Beaches
We wrap up Tropical Week with a countdown of 10 excellent and extraordinary beaches. I don’t know about you, but when I hear tropical, I think about stretching out on some hypothetical sunny beach somewhere, enjoying a fruity drink with an umbrella in it, and I think your PCs deserve to visit some hypothetical beaches of their own. In a world full of magic, just what do the top ten beaches look like? Perhaps a bit like this!
1. Dragon turtle cove. A beautiful white sand beach tucked away in a remote part of the world, this beach normally serves as a destination for travelers looking to unwind, as turbulent waters caused by a nearby reef make it inconvenient for maritime travel. Once every 2 years, however, the normally peaceful beach receives some extraordinary visitors in the form of the rare rainbow-back dragon turtles, fierce and beautiful examples of their species. They return to the beach to mate and lay eggs, and remain only for a week or so, during which time it is advised that lesser creatures stay far away from the beach lest they be crushed by the territorial dragon turtles. When the eggs hatch, local adventurers gather to defend the fledgling dragon turtles from mighty magical predators.
2. Lady Melidia’s getaway. This gorgeous tropical beach is out of the way and not on any map, and that’s just the way the beach’s chief inhabitant, Lady Melidia Rosway, prefers it. After a quarter of a century, the half elf adventurer choose to retire where it was warm and quiet, allowing her plenty of time to spend with the colorful companions she met on her journeys. Though the beach is hard to reach, that hasn’t stopped countless heroes from searching for it, looking to meet Lady Melinda or seeking to claim some of her treasures. For her part, the lady is very short with visitors trying to ruin her retirement or stopping anyone else from enjoying themselves.
3. The Ice Bar. Created by a mighty wizard now long since dead, the Ice Bar was once just one of hundreds of other sandbars in a warm turquoise sea, prior to being transformed into cool ice. The Ice Bar, as it has come to be known, is a popular destination for those looking to stay cool on a hot summer day in paradise, or by wizards looking to perfect their own mighty transmutations. This lonely bar is usually playing host to a few dozen visitors all year around.
4. The sands of prophecy. This incredible beach is nothing much to look at, with a short stretch of sand and scraggly weeds being completely dominated by a massive tower of bronze, which overlooks the sand. However, every month on the new moon, the sands shift and roil as an unknown hand writes prophecies of a time far away. The monsters that inhabit the tower guard the shore fiercely, and are said to worship the beach as the voice of an undiscovered god. The events predicted are always distant in the future, and so the veracity of the prophecies is difficult to prove.
5. The sparkling cove. At the edge on an underground sea, this fine beach is a rare and nearly undiscovered treasure; though it is known among many subterranean creatures, few find the briny water to be worth their time. The beach itself features soft silvery sand that gleams and sparkles, casting multifaceted light refracted from bioluminescent fungi over the sea. While the beach is quite peaceful, the sea is rumored to be home to aboleths, and worse.
6. The wizard’s castle resort. A massive destination for those with disposable income and a flair for the dramatic, this sunny and gorgeous black sand beach has been transformed into a massive resort by eccentric wizard Aaida Nuvero, who has added a number of exotic magical upgrades. In addition to massive castles made from sand that serve to accommodate the guests and hold many fine restaurants and taverns, the beach features color shifting sands, tide on demand and a never-ending supply of exotic seashells. Rooms start at 25 gp per night.
7. The bone beach. Where once there was no beach, now a vast expanse of bone, both humanoid and monstrous, surrounds the cyclopean black tower of Kairig the Cruel, a powerful storm giant wizard and ruler of a bleak stretch of ocean. The bones are those of his enemies and serve as warning to any who would challenge him. Kairig gets few visitors, but his beach is a destination for many necromancers looking for something terrible and specific to harvest from among the remains.
8. An otherworldly beach. Those who manage to find these shores find themselves in a world different from the one they left. The beach itself is nice, comprising a small island shaded by fruit-bearing trees, but the seas which surround it seem to stretch on forever and all careen towards the island. Rare treasures lie beneath the sand, but a terrible demon which dwells in the sea covets the items here and demands them in exchange for knowledge of the way home. Why the demon cannot travel to the island is a mystery.
9. The goblin preserve. Originally created as an experiment by a mad druid, the goblin preserve is one nonstop party. A 30-mile stretch of beach inhabited by a dozen different tribes of goblins affected by magic which makes them less prone to violence, the beach is one constant wave of debauchery and madness. Goblin games and songs scream at all hours across the beach.
10. Ishroch’s horde. While not truly a beach, the horde of the bronze dragon Ishroch resembles nothing more than a beach made of gold coins, at the mouth of the sea caves where Ishroch himself dwells. While Ishroch enjoys receiving visitors to his beach and showing off the wondrous treasure and magical items, which fill the horde he is quick to grow wrathful should someone steal from him.