A time out of place, a world of magic…
I created the Isle of Togatashima (or “The Pointed Isle”) as a campaign setting for a table top role playing game that began three years ago with my niece and nephew. We play once every week or two over the phone, in an attempt to stay connected following my move across “the big water,” from Seattle to Japan.
“Tales of Togatashima” began as a way to keep track of some of the lore and mythology that I had created surrounding their characters’ actions in the game.
I may, eventually turn it into a novel, but for now, it should be taken as a series of encyclopedia-like entries to be used as background for role-playing. Much respect to the WOTC crew, as their work has inspired what I’ve done here.
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Tales of Togatashima
by Keegan Burke
Tyranos and Orn Daariv
Self-appointed ruler of the Isle of Dinoran, King Tyranos is tolerated by his subjects. He is the first “King” of the island in several hundred years. He is well-known for being a lazy, overfed daydreamer – often sending his personal guard out on strange quests to recover artifacts or assert his claim over part of the island.
He lazes about, picking his teeth and shouting orders half-heartedly at his staff. Seldom does he venture out of the palace complex, and he never goes near any body of water, with the rare exception of the royal bath. His closest advisor is a Dragonborn Sorcerer, Jaci Svaust Vucotic Irthosi, or simply “Irthosi.” It is rumored that Irthosi is really the one in control. However, many doubt this since the kingdom does little to assert its control on or off of the island.
Prior to Tyranos’ rule, there was approximately 300 years of anarchy, preceded by the storied Ooran Dynasty. The dynasty is as much legend as history now, but it is said that the first Queen of Dinoran was a silver dragon named Orn Daariv, and the first king was a Couatl, a winged serpent by the name of Orn Astraczulis. Many of the dinosaurs of Dinoran are descended from this royal family, a claim King Tyranos uses to justify his rule. There are also many lineages of dinosaurs whose ancestors came to the island as refugees.
Daariv and Astraczulis bore three sons and two daughters, each one a strange and powerful beast. The sons were Zhaanpa (the basilisk), who could walk across the surface of the sea, Loexsuriv (the cockatrice), whose very gaze could kill, and Martchivir (the plateosaurus), who forgot nothing. The daughters were Resksimakai (the eoraptor), who was blinding fast and known to vanish from sight, and Torkemadosfa (the sea serpent), who could give life with her song.
It is said that the gods inhabited the earth in those days, but the dragons kept the islands of Dinoran and Togatashima for themselves. Dinoran, however, became an isle of exiles. All the creatures who didn’t fit the gods’ and goddesses’ plans sought refuge there, knowing that the Ooran Dynasty would not turn them away. Dinoran’s queen, Orn Daariv long outlived the king, but never remarried, though it is said she had many suiters. It is rumored she eventually died of old age, a rare thing for a dragon, after ruling the isle for some 3000 years.
When the gods struck dinosaurs from the earth in the great purge, many fled to Dinoran. It became a safe haven. Orn Daariv, surviving members of the Ooran dynasty, including her own great-great-grandchildren, and the five most powerful dragons on Togatashima unified to protect the beasts from the “cleansing” that occurred.
It is said that the dragons constructed a chamber far beneath the earth that could only be accessed with 5 keys. Each key is surely locked away beneath the five peaks of Togatashima, buried beneath each dragon’s horde, or perhaps they have been lost to the ravages of time and war, melted down for gold and jewels by some brave looter long ago; perhaps not… The secret of what was hidden within the chamber has, of course, been lost to time, but it is rumored to be a power that rivaled that of the gods themselves. After all, there are still dinosaurs roaming the ancient isles, and dragons defending their peaks.
WrittenbyKeegan.com 
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