This is the final block of Factions on the Isle of Dread, and includes the numbered Encounters and creatures from the Wandering Monster Tables. Some of these factions will be fleshed out with named NPC's at a later date, but this serves as a general overview of how I see them fitting in to the existing power structure of the island.
Troglodytes:
The most remote group on the Isle of Dread are the troglodytes that live in the caves on the north coast of the island, surrounded on all sides by treacherous mountains and on the shore of the bay that is home to a great sea monster. Isolated as they are by the terrain, they rarely encounter other intelligent creatures and so their savagery and depravity are not well known. When confronted with more powerful creatures (like giants or dragons), they retreat into the depths of their caves until the danger is passed. They hunt dinosaurs in the mountains and fish from the bay, and gather edible fungi and insect larvae but do not practice any organized farming or herding.
Troglodytes consider the sea monster to be an aspect of their foul god (named Lao’gzed, who is usually depicted with features of both lizard and toad), and will offer tribute by casting sacrifices –usually troglodytes, but any living creature they capture– into the waves from their cliffside homes. On the rare occasion that unlucky or unwary ships sail into the sea monster’s bay, the circular currents generally will bring the flotsam and jetsam of the wreckage to the troglodytes’ shore, and they consider these blessings from their aquatic god. Items scavenged from these wrecks are often considered religious icons and are either used to decorate crude statues of their god or given to high status members of the group. The troglodytes most prize steel and bronze weapons, which are reserved for the war leaders, and any metal that can be used to fashion heads for their javelins.
The caves of the troglodytes go deep into the Isle of Dread, and it is possible that they connect to the other cave systems in the south or on the Central Plateau, although these have not been explored. Troglodytes rarely go that deep into the earth because food becomes scarce and the caverns stretch and honeycomb for countless miles, and they believe their god resides in the waters below the deepest cavern and will devour anything that comes too close, and even the most devout troglodytes don’t want to meet Lao’gzed until they must.
Troglodytes and lizard men hate one another and often attack each other on sight. This is an exception to the lizardfolk’s preference for other egg-laying creatures, (although the possibility exists that troglodytes do give live birth, as no scholar has done exhaustive work in that area of study), and seems to hint at some ancient rivalry. This is also not unusual behavior on the part of the troglodytes, who tend to attack most things on sight.
Giant lizards are sometimes used by troglodytes as mounts or guard animals, although this seems to be an example of a symbiotic relationship rather than traditional domestication. Giant lizards do not view the troglodytes as food and so they will only attack them when there is great provocation. A good example of how unappetizing troglodytes are is that even ghouls are reluctant to feed on them. As troglodytes prefer warm meals (ideally living flesh), they in turn will often ignore ghouls when they encounter them, unless they are in competition for the same prey.
Rock Baboons:
The rock baboons make their homes in the broken lands around two volcanoes on the peninsula on the southwest of the Isle of Dread. They are larger and more aggressive than normal baboons and are more intelligent (ranging from semi to low). They do not speak a language or have any culture to speak of, nor do they use complex tools. They will hoard shiny objects but do not wear clothing or jewelry. The closest thing they have to religion is the fear they have of the red dragons that are occasionally drawn to the volcanoes.
Rock baboons will generally perform threat displays to drive off intruders, howling and throwing rocks. They will only outright attack groups that appear much smaller and weaker than them. They consider virtually any creature either predator or prey.
Centaurs:
There is a small group of nomadic centaurs on the island. They have no permanent home and may be found anywhere on the southern half of the island. They do not have more than they can carry, graze wild, and their only wealth is in the form of the simple musical instruments they have crafted themselves. They are wary of outsiders but not outright hostile. They ally with the phanaton in times of need and avoid the rakasta at all cost.
Giants:
There are several loosely-affiliated giants who call the Isle of Dread home. While these are separate sub-races that are distinct from one another, they are broadly similar in outlook and behavior, and have limited contact with one another.
The ogres are a small family group that make their home in the mountains east of the Central Plateau. They are mostly sedentary and rarely venture forth from their mountains. They have limited contact with the Aranea who will sometimes bribe them for a particular service (and pay handsomely for any phanaton they capture, although this is a rare windfall.) They will sometimes have contact with the cavemen to their south or the other giants, and they tend to bully those smaller than them and are obsequious to the larger giants. They will also serve the green dragon when his need arises.
The northern part of the island is home to isolated groups of hill and stone giants. These two groups occupy the same basic territory but don’t interact with each other unless they are in direct competition on a hunt, and the hill giants will usually defer to their larger cousins.
The southern part of the island is home to a solitary cyclops. He roams the island freely as most creatures are beneath his notice, although he is roused to anger quickly if he is attacked. He will sometimes carry smaller animals back to his cave and block them in with large boulder. He also tends a nest of giant bees and collects their honey.
Pirates:
A temporary encampment of about forty pirates has formed on an island off the southwest coast of the Isle of Dread. It is unclear if they know where they are or if they think this is just a random uncharted island in the Archipelago. They have been left here by their pirate captain who wants them to capture slaves, which they will pick up when they return in a few months. The pirates have been capturing lone groups of Tamaroan and have so far been able to keep their presence a secret. They avoid the mainland as their initial forays there did not go well.
The pirates are led by a former captain who lost his ship in a battle (to legendary pirate hunter Bob Loblaw no less), though they were able to escape in rowboats under the cover of darkness. Disgraced by this defeat, the former captain is hoping to win another ship and regain his lost glory.
Dragons:
The Isle is home to a few dragons. The most powerful is the juvenile green dragon Iumgala Perjore (as he is called by the Tanaroans), who lives in the jungles on the northeast peninsula. He is the only dragon to make a permanent home on the island, and he takes a dim view of interlopers (draconic or otherwise). Very young black, green and red dragons will sometimes make their way to the island, riding the western trade winds after being cast out of the lairs of their parents. The Isle of Dread is a savage paradise for these young dragons, with the many miles of trackless verdant swamps for the black dragons and a few active volcanoes that call to the reds. Iumgala makes it clear to these vagrants that he expects them to move along before too long, although the nature of dragons is to bite and claw and there is always one or two that are scheming to claim his hoard. The juvenile green has some dealings with the Aranea; he does not trust them, but there is little on the island they do not know about.
All dragons tend to give the Central Plateau a wide berth, and they never venture to the peak at its center. This avoidance seems to be instinctual. One reason Iumgala has not been challenged by a more powerful dragon for claim of the Isle is that simply, no dragon more powerful than he wants it. Even the dragons that spend a few decades in respite on the island tend to move on less out of fear of the green dragon and more out of some vague unease at what lies at the island’s center.
