Advice for traders in the Sea of Dread

A conversation (actually a monologue) between senior Captain Maddom Eneterias and junior Captain Polin Jalenta at the "Linton Navigators' Restplace", Port Tenobar, AC 1000.

My dear Polin, I see the House has sent you to take over the command of the Armstead, my beloved ship. It is a special ship, you know: the fastest blue-water large sailing ship of the whole fleet.

I had been a successful merchant in my early career so I managed to persuade Linton House¹ to build her following the instructions of a sage from our odd village of Armstead. How this ever-smiling guy from the northern side of the Cruth Mountains knew how to build ships is out of my knowledge, but he really knew what he was doing.

I crossed most of the Sea of Dread with this ship for almost twenty monsoons, and would have done it for twenty monsoons more, if only all the heads of that hydra would have been of the same opinion.

But now, back to business. Polin, I read here you never went farther than Thyatis and Jahore, your travelling being mostly confined to the Sunlit Sea. Typical. Remember that any real seamen, really wishing to see if the world ends at the horizon cannot miss to face the maelstroms lingering in the misty center of the Abyss.

Anyway, they told me you are one of the most experienced captains of the House so - before you decide to end up your career enlisting in that Minrothad Navy which apparently is all the rage among you rookies - the House wants you to run a profitable trade across the Sea of Dread, just like I did until a mere season ago.

You are going to assume command of my ship and my crew, so I'd better to give you a crash course on what you'll face on - and in - the high seas.

What I'm going to tell you is a mix of what I saw with my eyes and what I read in the rare books I seldom happened to trade - by the way, insure you are always provided with some of those convoluted scrolls for reading languages: they are an invaluable tool for your new job.

Oh, and be careful: everything you are going to hear from me by no means will exhaust the list of perils and opportunities you may find in the terrible, charming waters just south of here.

Of course, if you feel the need to get more nerdy details on the best way to distinguish between an hungry kraken and a clamped school of goby fishes just have a stop at Newkirk High² and try to talk with some of the senior professors – provided they can spare some time for you, of course. On my part, I prefer direct experience.

[Image: Map of trade routes in the sea of Dread]

The basics of trade in the Sea of Dread

Let's start with a few words about your job: the Sea of Dread is roughly round, just like a huge pool, with a single metropolis on its northeastern side - Thyatis City - which will buy everything you are going to sell her, and about a dozen of cities scattered around the pool's perimeter acting as trade hubs to the inland territories or to the nearby seas. Such “Gate Cities” will both buy and sell everything they can get their hands on.

The Sea itself is not an easy place: it is filled with dangers and obstacles of all sorts - from bad weather to pirates and monsters - and it is crossed by three fierce competitors, namely traders from Minrothad, Cathos and Kastelios.

From your perspective the best way to make a profit is to buy high-valuable, lightweight, non-bulky goods in faraway places and then sell them in Thyatis City or in any of the gate cities, always taking the safest and fastest route and selling at lower prices than your competitors.

If the goods you sell are rare you may expect to charge a 5% markup for every 50 miles of travelling, a fare that you could easily double if the goods are unique to a particular area.

[Image: Map of marketable goods in the sea of Dread

http://pandius.com/Sea_of_Dread_Trades_04_vertical.png

First choice marketable goods

The best marketable goods you should look for are end-products such as jewels, art objects, rare books, fine dresses - especially if made of precious material such as silk or furs - superior weapons and armors and - of course - magic objects. Most of these goods require a pretty large economy in order to be produced, so they are usually found in large cities and extensive ruin structures.

About ruins: you might try to hire some adventurers to complement you and your best crewmen and explore the ancient ruins yourself but it is far safer, and ultimately more rewarding, to attend to your business and to buy the same findings by the same adventurers once they get back to civilization: prices are higher and you may have to hire some more experts in magic and lore to study the findings but, in general, this approach is much cheaper than having to repair a damaged ship and hiring new crewmen.

Second choice marketable goods

On a second choice you should look for precious raw materials such as gems and semi-precious stones like amber, corals and pearls. Ivory, tea, coffee, dried spices and dyes are good choices as well, while you should trade furs only if you are sure they do not spoil during the trip. The same is true about magical ingredients, especially if they come from recently killed monsters: always hire a competent alchemist if you go after monster parts, trust me.

Precious metals like platinum, gold and silver are, in general, received as payment for your goods, so you'll likely carry them on your return trip: I’m sure you already know very well this part so I’ll just give you just a couple of advices. It' my firm opinion it's better not to muscle in the whole raw precious metal trade: loading just-mined raw gold in your ship is the best way to burden your merchantman, lose maneuverability and to attract pirates like seagulls on my yesterday's dinner.

Moreover, many countries strangely believe they have exclusive mining rights on certain territories, even if you actually mined the minerals and they did not care to exploit the veins themselves until a mere minute before: their ships may easily seize your cargo or impose an ultra-high taxation should they discover you in their waters.

Third choice marketable goods

Finally, on a last-resort choice, you should look for fragile and potentially perishable luxury goods such as fine wines, spirits, glassware, exotic foods and perishable spices. I'd put live monsters and live exotic animals in this category as well: remember they pose the additional danger of escaping.

If possible, move such goods across short distances and take the safest route. Avoid low latitudes, if possible, as warm temperatures and likely thunderstorms may spoil your cargo –or let it evade - in a very short time.

