Antylia, the magic atoll

    Here, where the Sea of Nyxcilla meets the western delta of the Numerian river, mana is the plentiful, the oceanic magic interacting with fey magic. And the nature reacted to it. The atoll is a living paradise, where all the fauna and flora metabolizes mana in one form or another. The silverdust beaches and the fey woods at the surface are actually the uppermost layer of reefs which reach to the deep abyssal waters. Here, soft corals incorporate fire, air and other elements in their nematocysts, and shrimps develop immunities to such toxins. A symbiotic molusk may grant a specific spell in exchange for shelter and food. Sharks with glassy teeth can bite intangible shoals of fish. Octopuses with arcane instincts gesticulate unceasingly, decoding and then weakening the defense glyphs grown into the back of crabs. Whales, bigger in the inside than at the outside, are parasitized by remoras with vortex-mouths which drain blood and the extra internal space.

    Nyxcilla's servants fear this place, and say that if the goddess devastate it again the remains will have their reproduction and mutation quickened by magic. For even the fossilized coral isn't entirely dead, having a vague collective spirit rooted by veins of condensed magic, keeping ancient memories capable of restoring the atoll after great disturbances and unbalances. Sorcerers, wizards and sages from all over the world come here, trying to deduce spells and rituals from the sea life, or to test their skills in a environment which already killed many like them.

    The only permanent inhabitant is Berdamus, the Talassocrate. He claims to be the last survivor of a ship sunken by Nyxcilla, among other things. Whatever the truth is, his knowledge and skill in dealing with the local biology is unquestionable. He lives at a huge fossilized conch sprouting from a rock, where he formulates spells using the local species and countless ingredients extracted of such.

    I'm alive beyond what would be possible due to certain atemporal nutrients found here, but which, unfortunately, distort my perception of time. I can say that I'm sure my accrued knowledge is a fragment from all the secrets the atoll has. But, after examing certain sediments, interviewing a few nereids and talking with a very wealthy and pleasant crab: I have an hypothesis. When the Red Moon came, bringing the nefilim, it disturbed the gharian moon's orbit and, therefore, the tides. However, reports of tsunamis with drool instead of foam were irrelevant when compared to my suspicions. It is possible that a chain rection may have disturbed Antylia's biome, which reacted and adapted itself. And the resulting life form is what we worship as "Nyxcilla". The havoc that she supposedly caused here, the maelstrom which I believe to have sunken my ship, it wasn't intentional, simply the pains of the goddess's birth. And perhaps, merely a perhaps, it would be possible to stimulate as to repeat this feat, but I haven't found a way of doing that without creating a disaster of continental proportions.

-Berdamus, the Talassocrate.

I remember of a titanic blue hand, whose nails were only the last scales of rows covering the fingers.