Volcanic Island · Eastern Archipelago
Ravencrest Isle
A wild island of dense jungles, ancient Solaran ruins, and a dark history of chains and gold — where the Temple of the Gilded Cage and the Black Fleet share uneasy dominion over the city of Port Aureveil.
Type
Volcanic Island
Crown City
Port Aureveil
Population
~45,000
Dominant Faith
Slaasha (Temple of the Gilded Cage)
Naval Power
The Black Fleet
Patron Spirit
Selenara Veilweaver
Island Overview
Ravencrest Isle rises from the eastern sea like a clenched fist — volcanic stone draped in jungle so thick it swallows sound. The island was once sacred to the followers of Solara, who built golden-hued monasteries designed to catch the light at precise celestial moments. For four centuries, pilgrims walked sun-marked pathways and monks mapped invisible ley-lines like others might map trade routes.
Then came the pirates, and after them the priests of Slaasha. The monastery was consumed, its prayer halls replaced by golden spires. Faith was not abandoned — it was repurposed. The Temple of the Gilded Cage rose over the harbor, and the city of Port Aureveil grew to 45,000 souls, built on carefully calculated compromise between divine contract and naval force.
Now the island exists in tension. The Temple controls the city's spiritual and economic life through a web of "donations," contracts, and the dreaded Chain Crypts — where debtors are interred alive in golden chains, their life force slowly siphoned. The Black Fleet, arrived only a month ago with fifteen warships, controls the harbor and sea lanes, imposing military discipline atop the Temple's older, looser regime. Between them, five factions jockey for power. Volcanic tremors grow more frequent. Something stirs beneath the city. And deep in the island's jungle interior, an ancient goblin city lies drowned in a colossal sinkhole, guarded by dragons.
Key Locations
City of Chains and Whispers
Port Aureveil
A sprawling coastal city where the Temple of the Gilded Cage and the Black Fleet share uneasy dominion. Over a dozen wards — from the golden Chainward to the vertical slums of the Ladders — each hiding their own dangers, factions, and opportunities.
Explore
The World-Sunk City
Karkûl-Vesh
A colossal sinkhole four to seven hundred feet deep, capped by living canopy, where a mated pair of adult green dragons hold court over a tribe of primitive goblins. A vertical dungeon of broken stairs, hanging terraces, and a drowned cathedral at the bottom.
Explore
History of Ravencrest
Ancient
The Solaran Age
Monks of Solara built golden-hued monasteries as listening devices for ley-lines. For four centuries, the island was a place of quiet spirituality, pilgrimage, and fair trade. The monks meditated in the Vigil Gardens, mapping celestial power with sundials of mechanical precision.
Gradual
The Corruption
A senior monk named Karkul-Vesh saw opportunity where predecessors saw vice. Pirates needed harbor; the monastery needed resources. Within a generation, the tribute proved so profitable that Port Aureveil transformed from smuggler's camp into a city of 45,000.
~200 years ago
Rise of the Temple
Slaasha's heralds, fiendish beings wearing mortal skins, orchestrated a coup. The Solaran temples burned in a single night. Over the ruins of the grandest cathedral, the Temple of the Gilded Cage rose — gold leaf and enchanted stone consuming the old prayer halls.
~3 generations ago
The Pact of the Gilded Tide
The Temple and Black Fleet formalized their alliance: the Temple grants spiritual sanction to every contract, the Fleet guarantees enforcement. Neither trusts the other. Both need each other.
One month ago
The Black Fleet Arrives
Fifteen warships under the absent Black Regent imposed lawful evil order atop the Temple's neutral evil chaos. Contracts became rigid, debts non-negotiable, violence monopolized by military apparatus. The old guard seethes.
The Wilds
The Whispering Jungle
A green dragon's lair — the entire jungle, corrupted and controlled. Trails shift overnight, streams change course, and every path eventually leads to the sinkhole of Karkûl-Vesh. The jungle doesn't get you lost; it steers you.
Mount Ashkarn
The broad-shouldered volcano that dominates the island's interior, trailing a permanent veil of smoke. Hot springs steam in roadside gullies and the air tastes of sulfur. The Frostvein Mining Company extracts volcanic iron, obsidian, and ley-line quartz from its flanks.
The Whisperwood
Lowland jungle where Chain-Vines — plants growing in links of woody fiber — and Fog-Stalkers — translucent predators visible only by their breath — make every path treacherous. Mirror-Moths reflect starlight, creating false constellations.
The Vale of Chains
A narrow valley choked with chain-vine and iron-crab colonies. The ground crunches underfoot. Rusted remnants of old slave-roads surface here, overgrown but never quite swallowed.
The Ashen Hills
Vineyards, rice terraces, and thermal springs on the island interior. The volcanic highlands conceal Solaran ruins of immense age. Dinosaurs roam the deeper jungle clearings.
Weeping Springs
Thermal springs that bubble from volcanic rock, their mineral-heavy waters staining the surrounding stone in bands of copper and jade. Locals claim the springs weep for the Solaran faithful who perished.
Factions of Ravencrest
The Temple of the Gilded Cage
Spiritual & Political Authority
The dominant power in Port Aureveil. Theology of divine transaction — every pleasure has a price, every contract is a prayer. Provides order, entertainment, and contractual law while operating the dreaded Chain Crypts.
