Appearance

The goddess Eindridil is known to take on two forms. When the sea is calm, she is depicted as a beautiful pregnant mermaid with seaweed green hair and an enchanting, hypnotic voice. She can, at will, birth a number of horrific sea monsters from her womb for protection or to carry out her will. When her ire is provoked she is known to transform into a manifestation of the raging oceans and torrential storms, taking on the appearance of a fearsome sea monster. In this state her form becomes that of a hulking mass of writhing tentacles, each ending in a terrifying predator of the sea. She can, at will, in any form, open her mouth to release a blinding fog, as a warning to those nearby that they are in danger or that her rage is brewing.

Tenets

Five things a follower of Eindridil should do:

1. Offer leniency and temper your anger towards those that earn their keep from the sea. Maintain the unspoken code of honour amongst your fellow fishermen, mariners, but also thieves, pirates and their like.

2. Grant hospitality to those who show you respect. Ensure their safety and protection while they are within your home.

3. For great instances of disrespect towards Eindridil or her domain, a follower is expected to spread the word and deny hospitality to every safe port.

4. Always accept parlay or surrender from an enemy.

5. If you encounter disrespect for the sea or your home, do not hesitate to unleash your rage. Hold back nothing.

Five things a follower of Eindridil should not do:

1. Suffer those that would take more than their share. That includes the bounty of the sea but also the spoils of war.

2. Betray the trust of someone in your home or one who has granted you hospitality.

3. Leave port without offering tribute or sacrifice. The greater the need for safe travel, the greater the sacrifice should be.

4. Turn in or detain a fellow mariner who is committing minor crimes against the laws of man. The code of sea supersedes the laws of man on both land and sea.

5. Bury or cremate a body of the faithful or loved ones; their remains should be committed to water and left for the creatures of sea.

History

Eindridil was one of the five golden acorns created by Yggdrasil, the World Tree, to become a family of new gods. She was to be a daughter to Valdr and Haldora but her destiny was stolen from her when her brother Sverin attempted to steal her from the nest as she grew. Sverin was not strong enough to hold her as he descended down the World Tree and he dropped her. She landed in a river that fed a great ocean, and eventually came to rest in the great southern seas of the mortal realm of Maud’madir. For a time she was at peace with her surroundings, finding the ocean calm and serene, but that serenity was quickly shattered. The Firstborn Physignathus, Guardian of the Ocean Depths, would not suffer a god in her waters. A great battle took place under the sea and, inexperienced in combat, Eindridil was driven back. Her children, angelic mermaids, were slaughtered before her eyes and Eindridil was cursed by the Firstborn to never again to walk the lands of mortal men. Shame and defeat were new to Eindridil, but so too was the rage that was growing in her belly. This rage would manifest physically into horrific monsters that did her bidding in the open sea. Eindridil swore revenge on Physignathus and, when their forces do battle, coastal village be warned.

Eindridil longs to live on the land, and this softens her heart. Because of this she is often merciful and quells her rage when mortals pay her the proper respects. Those that do not feel the unbound rage of the Terror of the Tides.

Celestial Heaven: The Unfathomable Sea

Eindridil’s Celestial Heaven is a vast, open ocean of near-infinite length and depth. Small islands, most of them uninhabited, dot the seascape and provide what little natural resources that the Heaven itself does produce. The Spirits that sail her waters do not know if it truly has an end and they just have not reached it or if some magic simply creates more open water as they sail. A particularly curious Spirit armed with a powerful artefact managed to traverse for several days, eventually discovering that Eindridil’s realm borders a small open rift to the Elemental Plane of Water. Upon being pulled back up, a process which took nearly a week, she was so shaken by the horrors that she had seen that she did not speak for nearly an entire month before relating this tale.

The Unfathomable Sea also borders the mortal plane, but as Eindridil discovered when she was but a young child, that sea her realm emptied into was the domain of the dragon Physignathus. Since their fateful encounters, both have warded off this planar current against those who serve the other. However, as many unfortunate sailors have since discovered over the years, these magical wards do not stop her realm from influencing the tides and currents of the mortal plane. Some scholars have theorized that her realm’s connection to the plane of water enables or amplifies what seems to be an unconscious sway over the oceans of Arthos. All that the sailors know is that when the priests say that Eindridil is angry, even if she is not angry with you specifically, it’s best to stay in port for a while.

