It has often been wondered why humans have never travelled further south beyond the northern coastal regions of the southern continent of Kylma. In the west on the Crimson Coast and Hugond Plains there are the Frozen Sea and the Lands of Ice that block human settlers along with the fearsome Ice Orcs and numerous others creatures of the Icy wastes. To the east though the weather is less severe and more amenable for southern expansion apart from one issue; the Devil's Sea.
In this area of the sea, crystalline deposits float up from the seabed and rapidly grow in the presence of light till they are heated, expand and then explode. The sea is a churning and detonating area of death during the day time with fragments of crystal shattering any vessel foolish enough to attempt to cross the sea. At night the sea is calm as the crystals are inert without the warmth of the sun but other horrors await. Scattered outcrops of rocks are host colonies to winged creatures known as ‘darkwings’; two headed wyvern like creatures with excellent night sight and an appetite for sailors brave enough to attempt the southern passage. While the main darkwing flocks leave to hunt inland enough always remain to hunt the Devil's Sea and make any southward voyage terrifying at best and lethal at worst. Any lights on the ship will attract the deathwings and run the risk of causing the crystal to react.
© Copyright Winwick Pig Publications - Leigh & Ellard 2021
