Sphant is nestled within the thick of the Shattered Isles. The island is only about 15x30 miles in size but is one of the larger of the Shattered Isles, but is still relatively small as compared to the largest island of Rhackdalia.
The waters around Sphant and its surrounding isles is shallow and thus Sphant can't support a deep-water port, so the only vessels that can navigate its waters are shallow-bottomed schooners and skiffs. Small port towns in and around Rhackdalia would transfer goods that had crossed the Fathoms to smaller vessels so that they could be brought to Sphant; a perfect example would have been schooner the party commissioned to bring them to Sphant, The Courageous.
Sphant is covered in lush, thick trees. The party is arriving during the summer and there isn't a snow cover, but over the winter months, Sphant is an island of snow-crested trees. Its large bay faces the west, and the first thing the party would have seen sailing towards it is a 50' colossus on the southern mouth of the bay - a nude woman, arms stretched downward, her hair blowing in the wind from the sea, she faces the tempest of the ocean. Siegride immediately recognizes the colossus as Isthmeira, her patron deity.
Isthmeira, however, doesn't stand alone. Within the shallow bay are three other colossuses also nudes standing 50' tall. One presents a woman in a relaxed pose staring at the ground; another presents a woman with a bastard sword that she wields two-handed in a defensive pose; the last is a woman in the last trimester of her pregnancy, and she holds her belly. The colossuses are at various points within the bay where stands large wooden and stone structures. Abbeys. Abbeys of all shapes and sizes. They dot the shoreline around the bay. Some are large, elaborate, crafted structures; others are just wooden or comprised of trees, rocks, or stone. The main Abbeys are represented by the colossuses: the Hooded Spirit Isthmeira (and all of her 16 names), where Her Abbey's face outwards towards the sea; whereas Gaia, Dhyane, and Ohnuava are gathered in the bay. The party will come to realize that - as it's customary that the Shyn's and towns of Floreth celebrate their founders with commemorative statues - Sphant has no founding Houses. Just the Mother, in all of her forms. Those were the statues erected over time. There are no Houses in Sphant.
The winds blow all the time across the isle of Sphant. There are dozens upon dozens of small 1-3 person vessels with a single sail that's driven by standing in a shallow boat. The sails are multi-colored fabrics; at times, it looks like leaves dancing on the waves of the shallow harbor; those same smaller craft are used by people to skitter along the shorelines to the other islands. Larger ships drop their sails when in the bay and moor along wooden docks near the main Abbeys of Gaia, Dhyane, and Ohnuava. And to the southeast of the bay, along an undeveloped wooded portion, hasty construction of make-shift shelters for refuges from Rhackdalia.
This is a place of peace, tranquility, and community. Order is strictly maintained. The Magistrate is a Paladin - Lwynn, a Sister of Dhyane - appointed by the Queen of Floreth. The garrison here has been reinforced from Floreth and there are plenty of trained guards keeping the peace. Further, the wooded parts of the island are managed by a sect of Rangers that patrol this and nearby islands; there's even a holy space set aside for their troop named Pathfinder Abbey, found within the confines of Earthwomb Abbey (Gaia). Given all of the religious and spiritual diversity, there is a wide-spread notion of acceptance of open-mindedness and tolerance.
The refuges from Rhackdalia have presented all of these orders and sects an opportunity to proselytize and speak their good word to potential converts. They have been treated with kindness and generosity once arriving in Sphant, and supplies sent from the mainland are being used to help clothe and feed the masses. Meanwhile, citizens of Sphant are pitching in to help, educate, train, and employ the hundreds of people that keep pouring in every day.
When the sun sets in the west, its blazing light casts all of the four Colossuses of the Goddess in an almost divine light and shines directly in to the shallow bay of Sphant, and when the Mother and Daughter (Shae Tahrane's moons) are out, their moonbeam reflections awash the whole bay in moonlight. The nights are usually clear this time of year and there are so many stars in the sky.
Abbey's dedicated to the Tempest are outside of the bay and face the roiling sea. There are abbeys spread along the northern interior of the bay that're referred to as the Midnight Sanctuaries, as those abbeys worship the darker side of the Mother; earth and light abbeys find themselves in the northeast portion of the bay; followers of war, the garrison, and the affairs of state are conducted from Moonshade Abbey (Dhyane); followers of Ohnuava and other fertility goddesses are just south of that. To the west and along the south side are more isolated and sects and covens in an undeveloped country. There are approximately 12,000 souls in Sphant, but more like 15,000 now with the refuges arriving, and that number is climbing.
There are many places of worship here. Siegride will have been spending her downtime at Tidewater Abbey with six dozen other worshipers of Isthmeria; Tamroohk would likely spend some time in and around the Earthwomb and Moonshade Abbeys; Gorbash near Moonshade Abbey; the Library is a place where wizards and magic users congregate, drawing Ma'yah; the Seminary is a Bardic College of Lore, and that's where Llewellyn would spend his time; Pathfinder Abbey is the spiritual command-post for the Rangers of this island, and Elan would gravitate to this place. Tolman ... he has his own little adventure and gets around (see below). The Commercium and Croupier, the Hall of the Magistrate, the general stores, the Garrison, can be found in and around Moonshade Abbey.
