Black Ship Trading Company

They mystery surrounding the Black Ship Trading Company is mellennia in the making. The first sightings of the ships date back to the First Families of Talus and their arrival on the shores of Talus. Since, the black ships have been the only means of travel between talus and the greater realms of the Talusverse. For all their importance to the peoples of this island, almost nothing is solidly known of the company. In the void of truth, rumors grow.

What is known:

The Black Ships transport cargo from the realms to and from Talus to the realms surrounding the Reality, knowns collectively as the Talusverse. They are autonomous in their task, having no identifiable crew. One books passage with the BSTC through their dreams, mediated by a figure who calls themself an Aeon, but whose vistage changes from dream to dream. The only cost for transport is the revealing of a secret; the greater the secret the larger the cargo to transport. Empires have booked passage for entire armies on one terrible secret, it is said. Lastly, it is generally true that passage to Talus is easier than passage off island. Travel back to the Talusverse is usually costly or denied for various reasons by the BSTC, the one exception being to raise a family (Talus is sterile)

What is rumored:

The BSTC is controlled by Cosmic beings known as the Aeons, who also created this island Talus from an ocean world. The BSTC created the conditions for this world to exist, sparking a second sun. In creating the Talusverse, those persistent portals that connect this Reality to eight others around it, the Aeons wiped out all life on all planets in this system. It is a common rumor that the entire Talus experiment is meant to serve some greater goal and aim of the Aeons unrelated to commerce.

What is their motivations:

Unlike any mortal trading company, the BSTC is motivated by unknowable goals. Their appearance a millennia ago was without precursor. Similaraly, throughout the Talus timeline there have been large gaps in years, even centuries, where the Black Ships never arrive at port. They without warning, they appear again and resume normal trading. It is also of note that no one knows what the BSTC is doing with their 'payment' in revealed secrets.