Islepoint Guide

A looming tower against the sky, the waters nearby treacherous with jagged stone and dragging currents. Islepoint Guide stands strong against the environment, the top dark every night. The bones of ships, beasts and sailors are jammed in the rocks nearby, exposed as the tide falls away and drowned anew when the waters rise. The coast curls by, feeding into the Buchal Strait next to Long Isle, its rust-claimed surface glinting dully as the sun sets each night.

Purpose / Function

Originally, Islepoint Guide was created to illuminate the dangerous waters to the south of Long Isle. The strait that led to Buches was a sluggish body of water, ideal for boats to travel across. What proved less traversable was the openings of the strait. While the northern point was broad enough that tides had little effect upon it, the southern opening was lined with rugged rocks, hidden below the surface of the water. When the tides change, the southern opening is also where the effect is most obvious as pressure changes cause water to flood to the south, creating a powerful but short-lived whirlpool of conflicting flows.
The lighthouse was constructed to enable safe travel at night. While it functioned in illuminating the coastline and strait opening for those who attempted to enter, its main function was to serve as a warning for ships during tidal changes of the dangerous waters. For unfortunate vessels caught in tidal flows that were dragged to the south, the lighthouse was often the only way to determine the distance to the rocks that would tear the ships hull apart.

Architecture

The lighthouse is constructed of granite, the surface scoured by the weather and damaged from impacts. The interior is lined with sandstone, the porous stone intended to serve as a way of keeping the building warm in cold weather. The surfaces are engraved, though leaks and cracks through the granite and mortar have allowed water to seep through the stone, creating mineral deposits at random. Stairs created from wrought iron, heavy with rust and mineral deposits, lead up through the different levels of the lighthouse.
Attached to the outside, on the opposing side of the shore, a squat single-story building which once functioned as a store and preserving room. It functions as the main entrance into the lighthouse proper, though the more traditional housing items like a bed and kitchen were located in the lighthouse instead of outside. Unlike the lighthouse, it was constructed from thick planks of tarred wood with shale sheets as roofing. While the lighthouse survived, little is left of this outer building from some foundation blocks, the door, and jagged shale fragments.

History

Islepoint Guide was created in the months following what became known as the Riverwren Disaster. It had long been custom that ships would only use the southern opening during high tides, with a system of locks in Buches created to allow vessels to turn around in the strait. The Riverwren was an elven trade vessel with full hold and crew plus traders when it was delayed by a storm crossing over from Kerulisan. During the approach, vision was limited by the onset of dusk. Combined with the weight and slow turning of the ship, Riverwren failed to veer far enough away from the southern opening during a tidal change. The vessel was dragged by the currents into a minor whirlpool which caused the ship to rake across the rocks. With her hull broken in half, the ship quickly sank as its remains were flushed from the strait into the open ocean, with all goods and hands lost to the depths.

Type

Lighthouse

Parent Location

Bukhisal