Exceptional circumstances

Avoid loading any other good I did not mention so far. Moving common goods - even weapons - and foodstuff from a place to another will give low profits to Linton House, and it's better suited for short-range trade with less expensive ships.

Of course you may think it's a good idea to sell food in a famine-stricken country, to offer weapons and armors to some war-torn border province and to provide tools to a newly-founded colony. The problem is - my dear Polin – that, under the same such exceptional circumstances, you're not assured to be paid off once you unload your cargo.

Such an occurrence should arise, I believe it's way better to move people instead of goods: move clerics to the famine, warriors to the war - they'll also help you in defending your ship, by the way - and colonists to the wilderness. And get paid in advance for their transportation, it's a much more rewarding business.

Just remember to buy plenty of food and water for the extra passengers and to hire a few additional clerics to deal with the inevitable diseases and wounds. Try also not to overload the ship: shipwrecked people tend to blame the captain, if he is still alive.

Slave trade

A final note: slave trade. Trust me, avoid it. The Alphatian Empire is too far away to be profitable and the Sindhis’ institutionalized "slaves" (they call them Kulyias³) are mostly an internal matter of their caste system.

Actually there is a single, huge market where slaves can be sold - the Thyatian Empire, which basically means Thyatis City.

Captives from the Thyatian Hinterlands and from the Alphatian borderlands on the Isle of Dawn are the main sources of the increasing slave population of the Empire⁴. A further complement is provided by Ostlanders and Caerdanian raiders, while independent pirates add their little contribution looking for slaves in both Thanegioth Archipelagos and in the northern Davanian coast.

I strongly suspect that several unscrupulous Minrothaddans are involved in slave trade despite the official declaration of their leaders that Minrothad is out of the slave business⁵. I believe the Cathosians don’t mingle in slave trade as they were themselves enslaved centuries ago and didn't enjoy the experience, while I'm not sure about Kastelios' policy on this matter: most of the area around them is a hunting ground for slaves so, likely, some Kastelians may be involved in the business.

Why slave trade is not a business, you ask? Well, if you start trading slaves then a lot of people will begin to think that you may look at them as a potential "trade goods", and will act accordingly. Most people west of Thyatis - including Darokin - oppose slavery as they are descendant of populations who were enslaved in the past. If you trade slaves your not slave-related business reputation will be disrupted in a very short time and you'll end up despised and attacked on sight by the halfings, the elves, and the Ierendians.

Moreover, the bulk of slave trade to Thyatis is carried out by the Thyatian themselves and by their allies - most notably Ostlanders. I bet they would not like a new competitor in this field.

Where to sell goods

First of all, you have to understand that the whole area is experiencing a real golden age in trade and exploration, which is opening untold opportunities to any enterprising merchant wishing to move goods to the gate towns.

Large parts of northern Davania coastline were recently opened to the northern markets thanks to Thyatian colonists⁶, Heldannic holy warriors⁷ and Kastelian traders⁸. The end of the Isolation Act of Minrothad is leading to the reopening of old trade routes⁹ in the Sea of Dread, which are soon followed by expeditions from Karameikos¹⁰, Cathos and Ierendi¹¹.

Minor seafaring actors like the Black Eagle's Barony¹² and Hule¹³ are right now sending their exploration parties across the sea: even the dwarves of Rockhome¹⁴ have recently attempted to explore the Isle of Dread looking for a place to establish a new colony!

The Thanegioth Archipelago is the big prize: anyone who will manage to establish a few safe ports of call on it will have the keys to the whole pool. Unluckily, the area is infested with dangerous monsters and hostile people - including cannibals: Thyatians would be the most advantaged thanks to their new colony in their “Hinterlands” if not for the hate of the people of Nueva Ispanola¹⁵ – escaped Thyatians persecuted a century ago who are just seizing the moment for revenge.

I attended myself a meeting with the indigenous people of Tanaroa confederacy in which they expressed their desire to be more opened to foreign influx¹⁶ but, also, when I was a naïve rookie seaman, I had to help evacuate a few beleaguered survivors of the Aquapopulus War between the Twaelars and the human colonists¹⁷.

[Image: Map of the gate towns and the main sea routes of the Sea of Dread

http://pandius.com/5_Sea_of_Dread_Routes_Fig_3.png

Thyatis City is not a gate to anywhere except for herself: her population is larger than that of many nearby kingdoms, and she consumes any kind of goods at an alarming rate, goods which are paid with gold and precious metals taken from the rest of the huge Thyatian empire. Everybody wants to sell goods in Thyatis City, at least until they are paid off. Sometimes I'm scared about what will happen to this city should the sea routes be broken or the provinces rebel against the central power.

Gate cities, located in the Sea of Dread or in its vicinity, are - clockwise from Thyatis City - Vestland, Freiburg, West Portage, Beitung, Kastelios, Tanakumba, Putnabad, our nice town of Port Tenobar and Specularum. Specularum is the newest gate city, thanks to the recent opening of the Duke's Road leading to Selenica¹⁸, so its full potential is yet to be explored - maybe a good first task for you, my young Captain.

I believe Raven Scarp and Helskir might one day become good gate cities as well, but Raven Scarp is still too intermingled with Thyatian colonial policies to attract foreign traders, while Helskir is periodically razed to the ground by contending Thyatians and Alphatians¹⁹, so it is not safe to stop there for too long.

