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As Guide, it’s helpful for you to have a few destinations in mind for pirate characters once they sail the Acid Sea. Dalmatian Cove may be a popular destination for buccaneers in the know, but it’s also just a step along the way to newer and stranger places. Adventures await!
Dalmatian Cove
Maybe a century ago, Captain Josephine Dalmatian sailed from Waterdog Port to fulfill Jake Staffordshire’s dream: to explore the lands and seas beyond what dogs knew. She hoped to find more wonders the Old Ones left behind, but she also had a keen nose for opportunity. Unfortunately for her, a string of mishaps sent her off her original course until her ship foundered in a strange little archipelago, where Josephine reluctantly made her home for the rest of her days. All this was discovered when her diary was found in the bay in the middle of the now-infamous pirate destination Dalmatian Cove.
All sailors know of the Cove, which is a two-week sail from Waterdog Port, but its actual location — sometimes even existence — tends to be a well-guarded secret outside of seafaring society. Coded phrases are used to even discuss it in public. Everyone remembers their first trip to the Cove, however. Whether they’re a new member of a pirate family or they have a keen instinct for treasure, coming to the archipelago brings a buccaneer into a new orbit of lawlessness and previously undreamt-of possibility. Even so, every sailor — regardless of their reasons for doing so — respects the Cove’s tradition of secrecy and does not speak of it. Woe betide the pirate who wags their tongue.
Over time, as maps were made of the archipelago, sailors noticed its general shape and named the various islands and features after the creature it reminded them of: a crab. Many, but not all, of the islands are connected to each other through a complex system of bridges and the remains of ships lashed together so it’s not required to sail between them. The waters around the archipelago are shallower than most captains are used to, and many a ship has foundered on its rocks and reefs or stranded on a sand bar. Some claim it is Josephone Dalmatian’s ship just barely poking above the water on the tip of Claw Island.
It must be noted that although it is Claw Island’s bay that is specifically named Dalmatian Cove, many pirates have taken to using that name for the entire archipelago as well.
Head Island
Head Island, or the Head as it’s generally referred to, is the largest and most central island. It has the widest variety of features — a mountain, thick wet jungle-like forests, rivers and waterfalls and inlets, wide sandy beaches and rocky cliffs — and thus is often seen as the biggest playground for pirate crews. Whether it’s to stash or pillage each other’s plunder and treasures, make deals with another crew for a larger venture, settle rivalries or start new ones, or for lone sailors to sign on with a new crew, there’s no end to what can and does happen here.
Even a place as lawless as the Cove recognizes a need for some neutral ground, however. A settlement at the northern side of the island calls itself “The Teeth” due to its proximity to the mouth of the largest river. Its denizens are a mix of old pirates who can’t or won’t sail any longer, a pirate’s brothers or sisters or loved ones who decide to stay to support their life, buccaneers recuperating from a hard adventure, or simply those who need a place to lay low for a while. Hale and hearty adventurers regularly come and go, coming to The Teeth for supplies, rumors, a drink or two, and perhaps to introduce (or find) a recruit for their ship.
Fights are expected to erupt now and again, but they’re also expected to settle into a truce as soon as possible or the participants are kicked out to handle their business elsewhere. This is posted in big letters on signs on the docks, and a reminder is posted in the tavern.
Claw Island
The easternmost of the archipelago, Claw Island takes its name from the pincerlike appearance its large, shallow bay gives the otherwise roughly oval land mass. It was here that Josephine Dalmatian’s journal and the skeleton of her home was found years later. Her journal also detailed her explorations of the island and its resources — its sulphuric hot springs, bat caves, stands of bamboo as well as denser plants and trees — that led to the manufacturing and shipping of gunpowder weapons today.
A consortium of cats and lizards that calls itself the Primogeniture controls this island. They consider themselves neutral, primarily concerned with the profit they earn from making and selling gunpowder weapons. They will sell to any government, faction, or individual. Both freelance and hired smugglers can be seen regularly at the Primogeniture’s headquarters at the base of the mountain or walking the small dock town in the bay. Mystically inclined characters will notice that there are wards and traps littered about the island, but concentrated around manufacturing, designed to warn against or capture the Unseen.
The Primogeniture fiercely guards Claw Island. While all are welcome to come buy and sell, aggressive action against the group — whether attempts to take over, or violently settle a grievance — is met with well-trained magical and physical resistance. They have no qualms with literally burning bridges to deny a path to their seat of power.
The Eye
North of The Head is The Eye, a small and extremely rocky spit of land used as a combination of lookout and lighthouse for the Head and Claw islands. It’s tenuously connected by land to The Head, a sandbar extending most of the way before disappearing several feet under the water at low tide, and the island almost completely cut off at high tide. It’s more firmly connected by ship and bridge, and in clear sight of The Teeth. Old Narsa Gythachilde maintains the lamps and mirrors in happy solitude, rarely speaking to anyone except in emergencies. She collects and trades her fishbones and shells to someone at The Teeth — but who exactly, no one knows.
Shell Island
Also north of The Head and west of The Eye, Shell Island is a strange place that only appears at low tide. The few who have been there swear more of the island appears during some periods of low tide once or twice a year where it seems to truly rise above the water. There’s very little reason to visit it normally, though a tasty species of shellfish like to congregate in its surrounding shoals. Still, the self-same individuals who say they’ve visited also say it emits an odd, deep humming sound, and a popular rumor places a cache of treasure underneath its rocky surface.
