The Sailor's Corridor

Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:37 am

North to South

The Orm'del Sea is the name of the great central ocean of Idalos. It stretches from the frigid northern waters surrounding the mysterious peninsula city of Valaris, north of the island kingdom of Rynmere and its capital city of Andaris, to the northern coast of the great southern continent. This ocean is also referred to as "The Meridian Main" in some cultures, though this can also specify only the middle portion.

Running between the two primary continents, it is then considered to be bordered on its east side by the island kingdom of Yithiral, with its capital city of Ivorian. The sea that swings around the east side of this island is not considered to part of the Orm'del Sea. Some cultures refer to this as the Crescent Sea, due to its overall shape.

It then passes south, being considered to stay east of Strosdyn Island, a stronghold of Sev'ryn culture. The sea that stretches to the west at this point is commonly called the Sea of Desolation. There is no strict longitude considered to mark the exact parameters of the width of the Orm'del Sea from here on, but basically its border runs due south from Strodyn on the west and from the island chain that extends from the tip of the Crescent Peninsula, where lies the Avriel city of Athart, the "City of Slaves", on the east.

The sea that lies southeast of the Crescent Peninsula is commonly referred to as the Sea of Oscillus, that island nation being the most prominent feature of that part of the world. The Naerikk city of Augiery also lies within the scope of the Sea of Oscillus, but their choice to remain hidden has resulted in their city being excluded from having a place in the name of this sea. Chances are that the world would not choose to name this sea after such a cruel and predatory culture anyway.

As stated above, this southern portion of the Orm'del Sea has no extensive land masses serving as borders on the east and west. There is a clear land border to the south however. The great southern continent serves as the southern border for this ocean, as well as being partial borders for the seas to the east and west of the southern Orm'del Sea. The cities of Desnind and Niomyr sit within the scope of this continent and look north to this long expanse of ocean.

The Keel-Saw Sea Dragon

This beast is found throughout the entire length of the Orm'del Sea, though not frequently, by any means. And sailors that have survived such encounters are grateful for their rarity. The serrated fin upon the monster's back is ample explanation for the name of this beast, whose primary style of attack is to swim just below the keel of its target, letting the steel-hard teeth of its main fin saw into the wood of the vessel to sink it.

There is nothing suggesting any magical origin for these monsters. They are simply the result of one arm of predatory evolution. And they are very good at it. But again, the name is indicative of most sailor's beliefs that they are related to the beasts rumored to populate the Iuluri islands.

They are fully vulnerable to all forms of counter-attack, given that such attacks are of sufficient power to get through the thick scaly hide, which is thicker the more northern the creature's territory is. This same northern clime also tends to make these tougher-hided beasts slower and less aggressive, but they are perilous nonetheless.

It is some small surprise that less significance is placed upon the two horns on the creature's head, for these are what usually end up delivering death upon the escape crafts manned by doomed and terrified sailors. A vessel of dingy, or longboat, size is not heavy enough to be as likely to be cut through, tending more to ride up on the fin as it passes below. For this reason the creature is far more likely to ram the small vessel, impaling it upon its horns, and then simply lifting the vessel on its head and shaking the poor bastards into the water to be devoured. And while the creature's size of up to eighty feet in length is insufficient to swallow a ship, it is more than ample to swallow a ghastly number of floundering humans.

This is a political misfortune that those cultures hostile to the Ithecal, or more likely, the Raskithecal, are quick to focus blame upon these snake-humanoids as the cause of this terror, assuming them to be some sort of secret weapon employed by the militaries of these two similar species. Some go so far as to claim to have seen nests of these creatures' young being nurtured by Raskithecal in the eastern bend of the Crescent Sea.

Most reasonable folk can quickly see that these are wild and unsubstantiated tales, with little or no corroboration. But to a survivor, what's the harm in a few wild tales where a few mugs of free ale are concerned?...As long as it's not in an Ivorian tavern...

Fractured Tide

This is another phenomenon that spans the full length of the shores of the Orm'Del Sea, threatening to bathe any beach in mutagenic residue from some distant accident, disaster or malicious plot. The beautiful, sparkling powers residing in this wash tend to attract the unwary, who have no experience with fractive hazards. Many were drawn by the thought that it was some treasure washed ashore.

Those who wield magic will perhaps recognize the nature of the energized waves, but will most likely know there is little chance that it is something they will have any control over. Someone with a high level of Attunement may be able to determine the actual "bend" of the energy, but again, are probably not going to be so sure as to wade in, looking for a recharge.

