The Sunken Shrine

Impressions: The masts of the flotilla like a seagoing forest of swaying trunks. The creaking of timbers and lashed rope. Soapstone ruins that peek from the waves, hard to pick out from afar. Scoundrel herons perching on crumbling masonry, attentive for an unguarded scrap. The veiled gleam of whalebone, shining pale and ghostly from beneath the waves.

From the decks of a ship, the ancient ruins hidden by this stretch of unmapped sea are all but obscured by the rippling waves. Many a crew have sailed right past, heedless of the merfolk who call this place home. Sail closer, though, and you’ll see a flotilla of lashed-together ships and wooden platforms, an informal community whose nomadic members join and depart with the movement of the tides.

Why here, and not elsewhere? Look to the crumbling soapstone towers that rise from the trackless ocean…

1d6	Anchor
1	One Crew. When you lash your ship to the Flotilla, you become part of a larger community (even if only for a time). Although ship captains hold a lot of influence, everyone is expected to share what they have and take what they need. This doesn’t extend to visitors or those just passing through, however.
2	Shellcarvers. A guild of magical artisans, based out of a titanic shell they call the Nautilus Forge. The shellcarvers blend magic and alchemy to turn seashells into gyres whose whorls and spirals bind arcane power, ready to be released.
3	The Ruins. The ancient soapstone ruins under the waves are much older than the Flotilla, and not much is known about the merfolk who made them. There are passages that extend beneath the seafloor, and new areas are discovered from time to time. A handful of scholars are engaged in researching these vanished forebears.
4	The Whalebone Garden. A graveyard for whales that occupies the center of the sunken ruins. It’s considered by the people who live here to be a sacred place; those who die are laid to rest here, adding their bones to those of ancient whales. Some believe that the dead of the Sunken Shrine are reborn as whales.
5	Hospitality. An esteemed virtue amongst the merfolk of the Flotilla, sometimes taken to absurd extremes. Hospitality is given for its own sake: insist on repaying the generosity they show you, and you may find yourself delivering an insult you didn’t intend.
6	Poachers. Whalebone is prized for its rarity and its arcane potency, so the Whalebone Garden is a common target for pirates and poachers. Although the Flotilla is welcoming to outsiders, any hint that you’re involved in piracy will quickly wear out your welcome.

Landmarks

The Flotilla. A sprawling, informal arrangement of lashed-together ships and pontoons. A place where merfolk and their guests gather to share news, offer trades, and celebrate reunions.

The Cloisters. Ancient sunken structures that surround the Shrine Keeper’s temple. Their original purpose has long been forgotten, but they are now inhabited by merfolk who aren’t interested in the Flotilla’s nomadic wandering.

The Everspring. A titanic stone bowl from the ruins that protrudes from the ocean below, repurposed by a merfolk wizard to create a pool of eternally pure water. It’s a popular place for surface-dwellers and merfolk alike to mingle and socialise.

Seashell Grotto. An out-of-the way cavern whose entrance is only known to the shellcarvers. Thousands of seashells in every shape and size adorn the walls, many of them inscribed with shellcarver runes. Though it’s the foundation of the shellcarver’s craft, no one knows who made it, or when, or why.

Notables

Captain Tetra. One of the ship captains that make up the informal leadership of the Flotilla. He owns a small fleet of merchant ships that sail the Song, and always welcomes a new potential customer. (Charming, Shrewd, Impatient)

Scourtide. A trident-wielding merfolk ranger. She is ever vigilant for the poachers who come to steal sacred, precious whalebone from the Shrine. (Suspicious, Direct, Loyal)

Hue. A talented young shellcarver at the Nautilus Forge. They are searching for rare shells to invent a kind of gyre that no one has ever seen before. (Ambitious, Moody, Insecure)

The Shrine Keeper. An ancient whale, sole inhabitant of the ruined temple grounds. Presides over the whalebone garden, greeting those who come from afar to die. According to local legend, it is inhabited by a powerful dragonspirit that shows itself to those who disturb the dead. (Inhabited, Watchful, Kind)

Cerulean of the Bowl. The elemental spirit that inhabits the Everspring, endlessly replenishing it with pure clean water. She was a spirit of dreams and pathways before she was befriended by a merfolk wizard and convinced to settle down, and still retains these domains. (Curious, Proud, Farseeing)