The Gate Isles

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Tropical Paradise

The population of the Gate Isles is a melting pot of all sorts of races and cultures, made so by its long history of being a hotspot for international trade. The native denizens mostly consist of various Genasi, Aaracokra and Sea Elves who are biologically well-adapted to living in the wild tropical climate. There is also a sizeable Tiefling population, mostly immigrants from northern Zaman Province. Rounding out the numbers are races of all stripes, generally sailors and settlers from the other major trading hubs of the Material Plane. Government is loose at best, a coalition between various island mayors for peace.
The climate is consistently hot and humid across all the islands with rainy seasons, dry seasons, and tumultuous weather year-round. Dry seasons are known for scorching sunlight and high temperatures, whilst the rainy season brings hurricanes and flooding. Volcanic activity is also present across the isles, ranging from extinct mountain ranges to bubbling active craters that constantly spew out lava and ash. The very center of the Gate Isles is a giant whirlpool, the surrounding area beset by constant hurricanes, thunderstorms and monstrous creatures. “The Eye of the Gate” is a legendary death zone; airships that fly over the storms go missing, boats that attempt to make it to the center of the vortex never come back. Legends and rumours about what lies in the center stretch back for centuries. The wildlife of the Gate Isles are strange, colourful and exotic. Flowers touched by the Plane of Fire are warm to the touch and glow amber at night; giant colourful fish dwell near coral reefs and grow up to fifty feet long. Many of the native terrestrial creatures are fruit-eaters and harmless insectivores, sustained by the abundance of flowers. The oceans are another story: sure the fish are cute and colourful close to shore, but further out one can run into venomous octopi, sticky anemones, sea snakes or worse-- the carnivorous giant turtle-shark.
Despite this seemingly hostile environment, the Gate Isles is rich in resources to sustain farming and fishing industries. Plenty of rain and sun coupled with fertile volcanic soil means there is plenty of opportunity for business, provided one maintains proper infrastructure to guard against natural disasters. Other big industries include tourism-- plenty love to vacation at the Gate Isles for its tropical climate. Sea-based piracy, however, remains a problem and pirates are known to frequently attack ships coming in and out of Zaman to the north.

Type

Continent

Location under

Kaleidos