Demeaux Island

"[Iron & Misery] has a funger operation here, felling giant bolegus shrooms for building materials, harvesting kirralee for its 'medicinal' properties. It's a desperate little outpost of something like civilisation."

Demeaux Island is the location of the Iron and Misery Co. Funging Station, a huge mushroom-growing and harvesting operation.

Nothing to See Here

Demeaux Island is an outpost of backbreaking labor and suffering, where the mushrooms being harvested grow almost as fast as they are cut. The island is known for its treelike bolegus mushrooms, used as a building material, and a fungus called kirralee grown for 'medicinal' purposes. As would be expected of such an isolated location, the people here are desperate for company, and they are more than willing to make conversation. The island's operations are directed by Mr Iron, whose management has led to so many worker fatalities that the Admiralty was told to keep a watch here. The Khanate is interested as well.

Nearly all the workers here are slaves, who are of course eager to escape. Working conditions are poor, and escapees often complain that they need to pick fungal sprouts out of their eyes. If one eats too much of the fungus grown here, the 'shrooms will start growing inside of the victim, and then... never mind. Naturally, fungus is practically the only food available. Giving the people here edible meat may reduce them to tears.

The Affable Factor

"Oh hello, Captain! Thank God for visitors. We'd go quite mad out here otherwise, ahahaha. Quite mad. How can we be of assistance?"

"Pray, my friend, that you never have to serve two masters, as I do."

The leader of these parts is the Affable Factor, a man who serves as a contact to the Admiralty, providing information about Iron and Misery's dealings on the island. Despite his apparent bullishness, he knows quite a lot of things, especially regarding the politics surrounding his operation. He misses his family, and one day the fungus may truly drive him mad. It is unlikely, however, that the Admiralty will let him retire any time soon.

It seems he once knew the Irrepressible Cannoneer. His brother is the Almost Dead Man from the Undercrow, a former surface explorer and guide for an unlucky group of immortality seekers.