Whirland

Mina’s father has always been fascinated by old legends and tales! He always believed that in the world there was more than meets the eye! As a result, he’d often spend long periods of time in pawnshops trying to buy up artifacts and antiques which might hide secrets. However, when Mina was merely 16, her father passed away in an unfortunate accident during one of his exyawned loudly – “oi lass! morn’n! It’sa gonna be a fineee day ey?” she smiled at him and nodded. Captain Dian was her father’s friend so she knew the man pretty well and knew she could trust him. As he walked off he stopped – “oi… lass! why don’cha check ze cook and see what he got ey?  Could use som’ morn’ brew!” she chuckled – “aye aye captain” and walked down the stairs to the cook. The rest of the morning went pretty uneventfully as the crew awoke and began their routine. The weather was clear and the winds were favorable. Dian was as friendly as ever!

Hours passed, and it was now late afternoon. Mina checked in with the navigators and according to them, the island should be coming into view within the next couple of hours! She stood a vigilant watch at the crow’s nest, looking out for the land but nothing…. She began to get disappointed when the rear crow’s nest crew member shouted – “FOG AHEAD!” She looked at the crewmember who was pointing to her at 11 o’clock and then turned her spyglass in the same direction! True enough…

An ominous dense fog hung in the area in that direction! Looking almost artificial… the fog was dense and shaped… It was like a wall! She folded her spyglass in and took out her notebook, making a note of time, coordinates, and the discovery – ‘ominous and suspicious looking fog discovered at approximately these coordinates’ she made the note and smiled. A few more hours passed, and the crew adjusted the course and headed straight for the fog. As soon as they got within 500 meters of the fog lightning struck the water at the starboard side of the ship! The crew all rushed to that side in awe as the captain shouted – “BACK ON YER POSTS YA SLACKERS! WE AIN’T AT ZE ISLAN’ YET!!!”

Another 30 minutes pass, the Restless is now sailing practically blinded through the fog so dense that crew can not see the bow of the ship from the stern, but thanks to the experienced crew the manage to keep sailing without any issues and shortly after from the bow of the ship a shout can be heard “LAND AHEAD! STOP!!!!” But before the crew had time to react, due to dense fog, they all found themselves falling over as the ship impacted the island and grounded itself.

Unlike the majority of the crew, when Mina stumbled back up to her feet she smiled widely – “i…can’t believe it! it does exist! the island with artifacts that my father hunted for! Dian!?? Dian this is amazing! we found it!” she shouted for the captain but in response only heard a grunt- “ugh! screw the islan, how me ship doin’???” Mina couldn’t help but chuckle at his concern for the ship as she walked to the port side of the ship and dropped the ladder down preparing to disembark.

Shortly after, a few sailors were prepared by the captain and ordered to escort Miss Hartman to the island to look around, which she was happy about. Upon a quick look, they discovered that the island appeared pretty normal, aside from being covered in dense fog. They also discovered shipwreck parts, planks and cargo washed up along the beach. From the looks of things it appeared to Mina that the cargo they discovered was from several different ships, it would seem shipwrecks were not uncommon.

Soon after they returned and she made her report to the captain. The captain, in turn, reported to her that the ship suffered some relatively minor damage and repairs would take at best a couple of days. As they anchored the ship down in preparation of high tide and set up a camp on the beach there was nothing much for Mina to note down aside from the discovery, but her heart beat fast in anticipation of the expedition and search for artifacts.

Orlena Frex: I’d say if there are some artifacts, they should be protected by Fluffpuff the friendly fog spirit.

The night came and went as uneventfully as possible. The crew slept soundly despite it being an unfamiliar, uncharted island. Morning came, and with it the fog dissipated! The crew rejoiced and split up into 2, the expedition and the repairs. Mina got 4 sailors on her expedition team to help carry equipment, food and water as well as protect her from any dangers!

The crew ventured on as Mina followed her handmade map from the research she had done! Within an hour they found themselves at a large tree, so wide it’d take the entire Restless crew to wrap around it! And beneath it, on the west side, a staircase heading down hidden beneath a simple wooden trapdoor which was not difficult to find. The crew ventured inside, lighting their way with torches they could hear a hum coming from the bottom. Mina assumed it to be just wind and continued onwards.

