Player’s Knowledge #
Description & Ambiance: Warm, humid air smelling of sea salt and blooming jasmine. The sound of slow, rhythmic drumming echoes through coastal villages where houses are built from driftwood and coral. Everything moves at a deliberate, unhurried pace, and the vegetation glows with a soft, bioluminescent light at night.
Government & Public Law: Ruled by a Council of Orders based in the capitol, Kelptide. Laws are practical and centered on communal contribution. Foreigners are welcome but must adhere to strict environmental protections where harming the local flora and fauna is a severe crime.
Exports & Reputation: World-renowned for life-saving potions, transformative elixirs, and expert navigators. They are seen as wise, patient, and fair negotiators.
Rumors & Folklore (Unverified):
“They say the oldest Tortles don’t die; they simply grow so large they become the very islands we walk upon.”
“Drinking a pure Prismbloom extract can let you see a century into the future, or turn your blood to sea water.”
“There’s a secret Order hidden in the jungle that still refuses to acknowledge the new government.”
DM’s Lore #
Formal Name: Undaria
Type & Rank: Council Republic of Orders, Minor regional power
Population: 218,265 Citizens
Language/Name influences: Hawaiian, Maori, Taino
Synopsis: A tranquil society of sentient sea turtles evolved through magical flora, now struggling to balance their ancient, slow-paced traditions with the frantic demands of a globalized, high-magic world.
True History & Key Dates:
9,500 BR: The first Tortles achieve sentience after generations of consuming the magical Prismbloom flower.
8,764 BR: The unification of clans into The Undari Shores under a council of venerated elders.
2,583 AR: The government is restructured from an elder-led patriarchy to a specialized Republic of Orders to handle modern diplomacy and trade.
Internal Conflicts & Secrets:
The Rot in the Prismbloom: While the world sees the Prismbloom as a source of miraculous medicine, recently there’s been a silent, fungal blight that begin eating at the flowers from the roots up. The Alchemical Order is desperately trying to find the cause and reverse the effects before it causes a larger crisis.
The Deep-Sea Debt: To fund the recent infrastructure improvements of Kelptide, the Builder’s Order secretly brokered a deal with the Bank of Cania. Now the debt is coming due, and the creditors are demanding their repayment or they will take control over the island’s primary trade ports.
The Phantom Reef Crisis: To maintain their monopoly on trade, the Navigation Order has been using ancient song-magic to shift the reefs, subtly altering safe passage routes every few months. This keeps foreign captains entirely dependent on Tortle pilots, but the constant shifting is stressing the coral ecosystem to a breaking point.
Key NPCs & Power Structure:
Coming soon
Economy & Military Might:
Economy: Undaria maintains a highly prosperous economy by leveraging their ancestral knowledge to export rare alchemical elixirs and potent herbal medicines found nowhere else in the world.
Military: Instead of a traditional army, the Tortles weaponize the island’s treacherous geography, using hidden coral labyrinths and manipulated tidal surges to ground or smash invading warships before they ever reach the sand.
Adventure Hooks:
Political: A radical faction of traditionalists is threatening to sabotage the marketplaces, claiming that the increased traffic from foreign trade ships is polluting the sacred nesting tides.
Exploration: The Prismbloom is pulsing with erratic energy. The players are hired to venture into the island’s untamed interior to find the cause and stabilize it.
Intrigue: A Lorekeeper’s shell, containing centuries of carved secret history, has been stolen. Is it a rival nation seeking alchemical secrets, or an internal faction trying to erase the past?