THE SECOND CHAPTER
No single crown, trade, ancestry, or profession defines those who come to Crownbreak. These are starting points for your own story.
ORIGINS, NOT RACES
Long before foreign flags reached these islands, the people of Orunai-Wipó knew their shores and currents. Today, in 1676, many lives and loyalties meet at Crownbreak Cove.
These backgrounds are invitations, not rigid classes, ancestry requirements, or compulsory allegiances.
THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS
Seafaring families, fishers, navigators, traders, and guardians of ancestral knowledge. Their communities retain their own traditions, alliances, and authority upon Orunai-Wipó.
Navigator · Craftsperson · Elder · Trader · Scout
THE KING'S GARRISON
The soldiers, officers, clerks, and sailors serving King Charles II from Fort Greywatch. The fortress commands the harbor, though the Crown does not command all the islands.
Soldier · Naval officer · Surgeon · Customs agent
THE FREE CAPTAINS
Privateers, pirates, smugglers, pilots, and seafarers of many origins. Some hold commissions, some flee the law, and others know every concealed anchorage in the South Sea.
Captain · Gunner · Sailor · Quartermaster
OLD CLAIMS, NEW COMMERCE
Spanish families from the Pacific ports of America, Portuguese mariners, Dutch and French voyagers, envoys, and travelers. They have crossed extraordinary distances and bring old grievances, new bargains, and competing views of the islands.
Merchant · Missionary · Scholar · Diplomat
THE LIFE OF THE HARBOR
Fisherfolk, farmers, dockhands, tavern keepers, artisans, free Black sailors, and island-born households whose lives are tied to the harbor more than any distant crown.
Tavern keeper · Pilot · Artisan · Fisher
LIVES BETWEEN FLAGS
Shipwreck survivors, escaped captives, deserters, and people seeking a new beginning beyond the reach of former masters or commanders. Not every fugitive is a criminal.
Castaway · Escapee · Explorer · Scout
BEYOND ORDINARY BACKGROUNDS
Some stories require special permission. Others belong first to the mysteries and dangers of the islands.
BY SPECIAL PETITION
A character of unusual background, an original minor faction, or an uncommon place in island society may be proposed for review. Staff approval is required, never assumed.
Unusual origins · New minor factions · Staff review
THE DEEP PLACES OF ULAVÉ
Long before foreign sails appeared upon the shores of Orunai-Wipó, the Varkuró inhabited the dark caverns beneath Ulavé. An ancient people who have long lived apart from the coastal Aruwai, they preserve secret traditions and forbidden rites known to few beyond their hidden domain.
Foreign sailors call them the Hollowmouths. Tales of sharpened teeth, ritual feasts, and those who enter their caverns never to return have made their name one of terror throughout Crownbreak Cove.
The deep caverns · Ancient rites · The Hollowmouths
RARE & UNCONFIRMED
Whispers tell of sea-hags dwelling in forgotten caverns, sirens whose songs lure ships onto the reefs, and drowned mariners who rise again beneath a moonless sky. Others speak of restless spirits, ancient curses, and witches practicing forbidden arts.
Among the island's African-descended communities, older traditions tell of ancestral guardians, spirits of rivers and crossroads, and mysterious powers that answer sacred songs and rituals. Some are feared, others revered, and a few are said to walk among the living.
Whether such beings truly inhabit Crownbreak Cove—or exist only in the stories of its people—remains uncertain. Supernatural characters require exceptional staff approval.
Rare supernatural concepts · Staff approval
NOTES FROM THE CHRONICLE
Deep in the caverns dwell the Varkuró, an ancient Indigenous people distinct from the coastal Aruwai. English sailors call them the Hollowmouths; Spanish accounts speak of Los Muerdehuesos, the Bone-Biters. An older Aruwai warning is sometimes rendered in outsiders' speech as the Mawborn.
In 1642, nineteen Dutch sailors landed for freshwater and never returned. Searchers spoke of human remains and the embers of fires within a cave. Later stories claimed the Varkuró killed and devoured them all; no member of the landing party survived to verify what truly occurred. The tale is remembered as the Hollowmouth Feast.
Filed teeth, masks, chanting, and ritual cannibalism appear in fearful reports. Not every account is trustworthy. The Varkuró belong to Ulavé's ancient history; their distant relationship to other Indigenous island communities remains uncertain. Their name does not refer to the Aruwai or to all Indigenous inhabitants, and no fearful account speaks for every Varkuró.
