The Tiki Islands

[TLDunn213]

The Tiki Islands, as I may have mentioned elsewhere in these writings, are an archipelago located a rather goodly distance to the east and a little bit to the south of Ha'Ven. Or about a full day's sail Northeast of the Sargasso sea. 

Places and features of note include the Big Island at the  center (more or less) of the group called Big Island, Center island, or Hakaguiluge. (Pronounced: hock a gooy loogy .)(Don't give me that look. I didn't name the place.) Which is also the name of the volcano at the center of the island.

The volcano, and the whole archipelago to some extent, is magical. As well as Simi active. While it hasn't erupted in ages. There is a lave chamber with magma that rises and falls regularly enough to keep the mud pools on its slopes bubbling at near boiling temperatures. Even heating them enough to send large blobs of scalding hot mud flying out of the pools and several yards downslope.

While this would seem to be a good reason for sensible people to stay away. It is also one of the main reasons for some people to go there. As noted the volcano is magical, and so is the mud from the pools on its slopes. With just a little work a skilled Alchemist can extract a number of different magical Dusts and Powders. 

As you might expect the levels of magic here are high enough to give rise to Mudmen in a number of the mud pools. So; No, you aren't imagining it. Those scalding hot mud blobs are being aimed at you, more often than not. Still, given that a one pound ball of this magic mud can sell for 5 to 10 Silver. There are a number of people who make their living by dodging scalding hot mud blobs and looking for rare plants that don't grow anywhere else.

There are also rumors of a complex of caves and secret chambers up there that have been used as hiding places for different magical artifacts over the years and whatever equipment Adventuring parties that didn't make it might have had with them. 

There are a number of other features of the Islands that I'll get into next time. As well as a few more details about what's rumored to be hidden in the caves of Hakaguiluge.

 

Edited February 6, 2021 by TLDunn213

[Snypiuer]

Are the Tiki's any where near the Kammanaihuannaleau Atoll?

[TLDunn213]

Tell me more about this atoll and I'll see if I can locate it on the map

 

[TLDunn213]

The islands get their name from the talking Tikis that are scattered around all of the Islands. 

While no one seems to know for sure who (or maybe what) make the first ones they seem to be self replicating/generating as new ones are reported every now and again. 

Or maybe they just move around and/or change appearance as people also report not being able to find older ones who's location was thought to be well known. 

The Tikis can be bargained with for information, healing, and magic items. Taking information, magic items, and raw magical energy as payment. 

There is a rumor that it is taboo to ask the Tikis about themselves, but no one seems to know for sure. Much less agree as to what, if anything, happens if you break the taboo. 

Few people are willing to risk it, and those who have tried to find out have been frustrated in their attempts. It seems that it is impossible to find a Tiki while being followed. If you find a Tiki the people who were following you have lost track of you. Or if you are the one doing the following and lose track of your target you might not find them again.

Of course this may just be a feature of the Islands in general, as all attempts at mapping them have proven futile. And getting lost is insanely easy. 

At least if you are an outsider with out the help of a native guide. Natives and long time residents Never get lost and can reach Any location in the Entire Archipelago in a matter of hours if not minutes. 

It is even rumored that expert guides can reach locations that are not even in the archipelago at all.

Careful research into this later trick has revealed the presence of Wayward Pines at the arrival point. But this just exchanges one mystery for another. While it has long been known that Wayward Pines can transport people from place to place it was believed to just be a sort of random tunnel type of thing. Find one, note where it is, wait for it to flicker to its other location, and make a note of where that is. And you have a secret shortcut between those two places.

But no one seemed to know how to set up the link or how they were triggered. But the Tiki Island natives seem to know how to do both. Which leaves me wondering what price is paid for this secret.

 

[TLDunn213]

The final (at least for now) features of the Tiki Islands are the Oasis Mountains and the Halo Islands.

The Halo Islands are located in a ring around the edge of the rest of the archipelago and the mountain at the center of each island has a ring of clouds around the top.

This cloud layer marks an intershardic boundary which when crossed provides access to assorted oases located in the Suhadra Desert. Which is beyond the western firewall of Astrya.

See map.(assuming I get around to drawing one and uploading it.)

As to which island links to which Oasis...Good luck sorting that out. As far as can be determined the oases in the Suhadra wander around every bit as much as the islands. So it is impossible for me to say if a given island stays linked to the same oasis or if that also changes randomly. 

So just hire a native guide and tell them where you are trying to go.

Edited February 7, 2021 by TLDunn213

[Snypiuer]

Well, I don't know much. All I know comes from stories Sayliuer (my Great, Great, Great, Grand Uncle - on my moms', fathers', mothers', mothers', fathers' side) would tell when I was a child. Most stories were about a bar maid that worked in the harbor town located on the western bay of the atoll. He claimed the port that sits on that bay serves a hundred ships a day. Not sure if that's true, like, what are a hundred ships stopping at an atoll EVERY day for!? Anyways, his stories were usually about how beautiful the bar maid is, how her eyes are the most captivating, how all the sailors want to marry her, things along those lines. That, or how he would bring her gifts from distant locals, like jewelry - he was especially proud of a braided chain he said was made from the finest silver from the north of Spain and a locket he had engraved with his own name.

I don't know if ANY of it is true - a beautiful bar maid that serves whiskey and wine to lonely sailors that pass their time away talking about their home and telling her how she's so beautiful she'd make a good wife and how her eyes could make sailors give up sailing. Not to mention the hundred ships a day thing!

If I ever run into him again, I'll tell him to take me there and see if the Kammanaihuannaleau (pronounced "Come on I wanna lei you" - now that I see that written down, I'm beginning to question uncle Sayliuers' veracity) Atoll and this beautiful bar maid (I think he said her name was Brandy) actually exists.

That's about it. Maybe you've heard of it under a different name?