Do Not Follow the Light Upon the Waves

Do not follow the light upon the waves, sometimes shortened to The light upon the waves, is a popular story and cautionary tale from the eastern coast of Arros about the dangers of the open sea.

Summary

Its had been two weeks since they had departed the port of Geilvar, the easternmost port that's able to accomodate such a large ship, in search of far-away lands yet to be discovered beyond the sea. So far, their expedition had gone smoothly, save for a couple of storms that this boat was well equiped to handle. Unfortunatly, they did not see any evidence of nearby land, like birds or floating leaves or seeds.
From his cabin, the captain looked out at the horizon, where he saw storm clouds gathering. "Another one", the captain thought. In only a few hours, the weather turned. The winds picked up, pushing large waves upon the ocean's surface and the dark clouds to drift over the sun, letting a chill settle in the air.
As night fell, rain started pouring down, acompagnied by regular lightning and thunder. The rain, the wind and the waves grew stronger and the tempestuous sea became illuminated by regular, powerful flashes of light from above, followed by thunderous claps that echoed in the dark night.
In the middle of this maelstrom of water, wind and flashing lights, something caught the captain's eyes. Is that a light? He thought to himself as he squinted towards a pale yellow dot on the horizon. A lightning flash behind the light revealed something unexpected. The light came from a ship. A typical trading ship. Large hull, 3 mast and many sails. What's a ship like this doing out here? Is it lost?
Curiously, the ship wasn't really moving like the captain thought it would in such stormy waters. His ship, however, moved steadely closer, as the lost ship periodicaly dissapeared behind the waves before reapearing just a little bit closer than before. Soon, they had drifted close enough for the captain and his crew to see more details. There was only a singular light on the entire ship, and it was coming from a large hole on its starboard side, just under the captain's quarters. It seem to be slowly and gently pulsating.
The rest of the ship wasn't in much better condition, to the point that the captain began to wonder how it was even still afloat. One of the ship's mast had been snapped in two, with the upper section dangling downwards, supported by the web of ropes between it and the other mast. The sails were completly destroyed, ripped and full of holes, so much so that despite the storm and its strong wind, they remained completly limp.
One of the crewmates suggested they try to stay close until the storm passes before bording the ship to look for survivors and supplies. After hesitating a moment, worried about the ship's safety, the captain agreed. He wasn't about to let potential survivor die if he could prevent it.
Then, something moved inside the ship. At first, the captain though someone was indeed on the ship, as improbable as that was. However, he quickly realised that it wasn't a person. Wide eyed, the captain and his crew tried to understand what was in front of them. The light they had previously seen, it was attached to something that was alive and moving, wriggling inside the ship. Its surface was slimy and glistened in its own light.
Then suddently, the entire boat shook and began lifting itself out of the water. The other ship's crew gasped as its half rotted haul completly left the water, revealing numerous holes and gash from which torrents of cold, salty water cascaded down back into the sea.
Under the wreck, numerous appendages, similar to the one they saw inside the ship, rose straight up from the water's surface and dissapeared in the darkened holes or wrapped themselves around the hull. Tentacles, the captain realised. They were the things holding the boat out of the water.
He didn't have much time to dwelve on that fact however, as the boat began to shook again. Its aged woodworks let out rather disgusting croaking and gurdling sounds as it sank beneath the waves, the light fading into the dark waters. The Captain began shouting orders at his crew to get them away from whatever had just sunk the ship.
However, it was much too late as a series of large tentacles began erupting from the water, encasing the ship in a prison of sorts. Some lunged at the ship, wrapping themselves around their ship, destroying one of the mast and numerous sails in the process. Firemages on board tried fireing at the tentacles, but the cascading rain and their slimy surface protected them. Swords and spears couldn't cut or pierce their flesh.
The ship began sinking in the water, dragged down by the monster's giant tentacles underneath the waves. The crew and their captain both knew it was too late. This is where they would meet their end. Something broke the water surface.
A large segmented jaw, lined with numerous rows of sharp, needle-like teeth erupted from the water and closed in on the ship, which groaned briefly, before shattering in half. The broken wreck quickly sank beneath the waves, drowning out the screams of fear from its crew.

Quality Myth Badge by Amy Winters-Voss

Date of First Recording

Unkown

Date of Setting

Centuries ago

Related Locations

• The Great Eastern Ocean

Historical Basis

The Monsters

Large, squid-like monsters have long been presumed to live in the waters of the Great Eastern Sea, as they are confirned to do in many other parts of the world's ocean. This, combined with the high amount of ships that dissapear in transit has lead to this myth becoming very popular. While more rational minds point to the violent weather patterns and trecherous coastlines of the region to explain the numerous ship dissapearances, others say that monsters, either resembling sea dragons, or titanic squids in testimonies, destroy and sink ships that drift too far from the continent's shore. Some fringe beliefs say it may be a form of divine punishment against the hubris of man.

The ships

The Great Eastern sea in particular has claimed hundreads of ships, that were either sailing out to find new lands beyond the sea, or simply carried trading goods between ports. Many have left port in good order but never arrived at their destination. Reports of lost ships found drifting at sea with dead or missing crew are rare, but not unheard off. In rare cases, lost ships will even make their way back to the continent, with the crew gone and the cargo untouched. However, the vast majority of those lost ships are presumed to have been lost to the waves, or the monsters.

Cultural Impact

Reach

The myth is known across most of Arros, especialy in port town and cities. However, this story is much more important to the people living near the Eastern Sea, like in the Far-east region of Arros. So much so that before sailing into the sea, captains and crew members tell each other stuff like: "Don't follow the light" or "Glad you didn't follow the light" in reference to the story.

Effects

The myth and the numerous dissapearances of ships going too far east has killed much of the apetite for explorations in the region. This, combined with the fact that no land further east than the island of Ibfor, east of The Fork region was ever found, made it hard to justify further exploration. Many kingdoms have even ban the sailors from sailing east, afraid that it will bring bad omens to their lands.