularly lucid nightmare in a moribund land, Clark awoke to find a small owl with speckled eyes had returned from the dream with him. His new companion, Flekk, obeyed his commands dutifully, or otherwise perched in silence atop his right shoulder.

## History

### Before *the Drunken Dragon*

While freelancing, Clark found his way aboard *the Ramshod*. He sailed with Icke's ship for roughly half a year, working the ropes and healing sick and injured as needed. He also taught Vic to read during this time. Following the destruction of *the Cockatrice,* Driscoll summoned most of his crews back to Crab Claw Cove, and during this trip, *the Ramshod* picked up Wilfred.The gnome had been badly hurt, but Clark was able to heal him without difficulty.

When it came time for Icke to choose able bodies from his crew on Driscoll's request, he, like the other captains, opted to send his newest arrival - Wilfred, in Icke's case. However, Icke also wanted eleven-year-old Vic to go for personal reasons, and so, requested Clark accompany her and watch over the young girl, since the pair seemed to get along. This was how Clark found himself aboard yet another ship, *the Drunken Dragon*.
The Moonswimmer

An enormous, ghostly galleon that stalks the nighttime waters of Driscoll's territory. It hunts down ships that dare row their oars or unfurl their sails below the moon's light.

The party first encountered *The Moonswimmer* on their way to save Yeddow. It sailed dangerously close to them, Wilfred even briefly meeting eyes with its captain - a skeletal pirate - before he continued his search of the seas, apparently unable to spot *the Drunken Dragon* after the party raised its sail and stopped rowing.

They saw it again when the Matricide's crew made use of it in destroying Shandy's waiting fleet after killing her dragons and fleeing her territory.
Unnamed Cat

*Status: Deceased*

A cat that Pyt got Woden of *the Wicked Sister* to lend to him. The party accidentally killed the cat when Wilfred placed the folded up form of *the Drunken Dragon* into his *wristpocket's* extra-dimensional space, not realising that the cat inside the box couldn't breathe there. Woden was livid to find Pyt had got one of his cats killed.

Vic gave the cat a respectful sea burial.
Simon

## Overview

A 73-year-old, tiny, plump alehouse drake with greenish-yellow scales and a love of most things alcoholic. Though he's the size of a house cat, he weighs around 40 lbs.

## History

### Part One: Reigniting the War

Our ragtag party encountered Simon in a dingy pub in the port town of Bisquay called Mud Skip. Some took a liking to the little guy. Some took a hating to the owner of the establishment, who seemed to be pimping out this sapeint creature as a novelty to attract customers to his crappy pub. Others still may have fallen victim to the emotional nudging of the little alehouse drake. The result was a violent bar fight for Simon's future. Simon seemed to enjoy people fighting over him well enough, having laughed and burped the whole way through the hostilities. He agreed to travel with the party for the time being, after first swapping venues and having a good drink.

On the seas, Simon urged the party to name the folding boat they were travelling in. He offered a number of suggestions themed on himself and the group ultimately settled on *the Drunken Dragon*, a name that pleased the alehouse drake greatly.

After sailing with Simon for a time, the party learned that he had been cursed by a purple dragon with butterfly wings. He was bound to the isle of Bisquay, doomed to return to it no matter what. Whenever he leaves the island, all but the crew who took him away forget Simon the instant they lay eyes on him. Occasionally, the young and the very old can see through this curse, noticing the alehouse drake for a moment.
Unnamed Cat 2

*Status: Deceased*

The party got this cat from some of the residents of Crab Claw Cove on their second visit to the island, following them misplacing their previous cat, Nimbus, on Tortuga.

The cat wasn't given a name before it burned alive aboard the Drunken Dragon when Derrick set fire to the ship in Bisquay's dock.
Terca Mahres Wiki

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Briefing on the setting of Terca Mahres

## Welcome to Terca Mahres!

Terca Mahres is the homebrew setting for a D&D campaign using Fifth Edition rules. The game is ran largely as a sandbox, meaning the enemies, encounters, and loot aren't scaled with the party in mind, and there's no pre-written story for how the campaign ends!

Terca as a setting is relatively high magic, with low-level spellcasting, ritual spells, and lower-rarity magic items all being quite common; magical creatures being very prevalent; and the influence of other planes near constant. However, mortals casting 8th and 9th level spells is an unheard of occurrence. As such, the use of magic in the setting likely feels 'wider' rather than 'higher.'

Our story began in the autumn of the year 6276 Post Sundering.
Mephiti

A mephit is a capricious, imp-like creature formed entirely of elemental energy. The common mephiti that one is likely to encounter are a combination of two of the base elemental forces of fire, water, wind, or earth. It is rare to find mephiti alone, and rarer still to see different types of them in a single group. They tend to have a liking for environments that reflect their elemental origins.

## Ice Mephiti

Composed of frigid air and water, ice mephiti can be aloof and cold-hearted. They've been known to play malicious pranks on undeserving folk, and they love cold places above all else.

When they remain motionless, they're impossible to tell apart from the icicles and snow they have likely surrounded themselves with.

## Steam Mephiti

Composed of a combination of water and blazing fire, steam mephiti can be rash and impulsive. They have been known to enjoy both places of warmth and deep pools of water in equal measure.