Dggon's Clutch

Dggon's Clutch is a set of islands that lies in the Sea of Swords, south of the Free Kingdoms and north of Stygia. The islands were mostly uninhabited until the arrival of the elves, who built teleportation circles to access the islands. Its name persists, not because of the presence of Dggon, but rather, because of the dangerous connotations of a life lived amid such remote islands.
Lay of the Land

• Remote Archipelago: Dggon's Clutch is composed of dozens of islands within perhaps a hundred miles of one another. Not all of them have been explored, and very few of them support civilization. The climate is warm or temperate, and most are covered with vegetation or small mountains. The southern islands are tropical, blanketed with jungle.

• From Elves to Men: During the Age of Alphos, elven diviners became aware of the presence of precious metals in the mountains of these islands. They used some of their most powerful magic to locate the Clutch and establish teleportation circles that connected them with the Free Kingdoms. Many of the Circles are stilled active today, amid elf-built ruins, allowing humans from the Heartlands to arrive by magic, and eventually retrace their steps by boat, and claim the islands for themselves. Thus, despite its geography and location, society and culture are weirdly reminiscent of the Free Kingdoms.

• Contentious Politics: Traditionalists want to keep the Clutch independent from the politics of the Free Kingdoms, but others wish to engage with the Free Captains of Narrowmouth, the Guilds of Ralindor, or seafarers from distant lands. Fishermen, farmers, and nobles make up the former group, while merchants and miners (particularly dwarfs) form the latter.

• Extremely Distant: Using the teleportation circles is extremely dangerous and expensive, so the most reliable way to get here is by boat, which takes several weeks. It also happens to be fairly dangerous and expensive, as well, meaning few people are brave enough to venture to the Clutch.

Dangers to Dare

• Pirates!: The pirates that scour the Sea of Swords come here to sell their "wares" in less-discerning ports, and they are wise to never stray too far from the islands for fear of becoming lost or isolated in the immense ocean.

• Dinosaurs: These reptilian behemoths are probably the reason civilization never took hold in the Clutch. It's said that only black-powder weapons are enough to pierce the hides of the bigger ones.

• Ixitichatl: The demon-rays possess a malevolent intelligence and lust for blood. They consider the islands of the Clutch to be their domain, despite their inability to walk on land (this deep insecurity drives most of their cruelty). They live in the shallows around the islands and can swarm to deadly numbers.

• The Shadow over Ismuth: The folk of this island should have died long ago, huddled together in their miserable little village. The near-constant rain makes fishing difficult, and the island's geography is dominated by the fetid Obed Marsh, which makes farming impossible. And yet, they persist. Rumor has it the villagers have only survived with the help of some great evil beneath the waves; a kraken, a forgotten god, perhaps Dggon himself. The few visitors that go there return unsettled, attesting to the villagers' weird appearance, sporting wide mouths and bulgy eyes -- that is, if they return at all. Folk have been known to disappear from Ismuth on particularly stormy nights.

Folk & Friendship

• The Azure Cabal: The nobles who rule the archipelago have hired powerful wizards to unlock the secrets of the elven teleportation circles, even "re-routing" a few to connect directly to Ralindor or Narrowmouth. The wizards have congregated into a small guild, the Azure Cabal. They are absolutely expert in teleportation magic and extra-planar research, but are notoriously secretive. In public, they wear blue robes, concealing their faces with silver masks and disguising their voices with illusion magic. Unsurprisingly, they don't have a reputation for friendliness.

• The Lokatha: The indigenous people of the islands are the peaceful lokatha, a race of piscine humanoids that bear a resemblance to carp or catfish. Their reddish-orange scales and bulbous eyes differentiate from the sahuagin, but it does little to improve their relations with men. After the Elveswar, men took over with little consideration for the fish-folk, who have become marginalized from the political goings-on of Dggon's Clutch. They live in coral reefs, and can breathe on land for several hours.

• The Black-Powder Consortium: This guild of merchants, alchemists, and engineers have unlocked the secret of "black powder", and guard it ferociously. Its members are mostly descendants of the dwarf slaves used to strip the mines of the Clutch, and the Consortium does well to represent dwarven interests in the region.

• Mama Thunder: This old witch lives on a remote island at the base of a rumbling volcano. She can apparently contact the Lower Planes by staring into the lava, using her skills to summon forth the boatmen of the River Styx, to man the ships of any sea-captain who pays her a worthy sum. She does not seem to have any evil plots at work, but her magic is undeniably dark.

Dungeons to Delve

• Aklantean Ruins: The merfolk who now rule the Sea of Swords built ruins of their old-homeland around the islands.

• Teleportation-Sanctums: The elven teleportation circles were almost always at the center of well-guarded arcane laboratories. The elves abandoned the island during the Elveswar, leaving extremely intact ruins that housed these circles. Even ownership of a teleportation circle commands a high price.

• Abandoned Mines: The mines that the elves stripped bare years ago may not contain much ore, but they might still house horrible monsters and leftover treasures. Some might have untapped veins of gold or silver, or magical metals like adamantium or mithril.

Legends & Lore: The Black Powder: When the elves of Alphosian Empire ruled Dggon's Clutch, they enslaved a number of dwarf clans to toil in their mines. These dwarfs developed the very earliest example of "black powder", a chemical capable of producing destructive explosions without the aid of magic. They initially used it for mining, but since then, people have attempted to modify it for war. Powder-bombs are easy enough to make, but some genius alchemists have begun to develop powder-based weapons capable of launching projectiles immense distances. Of course, the Black-Powder Consortium keeps this research extremely secretive, and access to these weapons is limited. Most folk are as terrified of the stuff as they are of magic.