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The Sunward Isles

The Sunward Isles

The Sunward Isles, a lawless tropical harbour of rickety piers and ships under palm-covered hills
Where The Southern Sea, south of Meridia, between Blackwater and Port Khazul
Climate Tropical
Rulers A scatter of island princes; no single crown
Now The refugees' goal

Locked A warm, tropical archipelago south of Meridia. It was long a lawless haven for pirates and slave traders. Since Kaelen conquered Aldoria, it has become the refuge for people escaping Meridia, and the goal at the end of the Lantern Road.

Before the war

Aspect Detail
Government Draft A scatter of island princes, each ruling one island or a few. In practice many are little more than pirate lords, and no law reaches past their own harbour
Wealth Oranges, sugar, spice, pearls, and the harbour fees of every ship that passes
Character Easygoing, superstitious about the sea and fond of feasts, with pirate havens and slave markets on the outer islands
Old Fen The spice ships Old Fen sailed on as a boy ran this route, sixty years ago

Now: the refuge

Locked The Isles are where escapees from occupied Meridia try to reach. The Lantern Road runs refugees from Thornford to the sea, and Edric Morrow's secret line carries them downriver on Morrow barges.

Open How the island princes treat the refugees. Slavers and pirates make a refuge dangerous, and that's a ready-made story.

DM only

DM projection for the Age of Ribbons: the Isles stop paying tribute and start charging harbour fees to imperial ships. Kaelen could buy the grain it lacks here, if anyone let it.

A real-world comparison

Think of Port Royal or the Barbary Coast: lawless ports where a slaver and a runaway might drink in the same tavern. A refuge doesn't have to be safe, only out of the Empire's reach.

Sources

  • The Aldorian Codex: Lands Beyond, "The wider world", "The Sunward Isles"
  • Owner's notes of 6 November 2026