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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9533526" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/zCGtt80.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Chapter Two: the WorldAs the longest chapter in this book, the World details each of the seven major islands, along with the ocean and stranger places. The island descriptions follow a format: a broad-focus view on the geography and climate along with demographics and culture, followed by major settlements and the most important spirits. The text makes use of in-character narration for first-time arrivals at the islands and settlements as a means of setting the mood and what PCs might first notice upon approach.Timanduk is our first island, serving as a diverse trade nexus and pilgrimage site, with the volcano spirit Nulkab towering over the horizon and a beautiful coral reef as the most notable features. Kaylahon is the first of the major settlements, a port town founded by people who made a deal with the ocean spirit Tualylupa to gain food, safe passage, and fair weather. Ashen Fields is our second settlement, a tiefling-majority nomadic community so named for making use of Nulkab’s eruptions and their own fire magic to do slash and burn agriculture. Termite nests and dirt mounds pose a danger as being the homes of vengeful spirits, and their presence causes work to halt. Lastly, we have the River Village of Nadasaloy that uses bamboo to build stilt houses and for fashioning into spears to catch fish. It is in a rather fragile peace with the local nature spirits, given the village’s last datu got too greedy and mounted a failed invasion of the forest for its resources. The current datu is doing what he can to restore goodwill, and while most spirits have accepted there are still a few vengeful ones that take out their anger on the residents.The prominent spirits of Timanduk include Nulkab the Volcano, who has many rumored origins but whose sole constant is being cursed with never-ended hunger, and it is through the babaylan of Kaylathon that the spirit hasn’t consumed the entire island in a sea of fire. Tulaylupa is the spirit holding sway over this section of ocean* who was around since the world’s creation, and being split up by many new islands made the spirit angry from loneliness. They found a new community via a deal with the babaylan of a traveling community, who would provide the spirit companionship in exchange for safety and ease of travel. People help keep Tulaylupa’s sense of isolation from coming back via songs and stories along with daily prayers and offerings at sea.*The ocean doesn’t have a single spirit so much as a family of related spirits.The bulul are ancestor spirits who possess wood and volcanic rock, so mortals carve them into humanoid likenesses along with food offerings as a means of helping them connect to their descendents, and in exchange they help ward away pests from fields. The tree spirits of Patpatayin are located in groves where animal sacrifices are performed as part of making sacred oaths, and people use such groves for important promises between each other. There is one type of tree spirit known as the Balete, who is actually one of many and whose trees can be used as gateways between the mortal and spirit worlds. It’s common for large concentrations of spirits to be found around them.Kandaya is our second island, famed for its mangrove forests whose wood bears various magical functions when repurposed for craftsmanship. Such forests, and in fact all plant life on the island, share a common ancestor in the spirit of Malahom, and there’s a pair of small yet dangerous islands off the coast known as Twin’s Folly rumored to be home to aswang. Kandaya’s people live among the coasts, moving inland during monsoon season brought by Habagat the Southwest Wind. Foraging among the mangrove roots for shrimp and fish is common to all communities here, but the northern communities farm taro, rice, and ginger due being less affected by the monsoon and whose rain is more beneficial to the area.The Mangrove City of Pahinga is located in Kandaya’s center. While its location is common knowledge, entry is restricted as the forest and rivers warp the landscape to lead the unworthy astray. The city was formed by a mortal figure known as the Child, who was raised by the river spirit Tagaampon. The Child became curious about the world and left to explore. During that time they made many friends and learned valuable knowledge, but also that the world was full of suffering. Gathering various down-on-their-luck people and helping them live better lives, Pahinga was formed as a place of healing.Another notable community includes Hanapin, a settlement whose homes and gates are formed from blocks of salt harvested from tidal pools. The community was made by people who were continually hunted by aswang, and tired of being prey sought to find ways of harnessing the sea’s salt to turn them into weapons. Tidal pools were built, trapping water which evaporated under the