The kingdom by the sea

A mini-setting meant to be fleshed out for the World Anvil Summer Camp 2019, named after and inspired by the repeated line of Edgar Allan Poe's poem Annabell Lee.

The stories of melancholy and beauty are centred around this mysterious, ever gloomy domain that beckons the desperate souls from the four corners of the world who feel that there is something painfully missing from their lives.   You yourself are one of such unfortunates, on your way to the kingdom by the sea, equipped with hardly any more than hope that a cure for your soul's long-time ailment can be found there. Either you will, or you must return home where a noose on the chandelier already awaits you in your study.

Take your chance on the land of grim fairytales, surely you can find a solution at a place filled with this many dark secrets and untold sorrows. Thread the cramped streets of grey cobblestones, stroll about dream-like gardens, look the grey and endless emptiness of the shores in the eye, explore the mist-veiled, silent countryside, visit the mansions of the now broken ancient families, or stalk through the cold graveyards to the hearts of the ruined temples in the middle.   Search well, but be wary! The faceless, nameless Archduke welcomes all who seek their healing, but only those may leave who succeed in this. Will your quest bring what you desire, will you forever wander within the Kingdom by the sea, or will you risk an escape and vanish among the waves or in the black forest?

Come. Tell us your story, and in return, we will tell you ours. Maybe we are looking for each other...