“Fond memories don’t always last as long as one might like, so be sure to cherish them and try not to forget about them, while you still have the chance.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.
Approximately a day and a half’s journey off the coast
Ocean of Frozen Islands
South-East of Ur-Teros
3rd Day of the 2nd Week of the 7th Month, Year 452 VA
Despite how many centuries had passed between the present and the past, Aideen still couldn’t help but to recall memories of her time with Artair everytime she took a ship out to sea. The sight of the open ocean just reminded her of the old memories, of good times shared with a person she loved, who loved her back. It made her sigh wistfully from time to time as she leaned on the railings and watched the seemingly endless waters all around them.
Back during the decades she spent together with Artair, Aideen often “borrowed” the Veros family’s private ship when she needed to travel to Elmaiya, which was a matter as simple as sending over a messenger bird for the ship to fetch them in Port Erbe. The couple had many memories related to the old ship, which as far as Aideen knew was still in use, if not as often as it used to, by the family.
Given the amount of repairs the old ship had gone through over the centuries, which included a new keel when the old one decayed badly enough to warrant a replacement, there were likely no longer any parts left of the ship she and Artair often traveled with on the current ship, but the emotions remained. She still looked at the ship fondly when she saw it dock in the Lichdom’s ports or when she visited the Empire from time to time.
Besides the ship, Aideen also had many fond memories of the small atoll that the Veros family often used as a vacation spot, where she and Artair often spent some time together when they happened to be traveling to the Empire by ship. She had not visited the island since his passing, but like the ship, it should still be in use by the present family as a getaway spot.
At present, Arquivaldo’s ship had just departed from Port Lif four days ago, where they hugged the shoreline towards the east. The area they were in was called the Ocean of Frozen Islands, due to the presence of numerous large ice floes in the region, and the temperature was constantly below the freezing point all year round.
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It was still summertime, but the weather in the region was so cold that one’s breath would turn into fog right away, and the large ice floes – the so-called frozen islands – that dotted the region maintained their integrity with ease. On one hand, the region was particularly safe to venture out further from land due to the constant presence of the ice floes making it inconvenient for larger sea beasts to go near the surface, but on the other hand, the ice floes themselves were a hazard for unwary ships, as many were thick and sturdy enough to breach a ship’s hull should they collide with one another.
Even with the dangers, however, the area was part of the major trade routes. Closer to the shore, the local Jarldoms would regularly send out icebreaker ships – vessels that had their prows reinforced with metal – to break up the ice floes and open a way, while further out, the ice floes tend to be less dense, which allowed for skilled captains who did not feel like waiting for the locals to clear the way to take a shortcut.
Arquivaldo was definitely one of those skilled and experienced captains, with how he casually maneuvered his ship around the ice floes on the sea. As they passed by the floating chunks of ice, Aideen noticed that there were quite a variety of life on the floating chunks of ice, which were often used by birds or seals as a temporary perch.
Those sorts of animals weren’t the only ones that inhabit the region, however. While the ship passed by a particularly large ice floe that had a pod of seals resting on it, they saw how an Oceursa – a large marine mammal that looked as if a large seal and a bear had an offspring together – burst through a thinner part of the ice and directly grabbed an unsuspecting seal in its maw.
Such beasts were far from uncommon in the shallower waters, and also why the locals only dared to go out to sea on larger boats. It was far too easy for an Oceursa to capsize a small boat if it felt like it, and even the local merfolk hunters and fishers avoided their territory as they were fierce and agile predators in the water. Too troublesome to deal with if they could be avoided instead, in their own words.
Fortunately the frigid waters were not something that the larger sea creatures that inhabit the deeper waters favored, and as such, the Ocean of Frozen Islands was one of the safest places to sail in that regard. From what she learned after having seen a sea serpent butchered in the past, Aideen knew that many of the larger sea beasts were cold-blooded, and as such, they preferred to nest in areas where there were underwater volcanic activity to keep warm.
Such beasts often came to the surface while looking for warmth as well, at times visible from afar while they floated on the water surface, bathing their massive bodies in the sun. Even if the creatures meant no harm to sailors, their size alone made them a massive hazard for any ship that was unfortunate enough to be nearby when they surfaced, as their mass would cause a great wave to form that could easily capsize a ship.
The territorial ones, on the other hand, were known to directly devour ships that passed through their territory.