Torino Kingdom Briefing

General Info: Situated in the South Blue, the semi-tropical island of the Torino Kingdom is also known as the "Island of Treasure" by the more superstitious folk out there, people who have heard the tales of a great something on the island and have naturally extrapolated that to be treasure. Home to both a tribe of humans and a type of enormous bird that are often seen roaming the skies for miles in any direction around the island, it is not a hostile place per se, the natives here are not necessarily against people coming to their home, but they are wary of intruders. They are not very willing to share their knowledge with the outside world, for they are seen as savages due to their appearances. And after all, what could savages truly offer the world?

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Appearance::
From the outside the Torino Kingdom is not a very large island in terms of land mass, shaped in a circular fashion the island has a circumference of a little under twenty-five miles putting it on the smaller end of island in the world. However it has an imposing presence from a very great distance, owing to the enormous tree that has sprouted, grown and thrived in the center of the island, a tree that stands some thirty miles high from base to the true canopy far above. This tree in fact has multiple 'levels' of canopy with six seperate canopies extending along its length that are seemingly made up of a mixture of broken branches, scavenged plant matter and shattered stones, showing that each of these levels is in fact seemingly the nest for an enormous bird...

Climate:
Torino is a fairly 'standard' island as far as the general climate of the island is concerned, not privy to any exceptional displays of season at any point in the year and instead suffering through the usual changes of the four seasons as time passes by. Winter is generally rather mild and snow itself is rare on the island (though quite common on the birds nest of the great tree where the snow invariably lands) and it is protected from rains and heavy sun for much the same reasons. Further the plants on the island, despite their otherwise tropical appearance, appear to be a bizarre form of evergreen, with no tree or bush ever really losing its foliage, regardless of season.

Notable Wildlife:

Island Challenges:

• The Great Bird Hunt
  Successfully bring down one of the great Montpied Birds, the kings of the skies of the Torino Island!
  
  
• The Tribe's Trust
  Gain the trust of the islands natives and be welcomed into their secret inner sanctums.
  
  
• Lost Stars
  Make contact with and enter the camp of 'The Lost Ones' of Torino, a rag-tag collection of former pirates, marines and bounty hunters with enormous promise who now live in the jungles and survive in a constant war with the natives.
  
  
• To the Summit
  Climb the Great Ronito Tree in the center of the island and, somehow, reach the summit to surveil the entire South Blue before you!
  

Notable NPC(s):

• Chief Betoto - The chief of the natives of the island, Betoto is among the tallest of his people, standing almost 5' in height and with thick black moustaches and hair that reaches his lower back. He is a proud man and a proud warrior, always looking to further his tribe however he can.
  
  
• Head Doctor Makka - While Betoto is the leader of the natives it is Makka who has their true wisdom at heart. An ancient woman who some say is over 300 years old, she is the head of the doctors and researchers of the Torino Kingdom and never leaves the interior of the Ronito Tree and its great library, always experimenting and practising her craft however she can.
  
  
• Miss Deesy - A young woman working in the tribe and the Ronito Tree as a researcher and doctor's assistant, she is particularly notable for she holds the key to the underground of the Ronito Tree, to the great weapon's depot where the Revolutionaries left an enormous cache many years ago, and it is she who will unlock it once they return to claim them.
  
  
• Captain Takana - A former Marine officer and the co-leader of 'The Lost Ones' of Torino, Takana was once a moderate man who has since become violent and aggressive towards outsiders in the years he has remained here, ever questing to take over the natives with his ragtag group and allow him and his former Marines (he secretly hates the pirates and bounty hunters even though they survive together) to escape to freedom once more.
  
  
• Johbar One-Eyed - A former Pirate Captain and the co-leader of 'The Lost Ones' of Torino, Johbar was once a scourge of the seas, earning a bounty of over 25,000,000 before he washed ashore on Torino and was nursed to life by the natives, escaping once he learned where he was in a confusion. Once brutal and calculating he has since become calmer and more restrained, constantly urging his group to find a way to make peace on the island, although to no avail so far. Has eaten a Devil Fruit, though will not tell anyone what it is.
  

Groups:

• Island Natives
  The natives of Torino appear on the surface to be rather brutish and caveman in appearance, all dressed rather primatively in clothing made of furs and bones and the like. They are, as a group, quite short (with few standing taller than 4'6" and the ones who make 5' are considered 'giant') and rather rotund as well, though this in no way diminishes their abilities as fighters and they train with weapons from birth to defend themselves. Despite appearances however they are the keeper of an enormous font of medical knowledge, almost more than can be found in any one place in the world, and are fiercely intelligent about it, though they also guard this knowledge well.
  
  
• 'The Lost Ones'
  A group of former-Marines, -Pirates and -Bounty Hunters who have washed up, for one reason or another, on the shores of the Torino Kingdom, bedraggled and dying to the last. They have all been nursed back to the health by the natives and, for one reason or another, have also all fled the natives and wound up lost in the jungle, only then taken in by their own group of lost souls. Lead by a former Pirate and a former Marine together, they are at a constant war with the natives and the island itself, trying to find a way off this island. Recently a more moderate faction has emerged in the group, urging peace with the natives, though it has not yet taken off.
  

Vicinity:

• The Ronito Tree
  The enormous tree and the anagram for the name of the island, the Ronito Tree is a one-of-a-kind tree that stands in the center of the island, sprouting over thirty miles straight up. This tree has multiple 'levels' of canopy with six seperate canopies extending along its length that are seemingly made up of a mixture of broken branches, scavenged plant matter and shattered stones, showing that each of these levels is in fact seemingly the nest for the enormous Montpied Birds that make their home on the island. The interior of the tree is hollow, though the two entrances are guarded fiercely by the island natives, with one never entered for any reason.
  
  
• The Great Hollow
  The main entrance to the Ronito Tree leads to this place, an enormous library that could be considered over twenty 'stories' in height and size, a dedicated font of knowledge that has one primary focus in mind - medicine. Truly it is said that the jewel of the South Blues is its knowledge and never is this more shown than the Great Hollow in the Torino Kingdom, for there is almost no other repository of medical knowledge anywhere in the world that rivals what can be found here. Though of course finding what you're after isn't always easy with so many books and specimens in one spot...
  
  
• The Depot
  The other entrance to the Ronito Tree on its Southernmost face leads to this place, an enormous weapons depot situated far underground. Only a single key can open the small door that seems otherwise innocuous and it is in turn guarded beyond life, for the depot was placed there almost thirty years ago by the Revolutionary Army after an agreement was made with the natives of Torino, and it has laid here untouched ever since, awaiting their true return.
  
  
• Shipwreck of the Marrasta
  Half-buried amidst the jungle lies a wreck of a Marine Battleship, an enormous thing that is now the makeshift home of 'The Lost Ones' of Torino. Despite being half-sideways the ruins of the ship are enormous and more than enough to house the few poor souls who find their way here, though it is quite well booby-trapped to keep out unwanted eyes and, more importantly, unwanted visitors.
  
  
• The Boulder River
  A rather unique phenomenon, the boulder river is a series of ever-moving rocks on the Eastern edge of the island of Torino, somehow 'flowing' from the Ronito Tree into a series of gulleys and valleys that run down the island and out to the sea before floating away. In truth this 'river' is a result of the rocky material that makes up the Montpied Bird nests far, far above crashing down to earth when it loses its stability, though due to the slight slant of the bottom-most nest they all land here, and then tumble down in a constant 'stream' to the ocean far below.