So it is the unfortunate peasant, lacking in knowledge of magic, that tends to be victimized and "altered" by this concentrated wild fracture power. Now it IS possible for there to be a great beneficial result. But it hinges on many things being inclined toward benevolence, and this is rare.

First, the actual magic impact on the victim needs to be of a nature not inclined to horrify the subject, like some hideous mutation, because a power born in fear can never result in anything good. Then the actual discovery that there is power growing within himself must not be something that terrifies the subject, or makes him feel like some religious abomination. All too often an uneducated man that gains such power feels some sort of perverse obligation to do evil with it, from the widely indoctrinated belief that magic is evil.

But more even than any of these factors is the unlikely hope that once a man gains power, he is of a sort to WANT to do good with it, rather than to use it for selfish gain and revenge. There is a saying that "power corrupts". Rarely is this seen to be false.

But perhaps even worse is when a wild animal is stricken by such wild magic. Some scholars believe this is how the original strains of "dire" animals were born. Some believe even more shocking things than these were created by Fractured Tides. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that this is how dragons were first evolved. Such statements are easily said. Proving them is another thing entirely.

Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:39 am

The Frigid Main

This name generally refers to the northern portion of the sea; starting from the point where it first significantly narrows at about the cross section of the frosty northern coast above the Gulf of Vigilance, east of the city of Hiladreth, and the Island stronghold of Andaris. It extends north into the misty perils, where it is said nothing lives, and a man must cut a block of frozen air, and chew it, in order to breathe. While this sounds a bit far-fetched, there are documented perils in the more well known parts. They include:

Ice Fractures

It is uncertain how many of these may be floating around the freezing waters of the Frigid Main. If there is even one, it is one too many. Sailors tell tales of blue glowing ice bergs. They, or it, are considered to be the source of a number of peculiar phenomena. Some have actively sought the things out, seeing them as a likely source of a particularly rich well of magic.

Many choose to believe this tale. But there are other bergs in the northern sea besides some storied "magical" one, and they are the subject of harrowing tales of seemingly sentient pursuit by otherwise plain ice bergs. Most dismiss this as nothing but coincidental mishaps of tide and timing. But the floor of the Frigid Main is littered with the crushed remains of many such doubters.

Some warn that these "Ice Fractures" embody the malicious soul of some of the offspring of Chrien herself. And few are the tales of anything resembling mercy and kindness, where that deity is concerned. The nature of the odd manifestations of fractive power in these northern waters would appear to bear this out. But appearances may be deceiving, in this case. There very well may be something more akin to a mortal origin for the dangers in these waters.

In the meantime, captains still divert from courses when glowing waters beneath a single ice berg are believed sighted. The lucky ones return with nothing more than new stories of icy horrors to add to those that already are told in hushed tones in seaside taverns.

Knife Tufts

One of the more frequent phenoms credited to these wandering Ice Fractures are these extensive fields of tiny ice formations, which somehow seem impossibly rooted to the spot upon which they float. They show no aggression toward any ship sailing through their area, but they are not simply "brushed aside" by the vessel's massive weight and momentum. They do ultimately shatter, under the strain of impact, but not before scoring the hull deeply.

It is rare that that this imperils a ship to any immediate degree, but it always necessitates a much quicker need for general repairs, as sealants and tars are stripped in long weals from the wood by these icy blades. Leaks spring up at an increased rate, water damage begins to rot otherwise sound construction, and the entire vessel soon begins to shake loose under the pressure of the elements.

Often, ships will launch long boats, to clear a path through these zones, letting these more expendable craft suffer the damage instead. Of course, down the line, the crew may find a lack of lifeboats becoming an issue in a pinch.

The Watcher

While there are no tales told of any direct assault by whatever colossus is believed to be attached to this huge, submerged eyeball, no mariner of sound mind has ever failed to take warning from this monstrous omen. The sight of an eyeball, itself of circumference nearly the equal of a large ship, conjures images of some gargantuan creature with a mouth undoubtedly capable of swallowing the vessel whole.

Some believe it to be one of the mythical "Leviathans", just waiting for the doomed ship to sail that last league, and enter its domain, thereby earning whatever punishment the creature feels inclined to visit upon it and its crew. Some shiver with the thought that it is Chrien herself, failing to curb her eagerness to bring ruin upon the vessel and giving unintended warning in her haste. Others think it might be Uf'rek, delivering a genuine warning, one borne of the true desire to see the crew spared some grisly fate, by scaring them off before they go any further.

