The Southern Ocean

An Ocean far to the south of Sargeroth has been long rumored throughout the city to exist however, until recently, it had never been substantiated. In the Early 3rd era under the government of The Grand Council of United Sargeroth led an expedition to locate this ocean and create a small colony on its coastline. The ocean itself is yet unnamed but has already seen combat by Sargeroth Soldiers. More details below.

## Ancient Knowledge

From the earliest manuscripts currently available, it would seem, almost inexplicably, that our ancestors had knowledge of an expanse of water far to the south at least among scholars and aristocrats. The earliest work we can point to with certitude as at least a secondary source would be in the Tome of Kessel.

### The Tome of Kessel

This well known tome has an enormous amount of information hidden within its pages, speaking on a variety of points and topics. However, the only mention of the southern ocean is made by a musing by the then leader of the Kessel family, Korhan Kessel. The Manuscript reads:

*" And they, who forsook the shadow. They wandered forth never to be seen. One must think they were swept into the vast sea, is would be their owed patronage of the wastes far unseen from the Mountain's summit. O're that they may have stayed and not sought comfort away from the nestled cliffs of the Great Mountain."*

Here Rechtor is speaking on the beauty of the Great City of Sargeroth and expresses his loathing for the Larachi, or the "*People who wander*"; the fabled 4th tribe with whom our ancestors arrived at the mountain. This second passage, though written almost 600 years after Korhan, yet also from the Kessel Tome, sheds more light on a possible avenue for knowledge of the Seas to come to Sargeroth:

*"Fourty days they traveled and found yet that the forest only deepened. The guide then steered them back the way they came, for any further, he said, would have brought them into the arms of the Sea. Many of the troop were eager to see the waters but before too long, the day faded through the thick branches above and they returned to warmth of their fires to feast and discuss the mysteries they had seen."*

It is clear that whatever reference of the Ocean is made, it is one of fear and warning; a terrible place that only those who have lost their minds would seek out in earnest. It is almost as if it were not a place we knew to exist but rather a stopping point or boundary, at which, none could pass. This function could have been quite important for a burgeoning society such as ours, discouraging those would-be travelers from venturing too far from home. However, the few passages we have which mention it do not give any solid reasons as to why it is so terror inducing. Moving into the early 2nd era however brings the picture of the ocean into full color, yet with many pieces missing which we still cannot quite put together.

## The Age of Expedition

In the early 2nd Era of Sargeroth, the Great and Noble houses formed small parties regularly to travel outside the city and to discover more of the world It was during this time that the grand fields which would one day become Cornucopia were discovered as well as the sheer vastness of the Western Desert. There is a very detailed report of an expedition to the south which has survived to this day, hidden for hundreds of years inside 8 clay jars (how tomes were originally preserved) and found in near perfect condition. Unfortunately, a large portion of the manuscript was lost in the great Sargeroth fire of E2 210. That which was preserved is only the last 3rd of the writing. Luckily, it is the most important part for our purposes. The following passage holds perhaps the most important description of the Southern Ocean and could be the very basis for which our current society understands the existence of such a thing:

*"Two more days and we began to smell something which was entirely new to our Sargerithian noses. The thicket was cut to sheaves and burned, intoxicated by the thought of having reached something momentous. The last ranks of vine and branch were cut when [ Cannot Translate ] blue in color. Viretock and Yurse were willing to travel down the cliff we found ourselves on and investigate. They started slowly but found they had not the ability to keep themselves from falling from [Cannot Translate ].*

*We lengthened the ropes and allowed the two to slowly creep down the face of the cliff. We could not see them anymore when we heard them yell that they had reached the bottom. The rest of us ran to the cliffs edge and watched as the two of them, both with barely discernable characteristics strolled upon the sands leading to the water's edge. One of them took up a flask and filled it with the froth. As we pulled them back to us, we each took a sip but were disgusted by the briney soup. We decided to stay the night there as it was dry and showed no signs that it would rain tonight.*

*In the dead of night, we awoke to a host of horrible calls which seemed to echo from the waters themselves. We did not wait for morning's light to move on, leaving the [ Cannot Translate ] on our right as we moved south."*

Clearly these intrepid souls had found what seems to be a large body of water which tasted quite salty to them. This all can be attributed to the ocean with our modern knowledge but yet they say they moved on with the body to their right as they proceeded south. Later in the manuscript it says that they came to a barrier which none Low-born or Noble could pass but (it would seem deliberately) they do not expound on what this barrier is at all, stating that at this point they decided to return home. If the ocean itself was not the impassable barrier then what on our grounded plane could it have been? To the writer of this report, the body of water they came into contact with was not only ordinary but not even interesting enough to keep their attention for more than a day. And what of the strange noises they heard echoing from the waters? It is unfortunate that the few writings we have which reference a body of water