Looking for an abandoned island

[Huw]

Been researching abandoned islands for an adventure. The sort where once there was a thriving community, but now is just ruins.

Been through the usual suspects: St. Kilda, Rona, Lundy and Samson in the UK, Hashima in Japan, various Polynesian islands and Antarctic whaling stations. However, there is one i read about somewhere, but cannot find any reference.

It was of the coast of South America, either Venezuela or Brazil, and had one of the earliest European towns in the area. The Spanish (or maybe the Dutch) built it offshore for defence, since they didn't yet know much about the interior. For a few decades it was a major port, but, since it had no fresh water, was abandoned as soon as settlement on the mainland started. The only permanent residents now are a few fishermen. Does anyone know the name of this place?

Also, any recommendations for other islands like that? I want ones which had actual communities, not just lighthouses or WWII airstrips.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

I'm sorry that I don't have an answer to your question, but I have something close if you're interested:
Fugloy of Faroe Islands
Fugloy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With all due respect to our European brothers, Faroes are kind of isolated, in the sense of being a small collection of islands in the cold north, high above Scotland. Fugloy has massive 44 inhabitants, so it's not abandoned and the island also has some trolls and a bit touch of mythology, easy to go from there.

 

[jonesy]

There's this:
Isla Cubagua Margarita Venezuela

 

[The Shaman]

You may be thinking of one of these, though I'm not sure which one. A number of the herditary captaincies were later occupied by the Dutch.

 

[Huw]

There's this:
Isla Cubagua Margarita Venezuela

That's the one. Nueva Cádiz was the port

EDIT: Just found it on Google maps. If you have satellite turned off, then it's invisible. No map outline.

 

[Set]

Also, any recommendations for other islands like that? I want ones which had actual communities, not just lighthouses or WWII airstrips.

Poveglia could be usable. It's a relatively tiny island, but has a fair number of structures on it, from the photos.

 

[Huw]

Poveglia could be usable. It's a relatively tiny island, but has a fair number of structures on it, from the photos.

Nice find, thanks.

The write-up in wikipedia and the layout of the buildings makes me wonder if this was the inspiration for the Goodman Games module

Spoiler

Cage of Delirium

.

 

[CarlZog]

It depends on what kind of setting you're looking for, but I recommend taking a look at North Brother Island in New York for inspiration.

It was a smallpox quarantine hospital in the 1800s (home to "Typhoid Mary", who infected dozens), and the abandoned ruins are still there -- untouched for decades.

One of the creepiest places you'll ever see, it is located just offshore of the Riker's Island prison at the entrance to a waterway known as Hell Gate.

In 1904 a steamship carrying immigrant workers on a weekend outing ran aground there after catching fire in one of the worst disasters in maritime history. Many of the 1,200 people who died washed up on the island's shores.

It's now a city-owned bird sanctuary, so the ruins remain untouched and nature is slowly taking the place back over. Google it for additional photos and video.

 

[Scott DeWar]

Nice find, thanks.

The write-up in wikipedia and the layout of the buildings makes me wonder if this was the inspiration for the Goodman Games module

Spoiler

Cage of Delirium

.

so, 'spoiler' is the command to do that. I must remember that.

 

[Cyronax]

Been researching abandoned islands for an adventure. The sort where once there was a thriving community, but now is just ruins.

Also, any recommendations for other islands like that? I want ones which had actual communities, not just lighthouses or WWII airstrips.

Thanks in advance.

1) Well there is St. Helena: Saint Helena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

- You might remember it as the final home to a one-time great martial ruler of a great realm-cum-empire in the North. He was overthrown (twice) and was exiled to this lonely south seas rock, only to be poisoned by his captors and forgotten (they hoped) to history.

Now he just arose as one of the Death Knight-variants from the Monster Vault -- and boy does he want off that island. Maybe he also has the NPC Warlord or Fighter template?

2) Then there is Pitcairn Island: Pitcairn Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

- This remote crag off in the trackless western seas was barely inhabited, save for the occasional demihuman (3.X halflings) nomadic boat tribe. It eventually became the last and current refuge of a group of mutineers from a vast maritime world-spanning empire. Eventually a few halflings joined the castaways and have been isolated from the outside world for decades.