Bloody Bay

Overview
Located just off the mainland between Paragon City and The Rogue Isles, Bloody Bay began as an important hub for seafaring trade. Originally a wealthy enclave for slave traders and nefarious merchants, avarice, subjugation, and grief dominate the history of Bloody Bay. Settled as Oceanview in 1801, this island was once a convenient place to prepare enslaved captives for sale. While the healthy slaves were cleaned, fed, and shipped off to the Americas, the infirm were callously left behind, forced onto the periphery of the island as homeless refugees. Often alone and ailing, few of these abandoned souls survived. Eventually overwhelmed by the bodies of their brethren, the survivors began to bury the dead in the northern forests.

For 16 years, the merchants of Oceanview profited, unchallenged in their corrupt commerce. Then, in 1817, torn from their families, treated as human cattle, and often left for dead, a small group of slaves rebelled against their captors. Raging against their inhuman treatment, the slaves overwhelmed the inhabitants of Oceanview. In a pitched battle, the slaves seemed poised to prevail when the sailors sprang from their ships and turned the tides of the assault. With superior weaponry, the sailors pushed the slaves to the very edge of the docks then slaughtered them with barbaric glee. So much blood was spilled that day that the entire lagoon turned red, thus giving the island its infamous moniker, Bloody Bay.

After the slaughter, the slave runners remained in power until the end of the American Civil War. After the war, many freed slaves returned to the island seeking family members left behind. This influx of new inhabitants changed the face of the island, still a regular shop for merchants. Tapping into new trade and tourism opportunities, the island developed into a successful economic center. Over the next 100 years, the economy prospered, supported by a business district as well as a high-end tourist industry complete with resorts and casinos. In honor of its somber past, the people of Bloody Bay carried on the tradition of burying their dead in the protected forests to the north. The hushed, dark woods covering this vast unmarked graveyard were said to be infused with unearthly powers feeding off the corpses of generations of anguished dead.

The island remained an important economic center even after Lord Recluse took control of the Rogue Islands. Although he initially seized full control of Bloody Bay, by 1984 Recluse decided that it sat far too close to Paragon City for comfort. Hoping to remain under the radar of Paragon's heroes, Recluse sold the island to super villain, Malocchio. Though little is known about Malocchio, it is believed that he was easily controlled by Lord Recluse. Malocchio was taken into custody by heroes not long after he purchased Bloody Bay, and his arrest left the island in legal limbo.

Bloody Bay remained unclaimed for 5 years, as attempts to seize control of it were preempted by the meteor shower of 1989. It was a late summer evening when the disaster struck. From the beaches and rooftops, tourists and locals alike were awed by the amazing light show that suddenly appeared in the skies above. Only after it was too late did they realize what was happening. One after another, blazing meteors slammed into the earth, shaking the entire island. Terrified by the tremors and widespread destruction, people fled. Those with money were swept away on boats and planes, yet again abandoning those less fortunate to their fate. The few who survived the initial impact suffered from severe radiation poisoning. The entire island was rendered uninhabitable by humankind. It was abandoned by all living things, though the strange creatures that lingered near the still glowing meteors were often sighted by passing ships.

Unable to explain the radiation poisoning, the media labeled Bloody Bay a freak nuclear accident. Though most accepted this explanation, Lord Recluse suspected a far more dangerous cause and, hoping to utilize these strange beings, sent unmanned probes to investigate. After confirming his suspicions about the meteors' power, Recluse readied Arachnos to infiltrate the island.

By 1995 radiation levels were low enough for Recluse to send a team of engineers and scientists to Bloody Bay. Unable to reclaim the island as his own, he instead set up a protected base from which he could monitor the area, only occasionally sending teams in to explore. After losing numerous expedition teams to the strange, glowing creatures known as Shivans, Recluse ordered the construction of Fire Bases near the meteors to ward off these aggressive creatures. While Arachnos established its own research station, Longbow also showed interest in this unnatural island, setting up their own base to the north. The groups are inclined to fight without provocation, and an uneasy stalemate has evolved between them as they continue to investigate the mysteries of Bloody Bay. Recently, citizens of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles have returned to Bloody Bay, forming ragtag bands staking claim to the barely habitable zones left alone by the Shivans.

The Shivans seem to be little more than ectoplasmic jumbles of destruction and hate built from melded corpses, earth, and rubble. The link between them and the extraterrestrial rocks they seek to protect remains unknown. As Longbow and Arachnos agents continue their investigations, it has becomes increasingly clear that these meteors not only forever altered life on the island, but also appear to have strange effects upon the heroes and villains now monitoring Bloody Bay.