Marooned on Roc Island

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2025-10-22

Czepeku Vista Adventure Writing Contest entry by Chris Hallberg

A routine sea transit by airship goes wrong when a roc - a bird of prey the size of a building - attacks! The crew crash-lands on the only visible island, but the survivors are not alone. The island is the home of a nesting Mother Roc. The survivors must gather resources and escape out from under the protective parent's beak.

The island is tropical with bright beaches and colorful flora and fauna. The clear water is bountiful and calm thanks to a vibrant barrier reef. Away from the shore, banyan and pandanus trees cover a modest central mountain. The trees are sparse on the windier (windward) side of the mountain. Mother Roc has built her nest in the denser forest on the leeward side of the island, sheltered from the wind by the mountain peak.

The A.S. Sugar Glider

The Sugar Glider is an airship operated as a ferry/transport across the sea. Captain Kirtep is direct and hands-on. She records frequent and precise audio logs into a green stone hung around her neck. She uses a pocket watch to keep accurate time for these logs. Her crew of thirty is known to be professional and trustworthy. The crew and passengers contain a range of experts, such as artificers, blacksmiths, carpenters, doctors, engineers, rangers, and seamsters.

The Island

• 🏚️ Impact Site
• ⛱️ Windward Beach
• 💀 Angel Reef
• 🦴 Dragon Skeleton
• 🥚 Roc Nest
• 🍃 Whistling Cave

🏚️ Impact Site

The Sugar Glider crashed in an abandoned fishing village. The deserted buildings are habitable. Captain Kirtep orders a roll call and inventory. Her crew tend to the wounded and establish a base camp.

• Buildings: The impact broke most of the windows. One of the roofs has six gashes of missing shingles.
• Captain Kirtep: She and her engineers want to repair the airship. If the Party suggests a reasonable plan, they will have the support of enough deckhands to persuade the captain to order it implemented. Captain Kirtep will prioritize her crew over her airship.
• Crew: Scout the island in small groups, harvest resources, and implement safety measures. Some take to wearing camouflage or prickly materials on their backs as protection from Mother Roc. Without the help of the Party, NPCs have a 1 in 6 chance of creating a crisis.
• Mother Roc: If the roc captures a survivor, they are brought to the nest alive as food. The roc's grip or a rough landing is likely to break a bone. NPCs have a 1 in 6 chance of escaping the nest and making it back to the impact site on their own.
• Inventory: The Sugar Glider: has enough supplies to last the first night. Work will slow without a steady supply of food and water.

Development: Roc Hatchlings will pass close-by when they travel between the nest and the beach. Survivors will hear them crashing through the trees.

⛱️ Windward Beach

The crashing airship passed over this prominent stretch of beach. Debris litters the sand and shallows. Crabs and fish are plentiful. If the crew lost something in the crash, this is a likely place to find it.

• Debris: Maps, propellers, survivors, talon-ripped lift balloons. Mother Roc will collect any long, branch-like pieces of the ship to add to her nest (beams, masts, oars).

Development: Mother Roc hunts and beaches a kraken to feed her hatchlings. The bloody waters and noisy column of scavenger birds are visible from the impact site.

The enormous carcass of a kraken lay on the beach. Its blood has stained the water on the windward side of the island. Hundreds of gull struggle to tear away a piece of the tough skin. Sharks feast on the submerged tentacles. Its mouth hangs open, revealing 10ft-long teeth.

• Kraken: Survivors can harvest useful items from the kraken: skin for leathery sails, fresh tuna-like meat, scales for makeshift shields, teeth can be carved into canoes.
• Sharks and Tentacles: Materials in the water are now pinned down by tentacles and surrounded by frenzied sharks.
• Mouth: Survivors can explore the inside of the kraken (see below).

Development: A roc hatchling will waddle and glide its way down to the kraken for its first meal. The next day, the full nest of 6 hatchlings will descend (passing close by the impact site on the way). Mother Roc will respond to any cries from her children.

• Roc Hatchling: Horse-sized hawk with a 10-foot (3-meter) wingspan will waddle and glide its way down to the kraken for its first meal. It has some trouble with the tough skin. Leaves for the nest at sunset.

