The+Winding+Road



Bannipor the Blue Pearl is one of the great cities of the Yasote Archipelago. Built on the eastern coast of Marupan, the largest island in the chain, as a tribute to and symbol of the power of a great conqueror, it has endured for millenia as a center for trade and exploration. Its founder and namesake ordered that it be built to correspond to the shape and character of nothing less than Andavar itself. Feats of engineering and astounding magic made his dream a reality within two hundred years of his death, and it stands today as one of the great wonders of the world. A haven for many races and creeds, cultures and organizations, Bannipor is not only an embarkation point for intrepid travelers but the site of adventure in itself. In a small way, a slice of Andavar's many lands can be found along its streets, beneath the trees of its parks and small woodlands, in its innumerable shops and taverns, manors and castles, huts and subterranean ways. There is something for everyone in the Blue Pearl, though if you are not careful it may find you first.

What Gloomtown is for assassins, Bannipor is for adventurers. Located in the southern arc of the Tempest Sea, it is enjoys a location ideal for those wishing to investigate the many points of interest in the region. To the northeast are the jungles of the Three Sisters, to the northwest the mysterious lands of the Monkey King. Farther north takes one to the and savage pillar continent of Kallamuningi, a place remarkable even in Andavar for the violence with which it greets visitors.Traveling southeast and east takes one to the well-named Stinging Coast from whence those who have grown tired of life may journey into the Festering Swamp or the Endless Fens. A southward route leads to the proud Free Cities and eventually to Grank itself and even the Siege Lands if one wishes to brave warring armadas of appalling number to deliver supplies for extortionate fees. Of course, the 6,741 islands of the Yasote Archipelago itself represent more than enough opportunities for adventure for many lifetimes. Even Nanta Hualta said that on his long list of places to explore "the Yasotes must be last. Because once I finish there won't be enough left of me to go anywhere else."

The entire city of Bannipor is a bazaar of the wondrous for the adventurous soul, catering to the esoteric needs of such varied folk. However, the region of the vast city (at a brisk walking pace of 3 miles per hour it would take 10 to go from one end to the other, east to west), where many adventurers make their base of operations is called the Crossroads. Next door to the vast market called the Coin (representing the Nuran Empire) it is full of craftsmen, cartographers, outfitters, purveyors of all sorts of beasts, and perhaps most importantly, the largest concentration of taverns, inns, and bars in the city. One of the most popular with the exploring folk is an old establishment grown quite large, the Copper Cockatrice. Most of the regulars call it simply, the Chicken, in honor of the weathered statue of the belligerent namesake that glares out at passersby from above the front entrance.

A mix of adventuring veterans (a description that can mean someone who managed not to die on a brief expedition to the isle of Pelago last season to living legends with centuries or more of experience in the Wilds under their magical belts), tradesmen from the area always eager to be handy in case business presents itself, to those eager and usually young souls who dream of the adventuring life and thus hang around to hear the tales and perhaps get lucky enough to be invited to join a group.

The Chicken has a large and seasoned staff, and a lively clientele that is quick to help make sure the place doesn't get completely demolished or burned to cinders when disagreements (frequent) break out among the proud and violent folk who are its patrons.Several are depicted below:





__**Region of the Tempest Sea**__

The turbulent waters of the Tempest Sea cover 26,000,000 square miles of ocean. Stretching as far west as the Isles of the Thrang and east nearly to the coast of the Sleeping Stones, its waves wash the unwholesome peninsula of the Stinging Coast and the southern reaches of the wild continent of Kallamuningi. At its heart lies the Green Triangle formed by the three great island chains of Prima, the Three Sisters, and the Yasote Archipelago.


