Sage’s Tears Islands

The climate of this region is hot. Monsoons arrive at the end of the summer, bringing an angry relief from drought before continuing in a more mild tone through the end of the fall. A great profusion of islands and reefs host many fish, much as the extensive upland and lowland forests are home to the region’s famous tapirs, jaguars, and long-tailed monkeys, as well as a dizzying variety of insects, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Fruit- and nut-bearing trees are abundant.

The main peninsula is known as the Sage, who drowned what was once a broad plain in his tears and created a profusion of islands. The River of Tears flows from the “eye” of the peninsula, crashing down from the mountains above before flowing languidly through dense forests and out to sea.

There is one culture here. The long and tenacious history of the Golden people begins in the far northwest, where their home city clings to arid cliffs to this day. Slowly over time, Golden fishing ships returned from trips to the southern islands with tales of shining ruins peeking out from the forest, inspiring others to investigate and expand. Now the Golden capital rests at the base of the Great Sage Falls, built up lavishly on the wondrous treasures and arcane science discovered in the ruins there.

The growth of the city has come hand in hand with a religious revival. Among the many flourishing and elaborate practices, the act of exploration has been imbued with numinous sanctity. Travelers who cast their fortunes down the River of Tears write their secret desires on strips of fine colored paper, then toss them into the waters where they dissolve. More recent discoveries have included overgrown cities even more impressive than those that once lined the River of Tears. In fact, these grand ruins are thought to have been abandoned relatively recently, having once been home to highly advanced contemporaries of the Golden fisherpeople in their humble earlier days.