Cursed Island

A map of the Cursed Island detailing important locations.

The **Cursed Island** is a large island within the south-western areas of the Broken Continent. It is the largest of the Eastern Islands, swarming with ghouls and those afflicted with the madness of the Hungerborne court. The large Bitter Mountains cut down from the north, while Blightergut Lake stands at the center, full of dead bones and the carrion of human and animal flesh. Flowing out from the lake is the great Bident River, the main sources of aquatic travel by the courtiers. The Cursed Island is so-named due to a dangerous effect it has upon any who land on the island. Very few can remain long on the Cursed Island without some form of madness and insatiable hunger overcoming them, which, unless they wisely flee, will cause them to gorge on every food and drink they have and eventually even their own friends and family.

## History

### Age of Myth

During the Age of Myth, the Cursed Island did not even exist, and instead was composed of the ancient and powerful kingdom of Satalarish, a powerful domain that extended control over a prosperous and fertile region, famed for its lush forests. Satalarish and its neighbors prospered during this period, with the ancient rulers and powers of Satalarish delving deeper into ancient lore and uncovering the secrets of magic, creating mighty relics and powerful artifacts of mystic might.

### Age of Chaos

Then came the Age of Chaos, heralded by the Breaking, which caused huge waves and earthquakes to shake the ground and break the foundations of the land itself. Huge swathes of the ocean swept in, creating the Needle Straits and the Cannibal Sea. Much of Satalarish was drowned, but portions remained in the formed of a large island. Few survivors lived after the destruction of the kingdom, and they quickly turned to infighting, and, with time, even more barbaric practices, eating each other in order to live on. They quickly devolved into hideous mordants, and remained so for many years.

Eventually, however, a wandering abhorrent ghoul king strayed into the island, and in his madness saw poor souls desperate for salvation. He took them into his own fold, sharing his tainted blood, and thus created the Hungerborne Court, a vile and monstrous mockery of their true civilization, built upon madness and the bones of the consumed. This specific ghoul king would eventually be killed, and a new one to take his place, but the Hungerborne Court remains and continues to be a deadly plague upon the Broken Continent.

Thus the Cursed Island gained its name, where the mighty ghouls and insane flesh-eaters roamed free.

### Age of Sigmar

The Age of Sigmar was felt late within the Cursed Island. The main initial impact was the greater efforts to counteract the raids by the Hungerborne, and the growing interest in the various lost relics and holdings within island attracted adventurers and treasure-seekers from across the Broken Continent. However, the maddening effect of the island and constant threats led to any colonization effort or invasion to ultimately fail.

The Cursed Island gained renewed attention following the Necroquake, when the Stormvaults, ancient tombs holding dangerous relics, were opened, and warbands and relic-seekers flocked to empty them. Fighting between each other and the monstrous inhabitants would ensue, and while some Stormvaults are still undiscovered, most have been picked clean.

## Geography

The Cursed Island is divided into various regions, with most of it under the control or influence of the Hungerborne Court. The Fleshlands is the name given to the general area controlled by the Hungerborne, centered around the southern portion of the island.

The Bitter Mountains circle down from the north, small mountains but still effective in sheltering isolated, but often mad, communities. Deep within the mountains are vast catacombs of twisting tunnels, and home to a branch of skaven collectedly referred to as the "Unfurred." These a collection of small communities and "tribes" of skaven, perhaps the lost remnants of a former skaven expedition, that have left in isolation within the Cursed Island for centuries. The Unfurred are scraggy and often with patches of lost fur, hence their name, and have reverted to a primal an animalistic state. They constantly breed in the dark, fighting and feasting on each other and whatever else they can find. Some skaven manage to unite in large enough numbers to leave their dark caves and venture onto the surface coming into conflict with the Hungerborne. The delusion ghouls will often lead "crusades" against the mad ratmen, diving into the caverns beneath.

At the center of the Bitter Mountains is the Wailing Peak, home to the largest and most secure Stormvault on the island, as well as the home of the Wailing Banshee. What it is exactly is not known, some say the final raging scream of a dead god or the echo of the rage of the lost people of Satalarish, but many scholars hypothesize her presences is what causes the madness-inducing effect of the Cursed Island. The closer one apporached Wailing Peak, the more unhinged they become, and none have made the journey and returned.

The island of Bashdar is found right off the western coast of the Cursed Island, and is a strong military presence of Order. Following the breakup of Satalarish the those who could fled to island, struggling to survive. As madness gripped the main island, the people established the fortress-city of Bashdar, from which the island gets its name, as well as many strong military fortifications to defend themselves from the predations of Chaos and the rabid flesh-eaters that spawned to the east. Refugees from across the Broken Continent found their way to Bashdar, which, thanks to its location as an island and the dangers of the Cursed Island, was protected and able to defend itself.

