Quote Originally Posted by rdanhenry View Post
Still trying to get my head around Lovecraftian Pirates. Bookish pirates driven to what others consider insanity by gaining an understanding the true nature of a universe not meant for man? Do they plunder libraries for clues and panic every time they see a squid?

"Arrr! Ye be sayin' that I be mad? Aye, mad I be, but it be the madness of the wise. Let me tell ye my tale of inescapable doom an' secrets darker the depths of the wide ocean..."
LOL. Not quite.

The style of the setting is similar in ways to the book Uncharted Seas by Dennis Wheatley, the Sargasso Sea Stories of William Hope Hodgson, and the Mist by Stephen King.

Here is some background.

The world unique, but draws heavily from historical 16th and 17th Century European and Oriental cultures. Each country in the world can be compared to a real historical kingdom but is a simplified representation.

Pieces of Eight (dominant world cultures after A HUNDRED YEARS OF WAR):

Guilders (Gulden)
Livres (Livre)
Sterlings (Sterling)
Reales (Real)
Yen (Yuan)
Dinars (Dinar)
Rupiyah (Rupee)
Kronur (Krona)

There is one indigenous culture called Bullions (Arará). They are based off of the Garinagu, a mix of Taino/Carib/African people.

These kingdoms provide the background to the setting, but the focus is clearly on Sargosso.

Within Sargasso are clusters of archipelagos surrounded by a never-ending fog. Hidden within these mists are patches of carnivorous seaweed, horrific creatures, and ghost ships crewed by the undead.

Each of the foreign cultures has homeland that can be reached through a safe-passage which opens when the 'tides are just right'.

The islands within Sargasso are ripe with natural resources, which are being plundered by the foreigners. Pirates of course prey on the loaded ships.

Vudu (Voodoo) and Kulu (Cthulhu) are two divine beliefs of Sargasso. Vudu represents the sky, while Kulu is from the sea (it is said limbo lies within the surrounding mists) and the two are opposed to each other.

Magic in Sargasso is almost always dark and corrupting. Much like the sorcery from Howard's Conan stories. Also influence drawn from Tim Power's On Stranger Tides.

Foreigners will also attempt to convert the native Bullions to their own religion so that they may pass 'the veil' and their souls not lost to limbo in the fog.

Technology level is set at the tail end of the Golden Age of Piracy with resource levels tapped from the earth 16th century (Spanish conquest of Aztec Empire).

Sargosso lies within the eye wall of a supernatural, stable, and stationary [anti]cyclonic storm. Something similar to the Great Red Spot on Jupiter. The size of Sargosso is slightly smaller than China, running some 2400 nautical miles both N/S and E/W to the edge of fog. The fog is an additional 600 nautical miles in width.

Cartographer Guild's Robert Altbauer is working on the map.