The Laughing Sea

"She does not love you. She does not hate you. She does not care for you at all. And yet, she laughs, at your pride, your ambition, your arrogance. Laughs as she takes your ships, your bones, your very breath. The Laughing Sea spares no one, least of all the foolish."

The Laughing Sea encircles Everwealth like a patient predator, its rolling tides the lifeblood of trade, war, and ruin. Named for the collective cacophony of crashing waves, screeching gulls, and the ceaseless voices of sailors thrown into its merciless embrace, it is a body of water as vast as it is unknowable. The name bears a double meaning-both for the mockery in its relentless din and the cruel, unfeeling amusement it seems to take in swallowing the unprepared. It is a sea of treacherous currents, hidden reefs, and vanishing ships. It has no master, no ruler, no allegiance. Nations have tried to tame it, to bend it to their will, but the sea only laughs in reply, claiming its due in blood and timber.

Geography

The Laughing Sea stretches far beyond the shores of Everwealth, its tides touching distant lands both known and forgotten. It is bound to the north by the shattered foothills of The Cloudrend Mountains, whose drowned peaks lurk beneath the The Bay of Knives. To the east, it crashes against the cliffs of Gullsperch, while the western winds carry ships toward Wardsea's rotting wharves. The waters while far from still, still run deep and dark, a place of myths and unspeakable things, where few who sail ever return. Beneath the waves, the sea is no more forgiving than its surface. Jagged reefs lie in wait, shifting sands swallow entire vessels, and trenches run deeper than any diver has dared explore. Even in calm weather, the water is restless, tides churning with unseen forces that drag ships off course, scattering debris and corpses alike along distant shores.

Ecosystem

The Laughing Sea is alive with predators, some with fins, some with knives, all hungry. The waters swarm with iron-jawed marlin, lurking wreck-serpents, and shiptooth eels that wait within the ribcages of sunken hulls. Harrowgulls wheel endlessly above, their dark-feathered forms stark against the sky, their screeches heralding death as often as land. Lesser seabirds cluster in flocks, fighting over the floating remains of the latest wreckage, their cries joining the unholy symphony that gave the sea its name. Beneath the waves, ghost coral glows in eerie patches, marking the forgotten bones of ships and sailors alike. Entire forests of salt-drenched kelp sway in the black depths, their tendrils ensnaring the unwary, dragging them ever downward. There are whispers of greater things, ancient leviathans that rise only in the dead of night, unseen horrors that glide beneath the surface, and islands that are not islands at all but the backs of sleeping beasts.

Ecosystem Cycles

The Laughing Sea is a force of endless motion, never still, even it's 'stillness' a ferocious tide waiting to surface, a place never truly tamed. The currents shift unpredictably with the seasons, dragging wrecks to new graves, uncovering ruins long thought lost, and swallowing entire fleets in the blink of an eye. In winter, the winds turn vicious, howling through the mastheads like the wails of the damned, and the water becomes a cold, black maw that few dare challenge. Ice does not settle here, storms see to that, but the wind is sharp as a blade, cutting through cloth and flesh alike. Spring and summer bring moments of deceptive calm, the water smooth as glass, luring ships into a false sense of safety before the tide turns and the sea reclaims its tribute. The most treacherous months are autumn, when the storms roll in without warning, and even seasoned captains know that no amount of skill can best a laughing god.

Localized Phenomena

• The Dead Wake - Some mornings, the sea is still, too still. The waves go quiet, the wind ceases, and the surface becomes a dark mirror, stretching to the horizon. Ships caught in this silence report hearing voices whispering just beneath the water, their own voices, calling them to join the drowned. Few who stay longer than a day ever return.

• The Laughing Tides - A phenomenon where the waves slap against hulls in rhythmic, unnatural succession, creating a sound eerily similar to laughter. This omen is considered a warning-when the sea laughs, death is near.

• The Widow’s Lanterns - On rare, moonless nights, lights shimmer beneath the waves, resembling the glow of lanterns on a distant ship. Some sailors follow, believing it a sign of safety. It never is.

Climate

The Laughing Sea is an eternal battlefield between wind and water, and no man has ever truly mastered its tempers. The weather is as unpredictable as a gambler’s luck, shifting from perfect sailing conditions to the howling abyss of a storm in mere moments. The mist is its most insidious weapon, creeping in at dawn and dusk, obscuring the horizon until even the most seasoned navigator loses their way. Rain is frequent, though never enough to wash away the salt that clings to every surface. Storms are a constant, lashing the waves with fury, tossing ships like a child’s discarded toys. And in the deep ocean, where the water turns as black as ink, lightning cracks against the waves with unnatural force, illuminating shadows that should not exist.

Fauna & Flora

• Harrowgulls - Large, dark-plumed seabirds known for their piercing cries and their uncanny ability to appear just before disaster strikes. Many believe they are omens, while others claim they are the souls of drowned sailors, laughing alongside the sea.

• Shiptooth Eels - Razor-mouthed predators that lurk within wreckage, feasting on anything unfortunate enough to drift too close.

• Ghost Coral - A bioluminescent coral that marks ancient shipwrecks, glowing beneath the waves like spectral fires. It is said to grow only where great tragedy has occurred.

• The Tideborn Leviathans - Enormous, half-mythic creatures that move beneath the sea, rarely seen but often blamed for missing ships and vanishing fleets. Some claim they are the ocean’s true masters, the reason why no kingdom will ever truly conquer the waves.

Natural Resources

• Salt and Brine - Harvested in vast quantities, fueling Everwealth’s trade and preservation industries.

• Salvaged Wreckage - The sea is as generous as it is cruel. What it takes, it sometimes returns, golden trinkets, rusted cannons, entire ships carried back to shore by the tides. Many make a living off the scraps of those who fared worse.

• Deep-Sea Minerals - Iron, copper, and stranger metals are rumored to rest in the depths, but only the truly mad or desperate attempt to mine them.

History

The Laughing Sea has existed longer than Everwealth, longer than kings, longer than men. Its name is new, but its hunger is ancient. Before The Great Schism, it was a highway of trade and war, where fleets clashed and empires rose and fell. But it was never tamed, and when civilization burned, the sea remained, its waters swallowing the dead, carrying their bones to distant shores. It has claimed explorers, armies, and entire legacies, leaving nothing behind but salt-stained legends. Some say it is alive, that it watches, that it chooses who will cross and who will sink. Some say it laughs because it knows that, in the end, it will outlive them all.

Tourism

No one comes to the Laughing Sea for leisure. They come because they must. Traders sail it, pirates haunt it, and fools try to map it. Only the desperate seek it out willingly, treasure hunters, ghost-chasers, those who believe they can defy the waves. Most never return. And for those who do? They speak only of the laughter.

Alternative Name(s)

'The Drowned Expanse', 'The Mocking Deep', 'The Unfathomed Maw', 'The Weeping Horizon'.

Inhabiting Species

• Harrowgulls
• Jumping Jacks
• Reefripper Sharks
• Ship-Snap Turtles