The Maro's Call
"Beware Trucio's Passage, Captain.
"It's not the tides you need be worrying about, but the maro witches that will steal your soul. You'll hear them, 'fore you see them. Beautiful song, I'll give you that, but it's enough to pull your soul right out of your body. You'll want nothing more than to go to them, be it jumping over the rail or dashing your ship right onto the rocks. That's why Trucio's Passage is so dangerous. Many a wreck lies in the depths between the teeth, all on account of those maro."
"It's not the tides you need be worrying about, but the maro witches that will steal your soul. You'll hear them, 'fore you see them. Beautiful song, I'll give you that, but it's enough to pull your soul right out of your body. You'll want nothing more than to go to them, be it jumping over the rail or dashing your ship right onto the rocks. That's why Trucio's Passage is so dangerous. Many a wreck lies in the depths between the teeth, all on account of those maro."
Summary
It is said that Maro women have a peculiar kind of witchcraft, a siren's song that will draw in all those who hear it, only to murder their victims in cold blood.
The most prevalent location attributed to the Maro's Call is Trucio's Passage, a thin strip of deep water that passes between the jagged sea stacks known as the Teeth of Shelyayl. Countless scores of ships are said to have been wrecked upon the Teeth, taking their cargo and treasures to the depths, with hundreds upon hundreds of lives lost to the Maro sea witches.
Historical Basis
While the Maro do live in the region, they avoid the Teeth of Shelyal most adamantly. The true culprits behind the numerous shipwrecks and lost lives are a shoal of rusalka who call the Teeth home. They arrived some time in the late thirteenth-century, though no one knows when the first ship was lost to their predations.
Spread
While the first ship lost to "The Maro's Call" was indeed sunk in Trucio's Passage, and the most ships are lost there, a number of ships have been lost all along the shores and shoals of the Outfair Ocean between Omath and Orela.
Variations & Mutation
While most are quick to blame the Maro for the shipwrecks, the story has changed to also include other aquatic species, including the Valaira, the Cecaelia, and more. Primarily, it appears that the tellers of the story tend to use it to blame the species they dislike most in the region, including even land-dwelling species.
Cultural Reception
The Maro loath the story, believing it to be unjust and unfair. However, they have since learned to give ships a wide berth, so as not to find themselves the target of the mariners on board.
Humans are predominantly the ones who spready the story, with the Ezirandi being the most egregious in taking liberties with the details.
The Nuaira as a whole do not believe the myth, but there are many among the coastal cultures who will indulge in a telling.
Date of Setting
Ongoing
Related Locations
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