Trade competitor: Kastelios

The city of Kastelios is a good place to sell goods, as it is the gate to the scattered city-states of the northwestern Davanian plains, but it is also a competitor on its own as she fields her own strategy of buying luxuries everywhere she can and selling them to other gate cities. A very dangerous combination for our businesses, I must say.

The strategic position of Kastelios - just in front of Thanegia Island - also provides to Kastelian traders a fast access to the exotic goods of the Savage Coast and the Addakian Sound. It is a common sight in Yavdlom to meet a Yavi intent on predicting a bright future to a newly disembarked Kastelian captain. While I believe most farseers actually do it for the generous tip they receive from the captain, I must say the farseers are rarely wrong - one of them once predicted for me "a hand of decades in sail and a hand of decades at anchor", and now I'm afraid he will be right.

Even if I’m not blessed with the prescience of a farseer I strongly believe the Kastelians will become the most important middlemen in the Sea of Dread within a few decades, and that's why I think we Darokinian captains should lobby Linton House to build more blue-water sailing ships, as soon as possible.

Kastelian ships puzzle me, by the way: they have a mix of rowing and sailing features which I'd deem impractical, if not inefficient, but they seem to do their job very well.

Trade competitor: Minrothad

As I talked about Kastelios, let's have a quick look at our other two competitors.

Minrothaddans - you know them very well - owe their fortunes to their superior shipbuilding abilities.

Their ships are really the fastest and safest in the high seas: their building is a closely guarded secret in which I suspect the elves are involved²⁰.

Their ridiculous Isolation Act has been a true blessing to foreign traders – including us - for more than a century but, since they dropped it in the last years, things are becoming progressively worse for our businesses.

Thanks to their better navy, Minrothaddans make contact with any potential trading partner faster than us and then say to them:

"Do you want to sell your coconuts to Thyatis City with such a clunky boat? Aren’t you aware of the many dangers of the Sea of Dread? You'll barely escape with your life, trust us. Just let us do this trade for you! Sell us the coconuts and we will bring them safely to Thyatis’ docks. Oh, by the way, we’ll charge you with a 18% tax, just to keep our fleet in working order, nothing special. And, before we forget, you’ll maybe be interested in buying some fine jewelry we keep in our warehouses in Trader's Island. Just let one of our pilots guide you there - waters in our country are very treacherous - and we'll be glad to show you all our merchandise! The pilot's rent will cost you a purely nominal tithe - just about 18% of the final price for any traded good".

I heard tales of a Minrothaddan clipper who recently made contact with barbarian horsemen in a northeastern subarctic land called New Thonia, a quarter world away from here²¹. I also put my trust into what rumors say: the Thyatian town of West Portage is secretly controlled by guildsmen from MInrothad²², which also pay the many bandits infesting the famous "ship land route" to East Portage²³. This is unfair practice at its best, my young Polin, but it gives you a hint of the true power of these people.

In short, as you already know, avoid selling anything to Minrothad - avoid even going around their archipelago - at least until you can afford the cost and the risk to sell there your goods yourself.

Trade competitor: Cathos²⁴

Finally, we have the Cathosians. Strange bunch of people, indeed, mostly interested in trading along the Davanian coast.

They have an odd motto: "Our ships will always find the route" and I have to admit that it seem to be true. Cathosians make use of sailing ships only, usually of small or medium size and with a stripped-down crew. They seem not to care very much about following well-established routes, and they place their trading offices extremely separated from each other - I heard rumors about faraway colonies of Cathos located at unreasonable distances from home, such as in front of the coast of Minaea²⁵, or down along the savannah of tropical Davania – the southern tropic, I mean.

I suspect water or air magic – most likely some kind of elemental stuff - is strongly involved in their careless approach to the sea but, if you ask them, it is always just a matter of "skill and luck".

Cathosian trade network is so scattered that their merchantmen actually pose a limited threat to businesses focused in the Sea of Dread but, sometimes, they tend to unexpectedly outrun you in the race to the gate cities, so always beware of them.

I heard the sailors of Cathos have a strong dislike for galleys, longships and others vessels moved by rows. They say such ships remind them of the huge galleys of slavers moved by minotaurs which were used during the final years of their former ruler, the long-lost sea empire of Vacros²⁶, about four centuries ago.

Other potential competitors

Now that I’m on it I’d like to add some notes about two more potential competitors: Thyatians and Ierendians.

Thyatis

Thyatians are able to field a huge fleet - almost six hundred units, to my knowledge²⁷ - but their ships are mostly concerned with the administration of their colonies, where most of the trade is carried out. They pose a little threat to foreign traders, until such traders behave correctly in Thyatian waters and help supplying the never ending needs of their hungry capital.

Ierendi

Ierendians are likely to possess the best crews in the world - loyal, brave and trained sailors who will not stop at anything - just make sure to have as much of them on the Armstead, by the way. Unfortunately their waters are infested with nasty pirates who pin down most of their businesses and deter most foreign ships from approaching the Ierendian archipelago.

Should the Ierendians manage to get rid of the pirates I think they would become a naval power to be dealt with.

Pirates and raiders

Pirates

In my maps I took note of every pirate den I incurred personally or I have heard of. For sure many more exist hidden here and there. Also remember that, once in open waters, trade competitors and pirates often tend to mingle.

Now, the menace posed by pirates in the blue waters calls for a relatively large ship, with at least an user of arcane magic and a cleric - by the way, our Elimon and Rodarsky are good and experienced fellows, trust them and you'll see how they always manage to earn their pay. Fire and long-range weapons - while imprecise - often discourage pirates from approaching, that's why the Armstead fields a light catapult and two ballistas.