Sloshing through the spacious mouth and crouching through the esophagus, you discover that kraken are mostly stomach. NPCs who follow wear cloth over their face to mitigate the smell. In front of you is a mostly intact whale skeleton. Against the far wall, a shipwreck lay in a pile. In between, a hint of gold catches your eye.

• Smell: due to the strong fumes in the kraken's digestive tract, the average human will cough uncontrollably after 20 minutes and pass out after 30 minutes.
• Whale bones: can be tethered to the ground as emergency shelter from Mother Roc.
• Shipwreck: can be salvaged for canvas, lumber, and rope for rafts or airship repairs. Tampering with the hull blocking the far exit from the stomach unleashes a burst of digestive fumes.
• Hint of Gold: a treasure chest contains gold, gems, and bottles of fine rum.

💀 Angel Reef

The coral here is taller and more vibrant. The giant skeleton of an angel rests in the barrier reef. The pristine white feathers stir in an ethereal draft. The dull gold armor still holds some divine spark.

• Giant Skeleton: It is unclear what felled this celestial, but Mother Roc is large enough to prey on a creature of this size. Some crew protest disturbing the bones themselves.
• Feathers: Held horizontally, a single 8-foot angelic feather has enough magical lift to raise a medium-sized creature off the ground.
• Armor: Artificers and engineers can use pieces to repair magic engines or replace magical fuel. The armor gleams every sunset, leading survivors to this hidden marvel.

🦴 Dragon Skeleton

Large bones protrude from the dunes and sandstone. The partially buried skeleton of a young dragon. Scratches in the bones make it clear that it was killed by a roc.

• Skeleton: The hollow, bird-like bones make excellent buoyant material for rafts and boats.

History: Mother Roc is the latest of a family line of rocs that return to this island to hatch their young. This young bronze dragon had started a lair in Whistling Cave before Grandmother Roc returned home to nest, attacking and killing him.

🥚 Roc Nest

Mother Roc has built her nest in the highest trees under the leeward side of the island's peak. The floor of the nest is carpeted with uprooted pandanus trees. Six huge eggs are a nestled in the branches. Intact ship parts have been woven into the 40-foot (12-meter) nest. (If the roc has captured an NPC, they are here; alive with a broken bone.)

• Mother Roc: Mother Roc spends the day hunting and protecting the island, returning to check on her eggs or feed her hatchlings every 4-6 hours (the higher of 2d6).
• Eggs: Each egg is 6 feet (2 meters) tall and weighs 300 lb (136 kg). One egg hatches a day before the remaining five. Hatchlings will head towards the beached kraken and return at nightfall. Hungry hatchlings will waddle and glide after survivors in a clumsy attempt to eat them.
• Ship Parts: i.e., beams, masts, oars, sails.

🍃 Whistling Cave

This hidden cave is the only place on the island safe from Mother Roc. Survivors on the windward side of the mountain can hear the wind whistling through the cave entrance. The sounds of predators can be heard over the wind. The scattered dregs of a young dragon's hoard litter the cave and nearby forest. The thinner trees surrounding the cave make it likely Mother Roc will spot survivors while flying overhead.

• Cave: Dry, cool, and windy. At the back of the cave, a small hole provides a clear view of the nest just below.
• Predators: Many creatures covet the safety of the cave. Small packs of clever predators (i.e., baboons, foxes, jackals, kobolds) coexist in this cave. They tolerate the mixed company for security (and the chance to steal scraps from their neighbors). They are willing to extend the truce to a handful of survivors (5-6) but will repel larger groups. Creatures in the cave hold very still whenever Mother Roc is nearby.
• Hoard: A young tree has grown around a greatsword. Creatures in the cave play with a large gem. Beds of wild flowers contain 1d4 gold coins.

Thank you for reading!

PS. Here's some art inspiration for Mother Roc's size and demeanor (rights reserved by and thank you to Guilherme Batista).

Text finished Oct 15, 2025. Images added Oct 22, 2025.

I will never stop fiddling with the fonts.