Tortuga Island

The pirate haven. Boat-only, lawless, and holding the best payouts on the shard.

Overview

Tortuga is the shard's pirate haven - an island archipelago far out in the southern sea. Everything about it is a trade-off: it pays better than anywhere else in the world, and it protects you less than anywhere else in the world.

The island is a lawless zone. There are no guards, murder counts do not exist here, and everyone you meet chose to make the same sail you did. Haulers come for the Black Market's top-tier pack payouts, anglers come to cash in prize fish, tamers come for the only Dragon Turtle nest in the world, and crews come to put Corgul back in the water. Pirates come for all of them.

Getting There

You sail, or you stay home. The waters around Tortuga swallow arcane travel: gate travel is blocked in both directions across the whole island and its approaches. No gating in with a full hold, no gating out with a full purse - the trip back through open water is part of every payday, and everyone on the island knows it.

Logging Out on Tortuga

There is no safe logout on the island. If you disconnect on Tortuga and your character times out, you are killed where you stand and your ghost is carried to the nearest Flight Master. Your corpse and everything in it stay on Tortuga. Sail home before you log off.

The Black Market Trader

The keystone of the island's economy. The Black Market Trader is the top trade pack turn-in on the shard - he buys packs from any origin town and pays the best rate of any buyer, with the pack's crafter getting their cut banked automatically if someone else hauls it.

The catch is his schedule. He works the dock for 30 minutes at a time, five times a day, at 2:00, 8:00, Noon, 4:00, and 8:00 in the evening, US Eastern time. The whole world hears it when he arrives, when five minutes remain, and when he sails - so every window is a scheduled convergence of loaded haulers, and the pirates who were waiting for them.

The Prize Fish Buyer

The Master Prize Fish Buyer holds a permanent stall on the main island, and he is the premium turn-in for sportfishing. Hand him a prize fish and he pays out by its tier: banked gold or a filled treasure chest, with an occasional flash of pirate's luck that doubles the payout on the spot. Prize turn-ins here also roll the rare-catch tables, and they are the only source of the shimmering Marlin Flash cloth and dyes.

The Pirate Banker

There is a bank on Tortuga - for a price. The Pirate Banker opens your bank box for a fee per open, charged from your hand or your bank. Steep, but being able to stash a Black Market payout before sailing home with a target on your back is worth every coin. Plan your visits: one open, all your business.

The Dragon Turtle Champion

Tortuga hosts the shard's only Dragon Turtle champion spawn - it runs nowhere else in the world. The waves are the island's own jungle turned hostile: myrmidex swarms, wild tigers and silverback gorillas, greater phoenixes, and full-grown dinosaurs, building to the Dragon Turtle itself.

Beyond the usual champion rewards, the Dragon Turtle has one exclusive prize: on rare kills it drops a Dragon Turtle Egg. The egg is blessed, comes in one of several colours - including a very rare ember version that visibly smoulders - and hatching it takes a master tamer: 110 Animal Taming and 110 Animal Lore. The reward is a bonded Dragon Turtle Hatchling in the egg's colour, one of the most distinctive pets on the shard.

Corgul the SoulBinder

The island's second boss is Corgul the SoulBinder, the dread sorcerer of the southern sea. He is a full crew fight - massive health, punishing area magic, and a habit of throwing riders off their mounts - and he pays like one:

• Three ship upgrades, guaranteed, every kill. Corgul is the most reliable source of ship upgrades on the shard - no other boss guarantees even one.
• A deep pile of boss-tier loot on top.
• On rare kills, the Tome of the SoulBinder - Corgul's own blood-red grimoire, a blessed, fully functional magery spellbook.