[✗] Legend Lore - Scions of the Misty Sea

[Duarchist 272]

Spoiler

 

 

 

History/Legend

 

It is early morning on the twelfth day of Snow’s Maiden of Malin's nineteenth-and-seventh year. Several days ago I came into the full collection of documents that I will be presenting here; this is the first installment in a compilation detailing the findings of the ghost ship Vivacia, a 20-meter long cog ship owned by Burrich Blacke. The passenger manifest of Vivacia lists Burrich Blacke; Wladyslaw Ristovic; Stanij Draskovic; Rickard Kincarron; Helena Fischer; Aelien Tinuval and approximately thirty-two otherwise unnamed crew members.

 

The records of Vivacia's voyages which are here collected were originally noted down in the journals of the named crew, and have since been preserved by various hands. They are not all of equal authenticity and even sometimes contradict each other; and it is in these cases not easy to elicit the truth. We must therefore examine each record with close attention to ascertain what reliance may be placed in it. But as we purpose to render such a review of our records as clear and intelligible to every reader, it is necessary first to give, as briefly as possible, a summary of Vivacia's career.

 

The whole period of Vivacia's life as a seafaring vessel engaged in both exploration and trade extends over little more than four years, from the nineteenth-and-third year to present-day. The greater part of this time is filled up by four voyages, all of them undertaken in search of passages across the Misty Sea to the since-unnamed continent east of Almaris. Its maiden voyage occurred in the eighteenth-and-eighty-first year, for Almaris’ collective Grand Sea Trading Company. The second voyage took place two years later, also in search of a suitable passage, and likewise for the Grand Sea Trading Company. The third voyage was in the eighteenth-and-ninety-second year, at the expense of the Hanseti-Ruskan crown. Its starting place was Almaris, its original purpose still the search of an eastern route, but meeting an unbroken barrier of wreckage sea captain Burrich Blacke turned east in an attempt to look for a north-eastern passage. 

 

In eighteen-and-ninety-four, Burrich again sailed to the north-east in search of a passage, its expenses borne by three Haelun’orian gentlemen. Journal entries left behind by the crew suggest that she made a brief stop in Haelun'or sometime in the afternoon for supplies and then continued on eastward into the Misty Sea. As a geographical record, the journal of the Vivacia’s final voyage is of less importance than that of the prior three, but it is nevertheless of great value, because it was in this log-book that we find numerous accounts of encounters with humanoid aquatic figures in such a short span of time.

 

 

The sixth, all day and night clear sunshine; the wind at east; the latitude at 75 degrees, 7 minutes. We

held westward by our account 13 leagues. In the afternoon the sea was assuaged, and the wind being at

east we set sail. 

 

This morning, one of our company looking overboard saw a creature, and calling up some of the

company to see it, one more came up. By that time it was come close to the ship's side, looking

earnestly on the gathered men. A little after, a sea came and overturned it; from the navel upward its

body was as big as one of us, its skin very dark, with long hair hanging down behind of the color black.

In its going down we saw its tail, shaped like that of a porpoise and colored like a mackerel. Their

names that first saw it were Wladyslaw and Aelien.

 

The seventh, clear weather, the wind being at east. From the last day til this day noon we made our way

south and by east 9 leagues, and from noon to eight in the evening 6 leagues. Then we cast about and

stood to the northwards.

 

The eighth, clear weather, the wind at south-east and by east. From the last day til this day noon, our

way was north-east and by east, at noon being in the latitude of 74 degrees, 40 minutes. At afternoon

we crossed into green waters; here we saw whales, porpoises, and the sea full of fowls. From noon to

midnight, north-east and by cast, when the sun was at lowest on the north and by east, we saw the

creature again. Wladyslaw observed that there was something in the appearance of this animal akin to

the sea-dragon.

 

The ninth, stormy weather, the wind at south-east and by east. From the last day til this day noon we

made our way north and by east 5 leagues, and from noon to eight in the evening 2 leagues, stopping

when the tempest fell upon us fully.