When Eindridil herself is calm, then so too are her seas. The monsters recede, and the fish are both plentiful and easy to catch. The skies are bright, unmarred by any storms, and the safe harbour at one of the many islands that dot her domain can be seen from almost any direction. However, should Eindridil’s mood turn towards wrath, the Spirits in her realm had best be prepared for the worst. Savage monsters rise from the umbral depths to indiscriminately attack anything they can reach, while powerful hurricanes and waves taller than castle walls will sorely test even the most skilled of captains.

Realms Within The Unfathomable Sea

• The Abyssal Depths

Far, far, far beneath the surface of Eindridil’s ocean domain lies her sacred city and the seat of her power. At most times, it is a welcoming and pleasant space, powerful magical light pierces the inky blackness, and food and drink of all kinds are readily available, and the seaborne Spirits that worshipped her life consider themselves extremely lucky to have ended up here. Thousands of wrecked ships untouched by any natural light rest in the depths stitched together with ad-hoc passageways and temporary moorings.

However, should the need arise, all merriment can stop in an instant. Everything within Eindridil’s watery necropolis can transform into a means of expressing her terrible wrath upon the world. When she has need of a monster, Eindridil calls one of her faithful Spirits unto her and draws it into herself. The powerful energies of her divine form twist and shape the Spirit into her revenant beasts, which she unleashes upon the mortal plane after a difficult birthing process. When the monster accomplishes its grim task or is slain, it returns to her court, whole and unharmed from the experience. The wrecked vessels of her realm are also capable of a similar feat, and with but a word from Eindridil, they rise from the depths as a Ghost Ship, ready and able to bring her vengeance to those that violate her tenants. This includes the greatest of all her vessels, a war galleon she calls The Siren’s Tempest that serves as her flagship. It is an unnatural and twisted thing, its bow capable of splitting wide like a serpent’s maw, swallowing lesser ships with ease and damning their crews to an eternal, accursed existence.

• Corsair Cove

Situated on the largest island in the Unfathomable Sea, this ramshackle, rambunctious, and entirely lawless pirate’s haven is known as Corsair’s Cove. The sun never sets on the island, nor does it rise, and there it is always just an hour before sunset. Glittering white sandy beaches festooned with swaying palm trees greet you as you approach the docks, which are so congested with other ships that it is said that successfully docking one’s vessel is a greater challenge than navigating the densest coral reef.

Houses, taverns, shipyards, and armouries are all thrown together in a haphazard web without an ounce of civic planning or foresight. No street is wide enough for more than five people to walk abreast, and no road stays straight for longer than a few metres. Everything built by mortal hands is made from local materials, often recycled ships no longer seaworthy or from the scattered detritus that washes up along the shore. The bones of great sea beasts are a common building material as well, and the great temple to Eindridil herself is supported by the bones of a truly ancient and monstrous crab-like beast.

Drinking, song, and fighting are the symphony that echoes throughout the entire settlement at all times. While some of the more successful favoured captains do have gaudy estates that they often retire to, most of the island’s Spirits cram into its many, many taverns and gambling houses. Nearly all their time on land is spent either frivolously throwing away their hard-won gold or frantically looking for an opportunity to make more of it. Luckily for these down-and-out sea raiders, there’s always some shady character with a treasure map for sale. Cheap too!

While there are literally hundreds of various ships docked at Corsair’s Cove at any one time, there are oddly never enough vessels to go around. As no treasure hunt can begin without a means of conveyance, the first step in any treasure hunt usually involves stealing your own. Picking the right target is a particular skill that longtime residents of Corsair’s Cove have since perfected. You want a good ship, but not too good, and those ones tend to have more sober guards watching the sides.

Once you have the ship, it’s simply a matter of hiring a crew and following the map to the treasure, dealing with the threats along the way. Fierce sea monsters, rival crews, and supernatural storms constantly challenge even the most skilled crews, and that’s before they even arrive at the cursed tomb or sunken ship they’ve come to raid. With the treasure safely stowed away, most crews are compelled to bury what they’ve found, minus a little gold for ale and companionship, of course. For if you don’t bury your treasure, someone else might steal it!

The crew then returns to the Cove, drinks and parties away what little money they saved, and spends their last gold on a map from a one-eyed man with no teeth and an odd glint in his eye. And thus, the cycle begins anew.