But in any event, only a fool or madman would press on in the face of such an implied threat. Thus far, it has only been sighted in these northern waters, bringing some to believe it to be more territorial than either Chrien or Uf'rek would be. But the possibility of it being a servant of one of these deities is not discounted.

Savage Shelf

Occasionally, portions of an Ice Fracture are said to break off and drift shoreward. These drifts tend to flatten out and form an icy shelf along whatever land mass they strike. The same glow of fractive power can be seen in the cracks on the surface.

Cautious minds take the tales of bizarre creatures that rise from these shelves as proof of how mad one must be to pursue these Ice Fractures in the first place. The shapes these animated forms take are as varied as a trespasser's imagination. generally, these icy figures take a defensive posture; only becoming aggressive when a person encroaches upon the shelf itself.

The problem however, stems from the fact that this boundary is often hard to determine, and all too frequently, a single footstep is the difference between a stand-off and an all-out attack. Once provoked, these defenders will advance inland in relentless pursuit of the trespasser, adding any that now respond to their presence to their perceived list of offenders.

Whole coastal villages have been destroyed, when they rose in defense of a single villager who strayed too far onto the shelf. The creatures, while supernatural in formation, are subject to most forms of weaponry themselves. They can be shattered, crushed, melted and dismembered, but do not breathe, bleed or know fear. Combatants must be prepared to render the bodies of these invaders entirely incapable of aggression.

After a few days, regardless of any hostility, the creatures vanish and the shelf begins to melt. In about a week it dissolves entirely. No one knows where the shelf or its denizens go, but they are invariably glad to see them go.

Some of the reported forms of the shelves' defenders are:

Frost Wraiths

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Ice Goliath

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Crystal Apes

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Cold Soldiers

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Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:41 am

The Meridian Main

As one is likely to surmise, this refers to the central portion, though as stated above, some cultures use this name for the entire sea. But many sailors like to think of this as the ocean's "torso"; like the slim, middle part of a woman's body, just above the point where it widens, to become the "hips" of the southern section. Generally, the Meridian Main is accounted to begin just south of Andaris and extend on down to the southern end of the Island of Yithiral, with its capital of Ivorian. And while a woman's body holds many luscious wonders, the Meridian Main holds mostly only dangers.

Stone Bubbles

It is anyone's guess what sort of source generates these mysterious, floating enigmas. It is also anyone's guess if they bring wealth or disaster. They rise to the surface in the same manner as a cluster of air bubbles, floating on the tides until triggered by the willful touch of the curious.

This may be nothing more than the puzzlement of someone wondering how anything that appears to made of stone can possibly float. Or it can be the touch of someone more knowing, that hopes to find something of value within. The Stone Bubbles pop like any bubble when touched. But if hit from a distance by some thrown object, the object will simply bounce off as if hitting a rock, which is, in fact, what has occurred.

The bubbles have been known to hide gold and gems within their spheres. Other rare materials, oils, spices, reagents, or what have you, have also been documented. What has been less documented is the number of times that they carry brutal destruction. Swarms of deadly venomous insects, clouds of disease-carrying fogs, some unknown substance which explodes upon contact with water, eggs of horrid, mutant sea creatures, some of which adhere to the hull of the ship, to grow and stow away for future predatory exploits, have all been released at one time or another. Undoubtedly, there are many more surprises, both good and bad, that await the unwary.

Most of these tales, however, do not ever reach port, as the vessels involved are most often either destroyed or rendered void of crew, though tales of "ghost ships", whose crews became reanimated by the same abomination that killed them, do find their way into tavern lore in many seaside towns and villages. Some dismiss such stories as preposterous.

But there is another factor that has come to lend credence to these tales. This is the fact that, if not triggered at sea, these death traps can still wash up on shore, to be triggered by any wandering beachcomber, playful child, or tunneling crab. Now again, there is the chance that the hidden store will be of benefit to the locals. But all too often, more than one washes ashore in the same spot, and the ratio of positive to negative is never more than fifty-fifty.

Gestalt Leviathan

For all the peril represented in the Stone Bubbles, they, at least, do not make an active effort to seek victims. the same can not be said of the Gestalt Leviathan. The name given this creature, or creatures is a loose description of its nature. What it means is that it is a massive, single entity made up of many identical parts.

