Narrow channels, twisting passages, and treacherous reefs that would tear the iron off the bottom of a ship fore to aft. I would not order a squadron through there if the Sealord had a pistol to my head.— George Hoodsworth, Rear Admiral of the Red
At the very northern border of
The Dawn Coast, rising from the depth like the black teeth of a gigantic sea monster, The Fangs form a twisting, treacherous, and largely uncharted maze of sea arches, pillars, reefs, and strong currents. Every cliff face and spire is a towering mass of hard and unforgiving hexagonal basalt columns. There are few known navigable channels through The Fangs, and navigability through them is highly dependent on the state of the winds, tides, and seasonal currents. Some channels have become clogged with wrecks, sealing them to travel permanently. The Fangs extend well into the deadly Twilit Mists, it impossible to simply sail around them further out to sea.
The Fangs are infamous for sheltering pirates, smuggler, and other outlaws from Imperial reach. The Provincial Admiralty considers sending squadrons into the close confines of The Fangs to be a suicidal waste of precious modern ironclads.
Notable Locations
New South Lindan
There is only one permanent settlement nestled among The Fangs that is known to Imperial Authorities, and that is the lawless port of
New South Lindan.
Occupying the only large sheltered bay in the region, the port and town is overlooked by several coastal fortifications. The exact number, sizes, locations, and capabilities of these coastal batteries are unknown, and no two estimations of their true effectiveness agree. Nevertheless, they form an effective deterent against attack by sea.
Landmarks
Admiralty Reef
The final resting place of a squadron of a half dozen ironclads, Admiralty Reef was once a navigable channel. Once the lead ship, the
Vindictive, ran aground the rest of the squadron were unable to evade in the narrow confines of the channel or come to a stop in time, and ran straight into the stern of the stricken
Vindictive. The channel is now completely blocked by the six wrecks, permanently so due to the impossibility of salvaging.
A small memorial to the sailors lost in the collisions was set up on the deck of the
Vindictive, but has since been defaced by pirates to read "Rust In Pieces".
Merca Stacks
Jollyrock
Jollyrock is a relatively flat, rounded, and rocky island directly on the edge of the open Dawn Coast and nearby to where the Twilit Mists start on most charts. The island itself, when viewed from a specific angle, strongly and eerily resembles a human skull complete with hollow eye sockets and a sea cave where the mouth should be. There are many local legends about Jollyrock, mostly about how vast hoards of pirate treasure are supposed to be kept in the mouth-like sea cave, and how scores of treasure hunters have vanished without a trace attempting to claim it, and how it is haunted by ethereal skeletons weilding antique cutlasses and pistols.
Jollyrock was once slated to be a location for a lighthouse, and one was built there before it was discovered that the ebb and flow of the Twilit Mists would engulf the island more often than not. It is said that the lighthouse itself vanished along with its keepers when the Mist crept in.
Oh, don't go to Jollyrock whatever you do. I wouldn't go near there if I were you.— From a lesser known version of the Jollyrock Shanty
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