The Storm Wall
An Island Surrounded
For fifty years, the Storm has stood around Tidefall. From the coast, its clouds rise like a mountain range above the sea, black from horizon to horizon. Lightning spreads through them in branching colours: red and gold by day, blue and green after dark. The thunder never stops.
Within its eye, life continues. Fields are planted, markets open, and fishermen take their boats into sheltered waters beneath clear skies. From some shores, the sea lies almost flat before the darkness beyond. Older sailors remember crossing those waters to other lands. Their children have grown up watching the same wall.
Along the Boundary
The approach begins with heavier rain and a current pulling against the boat. Further out, waves hide the coastline and the wind catches anything left unsecured. Experienced sailors can work these outer waters, but a damaged sail or a missed turn can carry them beyond any hope of help.
At Stormpoint, the boundary reaches the cliffs. Waves burst against the black stone below the ruined fort, while wind and rain batter the pilgrims sheltering in its walls. Some have come to pray. Others tie themselves to rafts and push out into the water.
Ships sometimes arrive from the other side, dragged into the Storm from distant seas. Their timbers wash onto Tidefall’s beaches alongside cargo, bodies and the rare survivor.
Within the Storm
Crossing the wall plunges a ship into darkness, whatever the hour. Rain falls so heavily that sailors struggle to keep their eyes open. Masts crack, ropes lash across the decks, and loose barrels strike hard enough to break bones. Waves lift the vessel until it seems to hang above the sea, then drop it into the trough below.
Lightning gives the crew brief glimpses of what surrounds them. Vast shapes move beneath the water. Winged silhouettes pass between the clouds. Whirlpools open wide enough to swallow a fleet, their edges disappearing beyond the next wave.
Navigation is impossible. Orders cannot be heard over the thunder, and the wind sounds like countless voices screaming together. Exhausted sailors abandon their posts or climb into boats far too small to survive the water.
Even those brought ashore alive may remain terrified of things nobody else can see. Some cannot explain what happened to them. Others return stronger, quicker, apparently unharmed, otherwise normal... until someone looks closely into their eyes.