Tales in many cultures have described some kind of large creature that has the ability to disperse into a swarm of small creatures, the large single creature being a completely different form than that of the tiny ones. In the case of the Leviathan, it's singular form is that of a colossal fish-like beast, it's body nearly possessing the body mass to swallow a small ship. It's smaller forms are akin to that of an enormous school of rays or skates.

In some cases, the large beast targets a vessel and rams it repeatedly, seeking to break it apart, whereupon it breaks down into its swarm form in order to more efficiently attack the crewmen knocked overboard. It can also start out its attack in swarm form, and simply "construct" itself around a target, resulting in the target being swallowed indirectly.

But the greatest difficulty in dealing with this monster is its near indestructibility. Weapon or magic attacks will do full damage, and can drive the creature away. But this only really results in a somewhat smaller version, as the swarm components are simply realigned to new biological tasks, to achieve a new restructuring of the larger form.

The same is true of the effects of aging. The creature is fully capable of breaking down and dispelling those portions that are showing signs of aging. The swarm forms then embark on a frenzy of breeding to recoup the monster's original body mass, which is now refreshed with youth. No one knows how long this monster has lived. It may have been formed in the Great Shattering, and been wandering the oceans of Idalos ever since.

The Wandering Calm

Most walks of life think of the word "calm" as a good thing. One has to have sailed the seas, far from land, to know how terrible an extended "calm" can be. Except in the atrocious case of slave galleys, it means the virtual immobility of the vessel caught in one. No wind blows, no tides pull, no rain falls to replenish water supplies, it is far more difficult to catch fish by rod and reel alone. Most vessels will launch longboats and spend days or weeks rowing their way free.

Those experienced seamen who can tell the weather signs of a calm, will often advise a captain pursuing a damaged adversary to let it go, rather than pursue it into a calm. The complete lack of a wind to work with undamaged sails will reduce the undamaged vessel to a state equal to its quarry, and there are accounts of cunning pirates turning the tables on their pursuers, and claiming victory.

Most calms are created by weather and tidal phenomena. But in the Meridian Main, there is a calm that seems to search for ships to trap within its decaying hold. Sailors are a superstitious lot, so their speculations are frequently scoffed at. But their theory accounting for the existence of The Wandering Calm is not so far removed from likelihood as to be discarded altogether.

They will claim, usually for the price of a mug or two, that long ago, U'frek and Chrien had an argument that reached titanic proportions regarding Chrien's depredations against humans. As their conflict raged, there came a point where U'frek demanded that his sister end her malicious storming and ravaging. There was a pause, a "calm" one might say, and Chrien surprisingly conceded to her brother's request.

But it was a twisted concession, as Chrien then created The Wandering Calm in a mockery of her brother's demand, setting it to travel the sea, bringing vessels to be "sitting ducks" for her malice, as represented by the many hazards that easily caught up with these trapped vessels.

Those caught in this unnatural calm have found that the tactics employed to win free of normal calms do not work here. Progress "appears" to be made at the time. But on later examinations and calculations, it is always seen to be negligible. One can only ride it out and hope to encounter nothing worse in that time.

The Following Wave

An example of something worse to encounter would be the "Following Wave". This massive wall of water rises out of nowhere to swamp vessels of all sizes. Generally, a following sea is a good thing, as it implies a sea whose tidal tendency is flowing in the same heading as the vessel sailing upon it. But this 'Following Wave' is a far more aggressive phenomenon. It does not follow the tidal tendencies of the sea from which it rises. Nor is it random in its course selection. It clearly selects a target, and then pursues it doggedly, even changing course to maintain pursuit.

It changes size to match its target as well, always achieving a size sufficient to present a tremendous threat of capsizing the vessel it has chosen. But accounts of survivors have always displayed its knack for being no bigger than what would be needed to accomplish this. Part of this determination is with the foreknowledge that the Following Wave will always hit from the side, even going so far as to turn on some unseen, submerged axis to achieve this angle of impact.

For this reason, ships have found that frequent turns forestall the impact, and many ships have sort of "outrun" the Wave with this technique. But later review of the course they'd been on, when compared to their original, intended destination, has begun to raise speculation that the 'Following Wave' may not have been a true threat, and was more like a "ship-herder", driving the vessel away from something it was charged to keep secret.

