Yes, I would say that one way to accidentally release the Kraken is on Albatross Atoll.

WRT Sempura, we can consider a collaboration where you lay down the island before the coming of soul eating insects and subsequently I do the scenario on the very same places, but after the advent of that plague (in a kinda post-apocalyptic scenario, where most if not all inhabitants have lost their souls).
I'd say that at least the very first time you land on Sempura you'll be on the "normal" scenario and, maybe with some other concurring action, on subsequent landings on Sempura you may find that the island has been striken di the plague.
What do you think?

If it helps, according to Andrew Wright, Sempura was to contain "dusty hills, pirates, smugglers, a hidden Cyclops village and a valley full of undead bone monsters."

Richard Evans
Sat Dec 13 15:42:46 2014

To be totally honest, I wouldn't want to put a lot of effort into creating a large city/island that became a post-apocalyptic wasteland after a visit or two! However I do think the idea would be a good one and I would help out if it was based on a small island like Morkatal or Nen-Tai.

I think what we sorely lack at the moment is civilised (or part civilised) islands. I'm hoping Ulysses will help amend that with Blackfort Isle, though it'd also be cool to see some thematic civilisations as well. My Mayan/Aztec inspired island was also going to be set in a jungle, so if we want to stick to the North/South = Desert/Jungle divide (which for consistency we probably should) then I'd need to position it to the South, perhaps near hummingbird or papayago.

Considering Sempura, how does this plot sound?
The island is inhabited by two tribes of Cyclops who live in the north and south. Both are warring with one another, and both do so with weapons and supplies bought off a neutral human settlement in the middle(which is where you make landing).
You can help either tribe claim victory over the other (in a unique quest for each). Or you can discover the secret behind the neutral settlement, namely that its founder stole an artefact sacred to both tribes, making each blame the other and consequently creating a profitable war. With this artefact you can help unify the tribes, with happy consequences for the Cyclops and...less happy consequences for the human settlement.
Just an idea, although I'm probably not going to make it right now (The next thing I'd probably make would be the Mayan bird-people island)

A general note on pirates: You need settlements and traders before you can logically have pirates. Currently we have little of either.

Yaztromo
Sat Dec 13 16:40:22 2014

I think I'll hold fire until I can see Ulysses island, then I'll think again. So if you want to play with Sempura or with other islands, just help yourselves!
Maybe I'll do some small random sea encounter (such as the Syrens one...).

Yaztromo
Sat Dec 13 16:44:56 2014

Richard, I understand your general note on pirates, but i don't agree 100% if the Bird Islands are relatively close to sea routes with good traffic, they don't necessarily need to be heavily inhabited to sustain pirates.
Just think about the historical Pirates hidden on small Bahamas desert islands, that were on the sea route between the New World (and Mayan/Aztec gold and silver) and Europe.
I'm not sure what's the position of the Bird Islands under this point of view....

Richard Evans
Sat Dec 13 16:54:32 2014

Pirates: I get what you're saying and I'm certainly not against any pirates, it's just I'm slightly wary of encouraging piratical encounters when so far we only have tiny settlements (and no encounters with traders/trade routes to speak of). I also think pirates are a bit played out (every third sea encounter in fabled lands, for instance, is: you are under attack by PIRATES! What a surprise!) ;)

Richard Evans
Sat Dec 13 20:02:48 2014

Nen Tai Idea:

Dear All,
As you may have guessed, I'm getting really into this project. Another island I was thinking of writing (perhaps before my tropical one) was Nen-Tai.

Setting: Nen-Tai is a small dusty island, the rocky peak of a sea mount surrounded by coral reefs brimming with life both weird and wonderful. Its sole habitation, the village of Aolai, is carved into the northern cliffs and linked to the sea by a narrow inlet. It is the home of a hardy but introverted peoples, whose main exports are pearls and fish.

Story: Recently a stranger has moved into an abandoned sea-stack tower. A rich inventor with an unspecified interest in the surrounding reefs and the aid of technology bordering on witchcraft (a very primitive diving suit). If you choose to assist her your path will lead deep beneath the waves... to a sunken civilisation and an ancient artefact (one I was thinking would be of great value against the Kraken).

