Castaway's letter
Historical Details
Background
Everyone thought the Horizon Bringer would be a success, as she and her crew left the port of Verraja early spring 1844. The ship would do what everyone had dreamed about for centuries - to cross the waters outside the Five Nations and try to find more land. Everyone had high hopes that this time was the time it would work out. Until a strange bottle with some papers in it washed up onto the southern Asharian shores the summer of 1846.
Public Reaction
The public was devastated about the news of the failed mission. Many old fishermen reminded everyone they saw that they had told them so, and that the whole mission had been a folly. Many people agreed. Other people said that the ship had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time, and that next time would probably be successful.
Eventually, the general consensus was that trying a mission like this was potentially more dangerous and expensive than it was worth, and until this date no similar mission has been tried.
Eventually, the general consensus was that trying a mission like this was potentially more dangerous and expensive than it was worth, and until this date no similar mission has been tried.
Legacy
The letter that washed up on shore that summer warned about a creature most people thought was a myth. As a consequence, there were no ships that dared to sail too far from the mainland for centuries.
No one tried to send a rescue mission for Almira Vendish. It was deemed too risky, and it had been two years since she was stranded on the island anyways, so the almost non-existent chance she was still alive didn't outweigh the all too real risk of the sea monster eating the rescue mission.
No one tried to send a rescue mission for Almira Vendish. It was deemed too risky, and it had been two years since she was stranded on the island anyways, so the almost non-existent chance she was still alive didn't outweigh the all too real risk of the sea monster eating the rescue mission.
Castaway's letter
Sun's Flame, 1844
Maybe.
To whomever reads this, it's probably too late.
Maybe.
I've been stranded on this island for days - maybe even a whole month. My sense of time is slipping. Days drift together - I'm not sure what happens on which day any more.
I was a sailor on the Horizon Bringer, the most glorious and modern ship on the seas. She was brim full of new technology that was going to assure us a safe voyage into the great unknown. We thought she would keep us safe as we sailed past the vast, unknown seas to try to find new land.
We were wrong.
The old sailors had warned us, whispered over half-empty mugs of ale in dark tavern corners, spoken about the great monsters guarding the sea outside the Five Nations. We laughed at them, scoffed at their stories, thinking them only to be wild tales. How could these monstrosities they spoke of be real? I didn't believe a creature like that could exist - well, until I saw it with my own eyes.
First, the water turned black. It was like a giant void under the ship. Then, the wind stopped. Then, as there were no wind in her sail, the ship stopped. The silence was deafening. A silent mutter and a creak from the ship occasionally broke the silence. What seemed like hours passed by.
Then, it was like the sea started to boil under the ship. A huge tentacle, longer than the mast is tall, wrapped around the ship. The sound the ship made as the tentacle started pressing was nightmarish. The wood cracked, the men yelled. A brave soul started chopping on the tentacle to make it let go. He was the first one to die as another tentacle whipped up and grabbed him, then ripping him into the sea. Another tentacle grabbed the boat. The wood groaned, then a loud crack marked the end of the Horizon Bringer, as she split in two.
There was nothing we could do. All of us, all the crew, all the cargo was soon in the water. Everything was eerily calm except the screams from the panicking crew. There were no sign of the monster. Minutes passed, then, one by one, crew was pulled beneath the surface down under the pitch black water below. The screams were louder, we all tried to frantically get as far away as possible.
I survived. I don't know how I survived, my memory after this is gone. I remember waking up on an unknown island, somewhere out on the open sea. I can't see any other islands from my island. In the time I've spent here, I've eaten most of the fruits I've found on this island. I've lived on fruit juice and rain water as hydration. Now that the fruits are almost gone, I don't think I'll last much longer. Two days ago parts of the captain's desk floated upon the shores. That's where I found this paper.
I realize the hope that anyone would find me is slim, and that anyone would find me in time is but a miracle. Still, I have to try. I know that even though a rescue mission manages to get past the monster alive, finding this island is nigh impossible.
Please come rescue me. The screams from my fellow crew haunts me at night, and loneliness is starting to get to me.
Another great entry, I was a bit skeptical about the whole "Whom it may concern" but as I spent the night reading it over and over, I gotta say, I fell in love with it. A+ as well, good work!