Island Description

One of the most well-known and traveled of all the islands in the Grand Line. Jakavol Bay is the economic heart of the entire Line. Its eminence is due in great part to its enormity and its steady magnetic field. The island bears plentiful natural resources, dense forests and jungles housing prolific wildlife and a humid climate. Located early on in the New World it is frequented by nearly all travelers as it draws the attention of all three of a Log Pose's needles. In the distant past the island was first populated by those whose ships were unfortunate enough to sail too close at the wrong time. The island is surrounded in a vast and beautiful coral reef, which, although a drawing feature is also its greatest defense. Jakavol is plagued with erratic and exaggerated tides, which have caused countless shipwrecks over the ages. The splintered graveyard encompasses the island like a crown and the creaking of the field of aged husks is a tip-off that one has arrived. It was the very earliest surviving travelers who established the original trade outpost: salvaging what remains of their vessels they could and constructing their homes and businesses. With the cargo they hauled, the original bartering and haggling began in the little ramshackle village. As time went on more travelers were marooned there and they added their own haul to the village along with their own patronage and in time the entire island was cultivated. After a great deal of trial and error, the timing of the tides was settled and a passage through the reef, along an estuary, was discovered leading into the hub of the community. As the culture developed and flourished, the class which fancied itself the 'elite' arose. Those whose homes were constructed from the original travelers' wreckage have, over many generations, grown in infamy: establishing themselves as either governors, overlords, or even crime-lords. This faction draws its position and authority from the notion of their being tied to the founders in one way or another (deserved or not, the islanders have grown to accept their superiority). Whether one is searching for building supplies, ancient artifacts, land, favors or equipment: the common quality wares to the most legendary items are within one's grasp here (for the right price). The core market is quite orderly and civilized, but the same does not go for every corner of the island; there are shanty towns along some of the far edges which house some of the more 'unsavory' characters unimpeded by concepts of fair-trade and morality. Always alive and bustling, this place is the trader's sanctuary, welcoming of all walks of life so long as their purse strings are loose enough.