The Dawn Coast

On the third day the mists that had shrouded our strange voyage parted. There before us was the wide crescent of a bay that did not appear on any Atlas we had aboard, a verdant new land untouched by any eye before our own. And there the Sun rose above this new land before us, a golden disc inviting us, welcoming us. And so we named this place the Dawn Coast.

— Andrew Roberts, Captain of the Indigo.

  The Dawn Coast is the western most coast of the New Land, so named for the golden light of dawn that greets the ships approaching its shoreline from the west. It is a wide, gently curving bight comprised of wide beaches of pearly sands, studded with a quartet of towering headlands of hard black rock that overlook the clear, turquoise waters of the shallow sea. A lush, tropical rainforest lies just beyond the edge of the sands, a poorly explored treasure trove of exotic flora and strange fauna that slopes gradually upwards until reaching the natural walls of the Black Cliffs and the jungles of Axthet beyond.   The Dawn Coast is bounded to the south by the Jade Delta, and to thd north by The Fangs.  

Twilit Mists

 

Whatever you do, son, do not venture into the fog banks except by dawn's first light. Be it by storm, shoal, or some abyssal horror, no ship ever returns from there.

— A retired sailor, after three pints of grog.

  Scarcely fifteen nautical miles out from the Morning Shores lies a dense fog bank that is enshrouded in permanent darkness even in the light of full noon. Only during the brief hours of dawn do they part enough for a ship to embark on the three day voyage back to the Old Lands. At all other times, any ship which enters will vanish with all hands.   An old tavern tale tells of ghosts in the fog, of old steamers that vanished years ago sailing out of the banks in the dead of night, their coal bunkers empty and boilers dry, of long dead pirates with sunken, empty eyes turning up at bars in the middle of the night. It is a tale meant to scare seamen new to the Dawn Coast, but many of the oldest sailors believe.  

Notable Locations

 

Settlements

 

Port Alexa

  Port Alexa serves as the provincial capitol of the New Lands and the local seat of Imperial authority. Formerly known as Scarness, the settlement was renamed in honour of Princess Alexa Harcaester, the newly titled Duchess of the Morning Shores.    

Port Heron

  Port Heron is named after a nearby rock formation that, if you drink three pints of grog and squint a bit, possibly kind of resembles an Old Land heron. The Honourable Dawn Coast Company is headquartered here, whose influence is such that they rival the Imperial authority in the region.    

Robertstown

  Claiming to be the oldest settlement on the Dawn Coast, Robertstown is built on the alleged location of Captain Roberts' first landing in the New Lands. The salvaged wreck of Captain Roberts' ship, the Indigo, rests in a drydock in the port as a monument to all the brave explorers who perished charting the uncharted.    

St. Jacques

  Popularly known as "Phoenix", the port town of St. Jacques has the distinction of burning down on a semi regular basis. Only the town's abbey, for some unfathomable reason built from the most flammable wood available, has not yet caught fire.    

New South Lindan

  Nestled among the twisted straits and treacherous waters of The Fangs, New South Lindan is a place where the rule of Imperial law does not apply. It is believed that a number of pirates and smuggling rings operate out of New South Lindan, however the confined waters of The Fangs make it difficult for the Imperial and Company squadrons to move against the port.    

Landmarks

 

Cuggan's Cove

  A well sheltered cove nestled within one of the jagged black rock headlands, this is the place where the infamous pirate captain Lucy "Leucosia" Cuggan made her final stand. The shattered wreck of her ship, the central battery ironclad Siren, lies in pieces in the cove where she slowly rusts.   Legend has it that Leucosia Cuggan's plundered treasure is still stashed somewhere in the vicinity of the cove. Many fortune seekers have scoured the cove, but if any treasure has been found the finder is not telling anyone.  

They'll never defeat me!

— Leucosia Cuggan, allegedly, just before the Siren's magazine detonated.

   

Hollowrock

  Among the low, sandly islets that speckle the shallow sea off the Dawn Coast, Hollowrock stands as an anomaly. A tall, precarious pillar of alabaster white stone, Hollowrock is pitted with more holes than a sponge. It is considered a miracle that it hasn't yet collapsed under the force of a tropical storm, or by the weight of the puffin lizards that nest within.    

Knife Point

  The longest and narrowest of the black rock headlands, Knife Point slices into the waves like, well, the blade of a knife. It is so narrow that the steamer Fortune's Smile sailed into it head on without realising it was there, and was neatly bifurcated lengthways.