Some pirates are supported by the leadership of nearby countries, such as in Jaibul and in the Five Shires, so do not expect any compensation by their governments after your complaints. The lands of the hins are a very peculiar case: they say they must attack foreign ships because their waters are closed off from the most profitable trades²⁸. I say their waters are closed off because they attack foreign ships. Anyway, thanks to our Diplomatic Corps, Darokinian ships do not suffer from hin attacks: I bet you already made many profitable businesses with the Shires on your previous assignments.

By the way, a skillful diplomat is always a valuable resource In businesses; unluckily, diplomats tend to get too much involved in local politics after some time. Just see if you manage to get the help of one of them, sooner or later, but don’t get too attached to it.

Raiders

Raiders pose a slightly different kind of issue: they seldom attack ships in open sea unless they “provide a fair fight”, but they become a real danger if decide to raid that precise spot you are docked into.

Two loosely related groups of raiders exist in the Sea of Dread: the Ostlanders - who control the northeastern routes to the Strait of Helskir - and the Caerdanians²⁹, who control most of the southeastern route to the Sea of Ochalea.

Ostlanders have a strange sense of honor and will not explicitly steal from you, but they believe it's fair to pick up your goods once you are defeated in battle.

The Caerdanians are slightly less scrupulous: they assume any ship entering the Strait of Furmenglaive to be a trespasser and will send their “navy” to "escort" the offender out of the Strait. This escort service usually costs a tenth of a ship's cargo. If the captain refuses to pay, the ship is assumed to be an enemy and a boarding attempt ensues.

It’s worth noticing that Ostlanders and Caerdanians usually enslave the people they defeat.

Both groups of raiders are approved, and somewhat sponsored, by the Thyatians as they help in providing slaves to their capital. Ships of the Empire usually have little to fear when crossing the straits to Helskir, Freiburg, Furmenglaive and Ochalea.

Natural Dangers and monsters

Now that I introduced you about the most important hindrances posed by human activities, I'd better start talking about natural dangers and monsters. The Sea of Dread offers plenty of them.

It is usual among blue water seamen to divide the Sea of Dread into four regions: the Sunlit Sea to the north, the Davanian Shallows to the south, the Eastern Sea of Dawn to the east and the proper Sea of Dread in the western and central regions of the pool.

The Sunlit Sea

The Sunlit Sea is the region you know best, so I'll not pull out too much on it. The main hazards here are pirates. Avoid the Minrothad archipelago if you still wish to make a profit. Just remember that if you really wish to reach Trader's Isle then you are forced to stop at Kobos, Gaamo, Specularum, Kerendas, Thyatis City, Gray Bay and Fort Southpoint to embark a Minrothaddan pilot. These guys are the only ones who know how to properly master the "Lanes" - as they call their sea routes – and manage reach safely Minrothad City while dealing with mists, reefs, sandbars and dead calms.

[Image: Close-up of the Lanes of Minrothad

http://pandius.com/5_Minrothad_Lanes_fig_4.png

I'll just give you some more information about the easternmost and westernmost parts of the Sunlit Sea: the kara-kara archipelago and the Azcan Terrace, respectively.

The Kara-kara archipelago³⁰

The Kara-Kara archipelago is infested by the Kal-murus, sort of evil air elementals. They bring warm winds to the islands, which enjoy an almost tropical climate, but the offset is a bloody one. Kal-murus are a very aggressive species: they prey on the most defenseless ships, push the sails on a crash course to the nearest reef and then they gladly proceed to kill the entire crew.

The Kara-karas, humanoids inhabiting the archipelago, do not help at all in keeping their waters safe for navigation, as they rush en-masse to assault any ship taken by the kal-murus and stranded close enough to one of their islands.

I must say it is way better to be a prisoner of the kara-karas than to be outright killed by the kal-murus, even if kara-karas are famed cannibals. At least they give you some time to plot an escape. I once escaped from captivity by stealing one of their canoes - which the kal-murus somewhat recognize and do not attack - and, ultimately, I must agree with the Thyatian Admiralty: the whole archipelago does not possess anything worth enough to compensate for the loss of a single ship and her crew - even if the islands are dotted with very ancient and unexplored temples obviously not built by the kara-karas.

The Azcan Terrace

The Azcan Terrace is nothing more than the westernmost extension of the Sunlit Sea undersea terraces. Merfolks from the westernmost Undersea Baronies say the seafloor is inhabited by hostile - while somewhat dull - crabmen³¹.

I do not like to poke in the petty quarrels of the undersea races so I'm not able to confirm their statement. For sure these waters are rich in whales, especially just south the Atruaghin Clans' coast. I once read in a rare book from Jahore that the Azcan Terrace was once a thriving continental forest which has been brought under water by an untold cataclysm³². It seems that a warlike people who called themselves "the Azcans" built cities and temples on this land: I suppose too many of them were wiped out by the cataclysm and their people died out; maybe their only remnants are the aggressive members of the Jackal Tribe along the coast of Atruaghin. While there is some potential in ivory and handcraft trade here I’d suggest you to stay away from these barbaric guys as well.

The Western Sea of Dawn

Now, let's talk about the Western Sea of Dawn. Polin, please, try to stay awake as this is not a boring part at all.

This sea is seldom called Oceania³³ - a name I read dates back to the ancient times of Blackmoor and somehow shifted to indicate nowadays a large island far to the east.