Ahoy me hearties,
Pirate Radio Weekend continues with Eddy's Audio Design Diary #5, recorded back on December 20. In this episode, Eddy talks about the hurdles (waves?) overcome as the countdown to first draft hand in draws nearer.
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 5: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-2
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 4: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-3
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 3: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-4
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 2: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-5
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 1: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-6
Remember to like and share and talk and invite others to join in! We're getting closer to our funding target each day, but still have some ground (ocean? sea?) to cover, so let's keep at it!
Ahoy me hearties,
It's a listening party weekend, as I will be sharing two design diaries from Eddy over the next two days. No peeking (listening?) ahead!
In this installment, we flashback to the week before Halloween, with Eddy talking about his initial group conversation with the Pirates of Pugmire writing team.
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 4: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-3
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 3: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-4
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 2: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-5
AUDIO DESIGN DIARY PART 1: https://soundcloud.com/eddyfate/pirates-of-pugmire-design-6
While I like thinking of these as entries in a Captain's Log, I can't believe I haven't referred to this section as Pirate Radio!
Still waters require strong backs. After today, we've got one more Saturday before we head into the home stretch. We're getting ever closer to reaching our destination, and getting closer day by day to funding this project. This crew has been great about sharing this campaign on social media (and sharing the names of imaginary lizard and cat ships!), so please keep it up! Let your friends know! We need a full crew to complete our journey! Keep up the good work!
The two companions browsed the open-air market, simultaneously pleased and annoyed that no one recognized them. Sabu, the gecko with a stump for a tail, glanced at the cut of a fine silk coat hanging in a market stall. His colorful parrot companion, Polly, was talking. Sabu wasn’t listening, however, because Polly was always talking.
“So that’s when I said, ‘You better hoist that sail, lad, or by the Old Ones I’ll have you!’ And then I did this!” Polly stuck an arm out, as if holding an imaginary sword in her paw.
Before Polly could launch into the next part of her tale, Sabu called the attention of the mouse tending the stall. “How much plastic for this coat?”
Polly put a paw on Sabu’s shoulder. “Er, maybe you should…”
“You can finish your story in a moment, Polly,” Sabu said irritably, keeping his eyes on the merchant. “I’m —”
As he was chastising Polly, a lean terrier in a green hood bumped into Sabu. The lizard stumbled, and would have fallen if Polly hadn’t caught him in her muscular arms. The parrot pulled Sabu back upright and stalked after the terrier. “Hey, matey! You better watch where you’re going!” Then she gave a loud squawk, which she did whenever she was angry or excited.
“Go fly away, birdbrain!” the terrier called over his shoulder before disappearing into the press of eager shoppers and merchants milling around the square.
Polly, like many parrots, was sensitive about her lack of wings. “Right, I’m going to thrash that dog until he gets a personal visit with the Old Ones. I’ll bring back his ear as a souvenir.”
She started to stalk after the terrier, but Sabu held her arm. His grip wasn’t nearly as strong as Polly’s, but she stopped anyway. Still looking at the mouse merchant, Sabu smiled again. “Excuse my companion. She is excitable and talkative, two qualities that are useful on a ship but irritating on land. Again, how much for the coat?”
“Th-th-thirty coins, sir,” the mouse said. She was clearly nervous, although Sabu couldn’t tell if it was because of the Polly’s posturing or Sabu’s control over the obviously stronger bird.
The lizard nodded. “That seems reasonable.” He dug around his belt, ignoring the glass vials that hung there to find his pouch of coins, and was only mildly surprised to discover it missing. “Ah. I seem to be missing something.”
“I told you!” Polly exploded. “That flea-bitten thief has taken your plastic!”
Sabu chuckled, finally turning to his companion and releasing her arm. “Indeed. Or so he believes.” He glanced back at the merchant. “I shall return for your fine wares. Excuse me while I recover my lost property.”
Polly was pushing through the crowd of shoppers before Sabu could finish, so he sketched a quick bow to the mouse maiden before hurrying after his companion. She was inventing new and creative things to do to the thief when he finally laid a paw on her feathered back. She stopped, and he caught his breath. “You… you needn’t fuss, Polly.”
“But he’s getting away!”
Sabu shook his head. “Just wait for the screaming.”
“What scream —” Suddenly, they both heard a loud yelp of pain coming from ahead of them. Polly pushed through the throng of people, who started to gather around a comatose form in a green hood.
She yanked the terrier onto his feet, but the thief didn’t resist. Instead, he was trying to pull the pouch from his paw. “Get it off!” he screamed. “It’s eating me!”
Sabu pulled a flask from his belt, and poured its contents over the pouch. The sodden leather dropped from the terrier’s paw, falling to the cobblestones with a wet slap. Some of the fur on the thief’s paw was missing, and the skin was red, but otherwise he looked unharmed. The gecko grabbed the pouch. “Mine, I think. I knew that cursed pouch we found in Dalmation Cove would be handy.”
The terrier shivered as he stared back and forth between the gecko and the parrot. “Who… who are you?”
Polly stepped forward. “I usually don’t introduce myself to thieves, but you didn’t end up stealing anything, so I guess it’s okay. I’m Polly of the Seven Blazing Feathers, and this here’s the captain of the Pig’s Tale, Sabu Chromachilde.”
Sabu smiled. “And you just tried to steal from two of the most notorious pirates in Waterdog Port.”
The terrier whimpered and ran.