Devil's Elbow is a small island located in the Sea of Orel, 18 miles east of the city of Varistan.
This five mile-wide island appears on few local maps, and is usually avoided by passing ships because of its notorious history and its dangerous reefs.
Local History
For most of its history, Devil's Elbow was uninhabited. The island was avoided by locals due to a long-standing belief that it was home to a malevolent spirit of unknown origin, who had placed a curse on it.
That all changed about 200 years ago, when a Thannish merchant named Roderic Virago was shipwrecked on the island. Before being rescued, he spent considerable time on Devil's Elbow, and fell in love with its lush beauty. Upon his return, Roderic persuaded several others to return with him to establish a permanent settlement on the island.
Roderic named his new colony "Witchlight," after the fluorescent quartz crystals found along the island's shoreline. Sadly, the colony faced struggles soon after its founding. As the island's terrain was unsuitable for farming, the settlers had to import wildlife to create hunting stock with which to sustain themselves. Witchlight also found itself dependent on imports from Varistan, and had little resources of its own for export.
Making matters worse, the island was struck by a series of disasters. First; a fire destroyed one of its wooden watchtowers, second; a shipwreck cost the town a large supply of grain, and third; a load of sickened cattle brought an outbreak of disease which killed a third of the settlers.
Witchlight's citizens began to attribute their misfortunes to "the Curse", supported by several sightings of a female ghost. Despondent from the failure of his colony, Roderic hanged himself. His tragic death was more than the town's flagging morale could endure, and within a year, the demoralized settlers abandoned the entire island.
About twenty years ago, the reputation of the island fell even further when a notorious band of pirates began operating from there.
Even today, most local folk swear that Devil's Elbow is "cursed," and love to tell the tale of Roderic and his ill-fated colony.