hot sun and left the salt intact. Hanapin is now known as a village full of dedicated warriors, and uses its most precious resource to aid them in fighting the aswang wherever they may be found. While it will be covered in a later chapter, aswang are a new category of monsters in the setting, and share a common weakness against salt. Thus, it is common for people to use salt-encrusted weapons when fighting them.The first of our final two centers of Kandaya includes Taonglupa, a majority-halfling xenophobic community that refuses trade with everyone else and are rude and disagreeable to outsiders. However, this attitude is but an act, for they seek to help protect their patron spirit Malahom. The townsfolk believe that they were born from that spirit’s seeds, and must look after other plants as siblings who are largely unable to move or defend themselves from all manner of animals and people. We conclude our tour with Sininga, famous for being the island’s chief producer of textiles and dyes which is located on the secluded smaller island of Timogtalon. They used to be isolated from the rest of the world, but after a particularly deadly monsoon brought them into contact with outsiders, they found many eager trading partners wanting to purchase their beautiful fabrics.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/UPNErje.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Kandaya has three major spirits. Sakawayan is a large freshwater lake which is actually an ancient sea spirit who became trapped after lands rose up from the sea. Its anger at being caged caused the island’s water sources to be tainted with salt. When mortal settlers later came upon the island, they first contacted the spirit in hopes of obtaining fresh water. After a rather negative first impression, a more respectful relationship was fostered after people began giving it things from the ocean, such as seashells and coral remnants. This soon turned into an annual ceremony known as the Festival of Exchange, where people bring gifts to Sakawayan in the belief that this prevents it from forgetting old memories and becoming angry once again. Many people regard the spirit as the kind of entity one appeases for safety, but this isn’t universally held. Some people contemplated the idea of freeing Sakawayan and returning them to the ocean, but as nobody knows what ramifications this will have on the environment, no attempt has actually been made. Which honestly feels like quite the missed adventuring opportunity.Tagaampon is the second major spirit, a more beneficent-minded entity who was created by Malahom to help grow plant life across the island, but found an equally meaningful purpose in raising an orphaned mortal known as the Child. As a protective parental figure, the river manipulated the terrain to keep outside threats from finding the Child, but understood their desire to go out into the world and was happy to see them return with more people. Tagaampon currently serves as Pahinga’s guardian patron.Malahom is a spirit who used to be a giant who became a tree after praying for some rain to soften the hard, dry land he was walking on. After slipping and falling, he was unable to remove himself from the mud, and his body eventually became a mangkono tree. Needless to say this was maddeningly lonely, and his sadness caused him to grow fruits whose seeds grew into all sorts of plant life, as well as the first halflings of the island. Malahom occupies the role of a spirit of fertility and life in Kandaya: farmers beseech him for rain and good harvests, while parents pray for successful childbirths. The people of Taonglupa are his most ardent followers, who honor him by asking every plant for permission to harvest them and take only what they need.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/wP2yMFI.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /><a href="https://www.deviantart.com/zanderbarcelo/art/Arimangoa-850698429" target="_blank">Image used for the book contained text, textless version can be found on artist’s Deviantart.</a>Puthawanan is our next island, and one of the largest. Its communities are typically coastal settlements of fishers and warriors who set sail to raid other places along trade winds, while those living at the island’s south carved citadels out of limestone to form the city of Himpapawiran. The island is known for its iron mines, a material that is overall rare. Local piracy is tolerated by villagers, for they also help protect communities and bring them treasures from other islands, which they donate to local traders to ensure good will.But Puthawanan also has a more sinister reputation as being the once-frequent abode of Arimaonga, one of the Celestial Eaters. This gigantic lion-like entity tore off pieces of mountain as it played around the land, which has also helped unearth ore deposits and cut a vast RIdge through the island. Although it has been a century since Arimaonga was last seen here, its presence in the Ridge manifests in the form of effects akin to Lair Actions, such as a 