 * Prima**

The first and westernmost is dominated by the great island of Uala Rom, where it is said lies hidden the emerald palace of the Monkey King. Prima is a famously beautiful land, as is the case with all sides of the Green Triangle, and is known for the supremacy of the many species of primans, apes, monkeys, and their kin that live there. One of the most interesting features of the Priman islands is the lack of cities or even trading ports along its coasts. In their place are small monasteries or shrines tended by only a few, each dedicated to a spiritual order or “way”. Races other than the primans are often found within these cloisters, and it is from here that travelers embark farther inland, whether by river or overland. Only after traversing hundreds of miles of wilderness, often breath-taking, always perilous, may one reach the legendary Temple Cities of the Monkey King’s folk.


 * Three Sisters**

The Three Sisters are even less settled than Prima, with no urban centers of note on the trio of main islands that give the place its name. Tribes dwell among the landscape in harmony with the geography instead of trying to cut and shape and master it. There are always a few coastal trading depots as well as a number settlements farther up the rivers, but the traveler should never assume these are where they were the season before earlier because the weather and the wilds have a way of wiping them out. It is an untouched natural beauty of rivers and waterfalls, blossoming trees and intoxicating fragrances, enchanting birdsong, and wide, forested vistas from the sparkling blue waters of its coasts and lakes to the snow-peaked mountains daubed rose by the setting sun. It is also a place of secrets that some claim are surprisingly dark. Legends tell that Sri Ram warred for many years to secure his island home from a race that history only remembers by the ominous name, “slaughgor”. Some among the wise that there are places in the Sisters far darker than most know, retreats of the slaughor where even Sri Ram cannot root out their foulness. Whatever the truth of its past, like a hermit on his mountaintop, the Three Sisters tends to dislike the visitors/invaders that come to its shores in search of the many rarities of the natural world it holds.


 * Kallamuningi**

Its name means the Garden of Wind Song and it is the last of five meeting places that once stood high above the seas in the days before the Godswar killed the Pantheon. Upon these towering pillars rising high above the oceans, the gods gathered for fellowship, celebration, debate, and eventually battle. The other four continent pillars were shattered in the war that destroyed their creators, and of the lush beauty and serenity of the Garden of the Wing itself little remains. Instead, Kallamuningi is now known not only for the difficulty of reaching its surface 4,000 feet above the Tempest Sea, but the lethality of its terrain and inhabitants, and the surviving wonders from the First Age that people brave the horrors to see or find.

Over the millennia since the fall of the gods, Kallamuningi has been home not only to those survivors of its earliest days, but the many species that have colonized its sides, surface, and subterranean interior since. Winding up the cliff sides of Kallamuningi are the remnants of two great stairs used by petitioners in the days of the gods. Centuries of passage by visitors and beasts, and the waning of the magic of those early days, has degraded these paths but enough of each remains for determined and resourceful travelers to use in order to reach the top. Flight is of course another option, though many predators roost along the pillar’s sides so one should not expect a danger-free ascent even if that method is employed.

The Great Reef forms a wide arc not far from Kallamuningi’s western and southern shores. Aquans are common in its waters, and often not friendly to outsiders. It is said the druidic circle known as the Thorn and Stars has a permanent outpost in the wilds of Kallamuningi, but there is much debate about where their base is located, though the general consensus is that it is near the Fiery Falls.

Traveling south from the Tempest Sea brings one into the waters collectively claimed by the many lords, petty and great, of the Free Cities. It would be hard to find a place more antagonistic to the rule of law. Man and woman alike are expected to see to their own needs, comforts, worries, and defenses. Clans, gangs, brotherhoods, houses, orders, societies, families, and other aggregations of like-minded folks are the rule. Each port, town, or city has its long-standing feuds, with certain colors or other identifiers marking one’s allegiance and serving notice to one’s enemies. Outsiders quickly find that they had better pick a side or stay well and obviously clear of the open and clandestine wars for which the Free Cities are infamous. It is considered dishonorable to kill anyone not aligned or in support of the enemy side, but the folk of the Free Cities are not slow to answer a challenge or to deal death from a mistaken look or intention. They call themselves many names, though some outsider just say the Folk. Others say pirates and worse.
 * Free Cities**

Those leaders strong enough to keep the peace in their territory, great or small, dry or afloat, are rare, and many don’t have any wish to, thriving on the bloodshed. Others devote their time to making money in order to buy and sell the things and people they need to continue their feuds. It is not the place for those who like safety and quiet, but for sheer excitement, fast sailing ships, potent liquor, delicious fare, amazing markets, tales to curl the hair on your head or to split your belly laughing, gorgeous women, and one of the best networks of gossip and secret information outside Averna’s realm, the Free Cities are hard to beat.