Shortly after they reached the bottom of the staircase which led them to a large, open and empty room, lined with stone. Nothing here… Mina checked her notes but found nothing that could be of help until 1 of the crew members went -“aoy! lady…in’t dis someting?” he pointed at a rock with words carved into it ‘I am the protector, I am untouchable yet visible, shapeless yet obviously I got a shape’. Mina thought about it for a while – “I… got no clue… any of you?”

1 of the other crew members cackled – “it’s fog! ya suppose ta be smart ain’t ya? look! fog aint’ touchable, you can’t hold it! It’s shapeles when you inside of it but clearly it’s shaped, basically a cloud but down here ya know? and it’s visible! fog! obviously” 

Mina nodded – “yeah…fog makes sense i guess!” as she looked at the stone – “fog… fog….” as she repeated it few times “I am the protector, I am the fog… the fog protected this island” and as she said that, a shape took form in the middle of the room, there now stood a small, water drop shaped creature made of fog – “I am the protector! I am fluffpuff! Welcome o’ wise one!” it spoke. Mina stumbled back – “w…whoa! A spirit!!” She smiled – “fear not men! this is a spirit guardian of the island… oh great spirit le…” but before she could finish the spirit spoke – “your father solved this riddle faster! shame on you missy! Come on! Follow me missy!”

Mina shook her head and blinked – “wait what… my…father? was here?” she spirit walked to a wall and the stones disappeared, fading away like a fog – “yes missy! your father! He awaits down by the artifacts! Come, missy!” Mina couldn’t believe what she was hearing! she rushed after the spirit, the crew followed her. They walked down a narrow path and soon found themselves in a cave, at the end of which a pool of water stood, beside it, a chest and a skeleton with a notebook lie, motionless…

Mina quickly recognized the notebook and before the spirit could speak she sprinted past it – “Father!!! Oh… no… father… you… ” she fell to her knees beside the chest, whimpering, as the spirit spoke quietly – “Your father was wise, he discovered me and the artifacts, missy! Cry not, read the notebook before you cry! Your father died happy!” The crew dropped their equipment and took their seats along the cave walls, resting after the trip. Mina took the notebook and began reading it – ‘Diary day 7 on the unknown island – ‘i finally found it… the uncharted ancient island said to contain the artifact treasures of the ‘silver fang’ crew! I’ll get to it no matter what.  Day 7 – found the entrance to a hidden storage room by the giant tree, figured out a puzzle to summon the guardian, he led me to the treasures!! I found it… the coral of breathing! Dearest Mina, if you’re reading this, know that I have accomplished my life’s goals with this’

As she read the entries she couldn’t help but cry. ‘Day 8 – I dived with what little energy I had left. Fluffpuff told me that there’s an underwater civilization. I failed to find them, starved, ran out of strength, and could not keep going. I returned to this cave to leave this message. Find them Mina, find them and learn from them. I entrust this mission to you! only you can do this Mina.’

Mina wiped her tears off and looked at the fog spirit- “so…this underwater civilization… Tell me about it!” the spirit snickered – “I don’t know where they live missy! I only get visits on occasion! This coral of breathing is an artifact brought here by them! They told me their city of Whirland is by the giant whirlpool at the edge of the world, I don’t know not where that is! I can only manifest into this form when the riddle is solved, and only for 2 days, then I fade. Good luck missy.

Mina took her father’s notebook and handed it to 1 of the crew members, ordering him and 1 other to return to the ship and report to the captain as she and the others would set a camp here and attempt to find the city or Whirland.  After a short break and when she managed to calm her nerves down, she took out an enchanted parchment which does not get wet and a pencil, equipped her diving suit and fins and told the other 2 crew members she’ll take a test dive to chart out the cave.

As she bit down on the artifact which she refers to as ‘coral of breathing’ she found it strange, it felt to her like every time she took a breath, it was through some kind of filter, slightly harder to breathe but she quickly got used to it. She dived down and swam through a lengthy underwater tunnel which, to her surprise, had very smooth walls and no splitting paths, it was pretty straight as if bored out. After approximately 30 minutes she found herself in the open waters near the bottom.

A while later, approximately an hour passed, she swam around but found nothing of semblance to the ‘edge of the world’ or a whirlpool of any sort. She returned, took a break and a nap, and then repeated her dive another 3 times but to no vain. The spirit gave her another thing before her next dive – “there was something about following the path of snake…” She made a mental note of it and on this dive, she found a crack in the ocean floor that winded like a snake that slithered around.

