Saragoss
Domain of Nautical Terrors
Darklord: Draga Salt-Biter
Genres: Gothic horror and body horror
Hallmarks: Pirates, horrific dreams, dark oceanic cults
Mist Talismans: Compass, torn treasure map, spyglass
Saragoss is an island domain comprised of an amalgamation of seaweed, wrecked ships, the bones of the drowned, broken chunks of coral reef, and other bits of flotsam and jetsam that have accumulated into an uncanny island. Although many sections of the island have dried into a spongy mass capable of bearing the weight of its ramshackle buildings and squalid dwellings, some areas remain perilous sinkholes ready to suck the unwary down into a morass of algae and brine.
Teetering buildings built from detritus, foundered ships, and reclaimed materials crowd together like crooked teeth across the canals that fray the island’s southern edge. Reefmire, the island’s largest township, is a thriving center of maritime trade and a haven for pirates. Reefmire’s wharves bustle with the lading and unloading of full-rigged ships, and its dangerous quayside taverns are frequented by cutthroats, whalers, and other sea dogs.
Surrounding the island is a cold, tumultuous stretch of waters perpetually bordered the Mists. These seas are infested with an unusual number of bloodthirsty sharks and other monsters living beneath the waves. Saragoss sits at the center of a web of Mistways carving stable paths through the Mists. The Mistways lead to the navigable waters of other domains, allowing the sailors of Saragoss access to all the Land of the Mists' ports.
Saragoss’s settlements are only nominally administered by elected governors. It is a lawless place, and its authorities generally turn a blind eye to the activities of the buccaneers operating out of its wharves. Justice in Saragoss most often comes in the form of bloody retribution, rather than a fair trial among peers.
Sleep in Saragoss is often disturbed by hallucinatory nightmares, prophetic dreams, and foreboding omens. The deformed and reeking remains of unfathomable aberrations occasionally wash up on shore.
Noteworthy Features
Those familiar with Saragoss know the following facts:
• Saragoss is an unnatural island comprised of wrecked ships, stinking kelp, and maritime debris.
• The island is the base of operations for many dreaded pirate crews, outlaws, whalers, and sailors.
• Some members of the island’s populace have an unusual appearance. Folk who evidence bulging or unblinking eyes, a marked lack of hair, or fish-like visages are said to possess “the Saragoss look.”
• Saragoss's buildings are decorated with occult graffiti and scrimshaw charms meant to ward off violence, tropical storms, and death at sea.
Saragossan Characters
Characters from Saragoss favor nautical backgrounds, such as sailor, fisher, marine, mooncusser, shipwright, or smuggler. Because so many of its residents are pirates and thieves, the people of Saragoss regard each other with paranoia and suspicion. When players create characters from Saragoss, consider asking them the following questions.
Have you heard the call of the sea? If you have fallen prey to the siren call of nautical adventure, what unusual phenomena or monstrosity have you encountered, witnessed, or fled from?
Has your life been touched by crime? Saragoss gives nearly free rein to pirates and other criminals who adopt the island as their home because their ill-gotten gains bring prosperity to the isle. Were you part of a notorious pirate’s crew or a criminal gang? Were you victimized by the island’s criminal element?
What troubles your sleep? People native to Saragoss often find their slumber haunted by nightmares and hellish dreams of an approaching doom that threatens to emerge from the deepest depths of the sea. The terrifying dreams that afflict the residents of Saragoss frequently hold prophetic meanings—what horror do you believe awaits you in the future?
Settlements and Sites
The southern reaches of the island are dominated by the town of Reefmire and other smaller seaside ports. In the north, isolated farmers grow crops such as sugar cane, cotton, rice, citrus, and tobacco from the nutrient-rich combination of rotting driftwood and sargassum that comprises the island’s soil.
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Drowned
The Chapel of Our Lady of the Drowned is a temple in Reefmire dedicated to a morbid goddess of the sea. The chapel was built from the remains of ships that have capsized, foundered on Saragoss's shores, or otherwise became less than seaworthy. The chapel’s altar is constructed from carved figureheads recovered from sunken ships. The faithful come to the chapel to pray for the souls of those lost at sea and to petition the goddess for safe passage before undertaking sea voyages. The chapel is presided over by Ulia, the high priestess of the cult devoted to the Lady of the Drowned.