 * Yasote Archipelago**

6,471 islands make up the Yasote Archipelago. Yasote is the name given local tribes that exhibited strong affinity with animals when were encountered by the explorer Ganhoffer the Fleet-witted who first met them near the end of the Age of Waves. In the Old Tongue it means simply “beast folk”. The typhoons and earthquakes that give the Tempest Sea its name are even more common in the Yasotes than elsewhere in the lands within and bordered by the great and turbulent ocean, a testament to the unusual elemental activity there.

The sheer number of islands that comprise the Yasotes means that vast differences in geography, flora and fauna are encountered if one travels extensively there. The northern locales are still mostly wilderness, with several notable exceptions, and the south is far more known for the bustling trade done by its merchant cities, the Seven Pearls.

The city of Bannipor is tucked into the eastern side of the largest of the islands, Marupan, and it is called the Blue Pearl, for the Azure Palace that rises from the heart of the massive trade metropolis. The other Pearls also each have a palace of the distinctive color associated with its city: Islag Cro the Red, Gotugaro the Green, Vinkaram the Yellow, Baknaga the White, Doru Pacul the Black, and Chi’Kor the Amber. The cities are named for the famed seven sons of the Emperor of Sea, Sky, and Stone, Pari Marupan, a great conqueror from the Age of Warlords who claimed the Yasotes during the middle of his long reign. Trade among the Seven Pearls has been a boon to each city for a very long time, competitors though they are. Occasionally in the past this rivalry has become open war, but the last such occurrence was more than a century ago between Doru Pacal and Baknaga. In addition to commerce with the other pearls, regional trading partners come from the other islands in the Yasotes, Prima, the Three Sisters, and a scattering of other isolated outposts in the Tempest. From farther south come the traders of the Free Cities, sailing from either the Tideless Sea on the east or the Great Ocean on the west, mariners from the Sea of Sails, most notable for the ancient and still mighty city of Grank that sits surrounded by the Bay of Filth, or supply fleets from the distant Siege Lands that are unable to fill their holds or fill requisitions of unusual sorts from closer ports of call.

From the north ships are rare, though when a monstrous mammothar war galleon from the Tundra of Tusks heaves into view it is a sight most will talk about for the rest of their days. Likewise travelers from far west and east are rare. In the first instance, crossing the Great Ocean is something few will attempt, and in the second, the passing through the Straits of Porasing is treacherous, and the storms farther north around Naraharam Point are more dangerous still.

Bannipor traffics in all manner of goods, as appropriate to a large coastal trading port. But it is also gained a reputation over the centuries as an outfitter of explorers. Maps, supplies of the mundane or specialist sort, guides, beasts of burden, watercraft, fresh or salt, of all sizes, mercenaries of many races and talents, sages of the esoteric, and much more can be found and purchased in Bannipor. Adventurers are to be found in all quarters (really small cities themselves) of the city, eager to explore Marupan’s rugged interior or to book passage for one of the other Yasote islands, Prima, the Three Sisters, or the mainland of the Stinging Coast, or even destinations farther away. However, it is the Crossroads, where adventurers are found in greatest concentration. Innumerable taverns, bars, inns, brothels, and outfitters cater to their needs. Of course, more specialized services are available elsewhere in the sprawling city. The gate to the Wild Road leading to Marupan’s southern, western and eastern wildernesses is also convenient close.

