Angbol
4 miles wide, average above surface 8,100 ft
1.1 years between Core Island connections.
Geography
Angbol is unique in its flying route, taking it far to the south from the core and returning on an annual cycle. As Angbol travels southward, the days grow progressively shorter and colder until, near the end of its southward excursion, it passes through the Shroud, a steady bank of fog that the Island travels through for days. When passing through the Shroud the sun ceases to rise altogether and the Ang is only dimly lit by the perpetual dance of aurora arcing through the skies. When it emerges, it traces a short route through a series of high desolate mountain peaks known as the Ang.
The Ang is a cold and dry land. No snow cloaks the peaks and there are no clouds in the skies, save for when it is clouded by the fountains of ash from nearby volcanoes. During the quick route through the Ang, Angbol passes near enough to three of the mountain peaks that travel to the ground is possible.
Such a barren land would have been ignored as the destination of a strange Outer Island save that the mountains hold a wealth of ore and minerals, yielding iron in greater abundance than any other mines through Raeluna. The Ang mines are also the only source of the rarer ores prized by smiths, metallurgists, alchemists and the Arcanists. Over the centuries, a mining colony has been built around each of the three peaks, each the exclusive holding of a different mining guild. Although the outside in the Ang is perpetually frigid, caves and mines dug into the earth quickly grow warm enough to be hospitable. A few natural springs bring water to the mining colonies though their source is not known.
Each guild maintains its respective peak as walled fortresses with deep mines stretching down into their respective mountains and the surrounding peaks. The guilds also smelt ores so that refined metals can be sent back to Raeluna. Civilization’s hold on these lands is tenuous. Descending down from the peaks drops into foggy valleys and explorers quickly grow lost and parties that venture forth rarely return.
Each mining colony is outfitted with an extended series of docks, so that when the Island passes, the colony on each peak engages in a frantic scramble to transfer goods and workers between the Island and the mountains. After a few days amongst the mountains, Angbol returns to the Shroud and thence north for connection to the rest of the Raeluna archipelago.
The high peaks of the Ang have a few scattered ruins around them: tall metal and stone buildings with only the wind to slowly carve them away. The name “Ang” comes from a set of glyphs found around the ruins that look like that word in the modern alphabet.
The only other surface denizens of the Ang are a race of reptilian humanoids called the rock eaters. They are drawn to Ebon ore, a black lustrous ore found throughout the mountains. While prized for its role in magical workings and fine blades, the rock eaters sense and hunger for it. Vicious fighters, they are known to surge up from the foggy depths and fall upon convoys carrying the ore between mining outposts and the main guild citadels.
Angbol itself is one of the smallest known islands, a scant 3 miles by 5 miles, dominated by a single large hill at the center. The Mining Guilds of Angbol reside on this hill in three large walled complexes with many buildings each. Rock gardens and grassy paths cover the spaces in between the guild halls. On the sides of the island are three separate little towns, each run by one of the three guilds, where the loading and transfer of metals and supplies occurs, corresponding to the closest approach for each of the three peaks. These have large docks that pass adjacent to their corresponding platforms built up from the mines in the Ang.
Other than a small Arcanist compound near the Gate on the “aft” of the island, the remainder of Angbol is covered with grass and rocks. Most crops cannot survive the passage through the Shroud, so there is no farming on the island. Angbol pays handsomely for food when it has access to the Core. Similarly, there is little in the way of flora and fauna on Angbol: small rodents, grasslands, small withered trees.
People and Culture
With its unique access to metal, Angbol has grown rich but only on the backs of laborers who come from across Raeluna. The Guild operations and thus life on Angbol follow a strict hierarchy based on seniority, denominated in the number of “turns” a laborer has spent working on the island. Workers come to Angbol when gates open to the other islands, ride the island south, work in the Ang for a turn or more of Angbol, and return to the Core Islands once their fortunes are made. The Angbol guilds pay a wage of 250 gp per turn, making it a beacon of wealth for anyone who needs a lot of coin relatively fast. The guilds will even pay off any debts that prospective laborers who arrive on their shores, in exchange for working for one or more turns. The mines employ all types and few questions are asked. Deaths are frequent in the mines, from accidents, exposure, illness, volcanic fumes and deadly monstrosities emerging from the walls. Only the promise of the huge pay lures the reckless, desperate, and brave.
As a miner continues to work through more turns, they move into better positions. There are fewer of these jobs and intentional accidents are the preferred way to open up a place. Each turn is marked by branding with a hot bar of metal that leaves a strange blue scar. After 13 turns, a worker must either join a guild or never return to the mining citadels. Any turn in the mines counts toward this limit and workers can move between guilds until they join one.
After a few turns, a laborers can become prospectors with the right to set out in search of new mines and quarries on the slopes of the Ang. Few prospectors return, but those that do reap great bounties from the Guilds.
The three Guilds (and what they are known for) are the Redmetal Guild (rare ores and gold), the Iron Clan (iron, steel) and the Brightstar Guild (the only platinum mines Raeluna, plus gems, and crystals). Brightstar platinum in particular is sought after as the primary component of high value coins in all of Raeluna, as its talents carry a weak enchantment that gives them a rainbow sheen that vanishes if the coin is compromised (shaved, melted, etc.). This gives the coin a reputation for authority and is the coin of choice used in large merchant transactions.
Little is known about the inner workings of the guilds, but workers must renounce their family and other connections, pledging to their chosen guild until death. The guilds take both men and women, though there are notably fewer women. Children born into a guild are exiled at the age of nine until they work their 13 turns.
Guilds maintain and train workers for their roles including their own fighting forces for use as guards and scouts and, according to the whispers, spies sent through the other islands. The Guilds’ monopoly of rare metals must be maintained. Guild rangers are renown fighters and travel to other islands and to the ground below, chasing rumors.
Arcanists also transact frequently with the Guilds, with covered wagons carrying hidden cargos to and from the Arcanist compound in the small collection of buildings toward the “aft” of the island. The Gate on Angbol is near the Arcanist buildings but considered neutral ground for the Guilds - there is no Traverton or other services around it. It is left empty until the line-up to push people and goods to and from the Core Islands. Arcanists are not welcome in the Guild citadels in the Ang, though they no doubt make their way inside.
In the Ang, the Guilds also grow crops of different mushrooms and fungi in the volcanic warmth of the mines. It is plain food, but enough to subsist on. Workers in the mines often grow attached to a fungal beer with euphoric effects, known colloquially as Fun Guy Beer. It is one of the few things that make their existence more tolerable. Ang’s minimal produce destined for other islands is through particular varieties of mushrooms used for medicine.
Like the Arcanists, the Guilds are secretive, and the two groups exist in a mutual distrust. Each provides something the other cannot do without, but both despise the other’s hold over them.
Local Authority
The Guilds, and ever-present death in the mines.
Rumors have it that Guild members transact with strange beings deep in the mountains of the Ang. Other rumors have it that the senior members of the guild ARE the strange beings
Traverton
There is no proper Traverton. Those riding Angbol south stay in one of the three dock towns. Each contains smiths, alchemists, and jewelers who take time on Angbol’s long transit to forge the latest hauls from the mines into goods before sending these through the Gate into broader Raeluna. The towns are also filled with Guild barracks that hold recruits and workers traveling to and from their turns. No visitors but the desperate or insanely curious stay on Angbol long enough to get stuck on its grim annual journey.