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Vetta

Vetta is a small volcanic island, perhaps 3 miles across, with steep cliffs on most of its sides, no trees, and abundant bird life. Even in winter it does not snow a huge amount, but most life is gone and the island looks barren and gray.

It is a sacred island to Kaikkea: according to Skaer law, only those blessed by the hakeasa of Pyhlla can step onto the island. Those that are not will, according to legend, be marked by Kaikkea, and will be unlucky at sea until they atone. Whether this curse is true or not is unclear.

Only an hour’s sail from Pyhlla, it has never supported a major village: everyone who lives and works here, in service to Kaikkea, is formally part of the Pyhlla district.

Layout

The island is roughly semicircular, and mostly surrounded by steep cliffs. A stone quay provides a place for boats to dock, with a small set of buildings and a path leading into the interior. Here is also a pilgrim’s waystation, also made of stone, providing a place for arriving pilgrims to sleep/stay.

The sacred site of Kaikkea is a monumental temple constructed near a sacred hot spring, fed by seawater bubbling up through lava tubes running under the island.

History

Vetta has been a sacred site to Kaikkea since anyone can remember. It is a place of prayer and healing: the waters are said to carry messages to Kaikkea, and people come to beg favors and gain restoration.

Vetta also has long been rumored to be a place of riches: sparking gems light up the sacred waters at night, volcanic ore, sharp as glass and strong as steel can be found here, and it is even said that weapons bathed in the waters glow with a pale moonlight.

Yet, it has always been protected. It is said that the priest of the waters can control the water around the island, and hostile creatures attempting to dock find the currents and winds turned against them, the waves dashing their ships on the shore. Innumerable pirate ships are said to be sunk beneath the rocky cliffs of Vetta.

Recent Events

  • May 03, 1748 DR: Urgall the Black landed on Vetta, and attacked. He and his crew slaughtered the pilgrims who were there, and the staff, and finally the priest of the waters, and then plundered the island. As they did so, they were cursed by Kaikkea, making it impossible for them to depart.
  • Aug 11, 1748 DR: Urgall the Black and his crew run out of supplies on Vetta, as the nesting seabirds leave, having exhausted the food laid in for pilgrims.
  • Aug 30, 1748 DR: Urgall the Black and his crew are turned into undead by Mashtu the Corruptor in a ritual of corruption.