Schmiedeecke Insel

Dawncradle Island, known as Schmiedeecke Insel in the goblin tongue, is a very old volcanic island located about 40 miles off the northeastern coast of Ostenhauner.

Size and Shape
The island is about 30 square miles and is laid out in a roughly pentagonal shape around the central volcano and caldera. The hills of the caldera perimeter rise about 150 feet above the ocean, though the north and southmost sides of the caldera have collapsed almost to ocean level. The island is surrounded by a slender coral reef which has a large gap at the north and south.

A tremendously advanced structure made of some sort of black stone vaults on five great arches above the center of the caldera, whose lava pool smolders and spits about 250 feet below (about 30 feet above sea level).

Naval Port
The Sonnenstar fleet of the navy of the Zyklon Protektorat keeps a large base at the Island and is the primary port for 14 ships - two iron-sided dreadnoughts, two light galleons, two caravels, three cogs, three longships and a pair of sloops.

The island has a population of about 300 hobgoblin sailors, and approximately 1500 slaves, mainly goblin and kobold, but also including orcs, gnomes, hobbits and lizardfolk.

The Island is incredibly fertile, but the few rain-fed pools are not enough to sustain the population or their crops. Instead, cogs and caravels regularly travel back and forth to the mainland with great shipments of fresh water.

Anvil of Dawn
The great glossy black structure that perches like a giant spider over the volcano's rim is curiously known to the hobgoblins as der Amboss der Dämmerung, the Anvil of Twilight. Every other culture the Dawnforge is known to associates the ancient structure with the rising sun.

The gigantic structure is beyond the understanding of hobgoblin engineering, and is treated with tremendous reverence. Only the most prestigious of smiths are allowed to attempt to work the great, sun-fired forges of the great structure, and many who try their skill at these workstations are suffer horrible burns and psychological scarring as a result of their efforts. Still, the warlike nation believes the price is well worth it. Great weapons, armor, and the steel prows of their greatest ships have been created at the Anvil of Dawn, and even serving an apprentice to one of the Sonnenschmieden is a tremendous honor.