Purple Rocks

The Purple Rocks were an archipelago in the Trackless Sea located west of Gundarlin beyond the warm water of The River. They appeared as rocky outcroppings, but verdant valleys were sheltered from the storms behind their sparse forested peaks. The islands were named for the dark purple hue that they took on under stormy skies.

The dragon Galadaeros considered the Purple Rocks its territory, and it is believed that Flamehome Isle, as he called its lair, was actually one of these two islands.

Islands

 * Trisk (western)
 * Utheraal (eastern)

Climate
The Purple Rocks, along with Tuern, Gundarlun and Ruathym, live at the mercy of far harsher sea storms than those on the mainland, and have a winter spanning nearly eight months a year. The Aurilsbreath (as the islanders called the bitter and constant winter winds), froze everything not built on the lee side of the islands. When not frozen by the Aurilbreath, the islands were shrouded in a dense fog that lasted through the day, and its summers were even cooler than subarctic ones.

Society
Here, like in rural communities all over the North and other outer islands like Tuern, magic use was punishable by death. People of the Purple Rocks appeared to worship Tempus (called Tempos), Auril and Umberlee, the usual Northman deities, but their idols of those gods all showed many tentacle-like arms.

By the time of the War of the Silver Marches in the late Fifteenth century DR, the people of Utheraal and Trisk were under the sway of the kraken Slarkrethel. The islanders wore tattoos of krakens made with squid ink and built longships that boasted kraken-shaped figureheads. They greeted visitors with food and shelter, but didn't speak of Slarkrethel or the absence of children from their communities. Visitors who tried to investigate the mysteries of the Purple Rocks were asked to leave. Those who refused to do so were captured and sacrificed to the sea. The islanders showed their devotion, among other ways, by tossing their newborn children into the sea to be claimed by Slarkrethel. The experience transformed the children into fanatics dedicated to the kraken. They returned from the sea as humans, but when they reached old age, they transformed into sea spawn and rejoined their master in the dark depths. Some children returned having suffered partial transformations, leaving them semi-bestial until their full transformation when they reached old age. These wretches were hidden until their final change, to keep the secret of the Purple Rocks. Kraken priests were the tenders of the kraken's flock. Most of the priests were island natives, but some were merfolk, merrow, or sea elves that lived in the water around the Purple Rocks.

History
The Rocklanders, or the people of the Purple Rocks, were originally a colony from Gundarlun Island. Later, both the western island Trisk and its eastern neighbor Utheraal grew into independent island-nations, with the later paying Trisk a steep sum of gold to avoid war. This situation ended abruptly in the 1368 DR, when the longships of King Selger landed upon the shores of Utheraal and the battle for control of Vilkstead took place, resulting in the deaths of King Bromm and 200 of the island's best warriors.

Trisk

 * Ulf of Thuger : The capital city of the nation of Trisk. Its inhabitants fished and farmed barely enough to put food in their mouths, and additional needs were satisfied by piracy on other Northmen and pirate ships. Their main activity was recording and cataloging the flux of information that filtered into the island through the Kraken Society spy network. In 1361 DR, King Selger dwelt here as the nominal ruler of Trisk.

Utheraal

 * Vilkstead : With richer fishing water than its neighbour, the throne city of Utheraal had enough catches to satisfy its own needs and make a living by exporting large amounts of dried, smoked, salted, and pickled fish to Gundarlun, which in turn shipped it to cities all across Faerûn. It also produced a pungent, salty, herbal goat cheese called Vilksmaarg, popular in Sword Coast taverns.

Offshore

 * Ascarle : The Sunken City was an underwater elven city as large as Waterdeep. Destroyed by the drow, it lay in ruins off of Trisk's northern shore, where it was used by Slarkrethel as headquarters for the Kraken Society.

Travel
Estimated caravel travel times by sea (assuming good weather and strong breeze):


 * Tuern: 2 and a half days.
 * Gundarlun Island: 3 days.
 * Ice Peak: 3 days.
 * Ruathym: 4 days.
 * Leilon: 6 days.
 * Luskan: 6 days.
 * Fireshear: 6 and a half days.
 * Neverwinter: 6 and a half days.
 * Port Llast: 6 and a half days.
 * Waterdeep: 10 days.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Tangled Webs
 * Video games
 * Gateway to the Savage Frontier