This once remote peaceful island is now an occupied territory of the Blue Dragonarmy. Let’s learn more about the island of Schallesa. Buy the War of the Lance sourcebook: https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/3164/war-of-the-lance-3-5?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
This remote peaceful island stayed that way for hundreds of years.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Schallsea in the War of the Lance Era. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. I am referencing the War of the Lance sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
Unlike many regions in Ansalon, Schallsea didn’t exist before the Cataclysm. The people who inhabited it did however. They are known as the Wemitowuk. This peaceful tribal culture spent their lives farming the land. They live in villages of mud and brick huts, with thatched roofs. Their primary crops consist of great fields of beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. They do tend to have small herds of animals, but the Wemitowuk are a vegetarian culture, so they use the animals for cheese, wool, and leather rather than sustenance.
When the Cataclysm occurred, the land surrounding what is now Schallsea fell away, and the ocean waters swelled in from the Straits of Algoni, through the new Schallsea straits to create New Sea. The Wemitowuk didn’t see this as them being trapped, but rather, once the waters receded, they believed they had been delivered to an earthly paradise, cut off from the warring world around them, allowing them to live in the natural peaceful way they had for time immemorial.
This peace and isolation would not last for the Wemitowuk. To the east, in Abanasinia, the plains tribes were warring in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, and the Que-Nal tribe, who worshiped Zeboim, was driven out of their lands by the Que-Shu and Que-Teh tribes. Two hundred years after the Cataclysm, the Que-Nal crossed the New Sea and arrived at the island of Schallsea. The Que-Nal were a violent people with a stripe of fanaticism, much of that turned out to be born of necessity, for when they arrived on Schallsea, the Wemitowuk people welcomed them with open arms.
The Que-Nal found their connection to the sea grew in this new paradise, and they quickly acclimated to this new peaceful lifestyle. They dressed in buckskins and leathers, crafting objects of art, tools, and weapons from animal bones. While the Wemitowuk live and farm the northern coasts of Schallsea, the largest village of the Que-Nal resides on the deep bay on the western shore.
The island of Schallsea now has a population of approximately eighteen thousand. Ninety percent of that is human, with the remainder being its occupiers of draconians, goblins, ogres and others. Located in the New Sea, northeast of Abanasinia, and south of Solamnia, Schallsea runs two-hundred miles north to south, and about eight miles east to west. It’s shaped roughly like a kidney bean, and is composed primarily by rolling hills with small bunches of trees and scrub brush. It features a thick forest on the northern edge of the island, and at the center is a crest of barren hills where nothing grows. Its southern shoreline is poised high above the waterline, featuring jagged peaks. This maked the northern shores which slope to the waterline, the best means of access via longboats. There is one harbor located on the west coast capable of docking large ships.
The arrival of the Que-Nal brought with them the opportunity of trade, giving the Wemitowuk their first contact with civilized cultures. They trade their grains, spices and woven tapestries to the rest of the world, who celebrate these forgotten peoples. This was until the Blue Dragonarmy invaded. The port village of Que-Nal has been completely occupied, with its people rounded up. The history of the Que-Nal’s warrior culture was not extinguished, and the Blue Dragonarmies losses were not insignificant. They are still fighting for total control of Schallsea in this era.
The only major settlement is the Port of Schallsea, with approximately three-thousand and five hundred residents. It was once known as the Ke-Tat, but was renamed by the Dragonarmy. There is new construction underway by the Blue Wing for a new base of operations. The prisoners are removed to a nearby rock quarry where they toil endlessly for materials. Those who refuse are tied to racks and unceremoniously dumped into the sea.
Some important sites on the isle of Schallsea are the Barren Hills. It is said the Wemitowuk were once great dragon hunters. They did not differentiate between colors, and were known to hunt down silver dragons as often as others. An ancient chieftain named Silverclaw was buried beneath these barren hills. The location of his tomb has been lost to time, but it is said that in a time of great need, the great warrior will rise again to defend his people.
The Nelakne’s Glade is located in the northern forests. A portion of this forest has been set aside for Chislev. A dryad named Nelakne lives here and has befriended the Wemitowuk people. The tribe sees her as an incarnation of Chislev, and honors her with annual ceremonies in the spring. And finally, the Silver Stair is hidden away in the deepest part of the northern forest. This is truly a strange and magical site. This sacred stair rises high into the air, its silver steps hanging in a spiral starting on the ground and rising high up into the sky. No one knows exactly how high the magical stairs go, but Wemitowuk legend claims that it reaches all the way up into the heavens.
The Island of Schallsea is one ripe for a beginning adventure focused on peaceful people who are invaded by a technological war machine. Alternatively, they may have reached out to adventurers for aid in liberating or protecting their holy sites or people. This is a wonderful location ripe for exploration and danger in this War of the Lance era.
Outro
And that is all I have to say about Schallsea in the War of the Lance Era. Did you know about the history of the Wemitowuk tribe? Are the plainsmen of Abanasinia more warlike than you imagined? And finally, would you bring your group to the island for guerilla warfare hit and runs on the Blue Dragonarmy? Leave a comment below.
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