Editing Pagurus

Long ago, this island was the domain of a race of giant hermit crabs. The crabs used the island's savage humanoids (savage versions of the player races) as slave labor. When the world began to heat up, the crabs could no longer survive on land and retreated to cool underwater caves, leaving the savage humanoids to fend for themselves. The crabs left their shells behind, punctuating the skyline with giant, abandoned shells. 


The island is now covered with sweltering, deadly jungle spotted by these towering shells, long since converted to treacherous, trapped lairs by the savages. The jungles grow countless fruits, and many of them have bizarre effects; some of the savages' most insidious traps are based on exotic fruits such as the Incindeberry (whose juice, when dried, bursts into flames upon contact with living flesh) and the Bane Melon (which explodes in poisonous spores when it detects rapid motion within 20'). Worst of all is the dreaded Crimson Squash, a giant, spiked, heavy root system that grows ever upward from the point where it was planted, leaving behind only a single red squash; if the squash is in any way disturbed, the magic of the plant is broken and the unnaturally huge root system falls down with the force of a collapsing castle. Sadly, the roots of the Crimson Squash prefer darkness and tend to naturally "hide" indoors, leading to dozens of Squash-related deaths every year. 


Civilizing forces have begun to move into Pagurus, and so adventurers are never more than a week from a town. The towns, while civilized, are slightly tribal in feel due to cultural exchange. Trade is conducted with a special kind of leaf native to the island; any attempt to trade with precious metals is considered a deadly insult. Trade is worthwhile, because the savages retain great secrets of craftsmanship. In fact, it is said that they were taught by the superintelligent crabs, and that their greatest works are hidden or even forgotten in the most remote, well-guarded shells.