Broken Wind Bluff
Excerpt from the Journal of Gal'dar Osmon Demar
I inquired with the captain as to why her crew seemed so unnerved by the small and seemingly uninteresting bit of stone. She pointed toward the island as we rounded one jutting arm and I saw that a sizable cove was formed on the leeward side. Though no beach was visible the rock was teaming with hundreds of large, white and grey birds. As I watched they walked about the sparse grass that was present on this side, some appearing to hop about and dance with their wings outstretched. Still others floated lazily in the cove, diving occasionally.
After I took in the sight the captain explained that the island was only discovered about a century prior, despite the surrounding waters being on a common sailing route. After a brief pause she continued hesitantly, qualifying her statements that it may be coincidence but the crew takes it as certainty. She told me the story of The Windbreaker.
The captain, looking decidedly uncomfortable by the conversation, carried on after she told of the lost ship. Apparently the next ship which passed by the area where we sailed at the time found the bluff and marked them on their charts as a curiosity, without thinking much of it. It was only once word spread around that the connection was made, the bluff lay directly in the course of that terrible storm, and many believed that The Windbreaker could have been in the vicinity at the time.
Before leaving me to return to her cabin, I recall the captain again paused as if deciding whether to continue, then told me that many believe the albatrosses that call the island home to be the souls of the lost sailors come back to roam the seas forever after their deaths. Furthermore, she said that the sailors believed that the last cries of the dying sailors could be heard in the cries of the birds, and that they could bring terrible nightmares of drowning and sinking if they stayed near the island too long. She then strode briskly away, and I heard her mumbling about sailors spreading tales of foolishness and fancy.
I write this entry in the library of the Gold Tower, after looking into some of the details of her second-hand story. Based on historical nautical charts there was no such island in the vicinity of Broken Wind Bluff before the Storm of 823, although it can be found on charts after. Furthermore, an ornithological history by the inestimable Alistair Ky'norin features no such species of albatross in or around that region until shortly after the storm. Perhaps the Captain's doubt was misplaced, for there is certainly a dearth of circumstantial evidence to support it, although the suspicion of the birds being the reincarnated souls of the sailors may indeed be fanciful. As for the cries of dying sailors and terrible nightmares, I suppose only first-hand experience could say for sure, perhaps I will make my way by there some time soon.
3-20-955
Continuing on my work tracing the origins of certain folk tales, my attention was drawn to the sea about four months ago. Whilst returning from my trip to the Thlos Isles, the sailors aboard my ship grew anxious as we drew within sight of a large, rocky outcropping. It rose to a peak about one hundred feet above the dark waters which churned and frothed around its base. Sparse plant life was visible, clinging desperately to the dark craggy rock against the wind.I inquired with the captain as to why her crew seemed so unnerved by the small and seemingly uninteresting bit of stone. She pointed toward the island as we rounded one jutting arm and I saw that a sizable cove was formed on the leeward side. Though no beach was visible the rock was teaming with hundreds of large, white and grey birds. As I watched they walked about the sparse grass that was present on this side, some appearing to hop about and dance with their wings outstretched. Still others floated lazily in the cove, diving occasionally.
After I took in the sight the captain explained that the island was only discovered about a century prior, despite the surrounding waters being on a common sailing route. After a brief pause she continued hesitantly, qualifying her statements that it may be coincidence but the crew takes it as certainty. She told me the story of The Windbreaker.
The Windbreaker was a ship built in the harbors of Gwernston to the north. Great timbers, grown straight and tall were felled for the five huge masts, and the sails took even the great weaveries of Obbas months to create. No shipwright had ever attempted such a massive ship, and the master of the shipyards himself had been contracted for its construction. The Dragon's Head Trading Company wanted a ship to carry huge tonnages of goods to and from Tapaekan ports far to the east, and The Windbreaker was what they decided on. Some say the master builder wanted to build a ship to tame the waves and dominate trade. Others claim he was a devout man who made sure to always make the proper offerings to the Wild Mother. Still others say he was a drunk who passed off the work of apprentices and journeymen as his own. After nearly a decade of construction, The Windbreaker was blessed and put to sea. Even when laden with more crates, barrels, boxes, and bundles than most dockworkers had ever seen in one place, The Windbreaker sat dignified in the harbor. Unfurling its dozens of sails it left on its maiden voyage to Tapaeko. Great storms were expected, but the captain was assured that he and his crew would be safe in the ship, blessed by the Wild Mother. One month after The Windbreaker left port, a great tempest like none seen in hundreds of years struck land south of Sutol, and neither ship nor crew were ever heard from again.
The captain, looking decidedly uncomfortable by the conversation, carried on after she told of the lost ship. Apparently the next ship which passed by the area where we sailed at the time found the bluff and marked them on their charts as a curiosity, without thinking much of it. It was only once word spread around that the connection was made, the bluff lay directly in the course of that terrible storm, and many believed that The Windbreaker could have been in the vicinity at the time.
Before leaving me to return to her cabin, I recall the captain again paused as if deciding whether to continue, then told me that many believe the albatrosses that call the island home to be the souls of the lost sailors come back to roam the seas forever after their deaths. Furthermore, she said that the sailors believed that the last cries of the dying sailors could be heard in the cries of the birds, and that they could bring terrible nightmares of drowning and sinking if they stayed near the island too long. She then strode briskly away, and I heard her mumbling about sailors spreading tales of foolishness and fancy.
I write this entry in the library of the Gold Tower, after looking into some of the details of her second-hand story. Based on historical nautical charts there was no such island in the vicinity of Broken Wind Bluff before the Storm of 823, although it can be found on charts after. Furthermore, an ornithological history by the inestimable Alistair Ky'norin features no such species of albatross in or around that region until shortly after the storm. Perhaps the Captain's doubt was misplaced, for there is certainly a dearth of circumstantial evidence to support it, although the suspicion of the birds being the reincarnated souls of the sailors may indeed be fanciful. As for the cries of dying sailors and terrible nightmares, I suppose only first-hand experience could say for sure, perhaps I will make my way by there some time soon.
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