Connects to: 26.20.07, 44.19, 49.11 and the City of Shuttered Windows.
Centuries of violent earthquakes have twisted this island’s topography. A rift valley with a bubbling mud lake splits the island in two. The peaks on either side of the valley are broken and rise like claws or fangs tearing at the sky. Sailors use Sladder’s foreboding profile as a point of navigation, but only the most desperate attempt landfall. Jagged reefs circle the island, and the ruins along the shore are thick with the caws and cackles of crowfolk (26.20.07).
Long ago, this place was known as Othonoi. Under the rule of its priest-kings, it prospered as the Keening Sea’s center of learning and trade. The secret to the isle’s success was its position at the intersection of elemental ley lines (44.19). The priest-kings exploited this raw elemental power to create favorable winds and currents and fertile soil.
Some apocalypse fell on Othonoi, and its riches were plundered and scattered to the corners of the world. Since its fall, an elemental magic imbalance has caused a plague of earthquakes that has deterred settlement for all races except the crowfolk. The crowfolk believe they are the true descendants of the Othonoi civilization. Until about thirty years ago, they have been content to rest on their dubious laurels. Now they have been trickling into Blind Midshotgatepool and Shuttered, proclaiming their grandiose schemes as they scurry through human society’s lowest rungs.
The dispersed crowfolk are secretly followers of Isane and Orsine, conjoined twins who are both powerful sorceresses. The twins fled Shuttered after the Priest-Militants of Alberon attempted to divide them. They are using their crowfolk minions to seek relics of Othonoi in order to rekindle the island’s power.
Connection:
- One of the relic of Othonoi is the Codex Orthonoi which speaks of a “Terminus Temple” of which Asrigh’s Portal may be a part of (49.11).
- A wizened orc claiming to be the last priest-king of Othonoi and his supporters, the Disciples of Othonoi, were responsible for the toppling of Hoth Achaar.
Hooks
- What do Isane and Orsine plan to do when the island is rekindled?
- Although Isane and Orsine have been quiet during their exile, the Priest-Militants’ orders to divide the sorceresses still stands. Some may still be actively seeking them. Why the obsession?
- Relics have been vanishing from the manses of urban wizards. Hired goons are conducting massive crackdowns. Cabals shoot accusations at each other. Eccentric trap makers are competing for wizards’ patronage. And nobody is taking the crowfolk seriously…
- Crowfolk are banned from the ships of Shuttered and its vassals. So how are more immigrants appearing in the cities bordering the Keening Sea?
- Are Isane and Orsine related to Isane the Beautiful?
