Story Background

An Island Found
It is said that Akii Stormrunner, was a young tiefling privateer, early in his career and in command of his first ship, when his crew was spotted by a pride of Manticores off the shores of the Northern Wastes. Knowing they could not face the beasts head-on, Akii had little choice; he turned his ship straight out to sea and hoped to out-run the pack.

The many tales vary, but it is said the tenacious manticores chased their prey for a full 4 days or more. Akii’s crew, ran full sail with the wind, desperate to maintain the distance. The sailors were weary indeed when, finally, the pursuit broke off.

Far further out to sea than their vessel was designed to go, it is said that their relief was short lived. It was not exhaustion that finally caused the Manticores to abandon the hunt, but a storm, terrible and black. From one peril, to another, the crew furled the sails, and turned to face the gale.

When at long last, the seas calmed again, Akii and his men found themselves lost, exhausted, out of fresh water, and their ship broken and beaten. Unable to plot a direct course home, and without the supplies needed to make the voyage if they could, Captian Akii made a gamble. When one of the crew spotted a seabird, they turned their careening ship to follow, in hopes that an unknown shore would not be too far away.

That is how Direcliff Isle was first found, Akii and his men managed to find one desolate sandy shore hidden amongst the islands towering, bleak grey cliffs. There they were able to restock and repair before making the long trip home.

Akii kept the island a secret, returning there many times over the years to resupply or avoid pursuit. As the years went by, Akki’s successes grew. From a single sloop, to a fleet of over 20 ships; and so to grew their island hideaway. Simple moorings, camps, and caches of supplies started to take root on the island.

Everyone knows, no one tells tails like sailors. With a growing fleet, is was not long before others knew the story of Direcliff Island. Merchants, smugglers, and pirates alike began using the island as a place to lay low, or transfer cargo away from the eyes of the empire’s tax men. The makeshift camps became a village, and in-time a town, the moorings became a harbor, and the caches gradually made way to taverns, flophouses and merchant stalls.

An Empire’s Ire
While it is certain the Stirling Empire had long ago heard rumors of the fledging Direcliff isle, they had gone ignored. Much too far from the mainland to be a real concern. That is until Captian Akii decided to announce his retirement from the sea, granting himself the title of Prince Akii, and taking rulership of Clearwater Harbour fulltime. To ignore pirates and smugglers was one thing, but calling oneself prince, and colonizing an island was a slap in the face the Empire would not ignore.

The Empire readied it’s navy, summoning a dread fleet 200 ships strong, teach Akii and the settlers the error of their ways. But they under-estimated Akii, and the island itself. True to its name, Direcliff is an imposing platuea thrust up from the ocean, surrounded by jagged reefs and surging waves. Where ships can reach the shores at all, they are faced with unforgiving cliffs often 100 meters or more high. Needing longships to ferry men to land fall, then faced with a grueling climb, soldiers would still need to contend with the Islands unforgiving terrain and perilous inhabitants. Of the few troops that attempted an overland assault, none were ever seen again, without a single man ever reaching Clearwater Harbour.

The harbor itself is well situated, a gentle beach on the edge of a sheltered cove, only a single approach is possible, requiring incoming ships to navigate a maze of deadly shoals and reefs. Ships large enough to make the journey from the mainland, were forces to slowly navigate the pass, only one or two at a time as Akii’s ships, anchored in the safety of the bay could mount heavy bombardment on all that approached.

Laying siege to the settlement also failed. While Stirling had little trouble blockading the harbour, it was their fleet that suffered. While Clear Harbour had little in the way of luxuries, or manufactured goods, they did have all the food and fresh water they needed. The Stirling fleet, on the other hand, needed to contend with resupply far from home. The seas between the island and the mainland were dangerous, and a steady convoy of food and water was required. The empire even tried using magic to assist, but soon learned that the warnings about trying to teleport on to a ship at see were not idle. Ships exploded as the good they needed suddenly appeared mid-hull. Or masts and crew alike were crushed, and crates and barrels materialized 50 feet above the deck.

Eventually the Empire was forced to abandon their attack, and seek resupply from Clear Harbour itself, or risk the mutiny of their starving crews. In return for safe re-supply, the Emperor agreed to recognize Prince Akii’s title, and to see Clear Water as an independent city state. They did not however, completely give up on Direcliff island, in time founding their own military settlement perched atop the cliffs, in hopes of someday taming the island for their own use.

Timeline
202 - Direcliff Island is discovered

208 - Many smugglers and privateers using the island as a hidden home away from home

210 - Clearwater Harbour grows from temporary camps and burried caches of supplies, to a full grown village

214 - Briskwater elves found their settlement on the western side of the island

215 - War breaks out with the Stirling Empire

216 - Putting their goal of conquest aside temporarily, the fort settlement of New Sterling is built. The Whilshire Brotherhood build thier own settlement, claiming an ancient tower on Bear Island.

219 - Feb - Peaceful trade begins with the nearby Kobold warren

219 - Mar - Brave souls spread out from Clear Harbour founding the fishing hamlets of Cove and Westbeach