 

An excerpt taken from deckhand Helena Fischer's logs, dated 1894.

 

In the winter months, cyclones over the Misty Sea are known to have winds with the strength to snap the masts of large ships and overturn smaller vessels. Accompanied by or following heavy rains, such storms can reduce visibility dramatically. Included below is a water-damaged excerpt detailing a strange occurrence following one such gale.

 

… monstrous wave overcame us, and we lost Stanij over the side … the rain halted, and we saw the body
floating atop the water, facing down, its bottom half too covered with blood for the original colors to be
seen … the water began to glimmer, and a gray-skinned creature with glowing points in its hair came up

from below the corpse … twinkling like stars … raised its head and hissed at the crew gathered at the rail.

'My god,’ one of them breathed … ‘My god,’ the creature echoed, deeper and throatier, with a lisp around

the sibilants. ‘Help me, help me, okay, okay, okay,’ it said, then it launched itself back into the water and
was gone. 

 

It was some days later that Vivacia encountered a floating island of manmade debris, which included ship wreckage, flotsam, netting, and so on. At this point, Burrich Blacke attempted to take his ship eastward; the following accounts for another confrontation with the still-unnamed creature.

 

She was swimming about with all possible grace when he described her near the shore of the

floating island of debris. Her large eyes, rather too round, her finely shaped nose, somewhat short, her
well-formed ears, rather too long however, made her a very agreeable person, and her long hair imparted
to her an original character by no means unattractive. Unfortunately the beautiful swimmer made a slip,
and Captain Burrich, who had already begun to experience the first effects of love, discovered that from
below the stomach the woman gave way to the fish. It is true that this fish had a double tail. When she
smiled at the crew, gathered along the Vivacia’s edge with such fervor a middling wave may have knocked
them into the depths, she revealed rows of teeth best likened to that of the great shark, then slipped
fluidly back into the water and was not seen again.

 

It was decided then, amidst the nervous ramblings of all those aboard who had witnessed the horror,
that this creature was a monster of antiquity with a mortal's head and a fish's tail, and that further
sightings should be recorded in as great detail as possible to preserve the authenticity for future

seafarers.

 

An excerpt taken from deckhand Rickard Kincarron's logs, dated 1894.

 

No further logs were recovered. Vivacia was found adrift on the fourth day of The Deep Cold of the same year, approximately sixteen days’ travel off the eastern coast of Almaris. When boarded on the fifteenth day, the sail was in irons and thoroughly torn, the hold door hanging open, and the crow's nest heavily damaged. Several sleeping bags were set out for use along the deck, but all thirty-seven passengers were unaccounted for. A dozen personal flotation devices were found shredded or otherwise damaged beyond repair.

 

As of the last day of The Deep Cold of the nineteenth-and-seventh year, searches for the lost crew were largely abandoned, as it was considered unlikely that anyone could have survived at sea for that period of time.

 

Although Vivacia's logs provided hazy details as to these creatures of the depths, further investigations prompted by the crew's disappearance discovered at minimum three other passages, articles, et cetera detailing encounters with the half-fish monstrosities. These have been included below for credibility's sake, but their authenticity cannot be assured, nor can their points in the constructed timeline be made clear.

 

Certain councilors of the court of Providence, sailing between Orenia and undisclosed eastern nations,
discovered a man-marine or man-fish, swimming about, with a bunch of grass on his head. They threw out
a bait to him with a fish-hook concealed therein. The man-marine was fond of good living, it seemed,
like a Descendant man, and allowed himself to be caught by a slice of cured meat, bit it, and was drawn
aboard. When he got on deck he began to speak most excellent Common, and threatened to prosecute the
whole ship's company. The sailors stared at each other in astonishment; and when, from words he proceeded
to threats, their wonder turned into consternation; they hastened to throw the man-fish back into the
sea, with the humblest excuses and apologies.

