Weekly J3H Campaign Starts 20: Manoog's Isle
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: Manoog looms in his lair above the Thunder Jungle, his infamous history only a little more bloodthirsty than the current ruling Pirate Council in Crimsoncliffs. Captains clamor and clash for new recruits, making dark alliances with the Cult of the Crab or the Krakenriders to strike back at their peers. Through it all, new ships land on Manoog's Isle every day, their holds rich with plunder and their decks rife with opportunity.
Homebase (0605): Crimsoncliffs - A pirate port sympathetic to no mainland government or passing merchant until coin passes hands. Ruled through a complex hierarchical chart ranking different pirate captains factoring in amount of prizes brought in, size of crew, impressiveness of flagship, and number of duels won. Named for the red rocky ground that the majority of the town is built on, apocryphally the ground used to be gray until the first Captain's Council met here and subsequently murdered each other down to the last squawking parrot.
Location 1 (0504): Thunder Jungle - Thick jungle covering the majority of Manoog's Isle, so-called "Thunder Jungle" for the relatively common sound of explosive sounds echoing through its ferns and fronds. The sound comes from pitcher plants indigenous to the island that slowly fill with air before expelling it all at once to spread their seeds and pollen far and wide. Local fauna have all evolved to have thicker hides or rubbery skin to ensure they aren't killed by speeding seeds shooting through the trees.
Location 2 (0405): Wreck of the "Seaworthy II" - The wreck of a deepsea galleon beached high on the rocks, its wooden bones bleached by years of sun. The wreck's been taken over by a cult of crabfolk who want to flood the whole world to usher in a "new age of aquatic domination." They were dismissed as a bunch of charlatans and crackpots until last year when they managed to capsize an entire raiding fleet on their way back to Crimsoncliffs.
Location 3 (0503): Lair of Manoog - The thick jungle gives way to rocky cliffwalls stretching towards a quartet of bald peaks. Somewhere in the many caves and ravines lives Maneater Manoog, a scaly lizard-cyclops the size of a barn. Manoog famously slew the human princeling William of Moreland along with his many companions when they sought to hunt him for sport a decade and a half ago.
Bonus! Also pictured:
- (0404) Resource: Thunderheads (Old Growth Forest, Timber)
- (0603) Lair: Krakenrider Bandits