Sea of Ghosts
Contents
Sea of Ghosts
“The north drowned, but its ghosts still walk.”
Overview
The Sea of Ghosts is a vast, hostile ocean that now dominates the northern hemisphere of the world of *Apocalyptica Arcanum*. Once the Arctic Ocean, it was shattered, expanded, and saturated with magic following the cataclysmic Meteor Strike of 1886.
The impact annihilated Greenland and Iceland, reshaped polar geography, and caused the Arctic waters to surge outward by hundreds of kilometers in every direction. What remains is a sea of unnatural storms, corrupted tides, and arcane currents—the most dangerous and least understood body of water in the world.
At its heart lies the Maelstrom, a permanent magical vortex of unimaginable power. Surrounding it are waters warped by Shardisite radiation, filled with storms of emerald rain, ghostly lights, and creatures twisted beyond recognition.
Geography
The Sea of Ghosts is bordered by the remnants of the continents once known as North America, Europa, and Asia. Its vastness has engulfed much of what was formerly known as the Arctic Circle.
Notable geographic features include:
- Crux — A new island formed where Greenland once stood, roughly the size of Hokkaido. Rugged and mountainous, it is cloaked in perpetual mist and riven with exposed veins of raw Shardisite.
- The shattered coastlines of former Arctic territories, now jagged, unstable, and largely uninhabited.
The Maelstrom
At the very center of the Sea of Ghosts, the Maelstrom spins without end. This massive magical storm has existed since the day of the impact. It spawns violent storms, causes sudden disappearances, and warps magic and matter alike.
No known vessel has survived an encounter with the Maelstrom. Rare incidents where the storm’s outer edges touched the coast have resulted in catastrophic loss of life, destruction of cities, and permanent mutation of the surrounding landscape.
Known Phenomena
The Sea of Ghosts is home to numerous deadly and mysterious phenomena:
- Emerald Storms: Torrential rains laced with Shardisite energy, capable of mutating living things exposed to them.
- Ghost Lights: Strange, shifting lights beneath the water’s surface, often associated with ship vanishings.
- Shard-twisted Leviathans: Massive, mutated sea creatures that bear no resemblance to known marine life.
- Phantom Currents: Invisible tidal forces that drag vessels hundreds of miles off course—or straight into oblivion.
Coastal Cities
Despite the dangers, a few brave or desperate settlements cling to the edges of the Sea of Ghosts. Most trace their roots to pre-apocalyptic cities that managed to survive, rebuild, or adapt.
Notable coastal cities include:
- Murmansk — A frontier mining and trade hub, heavily reliant on Shardisite extraction and arcane industry.
- Tromsø — A battered city in the far north of former Norway, partially rebuilt as a center for cold-weather salvage and deep-sea exploration.
- Anchorage — The ruins of the old city are now home to scavengers, prospectors, and madmen seeking fortune in the poisoned seas.
- Arkhangelsk — A fortified settlement in former Russia, serving as both a naval outpost and a spiritual sanctuary against the sea's terrors.
- Nome — Once a gold rush town, now a haven for airship crews and smugglers operating on the fringes of legality.
Most coastal settlements are fortified against both magical storms and shard-twisted monsters, but survival is never guaranteed.
Strategic Importance
The Sea of Ghosts represents both incredible peril and unparalleled opportunity. If the original impact crater lies beneath its waters, it may contain the largest untapped Shardisite deposit in existence. Many factions have sent expeditions into the sea’s depths—none have returned.
Despite the risks, trade, smuggling, and military operations continue along its fringes. The lure of wealth, power, and forbidden knowledge remains too strong to resist.
Legacy
To mortalkind, the Sea of Ghosts is a wound upon the Earth—a place where the laws of nature died alongside the old world. Sailors swear it is haunted. Mystics claim the sea remembers. Scholars whisper that beneath the Maelstrom lies something older, stranger, and far more dangerous than even Shardisite.
Whatever the truth, one thing is certain: no map can tame the Sea of Ghosts. No nation can claim it. It belongs to the catastrophe that made it—and to whatever still stirs in its drowned heart.
