Weekly J3H Campaign Starts 18: Sunset Archipelago
Sorry for the delay from my normal schedule! I got a bad case of food poisoning and everything this week got thrown out of whack.
I'm making 3 hexes and a town every week of 2024 in the style of Chgowiz's Just 3 Hexes format. Check the J3H tag to see all entries in the series.
(Hex tiles used in the image are from Zeshio's Pixel Hex Tileset, the map was created using Hex Kit)
Campaign: Tensions between the entrenched state of Sunset Harbor and the independent merchants that travel through their territory have never been higher, with some merchants looking to create some form of union or guild for collective bargaining with the gunboat citystate. As that conflict ramps up demanding more and more resources, indigenous populations warn about enraging the local island spirits, arguing that further incursions will bring about ancient monsters to wreck the lands. Day to day though, merchants still have to sail, pirates and privateers still need to make their coin, and ships of every kind have need of mercenaries willing to ply a blade for a bunk, a hot meal, and a share of the loot.
Homebase (1007): Sunset Harbor - A mountainside port town named for the way the sun always sets between the two border towers of its harbor walls. Centuries of tax from ships passing through the Strait (0906) has made Sunset Harbor a town of old wealth and conservative sensibilities. Pirate captains like to brag about their illicit connections to political entities within Sunset Harbor, but no proof of such corruption has ever been officially confirmed.
Location 1 (0806): Timberline Anchorage - The western end of the Sunset Archipelago, mostly uninhabited except for small shepherd villages. The sheltered arrangement of the islands and the bountiful timber make it a good resupply point for ships entering or leaving the Strait (0906). The local shepherds caution that ships lately have been taking too much of the timber and angering the island spirits, warning that further action will result in catastrophic floods and the awakening of ancient sea monsters (but they're just silly little goat herders, right?).
Location 2 (0906): The (Sunset) Strait - "The Strait", or "Sunset Strait", is a short section of protected water through the Sunset Archipelago. The position of the Archipelago forces merchant ships to pass through and pay fees to Sunset Harbor or risk the open ocean further west and risk losing their entire cargo. The extremely deep draft of the Strait makes it hard to see for surface dwellers, but there is an entire village of crabfolk at the bottom that make their living harvesting the shipwrecks that sink down in the natural canal.
Location 3 (1008): Old Man Cardiff - "Old Man Cardiff" is a dormant volcano surrounded by a fumarole field. Ships sometimes brave sailing by the mountain instead of through the Strait (0906), but they just as often sail into patches of boiling water or a cloud of scalding steam. There's rumors of a magic ship of ice that sails through the waters unconcerned by the danger captained by the fearsome Rumalto the Rime Wizard.
Bonus! Also pictured:
- (1107) Resource: Diamond Reef
- (0516) Lair: Brokenmast Aerie (Harpy Coven)