“So y’all wanna hear a tale from an old sea rat like meself do ye? Ev’r hear the story o’ the city o’ Solinar?

“Well I ‘eard o’ it meself from an ol’ Cap'n named Neru. See people thought he were a few fish shy of a full net, if ye know what I mean, except fer his tale o' the loss o’ his only ship the Nightingale on a transcontinental route. Ya see, there be rumors that this ‘ere trade route, the very same we travel t'night in fact, once held a colossal float'n metropolis called Solinar. This city, the size o’ an isle, were said teh be a major port fer all the continents o' the world an were said to have been made o’ glass an never needed a lighthouse cause o’ how brightly it shone. T’was also said to have been a cultural hub fer e’ry cut o’clothe you could imagine, whether they be rich, poor, pirates n’ traders; the city were always busy as a beehive, day or night. It were so connected to the world that any good or luxury ye could imagine were teh be found there an if it couldn't, it’d be found for ya, fer a coin or two o'course. However, it were after a gargantuan storm that lasted several moons, the whole season or more in fact, that Solinar disappeared without a trace. Some speculated t'was blown away in the gale, perhaps off the edge o’ the world, but others who still travel this route felt t'was always nearby, like they could almost reach out and grasp it in their mitts, but they only ever saw their own faces starin back in the waves beneath their bows.

“T'was such a storm that found me mate Neru sink’n in the deep blue well o’ the sea, a bolt o’ lightning splittin the mast o' his ship, an scatterin his crew teh a watery fate. As me pal Neru watched the burnin glow o' the wreckage shift and sputter on the surface above, he sank further inteh the depths, his vision start'n teh darken. Death iminent on his mind, his last memory were a feelin o’ bein pulled sideways by a current o’ water.

“Wake'n up he found himself in a cavern, wit o’ly a small pool where he thought he probably’d been warshed in from. He must've been leagues under the sea, yet he tolt me he felt no fear. This pool were only a little wider than Neru were tall, and he said it seemed teh him more a puddle than a entrance back teh sea. In fact there were somethin odd about this here puddle. Starin inteh it fer awhile Neru realized why it felt so off. See, there were no reflection o' himself lookin back! Lookin in it he saw nothin but what seemed teh him the reflection o’ the roof o' the cavern. He sat and thought about this fer what he tolt me he thought were hours, but ventually seein no other way out, he decided teh take the plunge! Neru stepped up t’ the edge o' the puddle see, shakin his head at what he were bout t’do. He took a step forward an as his foot fell through the portal, he felt it enter open space: not that o' the sea, but air. He said he kinda swung through and his perspective changed. The edge o' the puddle he tolt me were ”like walkin o’er a hill,” and his view were now that o' a sprawlin city sittin on the underside o' the surface o' the sea. His sky were the sea bed, and the ground were the ever movin waves o' the storm still rage'n above. Small bits o' light refracted through the waves beneath his feet an glittered off the glass spires o' the city.

“A feelin o' vertigo, an exhilaration, ran through Neru's body as he hobbled o’ cross the movin surface o' the sea towards the glass spires in the distance. Although the waves rolled underneath his feet, Neru said the ground were flat an unimpedin, like walkin cross the clearest ice he’d ever seent. An as he trekked closer teh the city, the storm below his feet started dissipatin. The only reminder o' his ship, the Nightingale, a tangle o’ driftin wood’n ropes. Suddenly, among the wreckage, Neru saw his first mate struggling to stay afloat. Neru tried desperately teh break through the invisible barrier seperatin him from the sea, teh grab his poor mates hand and pull him to the relative safety of this strange place, but afore long the sad sod drowned in front o' him. Distraught, Neru watched the body o’ his mate drift away, as lifeless as the pieces o’ the ship around him. As both his ship and his crew floated away, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds below and beams o’light pierced the darkness like spears. He said them beams o'light shone right on them glass spires and filled the sea round him with a rainbow o'light. Neru tolt me it was the most beautiful sight he'd ever saw, but he could'ne appreciate it due teh the loss he’d jest experienced. 

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“Now me pal Neru, t'was a bit shaky on what happened next ya see, sais he'd rather not remember. But after buyin him a few rounds o'grog an spendin a few coin teh get em a bed, he was happy teh oblige an old sea rat like meself.

“Now see since he didn’t have much choice, Neru walked towards that there city, an as he entered the city gates he saw inscribed in the stone above the door “Solinar: the bridge between worlds” chiseled in fancy letterin. Walkin the streets, Neru conveyed teh me an unearthly scene. The entire population o' Solinar were stuck in place, each an e’ry person that were there were frozen in motion! They were a sea o’ statues, like the aftermath o’ Pompeii. Unlike statues, however, they looked like shadows, that is teh say that they were solid black silhouettes in which no distinguishin features could be discerned. They were in all states o' fear: some runnin from the center o' town while others had hands outstretched, pointin the way others were runnin. Workin his way from person teh person, Neru tried interactin with the shadows. As he moved closer to the city center, he said he couldn’t move a single one. In the center o’ town, just below the tallest twistin spire o'glass, in the middle o’ what seemed teh have been the main market, were a large sculpture o’ a half moon turned on it's side. The light side faced the ground and sky beyond the waves below his feet and the dark side were the sea bed roof above Neru’s head. The light side glowed so fiercely that Neru had t’ shield his eyes. 

“Standin nearby, frozen in a frantic motion in front o’ an open book, were one o' the shadowy silhouettes. Lookin over the shadow's shoulder, he saw a book full o' cryptic text, but the diagrams looked like the statue in front o' him. Lookin at the diagrams, Neru saw that a set o’ symbols protruded from the statue, an one were glowin. Reachin out he pushed it down an felt the city rumble. As the statue started movin, it started spinnin faster an faster, alternatin phases o' the moon. As it all started blurin together, Neru tolt me that at this point, he started feelin faint, the glass spires o’ the city started glowin as bright as the statue, the world started spinning, and he realized the city were switchen between the surface of the sea and the underside. It were obvious to him that this must’ve been the cause of Solinar’s disappearance. The shadow near the book he stood next teh phased in and out o’ shadow an his natural form. The man turned to Neru and yelled between freezes, “It was… wrong.. alignment!.. Storm’s…  least…… our worries… now!” Solinar were changing from surface to underwater so fast now that Neru lost his senses and blacked out. When he regained consciousness, he said he were warshed up on the shore o' the closest port teh the trade route, an teh this day non believe his tale. He said he traveled that route several times more in his life afore he settled down, both times he searched, but never saw another trace of Solinar. He did say the seas were calm on those trips, and we wondered if the storm was necessary to get back.”

Suddenly a crack louder than a cannon sounded through the ship the narrator is telling the tale on, followed by a jarring creaking sound. A shout from above deck confirmed the mast was going down as the ship started to keel over into the sea.

“An, now ye dogs, tis my turn teh follow in me good friend Neru's steps, an plundar the secret o’ Solinar!”