Unfortunately, as a result of this speculation, several captains chose to challenge the wave and call its alleged bluff, believing some great treasure was being protected this way. They were never heard from again, though splintered pieces of their vessels were washed ashore in wide-spread locations. No bodies ever accompanied these fragments however, so there is still the hope, held out by a few optimists, that the crews made it through the wave to find themselves happily marooned in some mysterious lost land of treasures. Those of a more pessimistic nature, suspect that the bodies were simply devoured by marine predators and scavengers.

Sun Oct 18, 2015 12:46 am

The Sev'ryn Main

Here we have the final entry; the warm, tropical, southern third of the ocean. The strong local influence of the Sev'ryn culture, primarily in the locations of Desnind, on the southern continent, and the island of Strosdyn, give rise to the naming of this stretch of sea. The Sev'ryn themselves call this sea "Ta'langean Eroim", which translates basically to "Northern Ocean", though the bulk of the world knows it as the southern end. It is assumed this is because it lies north of the major Sev'ryn city of Desnind.
But though the Sev'ryn are primarily a peaceful people, their namesake ocean is not. Their patron immortal, Moseke, is known to be benevolent, but none of the more well-known features of the Sev'ryn Main are named after her. Some non-Sevryn sailors wonder if she is not secretly hostile to other races of mortals, since she seems to allow other Immortals to work their aggression without restraint in "her" ocean.

Chrien's Closet

The name of this phenomenon has two contexts, both the usual suggestion of a "closet" as a place to keep things stored until needed; and the second, being an oceanic occurrence, of a "water closet", which is another name for a toilet.

The way in which this hazard approaches would be something a sea crew could be alerted to if they were inclined to spend the entire voyage taking continuous depth readings, in order to be warned of any oddly rising floor depths. A large circle of the ocean floor will rise, one particular arc of the circle rising ahead of the rest to form a sudden barrier in front of the vessel. Commonly, the ship becomes grounded on this unexpected bar of earth. Then the crew watches in horrified realization, as the rest of the circle rises to form an atoll of sorts around them, sealing the circle and cutting off any escape path for a ship that managed to avoid becoming grounded.

But the real terror begins when the level of the water begins to drop inside the circle, sucking the ship and crew down to some deep, unknown doom. There is no immediate manifestation of impending death, but when the sea eventually rushes back in to fill this deep tubular hollow, and the sea floor sinks back to charted depths, it can only be assumed that the ship and crew is lost.

A few men managed to survive by immediately jumping ship and swimming to the round bar of raised ground to avoid the initial sinking of the ship. but most of these men are lost when the eventual sinking of the floor wall pulls them in after, as the void is refilled. A few men have survived this however. And a few of these came later to be rescued before exposure to the elements did them in.

But they had nothing to offer regarding the possible fate of those that remained aboard, and no members of such documented crews were ever seen again. But in a bizarre twist to this tale, two of such lost vessels were later sighted, arcs later, hundreds of leagues away, abandoned, draped in seaweed, coated in barnacles, and void of all supplies.

The men who boarded these ghost ships did not tarry to report many details beyond the creeping sense of numerous presences, and the thought that they heard distant cries for help echoing in the moans of creaking wood and sighing sails. This has, of course, been chalked up to sailors' superstitions, but one can not help but wonder if the men were "flushed" and the cargo "stored until needed".

Delroth's Funnel

The first several occurrences of this hazard went unnamed due to there being no one aboard that knew the name of the Immortal of Wind. It's destructive visitation led to its naming as well, since once the name of Delroth was attached to it, so also was the knowledge that this immortal did not favor the existence of mortals on Idalos.

There is no true proof that Delroth has anything to do with this sucking wind tunnel, or the malicious way it seems to follow a vessel until it has the chance to ravage its crew, cargo and structure. But it all fits, as far as an average sailing crew is concerned, and that is good enough for them.

But what has escaped consideration is the fact that it is not just the wind that effects this malice upon its target. The sea itself begins to revolve in a manner which greatly hinders the chance of escape. But it HAS been reported many times that those men and materials that are pulled into the clouds frequently do not come back down. The thoughts of what purpose or torture some malicious god may be holding these men for brings ever increasing levels of hatred from the survivors.

