Isle of Dread (wilderness)

Isle of Dread is a wilderness adventure area, added with Update 55/Isle of Dread expansion.



Vecna and the Isle of Dread


Vecna notes


 * 1) I am Vecna, the Whispered One, God of Secrets.  Over the eons I have done much and seen more.  Conquered worlds.  Transcended death.  Ripped divinity from the hands of the gods themselves.  And yet I have only begun my true mission.
 * 2) Secrets.  They surround us, hidden in deep shadows, obscure corners, hidden worlds.  Secrets that promise knowledge, control, power.  Even I do not possess them all, god though I am.  That will change.  I am building my collection.
 * 3) The Isle of Dread was a secret once.  An island that moved through the planes, appearing and disappearing on countless worlds.  As soon as I learned of it, I determined to add it to my collection.
 * 4) Long ago, the Isle of Dread was controlled by the Kopru, ancient rulers over a declining empire.  Once the Isle of Dread had been a symbol of their might and power.  But in time it had become a millstone around their necks.
 * 5) To create the teleporting island, the Kopru had made a bargain with certain powerful Demons.  Yet in time they had a falling out.  The Kopru came to regret their bargain, as all those who deal with Demons do.  And so they turned to me.
 * 6) I agreed to drive out the Demons for the Kopru.  In return, the Kopru promised to become my loyal followers.  The Demons were easily dealt with, and the Isle of Dread was now mine.  It was the perfect place to store some of my secrets.
 * 7) The Kopru had always held slaves, people stolen from the worlds the island had visited.  In time, due to the Kopru's incompetence, these slaves revolted and set up their own village on the south of the island.  The Kopru empire's iron grip, it turned out, was naught but rust.
 * 8) The Kopru asked me to deal with their little slave revolt.  I declined having no interest in their petty squabble.  Besides, the Kopru had betrayed the Demons before.  No doubt they were now planning on betraying me.  Best to keep the Kopru weak and firmly under my control.
 * 9) Having grown weak and lazy in their dotage, the Kopru complained constantly about their lack of slaves.  Naturally I saw the obvious solution.  I am not only the God of Secrets.
 * 10) I placed an enchantment on the island that would raise any human who died there as undead.  This neatly solved the Kopru's labor problem.  And yet they were not grateful.  The Kopru acted as if my undead servants were beneath them.
 * 11) Defeated by their own slaves, the Kopru have retreated to the ruined temple atop the dormant volcano.  From its depths they control the island's teleportation, steering the Isle of Dread to wherever I command.  Thus the Kopru have descended from masters of an empire to mere servants.
 * 12) The Kopru are too few and too stubborn.  They can only be relied on to move the island.  For other tasks, I call upon the pirates.  Pirates are easily recruited from any world we visit, and easily motivated iwth a handful of platinum and a bauble or two.  They care nothing about secrets.  This makes them the perfect tools for me.
 * 13) When the island arrives at a new destination, I send out the pirate fleet.  The pirates comb the shores of the new world, collecting the items and people I designate.  I permit the raiders to keep anything else they fancy.  The pirates assume this is all ordinary plunder.
 * 14) The most valuable treasures the pirates bring me are the people I specify.  Mad visionaries, audacious intellects, world-shaping personalities - I bring them here and add them to my collection.  Then I set out to discover their secrets.
 * 15) I scan the multiverse constantly, searching for new places to take the island.  Not long ago I discovered something astonishing.  A whole group of planes had suddenly appeared.  It's as if they had been hidden behind a veil - a veil that had been instantly whisked away.
 * 16) One of my new discoveries was a new world on the Prime Material Plane.  A fascinating place, with its own history, its own little gods, its own obscure secrets.  A place called ... Eberron.
 * 17) I quickly discovered what had destroyed the veil hiding the new planes:  the destruction of the Codex of the Infinite Planes.  It had released a vast amount of arcane energy, shredding the veil and scattering an infinite number of fragments throughout the multiverse.  Most intriguing.  Most intriguing indeed.
 * 18) I set about collecting some of the remains of this Codex, attempting to disguise this by employing a dimwitted denizen of the Feywild as my proxy.  To my surprise I was thwarted in my attempt - not by another god, but by inhabitants of the strange new world of Eberron.  Thwarted by mortals!  This was the most intriguing thing of all.
 * 19) And now you are wondering - why tell you all this?  Why would a god of secrets reveal his own?  The answer, of course, is because I want you to know who I am.  I want you to understand what has become of you.  I want you to see that you are mine.
 * 20) You are here by my will.  You will remain so long as I decree it.  I watch your every step as you stumble through this island of danger and death, and I will find you when I see fit.  And then you will hear my judgment.