The Black Fleet
Naval Empire & Harbor Control
Fifteen warships controlling the Thalassian Sea shipping lanes. Arrived one month ago, imposing military discipline atop the Temple's looser regime. The Black Regent has not yet appeared, but his will is absolute.
The Golden Rebellion
Resistance Movement
Disillusioned Chainpriests, freed debtors, and Solaran historians. Brother Helian broke his chains after being ordered to inter a child. They cannot match the Temple financially but provide intelligence and Solaran theology.
The Velvet Knives
Intelligence Network & Shadow Guild
Cell-structured espionage network. Not ideological — pragmatic. Deal in information, espionage, and occasional assassination. Agents embedded in every faction. Safephrase: 'The tide forgets names.'
The Frostvein Mining Company
Economic Power
Led by Thane Bryndis Frostvein, 200 dwarf miners extract volcanic iron, sulfur, obsidian, and ley-line quartz. Strictly neutral, but privately sympathetic to the Rebellion — Bryndis's grandmother was interred in the Chain Crypts for an undeserved debt.
House Crimson Veil
Elite Pleasure-House Syndicate
Salons that gather intelligence. No one knows where pleasure ends and espionage begins. Connection to the Temple is deliberately ambiguous. Controls the Moonfire Promenade and the Velvet Labyrinth.
Island Ecology
Chain-Vines
Plants that grow in links of woody fiber, forming natural chains. Some specimens are strong enough to bear human weight.
Iron-Crabs
Crustaceans with metallic shells that rust and regrow in cycles. Their discarded shells carpet certain beaches in crunching iron flakes.
Fog-Stalkers
Translucent predators visible only by their breath in cold air. Silent, patient, and responsible for Gorrim's missing eye.
Gilded Orchids
Flowers with petals that appear dipped in gold. Sacred to the old Solaran faith, now overgrown through the Temple ruins.
Mirror-Moths
Nocturnal insects whose wings reflect starlight, creating false constellations that can disorient travelers.
Wyverns
The Skullcap Clan of Karkûl-Vesh uses wyvern riders to patrol the jungle canopy and raid coastal settlements.
Notable Figures
Lady Vaelith Duskwhisper
High Priestess of the Gilded Cage
Never threatens directly — offers. Frames demands as generous opportunities. Considers mortals fascinating the way a collector finds insects fascinating.
Zhul-Mekar, the Black Regent
Ruler of the Black Fleet
Not seen in person for three years. Central eye suppresses magic in a 150-ft cone. Paranoid, justified, and rules through proxies.
Brother Helian
Leader of the Golden Rebellion
Broke his oaths after being ordered to inter a child in the Chain Crypts. Knows more Solaran theology than anyone alive.
Gorrim One-Eye
Prospector & Guide
Lost his eye to a Fog-Stalker. Smokes constantly. Navigates by smell. Distrusts the Temple, tolerates the Fleet, respects the jungle.
Silka Writhe
Velvet Knives Operative
Runs The Unfastening — a covert operation rescuing elven captives. Speaks in riddles. Tests if you can keep up.
Thane Bryndis Frostvein
Mining Company Matriarch
180 years old, built like a boulder, mechanical prosthetic left hand. Honors contracts absolutely.
Selenara Veilweaver
Island Spirit
Not entirely a person. Ravencrest's scattered spiritual consciousness. Speaks through mirrors, dreams, and children near moonlight.
Captain Reevanthara
Commander of the Maiden's Kiss
Sympathetic to the anti-Temple cause. Fast ship, armed crew, fierce loyalty to her people.
Adventure Hooks
The Tomb of Golden Ashes — Solaran ruin in the highlands, tests your soul. Go in greedy, come out screaming.
The Deep Tremors — Something moves beneath Port Aureveil. Foundations shudder. The dwarves deny it.
The Unfastening — Temple chains breaking from within. Someone powerful is cutting debts.
The Rescue of Zibbo Croakchord — A goblin bard held captive by two green dragons in Karkûl-Vesh.
The Book of Names — Someone is writing a book. Every name entered binds that person to Port Aureveil.
Something in the Harbor — Sailors mention something vast in deep water. Something that sings.
The Moonlight Map — From the Orphan-Spire, during dual-moon conjunction, moonlight casts a shadow-map revealing the Four Pillars' location.
The Ashvein Ghost — Fleet supply barges vanishing on the river. A water elemental bound by a Solaran ward-stone.
The Two Moons
Ravencrest's nights are governed by Lunara (silver) and Noctis (dark, visible only as shadow against stars). The two moons mark tides, growing seasons, and magical cycles across the island. The Moonlight Shrine — a hidden cave at the top of the Ladders, accessible by a rope bridge to nowhere — holds a tiny shrine to Lunara in volcanic glass that predates the city itself.
During dual-moon conjunction (once per week), DC 18 Perception from the Orphan-Spire reveals that moonlight casts a shadow-map showing the location of the Four Pillars. One hour of meditation under moonlight at the shrine (DC 16 Wisdom/Insight) grants a vision: four stone pillars, a tunnel hidden by water, and the words "The door is not the door. The river remembers."
Ravencrest Isle is a sandbox location designed for multi-session campaigns. Begin in Port Aureveil, explore the wilderness, and descend into Karkûl-Vesh.