Corsairs = Tebou

Tebou is the floating island between empires, and is slowly being literally mined to death. The repellium mines, which allow not only the ships to sail the skies but keep the islands above the churning Molten Seas, are being mined by agents of the various empires, the local council of Tebou having been bought off.

I think we'll start with a a smaller floating island, Danteto. This fierce island is next to a perpetual spout of repellium spewing from the roiling flames far below. Traversing to this island takes skill and bravery, and the small island has only a few families. What leads them to live here are the dragonets: these small, scaled flying beasts have roosts all over this rocky island. Although barely 15 miles across, there are some small farms dotting the islands. One family is trying to capture the repellium gases, and have some prototype airships unlike any of the older sky ships. Using copper vats, these ships are slower than the sailing ships and cannot carry as much. But they have a higher ceiling than the sky ships and do not require mining teh repellium from the islands.

Our characters may be from here or Tebou. If from Tebou, they may see those from Dantento as old fashioned and just odd. Those from Dantento will see those from Tebou as pretentious more often than not.

Tebou is governed by the Council of Governers. Of the dozen councilors, there are rumors in the population that a couple may be living larger than they should. Below the Council are the various guilds, from the shipping guild to the mining guild. These guilds carry a lot of weight with the council, as well as supplying the workforces necessary to carry out any of the councils demands.

Tebou is about 154 by 97 miles and has a few distinct landscapes. A central range of mountains lies on the western side. The western side has the vast Cahill Grasslands, where the bison roam that provide most of the meat for the island. Seaberry is the western-most outpost, a large guard station with a few sky ships, and is the staging area for shipping bison not only across the island to the capital at Deathorp, but to other islands and villages on some of the smaller islands.

Coastone sits at the base of the Spire, a vast resource of repellium over the years. Despite bans from the Council, there are still active mines present. The Western Shoals are dozens of small islands, with dangerous wind currents making travel dangerous. As per the Eastern Shoals, it is known as a pirate haven with several small pirate bases operating out of them. Timber and fresh food is available and carefully tendered to keep the islands alive. Larger wild dragonets tend to roost in these areas, with some having wingspans more than 20 feet across. They are hunted as are the cresters. Cresters are from a board game that should show up in a few months, with flying whaler ships hunting them. It has the same feel as Corsairs I think. Windward. I may be able to use that game for more than just the game: I can see Corsairs using the minis and maybe some of the rules for hunting, and Traveller can visit a gas giant sort of like Bespin where there are air ships that are just a lot cheaper than grav ships for hunting and all that. Could even drop The Fantasy Trip here via a portal.

The major farmlands are to the south of the grasslands. The western side of the island is wetter - the winds tend to drop the moisture before crossing the mountains.

The eastnern side of the island also has some significant farmlands but use a lot more irrigation and take advantage of the natural lake. The center of the island has a sparse desert below the Great Peak, another source of repellium that is guarded more closely.

Getting late. I'll probably add more later about the way the world works and why the players will want to venture forth.