There is now somewhat of a schism resulting, in the sailing community, from the belief that the immortal of Wind is behind these "attacks". Being the deity of something as fundamental to sailing as wind, sailors wish to be on his good side as much as possible, and react harshly to those that spurn his name, thinking it will only bring greater disfavor upon them all. Some even go so far as to suggest that these "insults" are the main reason Delroth is not more favorable.

Often, in an effort to calm the argument, they will insist it is Chrien at work, using her powers not only to cripple men at sea, but to cause false blame to be put on Delroth. That in this way, she might "recruit" another Immortal to a cause he might have rejected otherwise. They say that Delroth's attitude is similar to any human who has a neighbor they dislike. While they are not likely to take up hostilities against them over unpleasant general behavior, when it becomes personal, that is when it comes to blows. They claim that Delroth may not have been actively anti-human, until he found that they were spreading lies about him.

But when a sailor hears that the Immortal he believes to have sucked his brothers screaming into the skies, is now to be held as a "victim" of the very anger this causes among those that were NOT killed...well, such a proposal does not find much welcome in his mind.

Faldrun's Cauldron

It is not difficult at all, in fact, it is even to be expected that once two of the known enemies of humanity have had their names attributed to deadly hazards at sea, a third can be added with little difficulty or hesitation. After all, don't things like this tend to come in threes? And is there any Immortal whose hatred of mortals is more widely known that that of Faldrun?

But the fact is, this may be one time that the Lord of Fire is not actively at his aggressive work. These sudden explosions of heat and steam are so far from Faldrun's northern seat of Sirothelle that it seems unlikely he would be traversing the oceans so endlessly, just to boil a few dozen men to death. His focus has always assumed to be more on land-based volcanic possibilities, and the feud his city's people have with their southern foe, Etzos.

Still, these boiling seas rise without warning, with no apparent pattern, and bring a most gruesome end to the poor souls caught in their super-heated fumes. These ships are even more horrific to come upon later by other crews. The vessel itself will appear largely undamaged, so an inspection or salvage crew will be sent aboard, to find browned, crisped, twisted bodies, fire-hardened into positions of writhing agony all about the deck and hold, their skin split and curled like wood shavings, the deck stained with greasy smears reminiscent of a frying pan.

Admittedly, a truly expert crew may be able to react quickly enough to avoid the better part of one of these bursts, to escape with only minor burns. And even in a fully deadly event, there are tales of an occasional man in the crows' nest having survived. But often he lives with nightmares of the brothers he slew in the desperate bid to be the one to make it aloft. If Faldrun is not truly behind this depredation, it is assumed he revels in hearing of its horror, and is glad to take the credit.

Mastes' Maze

"Rose right from the sea, it did. Liken the Mer was pushin' it up a ramp." the old salt insisted. Those nearby were not sure if his conviction was genuine, or just an act to prompt another free mug from his listeners. But they'd heard men speak of Mastes' Maze before, and seen plenty of others dispute their claim that it was a source of wealth. They spoke of it in nightmare tones, telling of long cold hallways ending in traps, terror and death; of their inability to avoid being separated from their fellows, left to fight alone against freakish enemies and situations; and of their "good fortune" to have escaped with nothing more than their lives.

None disputed that the Temple-esque entry rose from the sea as if in response to the vessel's proximity. And many who rise to tell of finding valuable and powerful tools, weapons and artifacts, claim to have gotten them from its mysterious depths. It is not that strange that they did not choose to display or demonstrate the capabilities of these things, not wishing to make a target of themselves for pickpockets, muggers and burglars. But what IS strange is that none of these men ever show up to offer this counter argument at more than one such debate. Perhaps they felt they'd discharged any obligation to give good word of this ocean temple.

But however uncommon, the effect of their tales of riches keep sailors risking entry into Mastes' Maze. What awaits them inside is described, by those that have come away claiming to have found treasure, as a maze of passageways and chambers, putting you up against exotic hazards with the possibility of equally exotic rewards. They claim that there are trap doors and mechanisms within, that often take you unaware, and sweep you off to encounters not suitable for the frail of heart or weak of sword. But that a man of strength and resolve can not only triumph, but come away with a king's ransom.

It is noted as well that those that come out often find themselves far from where they entered. This can even mean to now find themselves no longer at sea. Even on lands nowhere near the tradelines their ship originally set out upon. Luckily, they had obtained gains more than sufficient to buy passage home. It is also noted that the crews of these second vessels did not ever hear these men speak of encountering this Sea Temple of Mastes.