For sure the greatest danger you may find in the Western Sea of Dawn - much greater than pirates and Ostland raiders - are the Dendans.

The Dendans³⁴

Dendans are a race of intelligent whales, much more intelligent than the average lot.

Their breeding waters are in the northern part of the Western Sea of Dawn, where the cold current from the north mixes with the warm current coming from the south³⁵. Sailing in these waters is not easy, as you may guess, and storms from the north are a real danger, especially in winter³⁶. Winds and sea currents strongly favor north-to-south navigation along the coast of the Northern Reaches and south-to-north navigation along the Isle of Dawn western coast. That’s why we have Vestlanders in Thyatis and Thyatians in Helskir, by the way.

Water here is so full of marine life you may just lower an empty bucket close to the surface and a fish will jump into it. The same water is very, very, often shrouded in fog and heavy mist. Land breezes from the east usually keep the heaviest fogs away from the coast of the Isle of Dawn, but if you try to cross the sea to reach the continent of Brun you'll end up surrounded by a grey cap within half a day of sailing from the coast. Mists seems to be produced by the mixing of the warm and the cold current, so they are always present above the sea, with the exceptions of days of strong gales.

Back to Dendans: they hate humans and, during the mating seasons, tend to sink on sight any ship they may incur on. Such hate is due to active hunting by the people of Northern Reaches, as they are able to extract from Dendan corpses a precious magical ingredient used to make underwater breathing potions. Young Dendans are an easier prey, so you may figure out the everyday bitter struggles between humans and whales for the young cetaceans. An alchemist of Redstone Castle once told me that just one in ten Dendan dead bodies is brought him in good enough conditions to actually extract the magical ingredient. What a waste.

What is worse, the pious men of Ylaruam are not of any help in this as too many of them wish to emulate a legendary enterprise of Al-Kalim³⁷ and they will fervently take the sea to single-handedly kill a large Dendan to extract the oil. Foolish guys.

The Misty Route

The abundance of fish is the main reason for which the good Ylari people possess such a large fleet – about 200 ships I know of ³⁸.

The great amount of fish they manage to catch in the misty waters is an important food source for their arid land.

The most skilled of these fishermen know of a risky direct route to the Isle of Dawn which will shorten by many days the whole trip to West Portage and back. The "Misty Route", as they call it, is only for the most skilled, brave and desperate crews, as it requires a full day of crossing in dense fog, cutting just in the middle of the Dendan breeding grounds³⁹.

Bring always with you plenty of warriors and at least a trustworthy Alasyian navigator should you decide to try the Misty Route.

The Shadow Coast

The Shadow Coast and the whole western coast of the Isle of Dawn are poor in fish, likely due to the warm waters coming from the Davanian Coast and the Strait of Furmengalive.

That's why there are not so many settlements around here. This could become a danger in case your ship is short of food or you need urgent repairs.

The Strait of Furmenglaive

The Strait of Furmenglaive is a dangerous place: unfortunately, it is also the shortest route between Thyatis City and Beitung, which is the gate to Edairo and the Alatian Islands, so you must be ready to cross it should the need arises.

If you are entering the strait from the Western Sea of Dawn you'll face Caerdanian raiders on your left and a dangerous whirlpool bordering a long rocky cliff on your right.

Caerdanians know very well how far they can go without being caught in the treacherous currents produced by the whirlpool, and they'll take every care not to let your ship cross the Strait "unattended" by them.

Raiders usually content themselves to board your ship and ask for a tithe between 5% and 20% of your cargo value but, when facing dire times, they'll search for any excuse to capture the ship and sell your crew as slaves. As I already told you, they are pretty similar to Ostlander raiders, just a bit less honorable. On approaching Castle Furmenglaive, the Caerdanian crews may include odd guys like werewolves, lizardmen and even undead, just tell your men to keep cool.

As both sides of the Strait formally belong to the Thyatian Empire, Thyatian ships are rarely approached by the raiders - especially if the ship embarks a unit of legionaries on "transfer duty".

Some Thyatian captains harbored in Northern Ochalea usually allow you to use their ships to safely cross the strait for a “modest” fee of about 10% of your cargo value - per voyage. Just ponder your odds and make your decision.

Central and Western Sea of Dread

The Serpent Peninsula

The westernmost part of the Sea of Dread is subjected to monsoons in summer, which strongly favor south-to-north navigation, and by hurricanes coming from the east in winter.

In both cases, it is very difficult to reach Tanakumba and Kastelios sailing down the coast from Sind⁴⁰. It is much easier going in the opposite direction when there is the right climate. This is another little detail that will support future Kastelian penetration in the Known World markets, trust me.

Storm giants exploit the monsoon season to go fishing in the shallow waters around the Serpent Peninsula⁴¹. They hover their clouds at low altitude and then they lower some impressive kilometres-long nets, moving their clouds like trawlers. It is believed they then sell most of the fish they catch to other giants' communities who live in landlocked countries.

Such "fisher giants" tend to stay away from islands, sandbars and the coastline: they prefer to catch the big fish that roam the deeper waters. Expert seamen know this and tend to sail closer to the coastline, but rookies may venture too far and incur into a net, damaging it along with their ship. Giants may become very vocal in asking for a refund of the damage, which usually stands up to some thousand of gold coins.

The central part of the Sea of Dread is dominated by three features: the Dragon's Teeth Reef, the Abyss and the Gyre.