During your downtime (and this is what I've got thus far):
- Siegride does some accounting, cashes-in gems and other monies, and distributes them to the party; for those who have accounts with the Croupier (everyone except Elan), I've updated the spreadsheet with these numbers.
- Before leaving Shyn-Bhokerdown, Siegride made a 100 Crown contribution to Shelly of Gynger's Stores to aid with the refuge effort; Siegride also donated 100 Crowns and her time to Harborside Abbey. Siegride also purchased a lot of bread and apples and circulated them amongst the refuges.
- In Shyn-Bhokerdown, Llewellyn picks up new studded leather armor. He also tries to speak with Correllyn but she's already left town. He also performs well at Kindtides before his departure.
- In Sphant, Siegride spent 100 Crowns of the party's funds on diamond dust and escorted Llewellyn to Tidewater Abbey. There, a cleric of sufficient level cast Greater Restoration on Llewellyn, restoring up to 2 points of a single ability score, to heal Llew of the damage he took from the Harpy's acid attack.
- In Sphant, Siegride is the happiest she's ever been. She's amongst six dozen women and men who believe in similar things that she does, and calls Isthmeira by name (well, Isthmeira has many names, 16 in fact, and the Tempest Goddess is represented in many different ways - Tidewater Abbey specifically refers to Isthmeira). Waves crash angrily against the rocks here at the abbey, and its a perfect meditation on the wrath and angriness and serenity of the Goddess. There she meets up with Annel, a Cleric of Isthmeira who helped train her in Rhackdalia.
- In Sphant, Llew was surprised to learn that there's no "politics as usual here" in that there are no founding Houses. There are, however, differing opinions on matters which creates its own form of political intrigue but it is more subtle here than in Rhackdalia. He also speaks to others about Rhackdalia. He does manage to land several speaking / reading gigs at the Seminary, and he has even been asked to talk about his time stomping evil in the Mines. He trained at the Seminary. Llew is also pretty happy now that he'd been healed, and, had a wonderful place to express himself ... unlike the Urbane Assembly which spent its time in hiding underground, the Seminary is honest, bright, truthful, and honest, all above board. He thinks he could like it in Sphant.
- In Sphant, the Dwarves were able to receive their training from the Garrison at Moonshade Abbey. The dwarves were welcome and invited to convey their recollections of Rhackdalia. They were also quite impressed with the talking amulet around Gorbash's neck who ended up telling them how to attack, thrust, and parry during his training. During their travels to Sphant and in waiting for their training, Siegride trained Tamroohk to Level 1 Cleric. Tamroohk would be drawn to the light and love of this place; Gorbash would like the attention and the relaxation, but nothing here would taste as good as a deep Dwarvish beer. He wonders how his friend, Whik, in Shyn-Valour was doing these days. He missed the company of Dwarves. Dwarf-men. Manly Dwarves.
- In Sphant, Ma'yah was able to receive training from magic users who live about the Library. During her training, Dru suggested that he was proud of what she did in Shyn-Bhokerdown in getting rid of the Eye of Kesh. Now that Ma'yah's recovered and is showing less withdrawal symptoms, Dru would like to stay with her as a companion, if Ma'yah wishes it. (DM's Note: Dru can't be a familiar based on the mechanics of Find Familiar in D&D 5E. He's a willing companion that hangs around; he can't be used to channel spells through). Ma'yah also wanted to get the ward removed from the spellbook that she found. Removing the ward would have cost 250 Crowns. The spellbook contained: 1st Level [Comprehend Languages, Detect Magic, Identify, Illusory Script, Unseen Servant]; 2nd Level [Arcane Lock, Locate Object, Magic Mouth]; 3rd Level [Counterspell, Tongues]; 4th Level [Locate Creature].
- In Sphant, Elan works with the Ranger order. Elan is wildly accepted by the women of this order. She's taught trails on the island, performs patrols, assists with the refugee and building issues, is taught how to use the hand-sailed skiffs, and is trained on the skills/proficiencies due to her for 6th Level.
- In Sphant, Tolman catches up with the rest of the party after his Level 1 training in Shyn-Bhokerdown. Once he arrives, it isn't very long before Twyst catches up with him. She invites Tolman out for a walk in the streets of Moonshade Abbey. Twyst looks perfect, nearly no scratch or blemish on her fair skin despite everything she had been through. She was pleasant, caught up on Tolman's travels, and then eventually stepped into a concealed ally. Turning to face Tolman, in the ally, Twyst dispelled her illusion - she immediately shrunk to his size, became kind of portly, and grew some thick gray sideburns. What appeared then was the face of a middle-aged halfling, a male, staring right back at Tolman's astonished gaze. Bashfully, the new halfling extended his hand. "Twyst. You certainly didn't expect any less from a name like that? Well, there it is. I figured there wasn't a need any longer to keep up appearances. I don't have anyone to impress with boobs here. I think you were catching on anyway. Hi. I'm Gaelyn Hobbletoes. Yes, I'm from the Parishes, and you and I - we've got a lot to talk about." He winks. He explains that Ashes and Omens is still intact and operates out of Sphant, and there's plenty more to do if he's still game and willing to be a part of his organization. He's even willing to train him on this magic stuff, too, if he's interested. Thus Tolman receives his training direct from Gaelyn.
Whew - okay.
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