The Whorl

Watch out! Pull up the sails! Turn her starboard you idiots, we're gonna run right for it, don't!

— A Captain Near The Whorl

Overview

Appearance

The Whorl is both a force of nature and a thing of absolute beauty. Raging, rumbling hurricanes hover around it in large swaths as the center itself appears to be a rumbling vortex that sinks deep into the depths of the sea below. Raging winds going a minimum of 90kmph makes it nigh impossible for anyone to make the trek between the Land of Dragons and the Land of the Alps. Furthermore, there are legends of possible primordial beings that encircle the Whorl in large revolutions, searching for ships to eat whole.

Dragon Turtle

Among the many mythical beasts that are said to be existing near and around the Whorl, the most terrifying is by far the dragon turtles. These ginormous, heavily-scaled beasts are close in relation to the true dragons who fly in the sky. The main difference is that dragon turtles are entirely amphibious and are more prone to sinking ships than they are to hoard large amounts of gold inside of a cave. This is not to say that they feel no desire for gold, it is simply that gold is one of the many things that they can acquire at the bottom of the ocean.
Dragon turtles, however, are just as adept at sinking ships as they are at keeping them afloat. As such, some brave captains have actually tried to sail closer to the Whorl than would be recommended so that they can bargain with a dragon turtle and secure an ever-powerful ally to carry the ship to safety wherever it travels. Also, having the assistance of a dragon turtle makes it so that sails are no longer necessary, and thus the ship itself normally replaces that in favor of fortifications to the ship and further weaponry added on.