10% chance per hour of an earthquake, claw marks dug deep into the earth, and dry thunderstorms.Puthawanan has three major settlements. The first is Himapapawiran, a city nestled in the mountains home to mines and smithies. The second is Agusan, a northwestern coastal city situated at the mouth of a river, and its people supply Himapapawiran with fish and other goods in exchange for terrace crops and iron. Piracy has generated resentment from the nearby islanders of Nasirakna, and retaliatory raids have become yearly events. Sumilong is the last settlement, a coastal town with half its buildings carved from limestones in the adjacent cliffs. The settlement was founded to avoid having to migrate inland during every monsoon, using stonemasonry to make long-lasting structures for its people. Its location makes it a vital trading hub with the island of Timanduk, and most outsiders prefer to dock here where local warriors and guides offer their services for traveling around the rest of the island.Puthawanan’s three major spirits also have fancy titles to go along with their names. Paglipad is the Mountain Traveler, who chose to remain uninvolved during a great war between air and earth spirits. They became an outcast for their neutrality. Spending long, lonely nights traveling around Puthawanan’s mountain range, mortals took note of the spirit and began leaving offerings of fruit for Paglipad to find later, who is still too ashamed to show themselves directly and instead helps people from afar.The second spirit is the Jeweled Hawk, a materialistic entity who is eager to take advantage of luxurious goods and controls access to mines along the mountains. The bird takes the finest portions for his own and gifts for a favored few, while selling the rest. Unlike virtually every other major spirit, the Hawk has no priests nor maintains other lines of communication with mortals, so people seeking to earn his favor need to physically find him up in the mountain forest and accompany the spirit on one of his fanciful hunting expeditions. Or attending one of his exclusive Parties in the Sky in a manor up in the mountains.The last spirit is Kamatayan the Iron Serpent, who is said in legend to have once slept in the mountain, but her scales were mistaken for ore deposits. Taking violent revenge on the miners who woke her, nine days of prayer and offerings by surviving friends and family convinced her to let them meet their loved ones. As the islanders at this time were immortal and never knew death before, their fate was a great shock to many. Kamatayan now serves the role of a spirit of death and revenge, where people ask for her favor in order to make contact with the dearly departed or to guard themselves from and/or take revenge against foes.Nasirakna is the fourth island, known for being home to many larger-than-normal sized animals as well as water spirits and a multitude of inland rivers. As most wind spirits avoid the land, it is up to the water spirits to manage the climate, resulting in omnipresent fog and mist with no dry season. A species of manta rays native to Nasirakna are capable of flying in the air, and are large and strong enough to bear human-sized riders on their backs. These animals have been domesticated for travel around the island.Sangdaangalon is a nomadic settlement made up of flotillas whose ancestors acted as traveling truth-tellers who helped chart and name the many animals and features of the island. Their demographics are diverse due to their society originating from all walks of life. Sangdaangalon has a tradition where their datu is appointed by anyone who braves the dangerous waters of a spirit known as the Blue Maw for a week, and should they survive they are deemed worthy. The town ended up with two datus because the people wrongly believed that the first challenger died, and the second one also survived. Another interesting feature is the oldest karakoa (a type of enchanted boat that is self-assembling) in the community, which bears many valuable items intended as offerings to the Blue Maw. Anyone who attempts to steal or defile the offerings are executed.The second settlement is the lakeside fishing community of Ingatan, whose original settlers were able to gain the protection of the lake spirit Lisuga to offer them her natural bounty in exchange for sharing stories. Ingatan is also home to a well-guarded artifact known as the Alaala jar. It is said to have been created by the founding babaylan to act as a multi-generational repository of knowledge, and anyone who attunes to it gains access to literal lifetimes’ worth of memories.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/o4QeNsU.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Nahulog is the last settlement of Nasirakna, which is where the island’s few wind spirits congregate as can be seen by kites in the air. Threaded cloth criss-crossing between buildings and giant mushrooms serve as good luck charms, and the air is alive with music. The village’s founding babaylan was led to the area by a trickster spirit, who she managed to befriend by locating its cave and playing a nice tune on a flute. Nahulog’s people bear magic in the form of songs that help defend their community,* as well as talismans that can direct the flow of winds if placed on a kite.