Ship Destinations Previews
The Isle of Eurimines
Shrouded in an ever-present mist, the Isle of Eurimines beckons the brave and the bold with its mysteries and dangers alike. Blanketed by a dense jungle canopy, the fog only grows thicker the further into the island you delve. The isle teems with rare wildlife, and beneath the surface, vast cave systems harbor creatures far more sinister.
Navigators speak of the island's peculiar nature, with cartographers never able to pinpoint its exact location on any map. Sailors who have found it once often struggle to locate it again, as if the island itself shifts through the ocean mists, appearing and disappearing at will. The constant fog that spills across the beaches and through the jungle adds to its disorienting effect, challenging even the most experienced explorers.
Tahlv, the renowned big game hunter whose exploits are legendary across the realm, will help guide you on a special hunting expedition to this enigmatic destination for a special season of the Legendary Game Hunter quest line. And the final hunt may require more than just your skill with blade or magic, so prepare a full crew and ensure your ship is properly outfitted with weapons...
The Isle of Keltund
The Isle of Keltund rises from sapphire waters, a final sanctuary for a people who believed their world was otherwise lost. For generations, a community of Kelki have dwelled here in isolation, descendants of refugees who fled the monstrous Kerrithrim and the destruction of their homeland. Convinced they were the last of their kind, they built a new society based in their deep faith in the Goddess Slyphe, who they credit with guiding them to this tropical refuge. Palm-fringed beaches give way to dense mangrove forests and steaming jungles, and at the island's heart, a great pyramid temple dominates the skyline as a monument to their survival. Within this great work rests most of their civilised society, defined by a system of castes meant to ensure their survival. From the industrious Fire-caste Busyfolk marked with crimson tattoos to the militant Water-caste Tidespeakers who guard against the maddening fog, each caste has a vital function. The mysterious Shadow-caste Burdened, bearing obsidian facial tattoos, shoulder society's darkest griefs and unsavoury duties, while the Spirit-caste Ordered Ones maintain magical oathbinding that keeps their civilisation stable.
The island's lagoons teem with vibrant life, from schools of tropical fish to the massive leviathans that the Water caste hunts as both sustenance and sacred duty. Twin-tailed junglestalkers prowl the verdant interior, their red eyes gleaming from shadowed undergrowth, while humongous beachcrawlers scuttle across white sand shores. The jarring calls of impish skyscreechers echo through the canopy, their beautiful plumage belying their discordant voices.
Rumour has it, however, that this paradise is a fragile one. Keltund's safety is precariously maintained by a perimeter of ancient lighthouses holding back a sentient, maddening mist from the sea. Slyphe's recent return has shaken their society to its core, causing civil unrest in the wake of the revelation that Sapience survived its brush with a child of mad Ilimos. While most rejoice, whispers tell of resentful traitors who have forged a dark covenant with whatever lurks within the fog, and tales of that threateningly eldritch entity have already reached mainland Sapience in years past. Now, a clandestine war brews in the shadows, with the lighthouses and the island's very sanity as the ultimate prize, and those adventurers brave enough to walk Keltund's shores shall be the ones to tip the balance.
The Wave-Wracked Monolith
Rising from the ocean depths like a finger of black glass, the wave-wracked monolith defies all explanation. A mile of featureless obsidian stone pierces the sky, visible for leagues across the water, and those few who have glimpsed it and lived to sail away speak of the deep dread it instilled in their hearts.
Most are not so fortunate, for the monolith calls to them long before it is visible upon the horizon.
It begins as a maddening ticking sound deep within the skull, growing in intensity until the afflicted can think of nothing else but its mysterious source. Their only relief? Turning the helm toward that black spire on the horizon and sailing at full speed. Some ships, dashed upon the ancient reef at its base, never reach the dark monolith's proverbial shore, their crews drowned or broken by the voyage. Others manage to moor alongside the graveyard of vessels already there - frigates from Esterport, junks and warships of Albedi make, even exotic craft from distant Vorostra, all lashed together into a grotesque floating island of salvaged wreckage and rotting wood.
Some unfortunate descendants of these castaways have lived here for generations, dwelling in squalid shanties atop the flotsam island. Their long history can be traced through the carvings etched into the monolith's lower reaches. Newcomers who survive the arrival are met with hollow eyes and wordless acceptance. No explanations are needed; the monolith chose them, as it chose everyone, and here they shall spend the rest of their days. When asked why they do not leave, they cannot explain. They know only that they must stay, for that is their new purpose. Those who have been forced away from the monolith by their loved ones, or merely the curious, succumb to madness and grief, with tragic and terminal endings to every such known case.
When the moon hangs full and heavy in the sky, however, and the lunar light illuminates the obelisk bright, the monolith's true secret reveals itself:
It opens.
From a featureless, secretive door upon that seamless black surface emerges towering figures that clank and grind like rusted machinery. They move among the wretched survivors, selecting a small handful by criteria none can discern, and lead them into the stone's depths.
None who enters has ever returned.
What lies within this mysterious Monolith?
What ancient purpose does it serve?
What becomes of those it claims?
The answers await those bold, or unfortunate, enough to hear its call.