She decided to follow the trail, marking any landmarks she came across, and admiring the underwater flora and fauna. Schools of fish swam around, and that is when she realized ‘wait… i can see underwater, clear as the day’ She looked around and realized the entire ocean flor glowed. Above her darkness, as if abyss itself, but below her, the floor and sand shone, illuminating everything. The corals, colorful as the most beautiful flower field with vibrant colors!

She admired the beauty of this underwater world which she couldn’t picture before when suddenly she noticed schools of fish all turn and swim a certain direction, along the path of the crack she had previously discovered. She Followed them and before long they all stopped at a massive underwater cliff. A wall of fish and other water creatures, staring into the darkness when suddenly a current swept them all away, Mina grabbed onto some corals but the current was too strong, she lost her grip…

swept away by a powerful current she found herself sucked into the dark waters, along with hundreds of fish and other sea creatures. She composed herself and curled up, bracing for impact, trying to not lose track of what’s up and what’s down, she waited patiently for her chance to escape the powerful current. She could tell she was being spiraled in, sicked in, as if by a whirlpool and that’s when she remembered ‘their city is by the whirlpool at the edge of the world’ She suddenly got excited

Before long she found herself impacting something soft, and being slapped by a lot of fish, she found herself in a midst of fish. Shortly after the current ceased but she felt as if she along with all the fish were being dragged somewhere.  Before she could think much she found herself falling, in an air filled environment and falling on top of a pile of fish, with thousands more falling on top of her. Buried beneath the fish she struggled to dig herself out, and when she did she gasped…

She saw before her a massive city under a dome, surrounded completely by water. She was, at what appeared to be a port of sorts, sitting in a pile of fish, she could see humanoid creatures walking around and 3 of them stood, staring at her, at the bottom of the pile. They looked like fish… but humanoid, wearing rather primitive clothes and and equipment they screeched at her in a language she could not understand and 1 of them dashed off before she could mutter a single word, being awestruck

1 of them pulled out a net but the other screeched at him and gestured something which she could only assume meant – ‘put it down’ She tried to dig her arm out but the 3rd of the creatures returned, accompanied by 2 which wore basic carapace armor and bear simple spears. They pointed their spears at the intruder and shouted in a tongue she could not understand.. She shook her head, still biting on the artifact, afraid to spit it out and lose it in the pile of fish.

the guards shouted at the fishermen who begun to try dig up Mina from the fish pile, as they got her out she slipped on the fish and fell, spitting the coral out as it bounced and landed by the feet of 1 of the guards, she just whimpered slightly -‘ouch ouch ouch… what a weird.. day…’ as she realized she lost the artifact. But 1 of the guards picked it up and examined it, before saying something to the other which led to him lowering his spear and then offering his hand to Mina.

Shocked and surprised, she took the hand and stood up with the guards help, who pointed at himself and made a facial expression which she could only assume was a….smile…. She smiled back and nodded respectfully at the fishman guard, the guards turned and pointed at a large, silver looking building in the distance and waited. Mine shrugged – “you…want me to go…there???” the guards pointed at the building again, unable to understand her as she is unable to understand them.

As she cautiously walked on, the 2 guards followed her, still holding onto her artifact. Confused but absolutely awestruck by her discovery she took the enchanted parchment and made some notes. Noting down the architecture. The buildings are simple, most are carved out of stone, but they all have stained glass for windows and silver metallic doors and window frames. The streets are made of what appears to be sandstone, carved and shaped. They walked through city streets.

The civilization appeared pretty basic but capable. They had shops but she did not notice people trading anything when ‘purchasing’ wares. She did notice everybody staring at her when they’d notice her though. At one point, she stopped and walked over to 1 of the food stands, but the guards did not stop her, to her surprise… She reached over for what seemed to be a… sea cucumber, the owner stared at her intently as she grabbed it and slowly pulled her hand back, awaiting a demand, or a threat but much to her surprise, nobody demanded anything, not a payment or anything in exchange! ‘Could their society be this hospitable and welcoming? are they just treating me this way because I’m an outsider?’ She couldn’t figure this out but she placed the sea cucumber back and smiled, bowing at the owner who only nodded at her and grunted. They walked on and she made notes as she observed the species and their society. After a while, they reached a metallic, silver-looking gate with 2 fishmen guards.

