Map of Sandpoint forthcoming.
Style Guide
The names of locations are in bold text. The names of people, mortal or divine, are in italics.
A Brief History of Sandpoint
Though the history of the Lost Coast stretches back to long-vanished empires and now-obscure cults, the story of Sandpoint begins far to the south, in the nation of Cheliax. Prosperity turned to malaise, the rule of law was undermined by corruption and nepotism, and citizens left the homeland in search of a better life.
The city of Magnimar was founded in Eastern Varisia where the Yondabakari river flows into the gulf, and settlers soon traveled further into the continent. The best prospect for a new settlement was a cove not fifty miles up the Lost Coast. It was deep enough to shelter seagoing vessels, girded by lush pine forests, and in close proximity to fertile tracts of land.
The foundation of a new town is not a matter to be taken lightly, nor one to be funded by one man. Fortunately, Sandpoint was too good of an opportunity to pass, and four powerful families consolidated their efforts to form the Sandpoint Mercantile League. From the glassblowing chapterhouses of distant Minkai came the Kaijitsus, drawn by the fine sand and abundance of soda ash. From the docks of Magnimar came the Valdemars, a well-established shipbuilding family.
From the hinterlands of Cheliax comes the upstart Scarnettis, a family that invested its new wealth in the creation of the local logging mill. And from the lowland banks of the Yondabakari come the Deverins, a family that has found more fame in their brewery than their farms.
With nearly five hundred settlers these families set out in the spring with every intent of establishing the town before the winter storms could arrive. Yet when they arrived, they found the cove already settled by a large tribe of Varisians. Negotiations were opened, stalled, and almost collapsed a week later when young Alamon Scarnetti rounded up a group of his brothers and cousins and launched a raid on the Varisian camp. Had they not been drunk and sorely outnumbered, they may have succeeded in slaughtering the whole tribe and blaming it on the local Goblins. As it was, they killed five Varisians and lost three of their own before they were forced to flee.
The Sandpoint Mercantile League fled back to Magnimar, and the following months were soured by the repercussions of Alamon's assault. The Varisian Council in Magnimar demanded that each of the families be punished. But with luck and a little bit of skill, Almah Deverin brokered a peace agreement before the High Court. The calls for blood payment were allayed, and the plans for Sandpoint were salvaged by a promise to incorporate Desna into the city's pantheon and a further promise of weregild for each Varisian murdered or injured.
In the forty-two years hence, Sandpoint has grown. It has strong roots in fertile ground and bountiful seas, and not sickness nor the Late Unpleasantness has dampened its spirits.
The Late Unpleasantness
The Cathedral
The Four Families