Items:
For Other Islands: The reward for completing the "Quest" will be something to help defeat the kraken. I am thinking...
1. Some sort of Spear, that gives a large attack bonus against the creature
OR
2. A horn that when blown summons the winds to your aid, increasing your ships Manoeuvrability (if we call it that) and Crew Strike considerably. This horn will be one use, so you will have to save it for targeting the Kraken.
For this one: Something of great value, especially to mermen. The idea being that you exchange the very valuable item for it (aren't there some dragon statues knocking about?).

Opinions would be welcome, as I am torn between writing this and a tropical Mayan/Aztec-ish island.

Well, as I said I would like to see Nen-Tai etc done, so my opinion is that I would rather see this one than the tropical Mayan island. Yes, there is one dragon statue, you get it in The Sleeping Dragon.

Ulysses
Sun Dec 14 04:25:20 2014

Hello all.

Ship Combat
I believe the outcome of our previous discussions was that the Seas of Blood system for ship combat was preferred because of simplicity.

Blackfort Island It looks like I had better hurry up with getting at least the outer part of my island done, so I'll prioritise that from now on.

Overarching Quest I would suggest that rather than having the Kraken released by the player at some point, it is better for it to already be a threat to shipping in the area. This allows all books to refer to the kraken without having to worry about whether it has been released yet or not. Further to this, I would suggest that the quest to hunt and kill the Kraken is an endgame that completes your time in the Bird Islands. For replayability, it would be good if each character had a different reason and reward for hunting the kraken; so the launching point of the final quest would be in a different location, and maybe even a unique requirement for each to be successful.
We can discuss the details of the Kraken Quest when the time comes, but for now I would suggest that we need in the completion of each gamebook a candidate item/knowledge/powerup for the final quest. Alternatively, the candidate item/knowledge/powerup can be hidden in a secret area that is accessed only by the successful completion of another gamebook. Which of the candidates are used, or how they are each used, we can discuss later.
I mention these things just to keep in mind so that we can remain flexible. Right now we need to focus mostly on laying the groundwork for the Bird Islands, just leaving a space for these other things later.

Richard Evans
Sun Dec 14 09:57:50 2014

There are only two problems with the "pre-existing Kraken" idea. The first is that albatross island would have to be changed, but I don't think this would be too difficult. The second is that you don't have a vast amount of motivation to kill the kraken if it already exists (it might be difficult to have a different motivation for all four characters), whereas being the one who looses it creates a sense of responsibility and destiny for the player. However I don't feel particularly strongly about this, and if most others want to go with a pre-existing Kraken I'd happily go along.

As to item locations, here's what I think is happening right now...
1. One will be given to you at completion of Storm Petrel Island (currently one is not, but it'd be easy to write it in).
2. One will be given to you at completion of Nen Tai - it would be much better if this requires another valuable item.
3. One will be given to you on completion of Soul-Stealing-Insect-Island, this requires hummingbird island fruit.

As to ship combat, what are we thinking of as "starter" Crew Strikes and Crew Strengths? Just so there's coherence between different sea encounters?

My understanding was that the kraken was always meant to exist from the beginning, I dimly remember Ulysses asking for references to it to be inserted throughout the text (and I put one in Isle Of The Cyclops).

Richard Evans Sun Dec 14 11:05:12 2014	Ah... Ok. It was just that albatross island seemed to strongly suggest that you released it.
	Yes it does, so this is an issue to resolve at some point.

Richard Evans Sun Dec 14 11:26:34 2014	BTW Andy, have you got and what do you think about Storm Petrel Island?
	Yes I've got it, it looks great.

Richard
Sun Dec 14 12:23:05 2014

Thanks! : )

Yaztromo
Sun Dec 14 14:28:44 2014

Ohps! sounds like I completely missed the original proposal to have the kraken already on the field of play at the start of the story - I really didn't know that.
That's why I designed Albatross Island around the chance of setting the kraken (or leviathan, or... whatever) free.
Nothing that can't be fixed, anyway.

Richard Evans
Sun Dec 14 19:45:47 2014

To Andy,

You know how we've got the banner telling people about the development thread above the initial entry for the "Tales from the Bird Islands" online page. Would it be possible to change it so that it says something like all island ideas and submissions are welcome before the bit about the development thread. Just so people are aware that if they want to contribute, they can. At the moment it reads like the parts have been finalised, and all that's left is to put them together, when we're still doing a bit of planning (we've only just finalised the ship-combat mechanics!).

