Thousand Cities:West
Contents
The West[edit]
- Scattered coral atolls are the only land in the west. The great ocean flows westwards, eventually cascading over the edge of the world. Merchants and fishermen take care to stay within sight of the western islands. Beyond this point, strong currents drag vessels into the deep West, where giant creatures feed on incautious travellers. Only the favour of Herneia or Tardrace can aid a ship caught in the western current.
Elemental Pole of Water[edit]
Calibration Tide[edit]
- At Calibration, the Great Western Current temporarily reverses, sending a great wave out towards the East. Pirate vessels leave Port Piresh at this time, to begin their year of raiding.
Great Western Current[edit]
- West of Neriin, a powerful current draws the waters of Creation towards the Elemental Pole of Water. Boats caught in the current rarely return, pulled out into unfathomably deep waters where giant sea creatures lie waiting for the unwary.
Neriin[edit]
- Neriin is a coral atoll in the far West. The island is home to the Tiderunners, and the many slaves they have liberated from Guild and Port Piresh vessels. As a result, Neriin is a melting pot of cultures from around Creation.
- The Neriinese farm crops on the slopes of Mount Pelores, but make most of their living from the sea. Wild in appearance, with their coral and tooth necklaces and bone piercings, the Neriinese are considered savages by the people of the Central region. They hunt Razorfin Tuna from sailboards, daring the Great Western Current to track schools of the fish.
- Most outside the West fear that the Neriinese are simply pirates, and the Guild is quick to spread such rumours. In truth, the people of Neriin fight constant battles with the pirate fleets of Port Piresh.
Port Piresh[edit]
- Those that believe the Western Pirates to be simple savages are mistaken, for the majority of their black-sailed vessels operate out of Port Piresh, on the Isle of the Bloodied Maw. Each ship is accompanied by a red-clad priest from the Pireshi temple, entrusted with the task of reading Herneia's omens and making sacrifices to keep Her favour.
- Port Piresh is lavishly decorated with plunder from throughout the Thousand Cities, but outside its temples the city is wild and undisciplined. The Pirate Port is infamous throughout Creation for its debauched and depraved habits, and for the great Slave Markets held in the Eastern Quarter. Here, captives from the pirate raids are sold like cattle to buyers from the Guild and the southern cities.
- Each year, ships return to Port Piresh in the week prior to Calibration. After a week of feasting and sacrifices, the Calibration Tide brings a great tsunami in from the far West. The pirate vessels are launched into this wave, riding it East to unleash a new cycle of plunder on the shipping routes of the Central region.
- The Pireshi are deeply superstitious, refusing to launch ships from sunset to sunrise for fear that they will sail into the underworld. When a ship begins its voyage, the captain tastes the water for salt to confirm that their bearing leads away from the dead. If the ship launches safely, its captain will raid the waves for a full year before returning home to port.