The Hook
The Hook is a rough sailors’ tavern in Blighter’s Manse, one of the smaller seaside towns of southern Saragoss. It is primarily frequented by residents of Saragoss who possess “the Saragoss look.” Although other members of the island’s populace are welcome to drink there, they are expected to ignore the unnerving and inhuman idols carved from black, oily stone that decorate the interior of the Hook.
Prison Hulks
Saragoss's residents favor executing the most egregious of its criminals and hanging their corpses in gibbets as macabre cautionary displays. However, dangerous criminals who might prove needful at a later date are kept incarcerated in prison hulks anchored offshore. The hulks are decommissioned ships that have had their masts removed and have been refitted with barred cells to serve as floating jails.
Quega’s Shack
The tortle herbalist, apothecary, and tattoo artist Quega inhabits a shack perched atop stilts on a lonely stretch of the coast. Quega dispenses medicines and potions to the ailing, inscribes magical tattoos for those with ready coin, and can offer advice on all manner of occult matters.
The Vengeance
The barnacle-encrusted remains of the Vengeance, a once fearsome brigantine, stand at the center of Reefmire and now serve as the office and residence of the port’s governor. Captain Draga Salt-Biter, a respected former sailor, currently stands as governor. Draga provides a modicum of stability in Reefmire, but he is loathe to interfere with the schemes of its pirate captains.
Draga Salt-Biter
At the height of his sailing career, Captain Draga Salt-Biter had command of three ships that prowled the seas, looking for trade opportunities and gullible natives to exploit. One island he discovered in his travels unveiled a hideous secret: its residents placated the vile sahaugin with human sacrifice in return for golden treasures brought up from the bottom of the sea.
Wishing to emulate the islanders’ exchange with the sahaugin, Draga entered into a fell pact with the sea devils. The sahaugin demanded sacrifice, which Draga was happy to provide. He turned pirate, taking plunder for himself and prisoners to be given over to the sahaugin. Draga married a sahaugin priestess and even willingly underwent a ritual to seal his compact with them—one that forever transformed him into a monster.
As he sailed the seas looking for further sacrifices to offer Sekolah, the bloody god of the sahaugin, Draga’s fleet encountered a strange fog that encircled his ships, rendering them hopelessly disoriented. When then fog cleared, Draga found that his flagship, the Vengeance, was embedded in an unnatural island of sargassum and seaborne detritus. Draga soon discovered that the isle served as a hub for the kind of piratical activity that had seduced him into a life of murderous greed and that sailing his beloved sea was now forbidden to him.
Draga’s Powers and Dominion
Draga Salt-Biter is an attractive man, albeit in a brutal, swaggering way. Although Draga looks human, his true form is now that of a wereshark. (See Kobold Press’s Tome of Beasts 2 for the stats of a typical wereshark.) Unlike others of his kind, Draga can breathe equally well on land and in water when he is in his hybrid form.
Call of the Sea Devils. Draga can command the loyalty of any sahaugin he encounters and can call them forth from the depths when needed.
Ulia. Ulia is the wife Draga took as part of his pact with the sahaugin. She will use her fell magic to his benefit in any way that might be required.
Closing the Borders. When Draga closes the borders of Saragoss, the island is slashed by the wind and rain of a fierce tropical storm. Any ship that attempts to outrun the storm will inevitably be destroyed.
Draga’s Torment
Draga can no longer sail the seas beyond his island prison. He is doomed to remain on Saragoss with the sea’s promised freedom always in view, but forever out of reach:
• Any ship he attempts to sail out of the domain is destined to founder, drawing him back to Saragoss.
• He is cursed with the enmity of the sharks that teem in Saragoss's waters. They will attack him relentlessly if he ventures into the waters beyond the Mists.
Roleplaying Draga
Draga Salt-Biter delights in cruelty and torture. He is extremely self-centered, caring only for his own gain and recognizing only the pain of his own torment.
Personality Trait. “A wrong perpetrated against me cannot be allowed to go unaddressed.”
Ideal. “One day I will once more know the freedom of the wide-open sea.”
Bond. “Sekolah is worthy of both my fear and my reverence.”
Flaw. “The swift application of the lash quells the most vociferous dissenter.”
