The Starfallen Sea

A tale of sinking islands at the end of the world, told through the lens of daily updates of fifty words or less. 

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The Final Vote

Our next section, by overwhelming vote, is nothing. I feel that it is time to let these scattered islands slip beneath the waves, holding on to their secrets to the end.

Thank you to everyone who found joy in this project. I wish you all the very best, and I hope that the Starfallen Sea has provided you with something of worth, whether it be a story, an idea, or merely a moment of interest.

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The Prophet's Bones

The ice-shell surrounding the Fourth Prophet is cracked and broken, and his bones litter the altar of the Frozen Cathedral. Many have been gnawed, but the remaining bones each hold a powerful measure of his arcana, and would be valuable if deeply sacrilegious reagents for unscrupulous sorcerers or desperate delvers.

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Madame Vestrade

Madame Vestrade was a delver who came to Gellaway over forty years ago. She claimed the Axiom Vestige, but was trapped for months and fell prey to it. Now, she slips through the catacombs, clutching the Vestige to her and feeding from its whispers; she will kill to keep it.

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The Flame-Eater

A large demonic newt, the flame-eater found its way into the Frozen Cathedral long ago. It burrows into a frozen corpse, devouring their soul before settling in to hibernate for a decade, emerging to pick a new victim. If woken, it will explode into flame and fight desperately to escape.

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The Axiom Vestige

The ultimate symbol of the Ashen Church, a heretical Numenist order, the Axiom Vestige was an amulet inherited by each newborn Prophet. The Church claims that the Vestige can only be wielded by the reincarnated Prophet, and with its loss fractured over disagreements as to who the current Prophet is. 

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Reynaud Madrigal

A chaplain of the Dissolutionist branch of the Ashen Church, Reynaud believes that the Axiom Vestige is a heretical symbol of the Church’s decline that must be destroyed before it is claimed by the Revivalists. He successfully infiltrated Gellaway a few months ago, and struggles to track the Vestige down.

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The Frozen Cathedral

When Gellaway sank, congregants of the Ashen Church gathered in the island’s grand cathedral. The Fourth Prophet led a ritual to protect them, sealing everyone in magical ice to await rescue. The worshippers starved to death in their sleep, dreaming of safety, and the ice, though brittle, is still intact.

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Invocation

The second core branch of sorcery, invocation functions through ritual and ceremony, with skilled catalysts turning the minds of participants to a single purpose, changing the world to match their desires. It can create magical artifacts, summon and bind spirits, empower individuals and especially create wards and healing power.

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The Ivy Chalice

The Ivy Chalice, a union of sorcerers and priests, was founded in 516. Their invocations made the earth bountiful and forged elemental servitors to do the island’s labour. When the Adrannic Reach began conscripting the Chalice in 1040, Gellaway’s fortunes declined; by 1055, there were no sorcerers on the island.

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Caillete

The god of Gellaway took the form of a forty-foot tall hive filled with tens of thousands of silver honeybees. The god’s honey is now black and poisonous, speckled with red Chaos-blood that the remaining tarnished bees still feed to the hive to maintain some fragment of its form.

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The Bower

The lowest point of Gellaway is the Bower, a grove deep below the Broken Garden holding Caillete’s hive, and filled with the treasures of previous delvers. The Bower’s ground is made up of chewed-up soul-stuff, layered like parchment; too much pressure sends visitors plummeting into the depths of Chaos.

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Harvesters

Former vespers of Caillete, the Harvesters have been tainted by the demonic essences they gather for their dead god. They have become three-inch wasps with dozens of stinger-tipped legs, scuttling through the underbrush of Gellaway. Their stingers implant compulsive curses, forcing victims to walk to the Bower to be devoured.

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The Broken Garden

The Royal Gardens of Gellaway were the pride of the Ollathic Sea, holding flowers from across the ocean. Now, each flower is a demon-trap, holding a human soul. Breathing in their perfume forces their final memories on human or demonic intruders, seizing them and keeping them easy prey for Harvesters.

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The Herald

The Herald is the Incarnate patron of couriers, oracles, and those who have suffered tragedy. She is said to have come before each of the other Incarnates in turn, warning them of the devastation that faced them and giving them time to prepare before Chaos noticed their existence.

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Ysufi Mahk

A Daribaari scholar, Ysufi believes that the Sphinx-Prince acts as a messenger for the Herald, his ramblings foretelling what islands are next to be targeted. She has spent two years lurking in Gellaway’s harbour, recording the creature’s words while narrowly avoiding being spotted and eaten.

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Stillwhelks

Stillwhelk shells resemble roughly-hewn rocks two feet across, the snails within curled up and nearly invisible. They float among the rocks of the Battlements, feeding on marine life that falls through the tethers and delvers who make the mistake of stepping on a particularly safe-looking foothold on their climb down.

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The Sphinx-Prince

Menkhe Gell was a minor prince who advocated rebellion from the Adrannic Reach. When his worst fears were realized, he let Chaos consume him, transforming into a monstrous flying sphinx to protect his sunken home from pillagers and intruders. He remembers only that outsiders are a threat to be devoured.