Dalseden Cove

Dalseden Cove

Geography

Dalseden Cove lies nestled on the south western shores of the southernmost continent with several miles of thick forests that eventually begin to climb into a mountain range. Dalseden Cove contains many geographical features such as numerous caves both above and below the water, a small outlook that is far easier to traverse from one of the few inroads that actually leads to the cove, and gray sand. The outlook is the only thing close to a clear overhead view of the cove, as the rocks are tall enough on all sides to obscure most from seeing anything. Those same rocks are dark and sharp, even on land, with strange grooves within them that appear to be patterns one moment and simple erosion the next. There are only one or two available paths to get to the cove from the nearest thing that could be considered civilization. There is an old fishing village to the west which has both waterways and roads that lead to the main travelling routes, though it possesses no direct path to the cove which is unreachable by sea due to the rocks that act as a natural barrier to the cove.

History

Dalseden Cove has long been considered taboo by the nearest people to it, the fishermen and women of Merlas’a. Along with their aversion to the cove itself, even speaking of it with outsiders and among each other rarely is seen as anything but tempting fate. The cove cannot be accessed by the sea, and getting to it by land means passing through thick and equally taboo forests where more than one villager has disappeared, often thought to be because of creatures inhabiting the forests. With more traffic through their village as more roads and waterways are combined, more information is available about Dalseden Cove than ever. Strangely, there is no record of who named it or why it is named, it simply seems to have always been there, both from the Merlas’a’s perspective and that of most maps of the region no matter how old.

Unnatural Rumors

The information that does exist about the cove seems to indicate that many unnatural phenomena occur there at several points throughout the year. The strange gray sand is said to take on a turquoise hue during full moons, confirmed by a scholar who was quite insistent on being shown the way to the cove and to the surprise of many returned alive. Some trick in the weather prevents the brackish and green-black waters from ever receiving sunlight, as dark clouds constantly obscure the cove. During the solstices and equinoxes of the year, every year, there are thunderstorms that last the whole day, and talkative but unpopular villagers will claim to hear voices among the thunder. They say that the voices speak names of villagers who are no longer seen after the name is heard. The diminishing population of Merlas’a has been attributed to sickness and poverty, but some of the older villagers have started to direct blame towards the cove in hushed tones.