As one might imagine, a great variety of people call Marupan home. The two largest groups are the Yasote tribesmen and the descendants of the conquering, Marupan armies (called Marupani) that established the Pearl cities.

The term Marupani is a small one for such a large and diverse group, for Marupan had conquered what are now called the Free Cities and a large western parts of what would become the Festering Swamp and the Endless Fens (neither was quite so swampy in those days) before adding the Yasotes to his dominions. Many races composed his armies, but several were especially numerous among the occupation forces used for the conquest and pacification of the Marupani coastlands and some parts of the interior. Even Marupan’s reach failed to grasp all of the wilderness.

__**A Few Races of Marupan and the Yasote Archipelago **__


 * __Marupan Humans__** (many types, but below are the two most common varieties)

The **O’li** have deep, mahogany-colored skin, they are slender and tall (6’+ is the average), with hair of dark grey or silver (turning to bright white in old age). The men typically wear elaborate moustaches, and/or forked beards. Jewelry in the form of earrings, bracelets, and rings, is common among both sexes. Many follow their ancient sword-fighting art, //Zamura//, but they are also renowned for their music, horsemanship, healing and lore. Marupan himself was one of the O’li.


 * Sifir** are short (4’8”’-5’6” on average with men being at the top end and women toward the bottom and middle) and of medium build and lightly tanned with universally red hair. Men and women both style their hair in elaborate braids and plaits, each twist or knot or ornament added is signifying something of personal importance. They are clean-shaven, except for some who sport full side whiskers, though this is a practice mostly followed by the old. They tend to be more muscular than the O’li. The women are famously beautiful, elegant, and tempermental. It is said that there are no greater dancers, acrobats, runners, swimmers, or archers among the Marupani. They enjoy the smoke of the garalomba weed, diving from the coastal cliffs, and boating. Some consider them to be a bit too sly for their tastes.


 * __Non-human Marupans__**

The **Kha’zok** are a race of fierce and warlike boar-men who wear fetishes of bone, feather, wood, flowers, teeth, or other natural substances fashioned to express their personal style, honor their people, and to ward off the evil spirits each Kha’zok knows seeks to enter them and devour their souls. They prize loyalty, strength, bravery, and family above all else. Their elders are respected as repositories of the memory of their race and as the wise counselors that help avoid a path of weakness, shame, and damnation. Spirit and war magic is common to them, though many have lived long enough among cities to have learned a great many other things.


 * __Indigenous Folk__**

The **Yasote** look like a combination of a malinor and a lemur. They are found throughout the archipelago that bears their name and are as varied in size, coloration, patterning, demeanor, habits, and pursuits as the islands where they make their homes. Some have tails while others do not. What they share, however, is a great affinity with the natural world, each tribe worshipping a single manifestation they call the //ganewatta,// meaning ‘heart mother’//.// Each of these do much to shape the culture, spiritual beliefs, activities, family structure, and often appearance of each tribe or extended family unit, including the fighting of wars that may last for millenia. Interestingly, tribes on one island have been known to worship/revere a ganewatta tha is shared by other Yasote many islands away. Some examples of the hundreds of //ganewatta// that have been catalogued are: //Ombo the Grass Owl//, //Sabara Deathsinger// (a kind of cricket with large, feathery red antennae), //Ullakatara// (a great waterfall often ornamented by the rainbows its spray helps create), //Piti Ga// (a great cypress-like tree that rises from the center of the fabled, and near-unfindable Lake of the First Moon), //Niya// (a small collection of vibrant purple orchids whose vines grow around the mouth of a hidden cave somewhere on the island of Tailaman), //Jumalajam the Red Anger// (what sounds like a tyrannosaur of great size an antiquity).

The **Shukara-Onit,** also known as the ‘painted ogres’ gained their name because of their striking, marbled hides of blue-black or red, green, and brown. Marupan recruited them from the Roaring Mountains west of Chi’Kor after fighting them for a time as they resisted his expansion. He always treating their chieftains with respect and showered them with gifts so that they would send a few of their strongest to serve as his personal guard. Few are now seen in the Seven Pearls. The Roaring Mountains still echo with their hunting calls, however, and the wild ones are best avoided since over the years they have developed a taste for adventurers.


