Isla Sorna (3.5e Campaign Setting)/History
Contents
History of Isla Sorna
Purchased by a rich man, and used as a factory for the creation of animals to supply an exotic zoo, Isla Sorna was abandoned 30 years ago, after the last of the scientists on the island were killed by their creations. It has since been taken over by the dinosaurs that roam free there. The island is inhabited by only one intelligent species, though there are many species of dinosaur living there. The Winged Velociraptors that rule the island have started to migrate to the mainland.
The Cloning Days
Back when Isla Sorna was still human occupied, it was used to clone dinosaurs of various species, and those species were contained in a large warehouse-like building. However, when the dinosaurs began getting sick from a mystery disease, the scientists running the place released them into the wild. They had every intention of recollecting all the animals, but for one reason or another, didn't. For a few years, this did not matter, because the released species were not big enough to cause trouble, but when people began to die, the wayward dinosaurs were gathered up and shipped to the rich man's zoo.
The Zoo
The ultimate purpose of the cloning was money. Bringing the dinosaurs back was guaranteed to bring in huge profits for anyone crazy enough to try it, and for 12 years, it was tried. Until a few months before the zoo was do to open. A worker at the zoo died, and the investors became nervous. The rich man knew that if his investors pulled out, he would lose everything, so he tried to placate them by bringing in a group of experts to verify that not only was the zoo safe, it was ready to open. Unfortunately, he was wrong. The animals broke free, and killed many people. Only a few people survived, and the island, and its dinosaurs, were destroyed by the local kingdom. The old man was ruined, the island was never reveiled, and the world was thought to be saved from the threat of dinosaurs.
The Thieves
The first island was destroyed, and few people knew of the second island. One of those people decided that the first island had failed because of some unknown mistake on the part of the rich man. This person decided to steal a few dinosaurs from the second island, and to build another zoo. Meanwhile, the rich man, having learned his lesson, decided that he wanted the second island to be a preserve. He hired one of the survivors from the first island, and a group of other experts, to document the dinosaurs of Isla Sorna. While they were doing this, the thief intiated his plan. Employing an army of hunters, he began capturing the islands dinosaurs for export to the new zoo. The rich man's group decided to stop the thief, but were unable to stop him from bringing a T. Rex to the mainland. After it rampaged for a night, it was subdued by the rich man's group, and brought back to the island.
The Lost Boy
A few years later, while a boy is given an aerial tour of the outskirts of Isla Sorna, he and his tour guide lose their companions. They have no choice but to land on the island. The gide dies and the boy is left alone. On the mainland, his parents trick another survivor from the first island into helping them search for their son. They also hire a trio of mercenaries. The group crashes on the island, and are attacked by both a spinosaurus and a T. Rex. After losing two of the mercenaries to the attack, the group escapes, but is split up. The survivor finds the boy, and they then find the others. They are pursued across the island by both the Spinosaurus and a small pack of Raptors. They finally escape when they are rescued at the mouth of the Deep Channel River.
The Scientists Return
It has been ten years since the first zoo was destroyed. A small group of scientists returned to the island, and took over. They killed all the adult herbivores, and all of the carnivores, and started from scratch, re-cloning all of the dinosaurs, this time with something special that allowed the creatures to be controlled. They then decided to go further than mere cloning, and began working on a way to make more powerful raptors. They succeeded, and and first, were able to control the new species. But eventually, the raptors broke free, and killed the scientists.
The Winged Raptors
The species that the scientists created, and so arrogantly thought they could control, took over the island. It five years, they had a culture, and three seperate and distinct packs. for ten more years, the raptors focused on the island itself, and discovered magic. Soon, however, curiosity began to consume some of them, and a few left the island for the mainland. Each one returned after a year, and for 15 years, no raptor left the island. No one on the mainland went to the island, because the few survivors that came back raved about monstrous creatures that ate everything that moved. And so, the island has existed, excluded from the outside world by the outside world.
