CRATER ISLES

The Crater Isles, in Mare Luna and The Crater, are a large collection of rocky spurs jutting out of the water some 100 miles off the coast of Kuvera. The majority have no name, while the larger islands are remembered as pirate dens and havens to scavengers. Not all the inhabitants of these islands make their living directly or indirectly from piracy, but the majority do.

The isles are largely uncharted (except by pirates) and corsair vessels lurk among them. Jakaa, the largest of the Crater Isles, is also known as Moonspur, although that is really the name of the mountain at the southern end of the island. Jakaa is fortified and has two secure harbors defended by forts and three secure anchorages in addition to these harbors. Jakaa can hold 160 to 170 vessels within its fortified harbors. Both harbors have chains, submerged stone breakrocks, and ramships to prevent unauthorized entry. Their entrances are further protected by thick-walled forts. The northern harbor's fort is built into a cliff along the western side of the narrow harbor entrance, while the southern harbor's fort is set square at the mouth of the harbor. Each of these forts has a battery of mystic Utharian bombards, rare and wondrous weapons brought long ago from Uth.

pirate signals and verbal codes change constantly. A few old passwords, gleaned from various sources, include: "Obold," "Illmark Way," and "Holt-Ho!" Failure to use the correct password when called upon often results in the death of the user. The pirates have not been strong enough to openly defy and stand against or even attack the ports of Kuvera for nearly 200 winters. However, at least 200 active pirate vessels (and probably as many more hulls- perhaps as many as 600) lurk or are hidden in the Crater Isles and around the coasts of Mare Luna.

The Crater Isles are strategically placed to command all shipping moving to and from the Dagger Loch and Specula from The sea which surrounds the Crater Isles is shallow, with many tidal islands (islands which only poke out above the water during low tide) and reefs. The shallow sea is a haven for sea-life, making fishing in the islands easy and productive.

The shallow sea also acts as a protective barrier for the pirates. It is difficult to sail the waters around the Crater Isles without a pilot who knows the many hidden reefs and sandbars which dot this area, and it is suicide to sail here quickly without expert guidance. Only in certain areas is any kind of open-sea sailing possible.

The free-sailing waterways of the pirate Isles thus become highways, allowing swift travel between the islands for those who know the routes. Traveling off of these waterways greatly increases the chance of running aground.

The largest area of free-sailing is the Crater, an area of relatively deep sea roughly bounded by Shard Isle, Jakaa, Kavu, Dread, and the reefs southeast of Jakaa. The Crater allows access to all of these islands.

The northeast edge of The Crater marks one end of the Windrace, a strait running from The Crater to Kavu Isle and beyond. The Windrace is so named because it lies along the lines of the prevailing winds, allowing swift travel thru The Crater to Dread Isle. In the other direction, however, travel is extremely slow, requiring tacking back and forth across the strait in order to make headway. Disputes between captains are often settled by a race from Dread Isle, across The Crater and up the Windrace to Jakaa harbor, with the winner gaining victory in the challenge. It is said that just such a challenge cost the life of King Velor of Specula, who challenged the H'El Lords of Utharia to a race from Jakaa harbor around Dread Isle and back again. According to the legend, Velor was winning the challenge, but was betrayed by the Utharian artifice of substituting his whip with one braided with cockatrice feathers, thus tricking Velor into turning all of his oarsmen into stone.

Two other straits bear mentioning. One, known as the Jaws, runs south of Jakaa beneath the high peak of Moonspur, to the island of Kavu. The other, known as the Spoon, runs along the northern edge of Kavu Isle to the southern shore of Dread and then southwest into The Crater. The Spoon is not as wide as the Windrace, and it has a few sharp twists in it, so it is not as popular an accessway into the central Crater Isles.

All of these waters (except Athri Bay) are inhabited by the nomadic mannora. These creatures travel throughout the Crater Isles, and lair in undersea caves on almost every island in the region. The mannora tribes and the pirates have an arrangement, in which the mannora are paid for steering pirate fishing fleets to the best fishing waters, allowing these islands to support many more people than would otherwise be possible. In addition, the pirates do a considerable trade in mannora coral carvings, and nearly every pirate wears a ring or earring of mannora coral.