Thulu Archipelago

## History

The various islands and baronies of the Thulu Archipelago. The islands are typically broken into three chains; Banemouth, the Shattered Sword, & the Tantract.

### Inhabitants

Humans, Mutants, Sahuagin, Aboleth

It is said that Thulu was once a hollow continent, prior to the Ascension of Caeth, when a great flood buried the ancient temples of the land in a bitter abyss. Since this great flood, Thulu has been a land of mystery and superstition, and its myriad isles have hosted a wide variety of states and peoples more diverse than any other corner of the known world. Since the 2nd Schism, the islands have been completely dominated by the Abyssal Throne, a loose confederation of baronies which all pledge fanatic allegiance to the Aboleth, a mysterious entity or set of entities that manipulates Thulu and its inhabitants, corrupting and mutating life for their own murky designs.

Perhaps the most mysterious of the Dominar, the Abyssal Throne is the realm of the Aboleth, bizarre aquatic aberrations with an awe inspiring command of old magic. The Aboleth themselves are almost never seen, and their exact numbers are unknown, though there are not thought to be more than a dozen in total, while some say there is only one with tentacles that extend to every corner of its domain. Numbers matter little to them however, as from the beginning they have used their old magic to corrupt and mutate the native life of Eluseus to their own ends. When the Aboleth first invaded, they attacked the kingdoms of men from the top down. Their curses befell the households of kings and nobles, causing them to sprout gills and tails, forcing them to run choking to the waters, where they found their new masters. The Aboleth whispered to these mutant kings through the murky waters of the Thulu Archipelago, convincing them that their predicament was no curse, but a rite of passage, confirming their supremacy over their subjects. They ruled by divine right, and their god was not in the sky, but deep beneath the sea, seated on an Abyssal Throne. Through this underhanded method, the Aboleth won a kingdom without fighting a battle. Their mutant kings at first hid themselves with charms provided by their Abyssal gods, demanding tokens of worship from their subjects, and rapidly escalating these requests to full on sacrifices to the sea and the Abyss beneath it. As the Aboleth’s tentacled grip tightened, they began to bestow their kingly thralls with powerful magical abilities and increasingly drastic mutations, and before long the former nobles of the eastern islands had become unrecognizable to their subjects, a new race entirely, the Sahuagin. Today the Sahuagin continue to rule, holding ritual sacrifices to appease their ravenous gods, as well as rare pilgrimages to the briny depths to commune face to face with their Aboleth overlords. The common people live in fear, however some have embraced the Aboleth as their own gods, forming a new religion of Abyssal worship known as the Abyssal Creed, which seeks to gain the favor of the Aboleth and ascend to their heightened form. While the Sahuagin brutally repress these heretics out of fear for their own status, they are arbitrarily tolerant of the other religions among their subjects, only launching pogroms when their bloodthirst demands it. As a result the Thulu Archipelago has become a bizarre refuge for religious pilgrims, who flock to its large port cities to practice their dying faiths in relative peace. Furthermore, trade flourishes in the archipelago, as slavers attempt to move their wares across south to the Neoghate and merchants from Photnus and Nevullon brave the treacherous Sea of Souls to the rich ports of Innsmaw and Shoggolth.

## Regions

The Thulu Archipelago can be further divided into three groups of Isles. To the south lies the Tantract, a scattering of small, steamy tropical islands which are heavily forested and ill explored. Among these mangrove-covered islets live some of the most mysterious and alien creatures of Eluseus, as well as small mutant towns and countless pirate lagoons. In the clear waters of the Tantriul Sea there are vibrant coral reefs, whose beauty masks the venom and violence of the creatures which call them home. East of these islets lies the imposing island of Yugothaul, the largest in all of Thulu. Its jungled shores give way to impenetrable highlands, home to shipbreaker rocs which regularly pull vessels from the sea to turn into nests for their young.

Along the western rim of Thulu lies a distinctively shaped chain of arid, rocky islands known as the Shattered Sword. A land of myth and magic, the Sword is ruled by a series of distinctive, feminine mutants who look far different from the typical Sahuagin barons, known as the Dark Sisters.

To the north of Thulu lies the mistcapped peaks of the Banemouth Isles. The most densely populated region of Thulu, the Banemouths are a land of the occult, a land of mysteries, a land of deep, creeping fear. Innenbore, the largest isle, contains over half the region’s population on its misty moss covered cliffs.