When a storm blows The Silver Voyage horribly off course, they find themselves forced to stop at Lutonia to try and make repairs. The tensions between the crew and their Noble passengers only grow when the engine of the skyship detonates. Can the groups work together to survive on the accursed island? Who is responsible for the sabotage? And how long before they realize that they are not alone?— The back-of-the-book description of 'Adrift', a popular thriller novel.
Perhaps the most ill-regarded island in the Blue, Lutonia has been an abandoned ruin for centuries. A very large number of supernatural encounters claim to be related to this ancient city, and it has stuck in the minds of fiction authors for generations. Many stories link the strange occurrences to the temple to the Fullblooded Goddess of the Hidden that sits atop its mountain's peak.
The Facts behind the Fiction
The rock itself is part of the
Barren Dominion, and it primarily composed of a large mountain, similar to the nearby island of
Portus Naois and
Nokte. Like those two, the mountain only has very small amounts of metals and other valuable materials, making the island initially useless as a colony. Strangely, a large and lush forest has grown on the mountain's foothills, which would be useful to whichever government wished to claim it. However, because of the island's history and reputation, neither the
Empire or the
Trade Union wish to do so.
The Ruins
There are two main ruins that have survived to the modern day, mostly due to the lack of interference from the outside. At the base of the mountain, and covered by forest, is a sprawling city. Despite being fairly simple in its construction, due to the materials used it has lasted despite being slowly torn apart by the trees. Perched atop the mountain is a grand temple, at least compared to the buildings resting below. This temple is crumbling, and precariously sits at the edge of a precipice, as well as being the location of the climax of more than a few horror novels.
Hauntings
Though most stay away from the island, there are still visitors. Academics, thrill-seekers, and pirates dock at the island irregularly despite the superstitions. The former two wish to learn the truth of the rumors, while the latter use the island's reputation to keep away unwated guests while they rest. Many of these visitors bring back tales of what they call 'hauntings', the supposed efforts of the many lost souls that vanished from the cursed city. These hauntins range from the dissappearance of travelleres to malicious trees that attack tresspassers. If there is any truth to these tales, the
Sorcerous Academy hasn't reported on it.
The Disappearance of the Fifth Fleet
Unlike most of the stories told about Lutonia, the earliest is also the most true. At the end of the Glesseal war, the Empire found the Free City of Lutonia. As they were both a community of escaped slaves and worshippers of the religion that the Empire had been at war with for several decades, a fleet was sent to 'pacify' them. The Fifth fleet was rerouted from their path to
Cirta, the last holdout of the Glesseal forces. They never returned from Lutonia. Ships sent out to find the missing warships discovered an empty town, and nothing else. There were signs of battle, indicating that the people had put up a fight, but both the Fifth Fleet and the citizens of Lutonia had simply vanished.
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