The Gyre⁴²

The Gyre is an insidious place: it is a vast swath of sea where currents run around in a great circle, hundreds of miles wide.

The area is crossed by gentle breezes and it is usually bathed with sun. Sea currents in themselves are not very strong, and they could easily be mastered by a sailing ship with a good navigator on board - galleys and longships should better stay off, as the currents may push them a hundred miles off-route before they could manage to cross the area. Even if weather is a minor hindrance, the weeds and the monsters of the Gyre are not.

Weeds are not a danger in itself: basically they are harmless, long stretches of algae which grow in the Gyre and usually stay afloat there, herded by the currents on the boundaries. Unluckily, they have a tendency to intermingle and form localized patches of net-like fabric, which can trap any ship foolish enough to traverse them - and I must say that only experienced crews are able to distinguish between the weed patches that may be safely crossed from those that are not.

Weeds are a huge breeding ground for a lot of marine life, most notably eels. While there are plenty of common eels and they do not pose a threat to anyone, giant eels and various eel predators usually do. Sharks, giant jellyfishes, giant octopuses, giant sea serpents and hydras are a common sight here.

The most clever among such monsters learn to hunt around the densest patches of weed, knowing that, sooner or later, suitable prey will be caught by the weeds and immobilized for them.

I heard rumors of savage sea folks - tritons, mermen and the like - living in the weeds: I believe they are to common sea folk as the jungles' savages are to ordinary people.

A druid I once ferried across the western sea once told me that the Gyre is actually the "seed" of most of the hurricanes hitting the western part of the Sea of Dread and the Serpent Peninsula. I have no clue about the details of such a process, but I suppose cloud and storm giants actually exploit such feature to move around.

The Dragon’s Teeth Reef ⁴³

The Dragons' Teeth Reef is a formidable coral barrier splitting the Sea of Dread in two.

The barrier was slowly built by tiny corals upon an ancient mountain chain - a learned sea elf I befriended once told me the reef was already there when their people reached the Sunlit Sea, shortly after the Great Rain of Fire⁴⁴.

The reef is almost an insuperable obstacle, except for a few gaps just south of the Three Sister's Keys⁴⁵. The Keys? Avoid these islands, if you do not like to be randomly teleported across the Sea of Dread. I know many funny stories about this odd phenomenon, but I suppose it is not very funny when this happens to you.

The Reef provides lots of fish, sure, and also marine monsters who eat the fish, and abyssal creatures who did not expect the sudden rise in the seafloor and got lost, and distrustful Twaelar scout parties going north and irritable crabmen colonists going south⁴⁶ and the occasional cannibalistic lizardmen group which just decided to get a life among the coral reefs. Oh, did I mention the scavenging pirates? Avoid the area.

The Abyss

The Abyss is the deepest part of the Sea of Dread. It is mostly unknown to us, if not for the effects it produces on the surface.

The good people of the Undersea Kingdom have a sacred fear of the Abyss and they very seldom venture into it. Sea Giants are more enterprising. Once I helped one of them, someone Jubbulnul'ulul'ul or so, and she gave us some information in exchange. She said the Abyss was carved by the Immortals⁴⁷ and it is divided into layers: there is the layer of sea giants, then the layer of devilfishes, then of the sperm whales, then of the krakens, then of the water elemental creatures⁴⁸, then who knows.

For sure, all these layers become quite intermingled when there is a sudden rise in the seafloor, such as close to the Dragon's Teeth Reef or to the Bararna Guyot⁴⁹. Beware of this place. The Guyot is entirely under water, but its sharp elevation forces marine monsters and elemental creatures to rise from the deep and reach the surface.

How do you recognize you are sailing above the Guyot, you ask? This is pretty easy. The Guyot is flanked on both sides by two large semi-permanent maelstroms - an adventurer told me they go deep to the elemental realm of water, if you are daring enough to fall into them to have a check.

So, just sail way east of the Burning Mountain and just west of the floating weeds of the Gyre and you'll avoid all of them. Remember, the Burning Mountain is a danger in itself: while it is said that pure gold may sometimes be found spouting from this volcano⁵⁰, its clouds of poisonous smoke may kill you and your crew dozens of miles away from the mountaintop, if the winds are unfavorable.

Maybe for the first crossings you’d better hire a Thyatian navigator: they established this route to their Hinterlands and they know it very well.

The Davanian Shallows

According to ancient lore, and supported also by undersea explorers of the Twaelar empire, the Davanian Shallows were once an emerged land, the northernmost tip of the continent of Davania which sunk after the Great Rain of Fire⁵¹.

It was once part of the great, temperate, primeval Forest of Ka⁵² of fabled legend, as can be seen by the large number of tree stumps that sprout out everywhere if you care to dig just a bit on the seabed.

Rather primitive tribes or Neathar savages inhabiting the area around Garganin have legends about "the day Ka turned away his head and the sea ate the forest and all of our cousins".

The Twaelars are trying to add this region to their empire - they believe there is a great potential for kelp plantations and sea horses' pastures, while I'm afraid these are not very marketable goods on the surface. Nevertheless, I heard they are having a lot of troubles because of undeads and all kinds of vermins hidden in the seafloor mud.

To my knowledge, the only people who successfully managed to establish some colonies here are the people of Cathos, who settled the so-called Hills of Ka⁵³ - actually an archipelago of small islands - which were likely a proper hill chain before the Cataclysm.

