Shipwreck Bay

There is a common saying amongst most sailors "any port in a storm." I say most because anyone with half a brain would think twice before anchoring in a place called Shipwreck Bay, and they would likely think a third time upon learning that under the Accords doing so is considered to be one of the 5 acceptable reasons for mutiny.
— Jasper Cameron, Leader of The Bronze Ravens
  Like many of natures wonders, the splendor of Shipwreck Bay is best viewed from a distance. While the rumors that it is home to angry water elementals are of course a complete fabrication that makes it very real dangers all the more impressive. It is here that, through a unique quirk of tidal harmonics and wind swell, the largest waves in the world regularly crash upon the unyielding earth.   It is in theory possible to safely anchor here for an emergency resupply, but doing so requires detailed knowledge of the weather for hundreds of miles, an accurate tidal calendar, and no small amount of luck (or a wizard or other caster of significant power). You see, during cyclone season winds from a storm beyond the horizon will push a swell of water towards the bay. Should this coincide with high tide it is possible for water level to rise over 100ft before cresting and slamming into the cliffs around the bay, along with anything that happened to be occupying that water.   While there is no surface settlement, there is a dwarfhome with an entrance roughly a half-mile inland who are more than willing to clean up most of the bounty nature delivers. They have even made the occasion of a new ship making port into a bit of a game, albeit a rather macabre one. They bet how high up the cliffs the ship will be tossed.
Aye, the current record is held by the Flyin' Goblin (don't know what it was called afore we named it that). Set back it 3914 during the Cyclone Tide. It'll be hard to beat with most ships bein' bigger nowadays but I have faith that with the taller masts someone will break the 200ft mark if we get a right wale of a storm.

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Jul 13, 2024 01:02 by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull

You know, I might be tempted to commit mutiny too if my captain wanted to stop somewhere named Shipwreck Bay. I kind of love the schadenfreude of the dwarves, too.

Emy x
Explore Etrea
Jul 13, 2024 12:15

This whole article may have started with with the dwarf game. I just needed to figure out how to make it work. They are by and large where a good deal of my dark humor finds its home, because as a race whose general identity in fantasy revolves around mining (a fairly dangerous profession) I just imagine them being the medieval equivalent of veterans/healthcare workers.

Check out some of my summer camp articles, like the dangerous flying jackalope or dragon wasps. Or, for something more light-hearted, there is the whimsical language Gobbledygook and Jaden's interesting job as a guano polisher.