 * Torguls ** in a number of varieties are fairly common in most of the Pearl Cities and Bannipor is no different. There are three types that one is most likely to see in the Blue Pearl. Short and squat are the //Oya//, a race expert in putting insects of all kinds (and Marupan has tons, from tiny to colossul) to various uses. The gnarled and sinisterly-ugly //Keladi// are hunters and fishers of the lakes and rivers of the interior. Savage in appearance and action, about the size of a human (some larger), with a snapping turtle’s face, shell, and hide, they visit the cities only to sell or trade their wares and are usually distrustful of non-torgul folk. Most common are the Balango, a sea-faring species that inhabit colonies among the vast reefs found along the many sections of Marupan coastline. They have smooth hides and flatter shells, and hooked, beak-like faces. They trade items and catches from the sea and are considered kindly because of their reputation for saving drowning sailors and helping others they find in distress upon the seas.

Lizard Folk: there are many of these in the Yasotes. The Narvink are one such, bearing a fine, water-resistant fur upon their scales of white with black spots. Cribbletoa, a member of a warrior society and patron of the Chicken is one.

Setting for the Winding Road

Where: Bannipor, the Blue Pearl When: Summer, Year of the Piebald Shark

Soon high summer will arrive and with it the festival known in Bannipor as the Saga of the Stormlords. Here is a little background about the subject of this interesting holiday.


 * __The Stormlords__**

Throughout the Tempest Sea, peoples of all races tell tales of the Stormlords. Beings of primal power unleashed, awakened, or born in the wake Godswar when divine magic ran wild and unchecked, their fury was terrible and their desire to reshape the world was merciless. Continents were broken or drowned, flooded with fire or scoured with flensing winds as these titans reveled in the destruction they wrought. Much that had survived the war of the heavens did not survive the wrath of the elements embodied. Andavar itself was in peril of being tore apart when the Old Ones intervened.

In a brutal and world-shaking coda of the Godswar, the Firstborn, with only very few exceptions, came together to throw down and bind the Stormlords. Fearful that slaying them would cause calamitous chain reactions throughout Andavar, perhaps destroying it entirely, the Ole Ones bound the Stormlords with magic terrible in its might that its like has not been seen since.

Many tales speak of their binding, the where and the how, how many of them there are, of the Old Ones that died in the process. But the oldest stories all agree: the Stormlords were bound in the region we now know as the Tempest Sea.

Known by a thousand names from ten thousand cultures, Khahariss the Wind Demon, Ugu Mountain-hide, the volcanic Scorcar Belloss, Siminithi the Drowner, and Iblin of Winter’s Long Shadow are not yet finished with their war. As they struggle and rage against their bonds they send their hatred and power into the world in form of typhoons and blizzards, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. The Tempest sees more than its share and the legacy of the Stormlords is etched upon the islands and the seas, the creatures, plants, mountains, jungles, cities, and ships. The elements are the most important features of the lands washed by the waters of the Tempest Sea.

Some worship the Stormlords in one or more of their various incarnations, some cults going so far as to work to bring about their release. These doomsday sects teach that the world tainted by the gods and their followers must be annihilated, cleansed and reborn in elemental purity. Not all who revere the Stormlords follow such doctrine, but it is surprising how many unpleasant factions have developed around the worship or reverence of one or more of these elemental furies.

On the other hand, there are entire orders dedicated to stomping out such cult activities, seeing the return of the Stormlords as certain doom for the world. Many celebrations concerning the Stormlords and their legacy are to be found and practices in the Tempest Sea region. In Bannipor, for instance, a festival is held in high summer for two weeks called the Saga of the Stormlords, during which their rise, domination, and fall are played out in a number of fascinating and entertaining ways.