[Maplore] The Drowned Strand

[squakhawk 7955]

The Drowned Strand

 

 

Gazing eternally upon the north-shore of Aevos, The Drowned Strand was a long stretch of cliffs, rocks, and shoreline that protected the northern coast of the continent from harsh monsoons and sea-storms which battered the coast. The Drowned Strand was a place with an air of tragedy and heaviness, one which brought the mere spirit of one's presence slow and sluggish. Legend of the ruined port of Goldenvine which once ruled the northern coast in luxury haunted the few who lived there, and the many who would travel.

 

 

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The Strand

 

The Drowned Strand was a cold, Taiga-forest which was peppered with snow all year round. Harsh flurries flew from the western tundra of Ailmere whilst The Bitter Sea to the north blew harsh and climactic winds against the coastline, giving it features of heavy-scaling rocks and weathered boulders covered in grime and barnacles that coated them like a plague. Storms crashed against the coast from the north, the waters perpetually tumultuous and brackish with a never-ending sea of driftwood that never ceased to flow upon the land's cursed shores.

 

Curiously, The Strand was home to a strange, dusty-black stone. Native strictly to the land and found nowhere else upon Aevos- or even Eos for that matter- this blackened stone bore no growths, no chips, dents, or signs of wear- even unaffected by the erosion of the sea, with pillars of the black rock stalwart against the constant battle of the tide. The blackened stone, Shadegrain, would make up the most remarkable landmark upon all of the northern coastline. 

 

Despite this, the land was wracked with evidence of ruins from great tides of days long past. Tsunami's and storms which battered those out at sea and near the coast, the shoreline would be wrecked with sheer cliff faces, wreckage new and old strewn about the rocky and unfriendly beaches, and no trees upon their hilltops; most blown away or broken by the strong winds and mighty waves that crash against the shore.

 

However, with all the calamity the land faces, life still finds a way to thrive within The Drowned Strand. Creatures from the depths of the seafloor to the damp warmth of the shore and tidepools would live plentifully among the land. Crabs, urchins, starfish, rockfish, and shrimp would live in bounty amongst the shore, whilst farther out at sea do Shuul, Korcal, Hippocampus, Shulkra, sharks, bass, char, and cod plentifully make up the populace of The Bitter Sea despite it's chaotic and tumultuous nature beneath The Great Storm. 

 

The air was as salty as the sea, as most days of the year The Drowned Strand was plagued with mild snows and heavy winds and rains. The nearby forests were littered with nurse logs, broken stumps, and fungi which grew heartily in the land of decay. Serpent's Stalk, Gislocinovi, Deep's Gleam, and Aqua Nymph grew in pitiful amounts in the forests and shoreline of The Drowned Strand, often trapped in the tidepools upon the seashore. Shells of hermit crabs, clams, mussels, and oysters were found in mighty amount, often weathered and waned from the degradation of time and repeated battering of the harsh sea.

 

Curiously, the most notable habits of The Strand were found within the effects of The Heavy Heart- some believe it a folktale, others swear by it. Yet, it's effects were prevalent; ever since The Tragedy of The Goldenvine Company, peoples living within The Drowned Strand devote themselves to the myth that was The Heavy Heart, described below.

 

 

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The Tragedy of Goldenvine

 

Centuries before the descendant's arrival upon Aevos, it was upon the lands of Aeldin in the Kingdom of Agathor where the struggling company of Goldenvine Ventures sought a direly needed solution. A dry few years of drought plagued the lands, jewelry priced the same as bread as noble and serf alike struggled to feed themselves and their young. Tarriffs in nearby kingdoms were high, and yet the rich ruby mines of Agathor provided for none. As with many man in the kingdom at the time, people had sought any work or venture which had paid them. Goldenvine Ventures, a shipping company in the face of complete financial collapse, broke sea to revive an old shipping route with a distant island unnamed, yet charted upon every map. 

 

The sea was remarkably gentle, and easy upon the desperate sailors as they eventually broke land. Upon arrival, the dozen-manned crew found a remnant city built of stone and wood, yet abandoned and in ruin. Without a soul to be seen did they find a city waterlogged, yet seemingly with sturdy defenses; titanic, smooth black walls of fused stone which surely could provide ample protection from the sea outside. Even the homes incorporated the stone, which still stood despite the wreck of town and ship that uglied the area like remnants of a bloody murder. Within the cliffside of the rocky town as a large statue of a veiled woman with a bell of fused black stone plated in gold. Ominous and foreboding, but the men were undeterred by the ecstasy of exploration. 

