20 Beaches & Bays
Isolated coves, sheltered bays and sandy beaches pockmark the coast. Well known by travellers, mariners and fisherman alike such locales are often important local landmarks. In such places, smugglers can sneak ashore in the dead of night, fishermen can ply their trade and holy folk can meditate free from distractions.
Use this list, to add notable beaches, bays and other coastal features into your campaign.
Bleak Cove: Accessible only by the stout ropes left by fishermen and egg-hunters, this hidden cove has a low-tide foreshore replete with deep rock pools. Samphire grows in profession on the cove’s cliffs and many seabirds nest here. At high tide, the cove’s beach is almost completely inundated.
Willithar's Cave: Low tide reveals a wide swath of rippled sand, and allows access to a part-flooded sea cave buried at the base of the cliffs. A chasm in the rocks above the cave lets light penetrate the cavern when the sun reaches its zenith. Mackerel swarm in the waters just off shore in large numbers.
Beacon Hill: A tumbled tower tops this blustery headland. Only the tower’s ground floor remains intact, and sometimes travellers shelter here from bad weather. Three cairns—said to be the resting place of drowned mariners—wreathed in wild flowers lie further back from the cliff.
Elina’s Arch: A dramatic triangular rock arch overlooks this wind-swept beach dotted with deep rock pools; many large crabs dwell within the pools and locals comes here to catch them. An elderly druid was reputed to live in a cave under the rock arch, but she has not been seen in many years.
Deep Plunge: This high, dramatic waterfall, with a deep plunge pool at its lip, tumbles onto a sheltered beach of sand and shingle.
The Muckle: This blowhole pierces a great slab of rock dominating a wide shingle beach. At high tide, the Muckle blows every time a wave of sufficient force reaches the beach. The origin of the blowhole’s name is lost to time.
Namantor: Sand dunes rising up to rolling hills back this long, shallow beach. At low tide, the sea retreats almost a quarter of a mile leaving a glistening expanse of rippled golden sand. Rocky headlands bound the bay to the north and south. Minke whales and biking sharks cruise offshore.
Lonely Island Beach: This uninhabited rocky island lies a few hundred meters offshore from a narrow, sheltered beach. During storms, huge waves break over the island, sweeping it clear of all vegetation and structures. A tower once perched atop the island; now nothing but tumbled stone blocks and a partially sand-filled, flooded cellar remains.
The Golden Cliffs: Majestic west-facing cliffs tower over this narrow shingle beach. Several half-sunken stone huts of ancient artifice perch atop the cliffs and afford incredible views of the setting sun. A narrow sunken track leads to the huts which are virtually invisible from the land.
The Drunk Man: This towering sea stack stands as high as the nearby cliffs. Linked to the mainland by a narrow shelf of rock that disappears at high tide, the 200-foot high Drunk Man has a curious, lopsided look—the result of endless waves battering the stack. High up, several narrow caves—the burial niches of an old, forgotten people—pierce the stack; reaching them requires magic or impressive climbing skills.
Church Island: An ancient, battered stone causeway connects this tidal island to the mainland. Only useable at low tide, the causeway is in poor repair. Extensive ruins on the island are the tumbled remnants of a monastery dedicated to The Storm Mistress. The monastery was sacked by raiders a century ago. In the winter, puffins nest on the island’s rocky shores.
Wreckers’ Cove: A narrow islet stands at the confluence of several powerful ocean currents. Consequently, the chill waters of this narrow cove are often thick with flotsam, jetsam and wreckage. Beachcombers scavenge here for valuable items amongst the sea’s leavings. Sometimes bloated corpses wash ashore amid the wreckage.
Bone Beach: Fast-eroding cliffs overlook this sandy beach. A chapel once stood on the cliffs, but it collapsed onto the beach long ago. Now, the chapel’s graveyard is also falling prey to the sea and perceptive visitors can make out bones sticking out of the cliffs or (occasionally) littering the beach. Unsurprisingly, legends of ghosts, hauntings and sinister doings hover thickly about Bone Beach.
The Three Sisters: Three jagged sea stacks tower above the surf of this wild, rugged beach. Several powerful riptides lurk just off shore making waterborne investigations of the Three Sisters difficult and dangerous.
Passage Cove: This small cove boasts a narrow tunnel hewn through the surrounding cliffs by long-dead smugglers. The gently shelved sandy beach is a perfect spot to bring ashore contraband and the like.
Short Sands: Crudely carven steps provide access to this wild, sandy beach interspaced with rocky shelves. A grotto pierces the cliffs and a dilapidated stone cottage overlooks the beach.
Jetty Cove: A stone jetty juts out into this sheltered cove’s waters. A substantial rambling stone building stands at the end of the jetty and is home to an extended family of slightly inbred fisherfolk. The family do not tolerate guests, and wild rumours accuse them of smuggling, wrecking and worse.
Sea Queen’s Grotto: A large tidal cave pierces the cliffs at the base of this inaccessible stretch of tidal shingle beach. Inside the grotto, a large stone throne—or at least a chunk of rock that looks suspiciously like a throne—rises from the middle of the grotto’s pool. Locals often throw offerings into the sea from atop the cliffs to placate the fey sea queen said to dwell therein. A crude pile of stones atop the cliffs marks the spot directly above the grotto’s entrance.
Strangler’s Head: Named for the grisly murder of a customs agent years ago this spit of land commands sweeping views.
Mermaid’s Haven: Local legend has it that mermaids come to this secluded bay to cavort at the summer solstice. A huge rock arch stands to the east; at dawn on the summer solstice the sun shines through the arch, bathing the whole beach in golden light
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This article is an extract from GM's Miscellany: 20 Things V. Add the book to your GM’s toolkit today! Alternatively, check out the 20 Things Archive for more handy, flavoursome and time-saving 20 Things articles ready for immediate use in your campaign.
Design Creighton Broadhurst Art Matt Morrow
