Archipelago

## Affiliation

Knights of Ishtar

The **Archipelago**, officially known as the **Archipelago of Ishtar**, was a group of islands south of Skyloft Palace in Novigrad during the Eleventh Era. It covered an area of roughly 3 km2 and included both natural and artificial islands, as well as several stretches of continental coastline.

The islands were the home territory of the Knights of Ishtar, who built the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity there and expanded their sphere of influence with a number of farms, factories, and outposts. As they invited friends and allies to the area, it became the focal point of Ishtar worship. Some of these loyalists were granted the feudal title "Duke of the Isles" by KOI.

The Archipelago shared an ocean with the Unbroken Chain, an island group two kilometers southward populated by militant non-believers who rejected Ishtar. This geographic proximity led to a number of clashes across the Archipelago during the Ishtari Conflict.

# Points of Interest

### Amanita Rock

*Main article: Amanita Rock*
Amanita Rock was a terraformed mushroom isle owned by Tox. It was located next to the Emmey Cube.

The island was covered with multicolored giant fungi that surrounded a rocky crag, with Tox's Cabin built upon its highest point. At opposite shores lay a passenger dock and a cargo dock. Beneath the mycelium surface rested shroom-themed workspaces and a localized map of the Archipelago.

Amanita Rock was home to a Temple of Ishtar, which came under attack at its consecration by the Knights of Ishtar at the Battle of Amanita Rock.

### East Arch

*Main article: East Arch*
East Arch was a community in the mountains on the eastern shore of the Archipelago, a kilometer northeast of the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity.

Several members of the Knights of Ishtar had private residences there. It was also the location of a KOI gold farm and a pillager outpost that served as the source of Bad Omen for the Archipelago's raid farms.

### Emmey Cube

*Main article: Emmey Cube*
The Emmey Cube was a megastructure monolith with a superstructure made almost entirely of emerald.

Built by Kingkauw, it served as a hardened military installation for the Knights of Ishtar. With its potion autobrewer, dozens of spare netherite sets, and farms for cacti, sugarcane, iron, villagers, and essential crops, the Emmey Cube could hold out indefinitely against a sustained siege—which it did during the Battle of the Emmey Cube when Gabault repeatedly attacked KOI there.

It was the most expensive structure ever built by a mortal in the known universe, containing a total of 127,638 emerald blocks, requiring 1,148,742 emeralds to construct.

### Ghostlore

Ghostlore was a cabin built by Gh0stM0nkey21 across a river from the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity.

Thre three-story wood and stone house was one of the oldest dwellings in the Archipelago. The austere interior contained only storage chests and two beds in the attic.

### Knight Raid

*Main article: Knight Raid*
Knight Raid was a raid farm on the ocean surface northeast of the Emmey Cube.

It was the greatest raid farm ever constructed, fueling KOI's insatiable need for gunpowder, producing enough spare emeralds to build the Emmey Cube, and delivering XP so rapidly it made all others obsolete.

### KOI Gunpowder Farm

The gunpowder farm was among the Knights of Ishtar's first farms, built to support their need for splash potions and TNT as well as their transocean flights across the Archipelago. It was located on the sea surface equidistant from The Stump and Ridic.

However, the faction found the spawn rates exceptionally poor, despite ideas from Kingkauw and Tox to improve the design. Eventually it was largely abandoned in favor of greater yield raid farms. After the spawn rates improved, Tox added a small AFK chamber and it became his primary source of gunpowder until Zerg's farm near Amanita Rock was completed.

### Old Raid Farm

The Old Raid Farm was the Knights of Ishtar's first foray into raid farming, located just east of the Gunpowder Farm.

The farm was capable of providing a decent supply of raid drops and supplying the organization with their early totem of undying surplus. However, when the far superior Knight Raid build was completed, the old raid farm became obsolete and was transferred into the hands of Tox.

### Rawnblad Beach

Rawnblad's home lay on the beaches directly west of Ghostlore and the Sapphire Spires.

