Stillwind Spheres

When sailing across the Shimmering Depths one must be careful not to accidentally commandeer their ship into a stillwind sphere. A stillwind sphere is an area where there is no wind at all. Although the name suggests that the entire sphere is void of any wind, the air at the edge of a stillwind sphere actually pulls inward. This makes it easy to move into a stillwind sphere, but near impossible to get out of it. Larger stillwind spheres remain at the exact same location, but there are smaller spheres that move slowly across the waves. These areas have captured many vessels, leaving their crews starving and dehydrated within its confines.

Origins of Stillness

In terms of their origin, research into the Stillwind Spheres has been mostly inconclusive. Some say they are simply a natural phenomenon that has whilst others believe they are a work of the Divines and specifically the goddess of the winds Zevira. The Acolytes of the Stillwinds even believe they are designed to protect an ancient secret of some sorts in their very center. No matter their origin, the scholars and navigators of Eauviron have been able to chart the static stillwind spheres and pretty accurately estimate the trajectory of the moving spheres but this knowledge is kept mostly secret between them and the Court of the Compass of Tiomera whom they conduct the research for.

Cursed and Trapped

Theres plenty of tales and stories surrounding the Stillwind Spheres. One of those stories is believed to have originated from a lone survivor, who told that a stillwind sphere carried their vessel into The Mists, where an entity cursed its crew to an everlasting undead servitude. How this person survived such an ordeal is always left out of the story, and no real evidence of the events exists. However, it is true that ships that have been caught become easy prey for aquatic species and seadwelling folk. Ships caught in the stillwind merely remain afloat as long as no predator becomes interested in it. Sea giants have been known to destroy and repurpose ships caught in stillwinds, but will usually only do so after the crew has perished from exposure to the elements. Other creatures such as merfolk might strike a bargain with sailors, whereas Mantadrakes might circle the vessel waiting for a corpse to be thrown overboard, or a bold sailor who has decided to swim out of the stillwind. These are only a few of the creatures taking advantage of these cursed spheres, but nobody truly knows what other dangers lurk within the stillwind spheres.