The Katonates ⁵⁴

The Shallows are crossed by the Katonates, nice undersea fellows who built a floating city just to trade with us and the Twaelars. They belong to the race of the knas. Should you incur into them do not hesitate to stop and have a nice and profitable conversation with them.

To my experience they are very fair traders and - for a small fee - they could also provide you with the most updated info about Cathosian and Kastelian movements in the area and about the last sighting of the dangerous Eeliistiis.

The Eeliistiis ⁵⁵

Who are the Eeliistiis, you ask? You'd call them "sirens" or, at least, they would look very similar to them to you. These monsters just place themselves on some rocky reef, the upper half of their bodies looking as astonishing beautiful women, and singing their charming songs. They just want you and your crew to join them - as potential mates or as food, it is almost the same to them. Once you get in their hands you'll never come back, for sure. They are a major hindrance on the routes to the Hinterlands and western Ochalea.

Arentela

At last, a few words about the mythical island of Arentela⁵⁶, just offshore Ochalea. It is a magical place, inhabited by dragons and dragon kins. Its most distinguishing feature is the silvery dome which entirely surrounds it, reflecting the outside like a mirror and preventing any view of the island itself. I know of a few captains who used to sail close to the mirror to check for damages to the hull of their ships.

The mirror can be lifted only by the rulers of the island, otherwise anyone trying to cross the barrier will find himself instantly teleported on the opposite side of the dome, with no hope to ever reach the island.

Until a few decades ago the dragons of Arentela occasionally traded with foreign merchants. People from Arentela possess a very fine silver jewelry and many exotic luxury goods. Unluckily, the weretigers living on the Celestial Territories of Ochalea found a way to bypass the magical mirror and started a unending war against the Arentelans. Most battles take places inside the dome, so they are not visible to the external passer-by, but nearby waters are dangerous as the rafts manned by weretigers going to Arentela and flying dragons on patrol are a rather common sight here. As you may guess, none of them are friendly with neutral traders.

Well, I suppose I topped off with it. You are now ready to try to gain some big money on the high sea, and you'll likely not be killed at the first crossing. Just take care of my ship and my crew and - remember - I have enough savings to afford a whacky ring of regeneration for myself, if only I manage to get my hands on one of it.

Who knows, maybe that Yavi farseer was wrong after all, and I could come back to the Armstead way sooner than expected, to relieve you of the burden of command. Better you behave with her!

References

1 From GAZ11 “The Republic of Darokin” by Scott Haring. Linton House is the merchant house of Darokin most specialized in sea trade.

2 From a table in TM2 “Eastern Countries Trail Map” game accessory. It is a university specialized in sea exploration.

3 See “Champions of Mystara: Explorer’s Manual” (by Bruce Heard) section about Sind for details.

4 The increase of slave population of the empire is cited in DotE “Dawn of the Emperors Boxed Set” by Aaron Allston.

7 “Heldannic Knights -- Historical Timeline” by Bruce Heard available at: http ://www .pandius .com /hk 1000.htm

8 CoM “Champions of Mystara: Explorer’s Manual” by Bruce Heard.

9 CoM “Champions of Mystara: Explorer’s Manual” by Bruce Heard about the “discovery” of Thanopolis (Tanakumba) by Minrothad traders in 852 AC.

10 X1 “Isle of Dread” by Cook/Moldvay and XSOLO1 “Lathan’s Gold” by Merle M. Rasmussen.

11 X6 “Quagmire!” by by Merle M. Rasmussen about Ierendian explorers trying to find new routes in the western Sea of Dread.

13 PWA I “Poor Wizard’s Almanac” volume 1 by Aaron Allston, at least referred to Hulean pirates.

14 XSOLO1 “Lathan’s Gold” by Merle M. Rasmussen, a reference to Elrem Nessumsar’s quest.

15 “Grand (Arch) County of Nueva Ispañola” by James Mishler available at: http ://pandius .com /ispanola .html

16 X1 “Isle of Dread” by Cook/Moldvay, the reference is to an adventure idea found at the end of the module.

17 The Aquapopulus War is cited in XSOLO1 “Lathan’s Gold” by Merle M. Rasmussen.

18 GAZ 1 “The Grand Duchy of Karameikos” by Aaron Allston about the building of new roads.

19 See M5 “Talons of Night” by Paul Jaquays for details, The next clash in Helskir will happen in AC 1002.

20 According to GAZ 9 “The Minrothad Guilds” by Christian/Eastland at least the Minroth clipper is built by water elves. Moreover, any attempt to reproduce Minrothad ships on continental shipyards resulted in higher costs and less quality, at least so far.

21 From M2 “Vengeance of Alphaks” by Skip Williams: the Minrothad fleet is used to move horsemen from (New) Thonia to help in the Thyatian invasion of Norwold some years after AC 1000.

22 This rumor is true according to the background of Guildmaster Lareth Kubek of West Portage at the end of M5 “Talons of Night” by Paul Jaquays.

23 DotE “Dawn of the Emperors Boxed Set” by Aaron Allston. Ships are provided with wheels and pulled by pack animals over a land route between West Portage and East Portage, to save the long voyage around the Isle of Dawn.

24 MSOLO2 Maze of the Riddling Minotaur by Jeff Grubb. For its placement see “Another Vacros and Cathos placement theory” by LoZompatore here: www .pandius .com /vacrcath .html .

25 This is a popular fanon location for Vacros and Cathos themselves. Here it is turned into a trade outpost.

26 MSOLO2 Maze of the Riddling Minotaur by Jeff Grubb. Vacros was invaded and destroyed by Cathos some 400 years before the beginning of the adventure (which could be likely set in AC 1000).

