Baratoria

Fabled and mysterious pirate isles

Baratoria, the fabled "pirate isles" of the Inner Sea, is a place long sought by the navies of the surrounding lands. it is a place of legend, for the very question of its existence is often cast in doubt. It can be found in old sailors tales, or perhaps as a bit of land glimpsed far away against the horizon... never to be found again.

Baratoria itself is made of many smaller islands, three of which are large enough to support the docking of large masted ships, though only one is regularly inhabited. These islands are Walkers Cay to the north, Grand Isle in the midst, and South Cay along the bottom. The islands are in relatively shallow water, such that at low tide its quite easy to walk or wade from Walkers Cay to Grand Isle. The waters of the east facing bay formed by the islands are relatively deep, allowing for even the larger three masted ships to dock.

Baratoria is a save haven for the outcasts and the misfits of society, be it for reason of eclectic nature or less savory and more criminal inclinations. In any case, it is often said by locals that Baratoria finds you, rather than would-be explorers finding it. Indeed, something of the island keeps srying magics from pinpointing the place of the islands, denying the power of magic to aid those who seek it out. Even sailors who have found maps to the island find that their coordinates are mysteriously wrong, that the compasses become unreliable, or that terrific storms arise forcing them to turn away to a new heading.

Amongst the many oddities of Baratoria is the climate, for although it rests in a sea surrounded by lands that many be in the grip of winter, the islands themselves always seem to remain fairly temperate, fostering a great deal of plant life unique to the region or found mainly in the jungles of central Curmeah.

A great deal of trade comes and goes through Baratoria, most often bound for one of the nations that have coastline along the Inner Sea. The hidden nature of the island naturally lends itself to all manner of illicit trade and shadowy deals, far more than would normally be tolerated in any other port. Baratoria itself has no government, law, or law enforcement. Instead the locals are kept in line by superstition and fear, for even on Baratoria there are some acts that do not pass without repercussion. Breaking these unwritten rules are known to invite the supernatural enimity of the island itself; subtle curses and misfortune follow those who would break these rules, often to their ruin.

Baratoria is a home to great many local myths and superstitions, many of which are not unfounded. Of these the two most prominant, and most visible, are those of the Wailing Rock and the strange robed wanderers dressed in black and red known simply as "the Orders".

Baratoria is located in Inner Sea

Contributor: Mortedamos