Richard Evans
Sun Dec 14 19:47:53 2014

BTW which gamebook is the sleeping dragon, are we talking about silhouette island?

Richard Sun Dec 14 19:53:50 2014	Just checked, it is. To be honest I wouldn't want to leave the item I needed for Nen-Tai in Silhouette island. My gamebook bête noire are complex mazes.
	Well, one way or another it's going to be part of the overall sequence of events, so you may as well use it, bête noire or not. It's not that complex a maze anyway, though the final fight might have to be made easier so the weaker characters can cope.

Richard Evans
Sun Dec 14 23:42:42 2014

I guess, I'll leave it open for now. BTW Nen-Tai is progressing well, got the strange village with a creepy religion (remember, a light on a light-night and a gift on a thanks-night), moving on to the diving suit exploration of the reef...

Ulysses
Mon Dec 15 12:51:18 2014

@Richard

What's your creepy religion?

I have a creepy religion on my island too, based on sacrificial worship of a snake goddess. It involves authoritarianism and dark magic.

Just wondering as to the pros and cons of making them the same?
The advantage would be having more linkages between different islands. But you might need something specific for your story.

For mine the cult is just another arm of the Baron's authority, another means of control, so the details of its form are flexible.

Richard Evans
Mon Dec 15 15:39:13 2014

Snake gods and dark magic; sounds interesting (recommended watching, conan the barbarian movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger (the bad guy is the head of a snake worshipping cult which uses black magic)).

My idea is that Aolei (the village I've written for Nen-Tai) is the remnant of a great city, now submerged and covered by the reef. They used to worship Hydana, God of the Seas, but when the city was sunk (due to the kraken?) the survivors renounced his worship and took up that of the Sun.

They mean well - by keeping a sacred flame burning they think they maintain the sun itself - but if you stay in the village they will occasionally require that you take part in ceremonies; and they have a pretty nasty form of punishment if you fail to have the requisite gold/items.

As far as links with the Barons religion go, there aren't really any direct ones I could make without compromising my idea of the islanders culture and mentality. However i think a cool idea might be to add the following quest...

GIVER: The creepy snake religion.
AIM: travel to Aolei and bring about the downfall of their religion by extinguishing their sacred flame (thus showing them that they needn't keep it burning to maintain the sun).
QUEST: When you visit Aolei Temple you have the option (if you have the codeword) to attack the priestess and overturn the flame. You can do this and escape.
RESULT/REWARD: The snake religion give you some sacrifice themed weapon/artefact (how about, whenever you kill something it increases your STAMINA by 4). If you return to Aolei having completed the quest, you find the village has erupted into conflict between those remaining true to the faith and those who rejected it, and almost everyone is dead.

Ulysses
Mon Dec 15 16:37:02 2014

@Richard

Your suggestion synchs exactly with something I was planning. On Blackfort if you visit the Temple of the snake goddess as Barabas the Fallen, the priests attempt to entice you to join them, and give you as a gift a cursed bronze serpent dagger that will increase your skill by 1 for a short duration if you cut yourself (for a minus 2 LUCK penalty), or if you sacrifice someone else with it.
the serpent dagger was intended as an 'introductory offer' but if I can add to this as well the quest to destroy a rival religion with the promise of greater rewards, that would be great.
I also have another part where any of the characters can be imprisoned for sacrilege and I was going to come up with a quest elsewhere for them to do. Maybe they can be cursed (with a trunk appearing in the middle of their face?) and be sent off to destroy the sun worshipers with the promise that the trunk will be removed upon completion.

No harm in having another, but there is already a means of trunk removal (at Hummingbirds Island). Do these serpents have anything to do with the serpent people in The Diamond Key ?

Richard Evans
Mon Dec 15 19:31:36 2014

To Ulysses,

This sounds great, however - not to dictate what you write - there's two elements of the quest I would like to raise.
1. Can everyone do this quest, not just Barbaras? I'd like for there to be a greater than 25% chance you are able to take it up. It also fits logically because the serpent group are hiring you to do their dirty work, not perform religious rites. Perhaps if you're Barbaras you get to join their group afterwards, but non-Barbaras's just get the normal reward.
2. Trunk removal!?

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