Bashdar has not been warm to the returning forces of Order, believing themselves abandoned by Sigmar. The kingdom of Bashdar is independent and makes no deals with the Grand Alliance of Order, but its people are willing to trade and interact with aelves, duardin, and humans of Order. Thanks to its location, it has grown into a natural stopping place for aelven and human sailors. Nowadays Bashdar serves as a stronghold to keep the Hungerborne in check, as well as a resting place for travelers and adventurers, who risk life and sanity to venture into the Cursed Island in search of treasure, lost relics from the ruined cities, or the fabled Stormvaults, opened during the Time of Tribulations and waiting the brave to find them. Bashdar is ruled by King Varden I j'Vaeynal, despite an ailing sickness that has long left-him bedridden. His daughter, Lyrisha, is young and adventurous and skilled with a sword, but is under increasing pressure to take up her father's mantle.

Across the immediate coast of Bashdar are five main orruk Bonesplitter warclans. The madness that flows from the Cursed Island has driven these orruks, already fanatical in their devotion to Gorkamorka, to new points of insane savagery. The power of the WAAAGH! is incredibly intense among them, as they constantly battle any foe they come across.

To the northeast of the Fleshlands are the so-called Batlands, a part of the "Greater Fleshlands." This is home to a smaller flesh-eater court, composed almost entirely of crypt flayers, who serve the Hungerborne. They are generally more feral. This court is divided into five main groups, who reside within the massive underground cave structures of the region. There are the Stenchpits, the ruling class that live in the Foulpowder Maze, the Seaglutters, who drape seaweed and algae over their bodies as "armor," the Paleshrieks, who are known for their white skin and live in the White Basin, the Ghoulcriers, who possess eerie glowing wings and live in Ghosthollow, and the Battleborne, who use rusted and old weapons and armor and fight each other in the Black Arena.

Beyond the Batlands is the aelven kingdom of Nashola. When the Cursed Island was formed, a great host of aelven mages banded together, and in desperation prayed to Nagash, the god of death. Accordingly, a bargain was struck, the kingdom of Nashola was born. The aelves of Nashola revere their ancestors, and worship Nagash. They are led by the Court of the Ever-Living, a group of powerful necromancers. While practitioners of the magic of Shyish, they look down upon zombies, skeletons, other "low undead." Instead, they perform extensive and elaborate death rituals on those who have passed, resurrecting them based on their previous skills in life. Warriors are cleaned, their corpses marked, rearmed and reanimated, their minds clean from the hesitations of life and eternally protecting their kingdom. The greatest among them become powerful necromancers, living long lives, with great pains taken to maintain their immaculate appearance. Nashola has long fought against the crude and savage cannibals of the flesh-eater courts to the south, and the aelves are one of few to maintain their own true sanity on the cursed island.

North of the Nashola is the dark Tower of Screaming Shadows, surrounded by the Great Grayness, or the Gray Mist. The Gray Mist is an ancient and terrible moving curse, regularly spreading out before returning back to its place of origin. Areas afflicted will turn gray, lose life, and die. Only extreme magic can undo it, or slow its erratic advance. Gray Ones are inhabitants of the Gray Mist, sad, angry, and distressed, with the Mist sowing discord and chaos. The Unseen are special Gray Ones who are able to turn invisible, although living outside of Gray Mist results in their death without the magic to sustain them. Thankfully, the Great Grayness does not generally advance too far and always returns to its former borders. where one of the most powerful wizards in the land live.

The Great Grayness was formed by Hazardain Rengarius "the Dark", a prideful wizard obsessed with beauty. According to legend, he was once a powerful magister to the kingdom of Satalarish, but grew more consumed with perfecting himself, and eventually the entire kingdom. The whisperings of Tzeetch corrupted his mind, and eventually Hazardain stole the Pale Seed, the cornerstone of magic within Satalarish. It was said to have been a seed enchanted by Teclis and blessed by Sigmar, but Hazardain took it and unleashed a terrible curse upon the kingdom, spreading across the entire kingdom, sucking the life out of the entire population and turning it into a still drab landscape, creating Hazardain's "perfect" realm, before the Breaking shattered the land and he fled to his own fortress, creating the Tower of Screaming Shadows. Hazardain has fought with the other factions on the Cursed Island, and is in possession of many great and terrible relics, but largely keeps to himself, his mind quivering with madness as he sits on his throne and smiles with content upon his perfect realm.

At the very tip of the Cursed Island is the Rotwood Forest, home to the fallen Blightbark Glade of sylvaneth. Before the Age of Chaos the sylvaneth were quiet and peaceful, close allies to the kingdom of Satalarish, but in the Age of Chaos they fell into ruin. How exactly it happened is unknown, but in time the forest fell into decay and infection, bloated roots chocking the life as trees decayed and sprang forth again, and the Blightbark Glade fell into the service of Nurgle. Tree revenants and kurnthoi hunters launch raids against any near them, bringing back bloated to serve as food for the forest, while warsong revenants embrace the decay of Nurgle. Most are wise enough to leave them alone.