After being robbed and abandoned by his godless partner, Rawnblad became an Ishtar worshipper and was granted sanctuary in the Archipelago as a feudal lord by the Knights of Ishtar. His humble beach plot, flanked by a bamboo thicket and azalea treas, contained a wheat field and a wool farm. He claimed that his home was trapped and would explode 40 seconds after the tripwire was triggered.

On 11E:86, Rawnblad was killed there by Gabault for his beliefs during the Ishtari Conflict.

### Ridic

*Main article: Ridic*
Ridic was a waterfront island estate that belonged to Absurd, located half a kilometer north of the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity.

The estate was composed of two separate areas—the main residence, a wood and brick three-story cottage supported by crop and livestock farms, and a secondary two-story midcentury modern vacation villa on Ridic's northeast beach.

KushBandit murdered Absurd there during the Ishtari Conflict.

### Sapphire Spires of Sagacity

*Main article: Sapphire Spires of Sagacity*
First and foremost among all other Temples of Ishtar, the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity was the center of the entire Ishtari faith, headquarters for the Knights of Ishtar, and the holiest site on all of Halfast for true believers. The castle was located on an island in the heart of the Archipelago three kilometers southeast of Skyloft Palace.

The colossal megastructure was an opulent symbol of the vast wealth and power of their goddess. The mere sight of its many mighty stripped wood spires and their tapered warped crowns soaring into the skies above was enough to astound and inspire visitors.

Unlike the other temples, the Sapphire was closed to the public and heavily fortified against attack. On 11E:78, Jrod and Gabault besieged the castle in the first major battle of the Ishtari Conflict. A second, more decisive Second Battle of the Sapphire Spires took place there on 11E:135.

### Sequoia

Sequoia was the private isle of Mclairddd.

It was originally terraformed by the Knights of Ishtar for use as a source of spruce wood, growing the tall redwoods that gave the island its name. Mclairddd eventually settled there and put up a tent under a canopy of mighty sequoias.

### South Gate Ship

*Main article: Gate Ships*
The South Gate Ship was anchored offshore a kilometer east of the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity. It allowed direct fast travel between the Archipelago and Skyloft Palace and could be used as a faster-than-flight shortcut between locations in central Novigrad by using the directional portals

The Gate Ships required boarding passes to use.

### Tent Camp

The Tent Camp was a small encampment southwest of the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity.

Serving as a rest stop on the trail to the Tower of Ninevah, the Tent Camp offered wayfarers beds, storage, campfire, and renewable cocoa beans for their travels.

Over time it fell into ruin as visitors took what they wanted without replenishing.

### The Stump

The Stump was the home of Stumpjumper

Serving as a rest stop on the trail to the Tower of Ninevah, the Tent Camp offered wayfarers beds, storage, campfire, and renewable cocoa beans for their travels.

### Tower of Nineveh

*Main article: Tower of Nineveh*
The Tower of Nineveh was a Knights of Ishtar watchtower built by FlyingPokemon, located on the western edge of the Archipelago a kilometer southwest of the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity and 850 meters due west of the Emmey Cube.

Standing 32 meters tall, the stone citadel sat on a cliff overlooking a strategic view of the surrounding sea. It was accessible via a winding dirt path from the Sapphire Spires and from a dock in the village below.

### YMCA

*Main article: YMCA*
YMCA was the personal claim of Y, located 200 meters southwest of the Sapphire Spires of Sagacity. The isle initially had dubious quasi-legal status with the Knights of Ishtar, but questions of its legitimacy were later settled through discussions with High Priest FlyingPokemon.

There were farms for villagers, pumpkins, and XP and the beginnings of a residence.

### Zerg's Gunpowder Farm

Built by Zerg, the gunpowder farm was located just northwest of Amanita Rock, where he was living at the time of its construction.

Like the old KOI Gunpowder Farm and Knight Raid, as a source of gunpowder it was merely adequate and required significant investment of time for worthwhile returns.