The Sea Remembers

"I knew the history - I had read it - but the numbers mean nothing on the page. Until you see the multitude of the dead rising out of the sea, you cannot truly envision the magnitude of the carnage - of the pain and sorrow and suffering the sea remembers." - Miyagi Yumeko, in a letter to her son.

The waters between the Kaphtor Islands, Saba, and the Telmun Islands have seen more combat that any other location in the Great Ring. Hundreds of battles have been fought here over the last three thousand years. Some were small, while others stained the water red with the blood of the fallen. The largest was nearly two thousand years ago, when Hundaru of Telmun destroyed the fleet defending the Kaphtor Islands during the formation of the Telmunic Empire. In this battle, it is estimated that over 135 ships were lost with all hands, and the total casualties are incalculable. It was after this battle that the apparitions began to appear to ships passing through the region.
The vision begins with the sight of ships sailing on the other side of the surface of the sea. At first it might seem like an odd reflection, but the sheer number of ships and their design soon make it clear that the viewers are looking at ships from long ago, as if they were under the water looking up at the great fleet. It is mostly ships of Hundaru's time, but there are both older and more modern ships mixed in as well. Some claim it shows all the ships ever to engage in battle here over the centuries - or perhaps only those that were lost.
The ships replay their battles, attacking each other with every weapon ever wielded on these seas. The battle is silent - even the waves cease during the apparition, and most viewers feel compelled to keep the silence. Soon, the first bodies from the battles break the surface, floating away from the battle, as though they were sinking into the sky. Those who witness the apparition can see them clearly - their wounds and pain, their struggles and their stillness. Soon the air around them is filled with the memories of lost souls, drifting higher and higher into the sky, to eventually vanish among the stars, while the battle below continues to rage in silence.
Hours pass before the apparition finally fades. It can come day or night, and nobody is certain what triggers it to occur, but it has been recorded for centuries by ships passing through the region. Some claim that the sea is trying to dissuade further violence, but others think it a random intrusion of The Dream into the physical realm. Regardless of the cause, few come away from the vision unchanged and many swear to never raise a weapon again - a promise regularly broken, but sincere when it is made. Those who commune with the spirits of the sea say that a nascent god is sleeping in these waters, and it is dreaming these memories into being. They will not venture to guess what this god will do when it awakes to itself, or even if it ever will.