Stormwreck Isle

Stormwreck Isle was a small volcanic island located off the Sword Coast.

Description
The island was mountainous. It was a beacon to dragons, and had become suffused with the magic of countless dragons who had died there. It was said that this had left a spiritual wound across the island that could cause unpredictable magical phenomena.

Geography
Stormwreck Isle was located in the Sea of Swords about from the coast of Faerûn near the High Road. It lay south of Neverwinter, and was very close to that city. It was only about wide.

Geographical Features
The rocky island was characterized by basalt cliffs, sea caves, and hot springs. Sharp rocks along the coast were the cause of many shipwrecks, especially along a particularly treacherous shoal to the northwest that was strewn with massive gold dragon bones. On the southwest side of the island was Seagrow Caves, where toxic fumes said to originate in the volcanic tomb of the red dragon Sharruth vented to the surface.

Flora & Fauna
White wildflowers grew on the island's northeast, while mushrooms and the occasional violet fungus grew in the caves below ground.

The island's shores were home to seagulls, its waters hosted the occasional giant octopus, and its caves were inhabited by stirges. The hot springs and other sites of volcanic activity were haunted by fume drakes, smoke-like creatures that formed in the wake of a dragon's death. Deeper underground, the energies emanating from Sharruth's tomb could weaken the barrier between the Prime Material plane and the Elemental Plane of Fire, allowing fire elementals like salamanders or their young to arrive beneath the island.

History
The island was formed in ancient times by volcanic activity that was caused when the mighty red dragon Sharruth was entombed on the sea floor by a group of three metallic dragons: the bronze dragon Astalagan, the gold dragon Clyssavar, and the brass dragon Turadaer. Ever since, the island was a beacon to dragons, and thus hosted many battles in the never-ending struggle between metallic and chromatic dragons. This, in turn, caused the island to become suffused with the magic of the slain dragons. At some point, a group of scholars built the Clifftop Observatory to study and harness these ambient magics.

At some time in the latter half of the 14 century DR, a blue dragon sought to use the Observatory to seize control over the magic of the island, but was slain by the bronze dragon Runara. A century later&mdash;circa the, &mdash;a grandchild of that blue dragon, a wyrmling known as Sparkrender, arrived on the island. He moved into the ruined Observatory with the intention of performing a ritual that would awaken the spirits of Stormwreck's many dead dragons, and then use their power to turn himself into a god. When a bronze wyrmling named Aidron attempted to intervene, Sparkrender imprisoned him and planned to sacrifice his life to energize the ritual.

Circa the, a ship called the Compass Rose wrecked on the rocks to the north of the island on Tarsakh 19. As she lay dying in the wreck, a passenger named Aletha prayed to Orcus to be reunited with her husband Brastos, and brought about a curse that caused all those who died in shipwrecks on the island&mdash;beginning with herself&mdash;to rise as undead.

Rumors & Legends
As of the late 15 century DR, there were rumblings that the long-dead Sharruth might have continued to persist in some form deep below the island.

Notable Locations

 * The Clifftop Observatory, an ancient structure built to study the island's magic and to observe the celestial movements of the King-Killer Star.
 * Dragon's Rest, a monastery dedicated to Bahamut known to be a place of wisdom and peace.
 * Seagrow Cave, a basalt cave atop the tomb of Sharruth.

Inhabitants
The island was home to many kobolds. Myconids inhabited the sea caves and harpies sometimes took up residence on the coast to lure ships to their doom and feast on the sailors. In the latter half of the 15 century DR, many zombies could be found along the northern coast.

Notable Inhabitants

 * Runara, the abbess of Dragon's Rest who was widely known for her wisdom and who was a strong proponent of peace and nonviolence. She was secretly a bronze dragon.
 * Sinensa, leader of the myconids of Seagrow Caves in the late 15 century DR.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dragons of Stormwreck Isle