 

With the calm waters and favourable terrain, Goldenvine Ventures would begin a small trading port upon this new, unbroken land. Meant to be a stop upon the long journeys around Aeldin, or even a trade-port itself for timber, potatoes, shellfish, and jewels. Although too heavy to transport, there was a remarkable supply of the aforementioned black stone. Far more sturdy and gritty, it broke as if one would break wet sand- yet it took dozens of strikes of the pick to even cause it to break.

 

Sailors from Aeldin and beyond rarely heard or cared for the name of Goldenvine, yet it's usefulness did have niche within the struggling market of the time. The town and it's denizens thrived, and yet so did the wealth it brought back to Agathor. As men, women, and children, fled for ships to this new promised land, so too did they help colonize the distant port which fed riches back to the home.  Although sailor's tales are often far spun from their original spool, word did reach of troubles in the colony. Not struggles with living; but with the dead. Tales of ghosts, phantoms, spooks and more surrounded the port with superstition. The imposing black stone fortress in which the city resided in added none, for the juxtaposition to the pleasant wooden shantytown was all too predictable to some. As the years went by and the rains returned to Agathor, the unremarkable colony left off all but the most detailed maps faded away into obscurity. 

 

One day it simply seemed as if Goldenvine Ventures and their port-colony of Goldenvine had just disappeared. Sailors spoke little of it, and ships that ventured to the port never returned. Shipments had stopped coming from Goldenvine and it's mysterious new island. In the decades that followed, obsessive expeditions by the governor of Agathor ventured north to reclaim the profitable colony and claim it oncemore for Empire. However, each ship could not find the island; using even the most accurate of maps and nautical tools, Goldenvine and it's mysterious island had just vanished into the sea.

 

Tales regarding Goldenvine's existence began to draw conspiracy and confusion about it's nature. Many began to question if there was truly a Goldenvine to begin with- perhaps a way for the nobility to dispose of mass amounts of peasants to spare food? A place to stow away their gold and riches to better steal away from the poor? Or perhaps it truly did exist; but was an escape, a paradise unforetold exclusively for the rich and powerful. Even the nobility had their own deviant thoughts. The poor and unnotable Goldenvine Ventures, rumoured to having started as smugglers, worked on behalf of another rivaling kingdom to steal their serfs and their riches. A funnel for wealth whilst they diabolical company salted their fields and plagued their grain to make an extra pound of gold. 

 

The truth of Goldenvine Ventures and their flagship port is now a distant tale of greed, viewed with disdain and distrust by all for it's dubious and unknown nature. Perhaps it wasn't real; and sailor's tales just live on.

 

 

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The Heavy Heart

 

The Heavy Heart is the phrase for a physical and emotional weight that plagues one upon the northern coast. Despite death, spirits of the dead seemed to linger and flash back to the surface. When walking through The Drowned Strand, it was as if strolling through a graveyard; silence, calmness, and a low sense of dread that boiled beneath the surface. 

 

It was frequent in which travelers and wanderers would find themselves talking to someone, who when unviewed, simply disappeared; leaving behind only a watery puddle where they had once stood. It seemed there were dozens of wild and intrepid explorers throughout the region, yet they would simply vanish into nothing. The question of the traveller's sanity would be questioned, if it were not for the wide spread and independent nature of the accounts. 

 

Those journeying to The Drowned Strand could witness the effect themselves. People walking about their lives in between moments, vanishing and reappearing when one's attention was not upon them. Vivid conversations recalled with people who, in the blink of an eye, simply were there no longer. Seawater-soaked belongings, handshakes, beds, tents, and campfires smothered reports which came out of the land. The Heavy Heart was a mysterious effect that any but those within the region would vehemently deny and write off as mere superstition. But to those that had witnessed it- it was as real as the vanished themselves.

 

 

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OOC Information

 

Goldenvine Ventures, as it is told upon this post, is considered open knowledge and anyone may recall, spin, twist, or add onto the tale as they please. The true fate of Goldenvine Ventures and their colony will be expanded upon (within this post) at a later date as eventlines occur. The Heavy Heart is available to roleplay by any, and in short detail, describes spirits of the dead returning to very real physical forms that behave normally; as if the soul and it's attached person had never died to begin with. This can include interactions with characters native to the region, or characters of your own that may have died there, so long as you have an applicable Phantom/Wight CA. 

 

For ET, please use the above for whatever instance you would like to for an event, and refer to the backface document for more explanation, details, and examples.