Artifact/TelgarWanderingIsle

Wandering Isle (Artifact 2 and Manse 2)

• by Telgar
• back to Artifacts/Telgar

Upon casual inspection a Wandering Isle is a small landmass of approximately 10 square miles. Depending on the whim of its creator a Wandering Isle can be a desolate desert or a verdant rainforest. There is no limitation as to the type of landscape involved. The only mandated feature of a Wandering Isle is that at the exact center of the Isle there is a large complex that towers above the rest of the island's features. From the height of this central building the entire surface of the island can be seen.

The central building on a Wandering Isle is actually a small, simple Manse that extends deep under the surface and extends artifical chambers through the entire mass of the island. The creation of Manses upon artifical land was one of the greatest challenges in the original design of Wandering Isles and remains the largest trouble facing anyone attempting to create one. The Manse of a Wandering Isle is in all respects aside from its location, a normal Manse. It provides a Hearthstone with normal benefits, as well as providing Essence regeneration to Exalted within its halls.

Aside from the Manse that dominates the center of a Wandering Isle there can be any number of other buildings, according to the whims and resources of the Isle's owners. The only limitation on what buildings may be constructed upon an Isle is that the limited and artifical Essence flows of an Isle can only support a single Manse and no other Essence-using structures. Most Wandering Isles have luxurious living quarters and entertainment rooms as part of their Manse and other structures are generally stables, aeries, museums and other such non-essential buildings.

Any character attuned to the Manse at the center of the Isle is also attuned to the Isle itself and can direct its motions. Wandering Isles can move at a speed of 50 miles per hour but are limited to water deep enough to allow them easy passage, at least 300 feet or more. Because of this limitation most Wandering Isles have docks constructed and inland storage for at least one small vessel to carry passengers from the Isle to shore.

Because of the complex inter-relationship between the Wandering Isle and its Manse, any changes to the Manse alter the geography and ecology of the Island. If the Manse were changed in Aspect from Wood to Earth the formerly verdant forests of the Isle would change and become rocky mountains or sandy desert. No matter the landscape of a Wandering Isle it will always provide at least one source of fresh water and enough animals or plants to sustain as many people as are attuned to the Manse comfortably for essentially unlimited time frames. More fertile Aspects, such as Water and Wood can supply larger populations more easily.

Characters attuned to the Manse of a Wandering Isle can do more then control the movement of the Isle. They can, from within the Manse, coordinate the animal inhabitants of the island to do their will such as attacking intruders and scouting the area. They can also observe any location upon the Isle through viewing pools within the underground depths of the Manse.

Some rare Wandering Isles are possessed of potent Manses, level 3 and above. These are incredibly difficult to create upon an artifical island and, thus, very hard to find. Celestial Aspects in the Manse of a Wandering Isle are equally rare except for Abyssal Aspects. A Wandering Isle that becomes a Shadowland would slowly but surely convert the aspect of its Manse to Abyssal. At least one of these Shadowed Isles wanders of the oceans of Creation under the control of a Deathknight.

Comments =

This is as cool as I thought it would be. Actually, no I'm wrong, its even better. Its so First Age, its awesome. I do have some questions though. You mention that having a Wood or Water Manse makes it very verdant. What is having a Solar, Sidereal or Lunar Manse like. I mean they have nothing to do with natural environments. Another question I have is can multiple Manses be built on the Island, say a Solar at 5, Earth 4, Air 4, Fire 4 and Wood 4. I know, I know that gotta be complex, but that sort of thing would be a microcosm of Creation, and just plain cool. -Heru, who is a Twilight and muchkin at heart.

As the writeup mentions, Celestial aspects are very, very rare on Wandering Isles and their landscape is likely to be determined by the player taking it to suit them. Maybe a sun-scorched salt flat for Solar or a moon-washed grassland for Lunar. A mountain top observatory for Sidereal. Whatever. And no, it isn't possible for multiple Manses to be built on a single Wandering Isle. The Manse is, to a large extent, the island itself. - Telgar

Telgar, you've just made my favorite artifact. Seriously, consider this fully borrowed. 100% of pure awesome coolness and very Exalted. Gamerjoe

I love the idea, and I've thought about using something similar to this before. I just have one comment: 50 miles per hour is ridiculously fast for something like that to be moving through the water. With the amount of water that a landmass that size would displace, moving that fast would create a wake that was more like a tidal wave! I mean, that would be pretty cool too, if a little overpowered (you could 'drive by' a whole archipelago and wash everyone in to the sea) It's just a little hard to me to picture/believe. Anyway, I still love it. Consider it borrowed. -- RedThursday

It's a magical floating island. It doesn't displace water unless it wants to. It just moves normally, without significant disturbance to the world around it. I mean, I guess you could add in some weird artifact death machine that summons tsunamis and then move WITH signifianct disturbance, but that would cost extra points. - Telgar

Ok, I was imagining it moving through the water. A common tanker or cargo ship is only a few hundred feet long and displaces around 40,000 metric tons of water, covering an average of 20 mph, and the wake they throw off is easily enough to surf on! I was imagining a 10sq mile island, with a draft of a couple of hundred feet, displacing over9000 billion tons of water, and moving at a rate of 50MPH! that's crazy to me. But if it has a magical 'NO WAKE ZONE' around it.... well, that's still pretty crazy : ) -- RedThursday

You're thinking too hard. Next you're going to ask how the zombie pirates move if they don't have any muscles or ligaments to hold their bones together. - Telgar

Right? "Get your science out of my fantasy setting!" LOL -- RedThursday

Let's not get started on how Mount Metagalapa stays floating in the air! And without drifting with the breeze!! :) nikink