They opened the gates and let them pass. These guards wore silver-looking armor rather than the carapace. The 2 guards escorting her walked up to the front door of the large building and opened it. The building resembled an old chapel to her. It had a massive middle tower going as high as probably 30 floors per her estimate, and a smaller tower beside it. But the towers were circular, not square. She walked inside but the guards did not follow her, they merely pointed to her left.

She shrugged – “i…guess I’ll go left then…. fascinating..they lead outside through the city center to what I assume to be the king’s castle and just let them roam free? what a weird species…” she shrugged and walked on. The building’s walls were made of finely carved stone attached with what resembled cement and the floor was made of marble. The windows are made of beautiful stained glass and the silver-lined walls and floors!

She walked on and on through a long hallway before reaching a large stone door at the end of it, beside the door a single guard stood, he bowed at her and then knocked on the door with his spear! From the other side a gurgle could be heard, it sounded like an old man choking on his drink and then the guard opened the door before her. Inside she could see a round room, shaped like a shell of a snail almost, walls lined with pearls and parts of wrecked ships and a desk made of ship planks!

Behind the desk sat an octopus… or well, a man that looked like an octopus! Fascinated, Mina walked in and bowed, admiring the office of whom she assumed to be the leader of this civilization, before, to her surprise, the man stood up and his facial tentacles swirled around. He had an arm of a crab for his left arm and a tentacle for his right arm. His legs she could not see his because he wore a robe. His face was human, sort of… it was like an octopus head with human semblance and tentacles for a beard. The man bowed and spoke in a very difficult-to-understand accent, deep raspy voice but somehow he sounded kind and welcoming – “Iurrr! wulcom youz! Discovrer of ze deeeps!” Taken aback by the fact he spoke her language she stared at him – “you… i… you speak!?? our language?” the man cackled – “hurr hurr hurr! I iz speekr ov my r…grrrr ge word…our…race!” he stood confidently before taking a step towards her.

She smiled and a tear rolled down her cheek – “my…father couldn’t have ever imagined something like this!” she said as she bowed – “i’m Mina Hartman! A self-proclaimed discoverer of secrets! Seeker of truth!” The man tilted his head, clearly unfamiliar with some words she said -“hurrrr….seeeekeeeerrr… Mina seeker!” He cackled again – “hurrr hurrrr! Walcome to Whirland! Enjoy the tay!” she walked up to  him and grabbed his tentacle into a firm handshake- “thank you, mister… mister…???”

He tilted his head and shrugged – “Speekr! I hab no naym” she smirked – “speaker is a solid name!! I have so much to ask of you!” he only nodded  – “me answr if my can, but you go res nao! tumorrv we speek!”

She insisted she had to return to her men to inform them of her well-being to which the speaker agreed and offered to have guards escort her and help her swim, which helped a lot as they could swim quite fast so they got her to the cave in no time. Upon informing the crew members of her discoveries, the fishmen took out about 10 more breathing artifacts which Mina took as a gesture of their offering to allow others to visit whirland. The next day, a dozen fishmen came up to the cave.

Captain Dian, Mina, and 6 other crew members bearing gifts awaited the fishmen who helped them all with the dive and took them to whirland. And like this, the crew of Restless, under the command of Mina and Dian were the first to establish a connection with a utopian civilization of fishmen. They spent the next 2 weeks touring the whirland and learning from the fishmen, sharing their knowledge with them in turn. 2 crew members were permitted to stay in whirland as craftsmen to teach the fishmen.

in turn they would learn the art of stained glass crafting from the fishmen. Mina spent that time in their library and with their leader ‘speaker’ learning from him. All was well and the crew of Restless couldn’t be happier with their discoveries. Mina began writing a book of her adventures, but shortly after scrapped the idea. ‘a civilization living in perfect harmony with the nature around them, hidden from all need not more intervention’ And thus, under Dian’s command, the crew made a vow.

They all vowed to never disclose this island to anybody. They vowed to never speak of fishmen outside of their crew and ship and to not mention it to the authorities under any circumstances. They also vowed to bring gifts to the fishmen once a year.

And just like this, the crew of Restless made new friends and found a new home, Mina discovered she chose not to ever tell anybody but knew her father would be proud. Years passed and the vow remained unbroken. Mine, in the meantime, continued her search for knowledge and secrets. It is truly a wonder what else she discovered. Mayhaps, we’ll learn of her other adventures in a different story.