The Sentinels' Vigil

Twelve days the fog had persisted. A blinding, smothering fog that left everything blanketed in white. Sound was muffled and vision was limited to about 3 ft, everything was wet. The crew tiptoed about their business glancing over shoulders; everyone thought the ship was making good time, but who could tell for sure? It's not that the fog was unexpected, you expected the fogs when skirting the edge of the World's Eye, but passing along the outer edge normally took about 4 days with a strong wind at your back, it had been far too long.

Currents could shift unexpectedly in the Eye, that must be it. They had to be off course, but how much and in what direction? Suddenly, sunlight! Blinding, warming, heart lifting sunlight! The fog wasn't gone entirely, but was suddenly thin and shafts of sunlight fell all around. There, straight ahead and rising from the depths before them, gleaming in the shafts of light it stood. A massive statue thousands of feet tall, with a cloak draping most of it's form. Its arms outstretched; one with the hand turned out warding approachers away, the other extended and open in welcome. The impression is of a titanic person wading waist deep. The face appears stern and harsh one moment, and then warm and welcoming with a shift of the sunbeams.

So, that was it, they had gotten shifted; somehow instead of skirting the edge of the World's Eye, they had sailed straight through it to the Sentinels' Vigil. And they had indeed made good time!

Purpose / Function

The Sentinels' Vigil is a ring of massive statues rising out of the ocean and marking the border between the mortal plane of Aurus and the Pillar of Light, an extra-dimensional plane at the core of the world that acts as a physical transition between the mortal plane and the realms of the deities of Aurus. This border can only be crossed by the gods, their messengers, and those already Fated to make the trip successfully. Unfortunately for would-be adventurers, such a fate is inherently protected from being known before the moment of crossing. Those who attempt the crossing and are not Fated to succeed wash up on the shores of their home village or port mangled and branded and they cannot be raised, resurrected, or their souls called forth for questioning in any way.

Architecture

Because the Sentinels guard an extra-dimensional, planar border it is impossible to determine the actual size of the structure. A ship sailing within sight of the Sentinels will appear to be directly in front or, or just off-center from one of the massive statues with another, identical statue just barely in sight through the fog to either side of the first. No matter how much time is spent sailing towards one of this peripheral statues, the perspective never changed, ships can only sail directly towards or away from the statue in front of them. Sailing towards results in a rapid, smooth approach that veers to pass either on one side or the other of the statue. Those who sail away immediatly re-enter the World's Eye and soon return to the open seas.

The Sentinels themselves appear to be made of plain, grey stone worked in a simple stonework; neither elaborate nor crude or coarse. The lower portions show some weathering and are stained green with moss and algae growth while the upper portions, especially the hands and faces, appear clean and freshly cut.

History

None on the mortal plane know when or where the Sentinels' Vigil came from, it has simply always been there, looking and behaving in exactly as it always has since the first ships began sailing and crossing the oceans.