27 For details on this estimate see “Mystaran Fleets” by LoZompatore here: http ://pandius .com /mfleet .html

28 GAZ 8 “The Five Shires” by Ed Greenwood specifies in the “Smuggling” sections that the waters in front of the Shires are mostly neglected by human traders except for foodstuff.

29 Caerdanians are fan-created material. A detailed “Caerdania Gazetteer” by Simone Neri can be found here: http ://pandius .com /caerdana .html ?referer =www .clickfind .com .au It is also based on information first provided by Andrew Theisen.

31 Crabmen are hinted in GAZ 2 “The Emirates of Ylaruam” by Ken Rolston. They live close to the tritons (in his mortal life Al-Kalim helped the king of the tritons to get rid of the crabmens’ menace), so the undersea west of the Sunlit Sea seemed a suitable locations for them.

32 GAZ 14 “The Atruaghin Clans” by William Connors and also HWR 1 “Sons of Azca” by John Nephew.

33 See the Hollow World boxed set (by Aaron Allston) Pre-Cataclysmic map.

35 This is an attempt to conciliate various sources about the direction of sea currents along the Strait of Helskir - most notably PWA II (Poor Wizard’s Almanac) map by Ann Dupuis, VotPA (Voyage of the Princess Ark) part 2 by Bruce Heard and the article “The Winds of Brun” by Bruce Heard available here: http ://bruce -heard .blogspot .it /2012/12/BrunClimate .html .By allowing two sea currents in opposite directions all sources are not conflicting with each other and many interesting features ensue in the area.

37 See GAZ 2 “The Emirates of Ylaruam” by Ken Rolston. While in his mortal life, Al-Kalim - with the help of sailors from the Northern Reaches - hunted a Dendan in order to create a potion of water breathing and visit the undersea palace of the Old Man of the Sea.

38 For details on this estimate see “Mystaran Fleets” by LoZompatore here: http ://pandius .com /mfleet .html

39 This is an attempt to explain why there are so few contacts between Ylaruam and Redstone, which are pretty close to each other across the Western Sea of Dawn.

40 This would also help explaining why Tanakumba was “discovered” so late (AC 852) by Minrothad explorers according to CoM “Champions of Mystara: Explorer’s manual” by Bruce Heard.

41 What follows is based on a random sea encounter from X6 “Quagmire” by Merle Rasmussen, generalized to the whole Serpent Peninsula.

42 The Gyre is based on the circular sea current path shown on the map of PWA II (Poor Wizard’s Almanac II, by Ann Dupuis) with the addition of some info taken from the real world Sargasso Sea. A similar concept has also been developed by James Mishler here: http ://pandius .com /thanegio .html

43 MSOLO2 Maze of the Riddling Minotaur by Jeff Grubb and also the map of X7 “The War Rafts of Kron” by Bruce Nesmith.

44 According the Hollow World boxed set (by Aaron Allston) Pre-cataclysmic map, the northern half of this part of the Sea of Dread was a mountain chain before the Great Rain of Fire. Part of it - while submerged - was used by corals to build the reef soon after the cataclysm. See also note 47 below.

45 What follows is a generalization of what happens to the Player Character when he disembarks on the Three Sister’s Keys in XSOLO1 “Lathan’s Gold” solo adventure by Merle M. Rasmussen.

47 According to note 44 above, the Abyss was a mountain chain before the Great Rain of Fire. The idea suggested here is that the Immortals used most of this landmass to seal the pre-cataclysmic opening to the Hollow World located in the Ethengar Khanates, leaving the Abyss in place of the mountains. The gates to the elemental plane of water at its bottom could also have been used to re-balance the global oceanic level after the Cataclysm.

49 The Bararna Guyot is named after fanon explorer Bararna by Geoff Gander, who also discovered Bararna Island in the Thanegiot Archipelago (see here, http ://www .pandius .com /dwthaneg .html , also expanded by Geoff Gander on Threshold Issue #3). It is implied here that Bararna helped the Thyatian Navy to find the safest direct route to the Hinterlands, a route that was then used to establish the Thyatian colony on Davania.

51 Davanian Shallows “borders” (i.e. the deep water level line shown on the map below) are drawn by comparing the coastline of the Hollow World Pre-cataclysmic map (by Aaron Allston) with AC 1000 coastlines. Differences are assumed to be due to ancient lands which sunk during the Great Rain of Fire and its aftermath.

53 The Hills of Ka are based on Andrew Theisen suggested location for Vacros and Cathos available here: http ://www .pandius .com /vacros 2 bo .png and http ://www .pandius .com /cathos .bmp . In the current article it is assumed they are just colonies of metropolitan Vacros and Cathos which are located west of the Pearl Islands.

54 “Katonate Confederacy” by Christoper Cherrington, here: http ://www .pandius .com /katonat 2.html

55 “The dark truth of the Eeliistii” by Christoper Cherrington, here: http ://www .pandius .com /eeliisti .html

56 Arentela is cited in an adventure idea in GAZ 4 The “Kingdom of Ierendi” by Anne Gray Mc Cready but never officially placed. In this article it is conveniently placed offshore western Ochalea, on an island shown on Frank Mentzer’s Known World map but seldom shown in other canon maps. Here the Chinese myth of a mortal enmity between the dragon and the tiger is adapted to Mystara.