 

Ludovici Allegri's 'Theater of Orenia: Volume One', 1831.

 

... furthermore, a water wraith was caught on the shore of the grand kingdom, whither the tide had
carried her. She allowed us to dress her in women's clothes, learned to eat bread and milk, to knit very
well, but always continued mute until her eventual disappearance. Clothes found shed in the coastal sands
suggest her return to the sea, ...

 

An Urguan notice written by one Mance Blackblade, 1901.

 

Walking one day on the sea-shore with my wife, a party of fishermen came running up to us to invite
Father Philipe to enter their barge if he wished the behold a prodigy. He accepted their invitation,
and I accompanied him. There were sixteen fishers with mortal faces in the barge - nine females and
seven males - all of which the fishermen had just drawn up with a single cast of their net. They dragged
them on shore and we examined them minutely. Their ears were elevated like our own, cartilaginous, and
covered with a fine skin. Their eyes were similar to ours in color, shape, and position; they were enclosed
in their orbits below the forehead, furnished with lids, and did not possess, like fishes, different axes
of vision. Their nose only differed from ours by its being flatter and partially slit up, like a bull-dog's.
In all of them the mouth and lips were perfectly similar to ours. Their teeth were square and closely set
together. The chest was broad and covered with a skin singularly white, which left visible the blood-vessels
beneath. The females had round and firm bosoms which some of them appeared to be suckling their young. Their
arms, two cubits in length and much fuller and plumper than ours, had no joints; their hands were joined
with thin webbing. Lastly, the lower belly, beginning with the haunches and thighs, was divided into a double
tail as we see in fishes ...

 

Excerpt from a letter between Dr. Dimas Bosque and an unknown recipient, found inserted in the

pages of Sanavia Ithryn's 'Sailing History of Haelun'or', 1843.

 

This completes the first collection of information regarding the missing crew of ghost ship Vivacia and the aquatic aberrations found in the Misty Sea. As the last antiquarian of my bloodline, overcome by my madness, my grief, and curiosity, I feel it is my duty to carry on in the investigation and discovery of Vivacia's missing crew and the creatures of the deep.

 

To my child, in case I am unsuccessful in my northeastern voyage, I want to leave you with the information you will need to understand the gravity of this investigation and the implications therein. If these creatures truly look like us, and talk like us, the world must know. I promise I will not endanger myself until you are born, but after this, if I am not wholly overcome with my love for you, or perhaps more so if I am, I will try to find a way to bring the truth to light. 

 

Use this information wisely.

 

 

OOC Explanation

These creatures, left unnamed here but soon to be known as Nøkal by way of an in-the-works event creature submission, aim to serve as a new and engaging addition to the server's lore that, without wildly differentiating from pre-existing beings and their respective lore, fill a niche that has predominantly gone untouched – semi-humanoid sea creatures reliant on biological evolutionary traits, as opposed to the magical or deific interference seen in past iterations of mermaids, sirens, drowned, and so on. 

 

Although the focus of this piece and the coming lore focuses on the impending travel from Almaris to the new continent, and thus the population of Nøkal that live in the Misty Sea, Nøkal are found in seas worldwide, and the legend is a widespread one; the creatures might be called Scions of the Misty Sea, Deep Wraiths, or Witches of the Long Dark, depending on where you hail from. Though their history borders on ancient, it is only recently that something has brought the Nøkal up from the depths... and so the legend churns anew, traveling from ports to cities to kingdoms by those fortunate enough to witness the horrors and leave with their lives.

 

 

Spoiler

 

coming soon to a coastline near you...

 

 @Bonito @_Hexe_ feedback monkeys

 

Citations

 

[saint swag 2438]

freakin,,, awesome 👍

[Bonito 2263]

ermmm... guys.. awesome aloert.......

[christman 2222]

WOA!!!!

[Traveller 2130]

FINALLY

 

more ocean/water lore

[Songwitch 1438]

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