*no details are provided as to the specifics.All three settlements maintain good relations with each other. During the anniversary of the Eve of Parting, when the original settlers voluntarily broke up into three groups to form their own communities, people from every settlement come together to reenact Nasirakna’s history through song, dance, and stories.Nasirakna has three major individual spirits and a major grouping as its own category. The first major spirit is the Blue Maw, real name Anino, a pool whose bottom is unseen and unknown. It is actually the mouth of a gigantic turtle originally trapped here by its parents, who viewed him as ugly and unworthy. Anino quells with anger at this injustice, which manifests in the form of harsh weather and poisonous animals, and so the island’s inhabitants do what they can to ease his sorrow via prayers of thanks for being able to live on the land and also giving sacrifices and music. If mollified, Anino visits people in their dreams to thank them.Makulit the Trickster Wind is said to be responsible for the splitting up of Sky and Sea, jealous of the two spirits’ bond together and sought to cause the two no end of mischief. One day, the wind spirit stole their treasures of drifting clouds and colored stones. Sky threw a rock at Makulit but accidentally hit Sea, and clouds spilled from the latter’s mouth in pain that formed the mists of Nasirakna. Makulit took the opportunity to hide in a cave, which it still lives in to this day, still troublesome as ever. Even so, people still seek to appease Makulit in hopes of distracting the entity, and weavers in particular earn the spirit respect for their skills at kite-making.Ingkang Putik is the third spirit, a representation of the act of change in all its forms. She was once a large yet sedentary female bullfrog who lived upon the island before the first mortal settlers, and learned that the wind and water spirits were enacting rituals to bind Anino the Blue Maw to the island. Presuming that this was a necessary act to keep the island intact, she started to perform the rituals as well, eventually becoming a hybrid earth and water spirit. When mortal settlers arrived, Ingkang Putik became a male, taking a humanoid form made of mud and living life as an adventurer for a while. Eventually, Putik returned to their old self and now lives among their fellow bullfrogs in the mud. Nobody knows why they gave up their more exciting life, but everyone has their own theory. People still venture into the mudflats in hopes of gaining Ingkang Putik’s favor to change something else or something about themselves. But this is a dangerous journey, for the frog spirit is just as apt to eat the pilgrim as they are to listen. Needless to say, Putik and Anino dislike each other given that the former still supports the latter’s imprisonment.Tutubi are a group of related ancestor spirits who take the forms of flying insects along Nasirakna’s waterways. Souls who die on the island don’t truly move on, and are bound to the area. They devote their afterlives to various vocations, but the tutubi’s duties are to help give safe passage to travelers who pay them proper respect. And hinder those who don’t. How they fly is also a good means of predicting weather, as they fly high when skies will be clear and low when it will rain.Thoughts So Far: The first half of this chapter does a good job in providing a distinctive feel for the various islands, and treating spirits as named figures with important societal roles helps reinforce Sina Una’s animistic themes. Each of the four islands has detailed climates, resources, and cultural traditions to help them feel different from each other and highlight how its people live.But one weakness in this chapter so far is that while there’s several adventuring opportunities presented, said hooks for conflict tend to be vaguely-detailed. For instance, we know that the village of Hanapin created its own cottage industry of salt to fight aswang incursions, but we don’t get much detail on exactly what kinds of monsters are menacing the village. Or how Arimagona’s Ridge still bears spooky remnants of the Celestial Eater’s presence, but we don’t get any sample dungeons, monsters, or sources of conflict coming from the region. While there are some sources of conflict, like Puthawanan’s piracy causing retaliation from nearby islands or termite mounds in Ashen Fields being a threat to farming, many of the locations provided feel that they’re in a relatively peaceful status quo, waiting for trouble to happen to them. As opposed to troubles already happening, where the PCs are needed to put things right.Join us next time as we cover the remaining three islands and what lies beyond the archipelago in the rest of Chapter Two!</blockquote>

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