Sea of Ghosts
Contents
Sea of Ghosts
“It is not the dead that haunt those waters. It is the past that refuses to drown.”
Overview
The Sea of Ghosts is a vast, cursed expanse of water that occupies the site of the former Arctic Ocean. Following the catastrophic Meteor Strike of 1886, Earth's axis was violently tilted, overturning the planet's geography. The Atlantic Ocean now crowns the world as the North Sea, while the Pacific Ocean dominates the southern pole as the Great South Sea.
In the chaos, the Arctic was obliterated—shattered and expanded by hundreds of kilometers in every direction. The Sea of Ghosts swallowed what was once northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, and Siberia, leaving only twisted coastlines and a new, malevolent ocean saturated with raw magical energy.
Today, the Sea of Ghosts remains one of the most dangerous and least understood regions on Earth.
Geography
The Sea of Ghosts stretches over the drowned remnants of the former Arctic Circle, though its orientation has been shifted dramatically by the planet’s new axial tilt. Its waters hide broken coastlines, new islands, and unknown horrors.
Notable features include:
- Crux — A mountainous island approximately the size of Hokkaido, formed from the remnants of shattered Greenland. Crux is riddled with exposed Shardisite veins and cloaked in perpetual mist and storm.
- The Shattered Coasts — Jagged, unstable coastlines formed from the ruins of northern Eurasia and North America, now warped and broken by centuries of magical erosion.
The Maelstrom
At the very heart of the Sea of Ghosts lies the Maelstrom, a permanent magical vortex that has existed since the moment of impact. It is a storm beyond mortal comprehension: a colossal whirlpool of clouds, green lightning, and howling winds, pulsing with the chaotic essence of Shardisite.
No vessel that has entered the Maelstrom has ever returned. Although largely contained to the heart of the sea, the Maelstrom's chaotic edge has, on rare occasions—once every few decades—lashed outward to strike the coasts, unleashing emerald storms, floods, and waves of magical mutation.
Known Phenomena
The Sea of Ghosts is infamous for its constant and lethal magical phenomena:
- Emerald Storms: Torrential rains infused with arcane radiation, capable of mutating organic life within moments.
- Ghost Lights: Strange, luminous patterns deep beneath the surface, often heralding ship disappearances.
- Shard-Twisted Leviathans: Colossal mutated sea creatures, their forms unrecognizable, birthed from centuries of Shardisite exposure.
- Phantom Currents: Shifting, invisible tides that drag ships helplessly toward destruction.
Coastal Settlements
A handful of settlements cling to the fractured shores of the Sea of Ghosts, remnants of pre-apocalyptic cities or desperate new foundations. Most endure constant threat from storms, sea monsters, and magical corruption.
Notable coastal settlements include:
- Murmansk — Rebuilt from pre-Strike ruins, it serves as a Shardisite mining hub and industrial trade center.
- Tromsø — Once a Norwegian town, now a fortified outpost of salvagers, whalers, and arcane researchers.
- Anchorage — Once a cold northern outpost, Anchorage is now a tropical, sweltering trade port. Jungle growth overruns its outskirts, and its docks swarm with black-market traders and scavengers seeking fortune in the poisoned seas.
- Arkhangelsk — A militarized bastion in former Russia, serving as both fortress and pilgrimage site for Choir faithful.
- Nome — Transformed by climate shift into a steamy coastal haven, Nome has become a haven for smugglers, salvagers, and fortune-seekers operating in and around the tropics of the shattered world.
None of these cities are truly safe. Though the Maelstrom's direct reach is rare, the ever-present threat of shard-twisted monsters, phantom currents, and magical storms looms large.
Strategic Importance
Though deadly, the Sea of Ghosts holds unimaginable value. Scholars and warlords alike believe the original meteor crater—rich with untapped, pure Shardisite—lies somewhere beneath its deepest trenches. Expeditions, often launched in secrecy, continue to attempt retrieval missions, despite near-certain doom.
The Crux island is particularly sought after for its veins of raw, unrefined Shardisite, drawing competing corporate and national interests into bitter conflict.
Legacy
The Sea of Ghosts stands as the ultimate monument to the Meteor Strike—a wound carved into the flesh of the Earth that never healed.
It is a place where the laws of magic, nature, and sanity fail. It belongs not to mortalkind, but to the catastrophe that made it—and to whatever still stirs in its drowned heart.
