Places:
Moonkissed Reef
Warm, shallow waters flow ceaselessly through this vibrant underwater forest of coral, stone, and sea plants, ebbing and rising with the tide. A rainbow of colors flicker and gleam within the water as a thousand varieties of fish dart through the shadows and light that play on the white sandy seafloor as it passes through the arms of staghorn coral and past waving fronds of seaweed. The coral is beautiful but deadly sharp and no few of the animals that hide in the delicate embrace of brilliant anemones are coated in lethal poisons or venomous spines. At night the rounded corals that give the reef its name glow with a soft ambiance, creating islands of light beneath the dark waters.
Lost Requiem
Once, an ancient coastal metropolis of marble and obsidian drew ships from across Caido to its bustling ports. Now it lies beneath the waves, broken and forgotten to time, tide, and sand. Recent events have shaken the sand away and raised some of the shattered towers to poke above the waves at low tide a short swim from shore. Though the city is now inhabited primarily by barnacles and a tenacious black coral as hard and sharp as iron, other creatures with more arms and eyes and teeth have begun to move in to the shelter of cracked buildings and fallen roofs. The great vaults beneath central tower remain intact, though curiously they appear to have been sealed shut from the outside.
The Heart of Midnight
Both a place and a creature, the Heart of Midnight is a massive abyssal coral that completely fills the Great Hall in the palace of Lost Requiem. The passages that have been worn through it by tidal action and polyp die-offs are large enough for a human to pass through but twist and turn unexpectedly and some narrow dangerously in places. Less a maze than a gauntlet, other creatures also live within the Heart’s dubious shelter and are drawn to those who enter the coral unprepared, waiting for an inevitable nick or cut to release blood into the water. Passing through the Heart is the only way to reach the Vaults below.
The Sunless Vaults
There is a pallid twilight glow in the vast chamber beneath Lost Requiem’s central tower as if some sickly magic has seeped through the sealed doors and permanently tainted the walls and water there. At the near end doors of rusted steel close off rooms that once held ancient treasures that have been smoothed over and degraded by water and sea creatures over the years. Past them are larger doors of stone with far less savory inhabitants, items, and now-fragile weapons locked in watery tombs. At the end of the chamber is a single great door made of an unknown material harder than stone with neither handles nor locks. Filling the back wall from floor to ceiling, every inch is covered in twisted ancient writing and has been sealed shut from the outside.
Shrine
Atop the highest broken tower that is revealed at low tide and submerged at high tide is a room whose walls have long since fallen so that only the floor remains: a broad circle of white stone broken only by a hole that leads down into dark water provides a place to pull up a boat. In its center rests an altar of the same stone that weeps fresh water unceasingly. It is coated with red sea moss whose crimson stain has permanently seeped into its surface, though a hint of its formerly pristine color can still be seen. This is a Shrine to the Old Gods
Fauna:
Abyssal Coral
This coral grows in darkness and is categorized by its characteristic deep black color that seems to absorb light. It gathers and secretes not just calcium carbonate but also iron, carbon, and other metals from the water that passes through it, making its skeleton as hard as unrusting steel. Shaped by wave action its edges are honed to razor sharpness and it will easily flense the flesh of anything that touches it, providing more nutrients for the polyps within.
Moonkissed Reef
Warm, shallow waters flow ceaselessly through this vibrant underwater forest of coral, stone, and sea plants, ebbing and rising with the tide. A rainbow of colors flicker and gleam within the water as a thousand varieties of fish dart through the shadows and light that play on the white sandy seafloor as it passes through the arms of staghorn coral and past waving fronds of seaweed. The coral is beautiful but deadly sharp and no few of the animals that hide in the delicate embrace of brilliant anemones are coated in lethal poisons or venomous spines. At night the rounded corals that give the reef its name glow with a soft ambiance, creating islands of light beneath the dark waters.
Lost Requiem
Once, an ancient coastal metropolis of marble and obsidian drew ships from across Caido to its bustling ports. Now it lies beneath the waves, broken and forgotten to time, tide, and sand. Recent events have shaken the sand away and raised some of the shattered towers to poke above the waves at low tide a short swim from shore. Though the city is now inhabited primarily by barnacles and a tenacious black coral as hard and sharp as iron, other creatures with more arms and eyes and teeth have begun to move in to the shelter of cracked buildings and fallen roofs. The great vaults beneath central tower remain intact, though curiously they appear to have been sealed shut from the outside.
The Heart of Midnight
Both a place and a creature, the Heart of Midnight is a massive abyssal coral that completely fills the Great Hall in the palace of Lost Requiem. The passages that have been worn through it by tidal action and polyp die-offs are large enough for a human to pass through but twist and turn unexpectedly and some narrow dangerously in places. Less a maze than a gauntlet, other creatures also live within the Heart’s dubious shelter and are drawn to those who enter the coral unprepared, waiting for an inevitable nick or cut to release blood into the water. Passing through the Heart is the only way to reach the Vaults below.
The Sunless Vaults
There is a pallid twilight glow in the vast chamber beneath Lost Requiem’s central tower as if some sickly magic has seeped through the sealed doors and permanently tainted the walls and water there. At the near end doors of rusted steel close off rooms that once held ancient treasures that have been smoothed over and degraded by water and sea creatures over the years. Past them are larger doors of stone with far less savory inhabitants, items, and now-fragile weapons locked in watery tombs. At the end of the chamber is a single great door made of an unknown material harder than stone with neither handles nor locks. Filling the back wall from floor to ceiling, every inch is covered in twisted ancient writing and has been sealed shut from the outside.
Shrine
Atop the highest broken tower that is revealed at low tide and submerged at high tide is a room whose walls have long since fallen so that only the floor remains: a broad circle of white stone broken only by a hole that leads down into dark water provides a place to pull up a boat. In its center rests an altar of the same stone that weeps fresh water unceasingly. It is coated with red sea moss whose crimson stain has permanently seeped into its surface, though a hint of its formerly pristine color can still be seen. This is a Shrine to the Old Gods
Fauna:
Abyssal Coral
This coral grows in darkness and is categorized by its characteristic deep black color that seems to absorb light. It gathers and secretes not just calcium carbonate but also iron, carbon, and other metals from the water that passes through it, making its skeleton as hard as unrusting steel. Shaped by wave action its edges are honed to razor sharpness and it will easily flense the flesh of anything that touches it, providing more nutrients for the polyps within.
