The Shadow's Last Voyage

The merchant vessel "Night's Promise" slipped from the golden harbor of Bianda-Tul under the cover of a moonless night, its black sails barely distinguishable from the darkness around them. While the ship maintained the appearance of a standard trading vessel, its true purpose was far more clandestine. Aboard were seven Shadim emissaries, powerful mystics from the secretive guild, embarking on a mission that could reshape their understanding of ancient power.
The ship's captain, a weathered Vorcian woman named Mira Kar, had been chosen specifically for her knowledge of the treacherous southern routes to Nolavor. Her crew was hand-picked, each member vetted by The Shadim through months of careful observation. In the hold, disguised among legitimate trade goods, were artifacts and texts dating back to the height of Shadim power - items that the emissaries believed would help them unlock the secrets of their ancestors' leyline network.
Fouk served as an attendant to the emissaries, a role that belied their true purpose as an observer for rival factions within The Shadim. The guild's interest in Veylok, a mysterious shaman necromancer who claimed to have uncovered traces of the ancient network, had sparked intense internal debate. Some believed his discoveries could restore The Shadim to their former glory, while others feared the power such knowledge might grant their rivals.
The journey south was marked by increasingly strange phenomena. The stars seemed to shift in unfamiliar patterns, and the crew reported whispers in the dark that spoke of ancient paths between worlds. The emissaries spent long hours in their cabin, poring over texts and conducting rituals that made the air thick with unseen energies.
As they approached the jungle-shrouded coasts of Nolavor, tensions aboard the ship reached a breaking point. One of the emissaries had begun speaking in tongues, claiming visions of the ancient temples and the catastrophic events that had led to their abandonment. The others struggled to maintain control over powers that seemed to grow more unstable the closer they got to their destination.
It was during a ritual intended to locate Veylok's exact position that disaster struck. The emissaries, attempting to tap into lingering traces of the leyline network, inadvertently awakened something that had lain dormant in the deep. The sea itself seemed to react, waves rising against the natural flow of wind and current.
The "Night's Promise" found itself caught in an unnatural storm, one that defied all of Captain Kar's considerable experience. Lightning struck in impossible patterns, and the rain that fell burned like acid where it touched bare skin. Through the chaos, Fouk glimpsed shapes in the water - vast forms that seemed to pulse with the same dark energy that had corrupted the ancient temples.
The ship's destruction was methodical, almost deliberate. Each attempt to escape the storm's heart was thwarted by waves that moved with apparent intelligence. The hull, despite being reinforced with protective enchantments, was breached in multiple places simultaneously. As water flooded the lower decks, the emissaries' final ritual reached a catastrophic crescendo.
Fouk managed to stay afloat by clinging to a piece of the cargo - ironically, one of the very chests containing forbidden texts about the leyline network. The storm dissipated as quickly as it had formed, leaving no trace of the ship or its other occupants. For three days, Fouk drifted, surviving on rainwater and raw fish, watching the sun track across alien skies.
Whether by chance or some greater design, ocean currents carried them to the shores of Nolavor. The chest that had served as their life raft was lost in the final approach to land, dragged down by something that left the water boiling in its wake. Fouk crawled onto the beach with only their basic gear and the haunting memories of what they'd witnessed.
In the Years that followed, Fouk would sometimes wake from dreams of that final night, remembering details that seemed impossible - the way space itself had seemed to bend around the ship, the sounds of the emissaries chanting in languages that hurt to hear, the sight of ancient symbols blazing beneath the waves. They could never be certain how much was real and how much was the product of minds pushed to their limits by forces they'd foolishly tried to control.
The true nature of what happened to the "Night's Promise" remains a mystery. Some among The Shadim believe the ship was deliberately sabotaged by rival factions, while others suggest they encountered defenses left behind by their ancestors to protect the leyline network's secrets. A few whisper that Veylok himself somehow orchestrated the wreck, ensuring that any knowledge of his discoveries remained under his control.
Yet perhaps most disturbing are the rumors that occasionally reach Fouk's ears - tales of lights seen beneath the waves where the ship went down, and reports from fishermen who claim to hear chanting on moonless nights, carried across the water in voices that speak in tongues not meant for mortal ears. Whatever power the emissaries awakened that night seems to linger still, waiting in the depths for those foolish enough to go searching for the ancient paths between worlds.