Angrean Atlas

Dragon Isles

Status: Uncharted Danger | Climate: Tropical Rainforest (presumably) | Type: Volcanic Archipelago

These volcanic islands remain largely unmapped due to the ocean-dwelling dragons that claim the surrounding waters. Ships that venture too close rarely return, and those that do tell tales of serpents larger than warships and storms that chase vessels with intent. We really cannot stress this enough: do not go there.

"The songs had the dragons wrong. Dragons do not hunt. Dragons play. We were, I eventually understood, being toyed with."
— Captain Nivenna Thale, Second Dragon Expedition (surviving witness)

**IMPERIAL TRAVEL ADVISORY: SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY**
Survival Rate for Unauthorized Vessels: **12%**
This is not a challenge. This is a warning.

Overview

The Dragon Isles occupy a position on Imperial maps marked with the traditional warning: “Here Be Dragons.” Unlike most such warnings, this one is precisely accurate.

What little is known about the islands comes from the accounts of survivors, wreckage analysis, and one particularly dedicated cartographer who mapped from a very great distance using powerful telescopes before the dragons noticed him. The islands are volcanic and visibly active; the vegetation appears tropical; several large islands surround countless smaller ones; and the surrounding waters are patrolled by dragons with neither patience nor curiosity.

Population: Unknown. Rumors persist of communities that have reached accommodation with the dragons, but these remain unverified because everyone who goes to verify doesn’t come back.

What We Know (And How We Know It)

Ocean-dwelling dragons claim the waters around the isles as territory, and are territorial beyond reason, capable of generating localized storms, faster than any Imperial vessel ever built, and not interested in negotiation. That is, in sum, what Imperial research has established in two thousand years of attempting to establish otherwise.

Observations from safe distance note volcanic peaks suggesting ongoing geological activity, dense jungle on the larger islands, structures of unknown origin on some peaks, and smoke from sources that are not, on closer consideration, volcanoes. The 12% figure in the advisory comes from tracking vessels that cross the warning boundary: twelve percent return, usually heavily damaged; eighty-eight percent are never seen again; and none report a pleasant experience.

House Canae funds the long-distance observation effort and maintains a standing grant for dragon research, which has killed a remarkable number of its grant-holders; House Drath provides the escort vessels for any expedition the Empire reluctantly authorises, and has learned to decline such work politely whenever possible. House Satariel runs an unacknowledged wagering book on whether any given expedition will return at all; odds are posted in the Serpent’s Market and are, by report, accurate.

Islands

Imperial cartographers have named three islands from long-distance observation. Landing on any of them has not been successfully attempted in the modern era.

• Mount Ixaal

  Type: Volcanic Peak | Visibility: Long-Distance

  The largest visible landmass, a single active volcano rising straight from the sea. Structures of unknown origin were sighted on its lower slopes by the 567 CR expedition, from a range the dragons evidently considered acceptable.

• Tessicia

  Type: Jungle Island | Visibility: Partial

  A lower-lying island with dense jungle coverage, named after Captain Tessic of the 234 CR expedition. Smoke has been observed rising from sources other than volcanoes. Interpret as you will.

• The Smoking Thorn

  Type: Smaller Volcanic Island | Visibility: Sporadic

  A small, sharply-peaked island whose eruptions follow no discernible schedule. The Second Dragon Expedition briefly landed here before the dragons noticed. Charts mark it with a single annotation: “do not.”

Travel Information

Getting There

DON’T.

Still Want to Go?

We really must insist that you don’t.

Travel Advisory

The Imperial government accepts no responsibility for individuals who ignore the advisory. Those determined to become a statistic are encouraged to make their will current, say goodbye to their loved ones, bring offerings to their Gods, and fly rather than sail (flying is marginally less fatal than sailing, though “marginally less fatal” remains meaningfully fatal).

Rumors and Legends

Because no one returns with reliable information, the Dragon Isles have accumulated considerable mythology:

The Dragon Courts Some claim the dragons have their own civilization, with politics, hierarchy, and territorial disputes.

Lost Civilizations Structures visible from distance suggest pre-Empire construction. Whether these ruins are inhabited, and if so by whom, remains unknown.

Treasure Hoards Dragons traditionally accumulate treasure. The Dragon Isles presumably contain vast wealth. This wealth is protected by dragons. See previous sections about survival rates.

The Dragon Speakers Legends speak of individuals who can communicate with dragons. None have been verified. Several have been eaten mid-negotiation.

Historical Notes

The Dragon Isles have been a no-go zone since before the Empire existed. Ancient records from multiple civilizations all contain variations of “don’t go there, dragons.”

The Empire has made exactly three official attempts to explore or claim the isles:

• First Expedition (234 CR): Lost with all hands
• Second Expedition (567 CR): One survivor, had to be institutionalized
• Third Expedition (789 CR): Never officially departed; crew mutinied

There are no plans for a fourth expedition.