Matango Island Chain

The ocean is a terrible place. Many people go to travel the sea, some of these people are never seen again by anyone. Their fate remains a mystery. Many people's fates are not so unknown. Deep in the southern seas upon an island there once existed a strange fungus. A mushroom more like a virus than anything else. It was discovered in the early 1940's by the Marines in World War Two. Upon coming ashore they reported that the island was deserted, but it had a strange plant growing there. It was soon after this the strange fog appeared, and it disrupted all communications. The ship could not contact them, nor could they communicate by radio. After the first three days the Captain finally decided to send a search party to look for them. They never returned. The party sent after them also never returned. One night a small raft came out of the fog and floated towards the much larger ship.


The crew instantly saw this and soon they brought the survivor on board. It was only in the shape of a man now. It was, to their horror, only the shape of a man. They did not know what it was, but they easily overpowered it and took it to the brig. The doctor of the ship didn't know what to make of it. But one thing was terribly clear. The doctor, and all the guards that had come in contact with the thing had slowly been transforming into something else. It was like a sickness, and no cure could be found, well. One was discovered, but it was just as toxic to humans as it was to the fungus. The captain of the ship radioed navel command all the gory details of his own transformation, and he said he was going to run the ship aground the island, and not to come looking for them for their own safety. But oddly enough, moments before they entered the fog forever, a hoarse and cryptic voice gave them the coordinates to the place they were.


After World War Two, the place was investigated by teams of scientists. Their findings were disturbing. They discovered that the fungus was found to be a natural occurring on the island. They didn't know it at the time but the place was a focus point for magic. And the the entire island was labeled as condemned, and it was covered up. In the early sixties a group of famous Japanese friends went on a yacht trip and ran into a storm they thought the ship could weather. The ship didn't hold as well as they thought it would. They happened to be caught in the drift of the current that lead them directly to the island.

The seven of them tried to make it on the island, but soon they ran out of food and stress began to tear apart the group. They eventually find an old derelict ship filled with science equipment. They learned all the official information on the island they could, it did not feel any better for it. Starvation began to set in. All that was on the island were the mushrooms. One by one they all began to partake in the eating of the Matango. The transformation begun. In the end though only one made it off the island. A man who was half transformed was taken back to Tokyo. Despite his rescue, there was nothing the scientists could do to fix him, or the poor crew members of the ship that found him. They were all destroyed, and the ship was reported to be sunk at sea, all crew lost.

The island was patrolled by ships from then on, to prevent anyone from ever accidentally going there again.

Then the magic was discovered and the world, as everyone knew it end due to over use of magic as a weapon.

The day this happened was the day that the black winds blew across the world in a horrible gust of fury. The spores of the fungus infested an entire island chain, with in months all living things on at least twenty five islands were completely destroyed, and changed by the spores that came with the wind. For many years travel by the sea was not an option, and the Matango Island Chain remained isolated.

The nearest, uninfected island was sometimes haunted by sinister echos of laughter that came on the wind, more so when it rained. In this part of the world, when people vanish at sea. Everyone assumes that they some how got pulled into one of these islands. When people get lost at sea nobody else expects them to return.

The rest of the world might have heard stories of such a place like this. But most people don't really believe it. Rumors of strange salesmen wandering the lands, selling "Matango Elixir" are reported, nobody can confirm this, nobody has ever truly seen it. Some adventurers tell horror stories of entire towns being infested with strange mushroom people and massive hives of the evil looking things. However, thankfully because of the considerably drier climates of the mainlands. Matango cannot survive for too long, but often long enough to wipe out small villages in little more than a week or so.

Not even the gods venture near this island chain. They have no reason to go here, but sometimes. Godzilla himself comes here just to do what he does best. Not even the dreaded Matango Island Chain is immune to his wrath. There are also stories of great treasure on the island. Daring pirates and wizards would hide their fortunes here to be protected. But soon realized there was no true way to get the treasure back. Some people venture here for wealth and fame. Most never come back. Those that do are killed by the natives of the other islands, because they know that the fungus is highly infectious. They know how to kill it and stop it's spread. Anybody who goes onto the island chain is never again welcome on the inhabited islands.