Sailors on the Sea of Stone

[robertsconley]

"We were four days out of City-State bearing south towards Tula when we could see a smudge on the water near the horizon. As we came closer a vast stony plain stretched before us. The captain ordered the sail reefed and sent a boat to investigate. They the found rocks of various sizes from fine grains to stones of fist size floating the water. So densely packed they looked as solid ground.

Not wishing to deal with such strange magic, the captain ordered the ship to turn and ran next along the edge for several hours. Those of us not on duty were mesmerized by the slow undulations of the stony plain. Occasionally in the distance we could see shapes rise out of the stones and clash together. Shattering in a spray of rocks.

Finally in the late afternoon we spotted a plume in the distance and a hellish glow. The captain ordered the Sunspirit further away from the edge. Another hour's travel the captain was able to resume our original bearing as we slowly circled around the plume showing on the distant horizon. By sundown we left it behind and was able to reef the sails for the night. In the morning we resumed the course back towards Tula and did not encounter the stones again.

I wonder what strange magics produced such a sight. Perhaps a portal has been opened in the midst of the Sea of Five Winds. I will begin discrete inquires once I reach Tula. Perhaps some of the wizards there will be interested in paying for such knowledge.

Enjoy
Rob Conley
Based on this
yacht-maiken.blogspot.com/2006/08/stone-sea-and-volcano.html

[foster1941]

Cool post. This would make for a fun and unique adventure-setting. From the title of the thread I was picturing that Lord Dunsany story (edit: "A Story of Land and Sea" from Tales of Wonder) about the pirate captain who had wheels installed onto his ship so, when pursuit across the Mediterranean gets too hairy they "sail" off into the Sahara desert and have all manner of adventures there.

[Thorulfr]

Of course - the stones could be pumice...just in case you wanted a 'natural' explanation while the characters are scratching their heads and using their "Detect Magic" spells...