Torvin Island![Image](http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd444/shkara1/10473.jpg)
Just off the northern tip of Glasswater Bay, the bay that encompasses Alvadas' port, is a coniferous island. The island is a large swath of land that didn't fall beneath the waves during the Valterrian. The island is not visible from Alvadas, but many sailors use it as the northern marker of the bay. But they never land here, not even during the harshest of storms.
The island was named after Lucawte Torvin. He was a criminal that had successfully evaded the law of Alvadas and fled by ship to the north. Not being a sailor, he quickly found himself stranded on an island not far from where he'd fled. The island was a few square miles altogether, had no beaches, just rocky shores. Torvin was no woodworker, and wouldn't try to fix his boat until the following morning. He cursed the night, waiting for dawn to come. When Syna finally warmed the night, Torvin was sitting on the rocks, agitated. He began to feel eyes watching him, from all sides. He had experience being watched, he was a paranoid thief after all. He looked all around him. He was far from the treeline, sitting on craggy rocks. He saw nothing, but could still feel the eyes. He turned back and waited, thinking he was about to be pounced upon. But his reflexes were sharp, he could handle most adversaries.
Then he felt the bite into his ankle. He looked down and saw a large yellow and black spider scurrying away from his kicking foot, down the side of the rocks. The spider was the size of a small dog, and was now leaping into the water, and disappeared from sight. In a panic, Torvin ran back to his mangled boat. He suddenly found himself in a lavish bath, surrounded by beautiful women waiting on his every need. It was his dream. He began to relax, chuckling, not realizing this was a hallucination. One of the beautiful women approached him, kissing his neck. Then he felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He looked down and the woman had stabbed him in the stomach with a dagger.
Torvin woke up the next day near his boat. His stomach was sore, and he looked down. He saw a puncture wound in his stomach, but it appeared to be sealed by a thick, white paste. He touched it, and found it to be sticky, but sturdy. He had to get back to a city, he had friends that could fix him up. After the boat was repaired, Torvin made for the nearest coast. From there, he walked several days until he returned to Alvadas. He hadn't felt hunger for the last several days, something he found quite odd. Once back in the town he'd fled, he found a friend to heal him up. They went back to his hideout, and the man began inspecting the wounds. While doing so, the man told him of the island he'd stumbled upon. Immediately after the story was finished, the Silencers showed up and skewered Torvin upon their blades. A proper criminal's death. As the last blade was pulled from his stomach, several small spiders began scurrying out from the gore, only to die several moments later. From that day forth, the island had been deemed dangerous, and was dubbed Torvin Island.
Torvin island is a fairly standard island. There is next to no indigenous wildlife aside from birds. There are no sandy beaches, just rocky shores. It is covered by coniferous pines and small shrubs. There is not much edible vegetation here, and nothing of much interest aside from a cave like opening in the center of the island. This is the home for the Lucid Lurkers.
![Image](http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd444/shkara1/fraser_island-wildlife2.jpg)
The Lucid Lurkers only come out during the day time, and sleep in the cave during the night. This is due to the low tolerance for cold air. The cool air seeps into their lungs, and forces them into a form of coma, from which they don't wake up from. The cave rests over a hot spot beneath the island, and is usually half filled with water.
The Lucid Lurkers are amphibious, and survive by eating on fish. They do not breath underwater, but rather seal off their lungs, and swim. They are much faster underwater than on land, where stealth is key. Since they aren't breathing in the water, they do not die in mildly cooler temperatures. The Lurkers reproduce by biting a creature, or unlucky sentient being, and injecting a hallucinogenic toxin. This toxin is not lethal, but will cause the person to see themselves in the place they most desire to be. This causes the body to relax, and be ready to receive the Lurker's eggs. A quick stab to the stomach by it's retractable stinger ensures reception. The spider pumps the already fertilized eggs into the stomach, followed by a nutritious white paste that serves to both feed the host for a few days and seal up the puncture wound. The eggs must be in a warm, acidic environment in order to hatch. The hatching process takes an average 3-5 days, at the end of which, the hatchlings will burst forth from the sealed wound and begin their lives. The host must be alive through the entire duration of the hatching process, otherwise the spiderlings will die prematurely. This birthing process is almost guaranteed to kill the host, unless medical help is found immediately.
The Lucid Lurker cannot be tamed, and is often considered a great threat due to their ability to reproduce. It is extremely rare to find them anywhere other than Torvin Island. In recent years, many have tried to harvest the hallucinogenic toxin as a new drug to sell. Many have died trying to retrieve this toxin.