The Lucid Isles

        The Lucid Isles is the place where the magic happens! That was a cheesy line, but I kinda like how it applies to this place. To outsiders, the Lucid Isles is an archipelago shrouded in clouds and mist. The impenetrable mist makes looking into the world beyond impossible. To that end, it has remained unexplored by the outside world for as long as recorded history. Many have tried to go in, but to no avail. Any who goes into the mist, never comes out. Any ship who even unintentionally goes close finds themselves the victims of rough currents and terrifying storms. Because of this, it has been marked as a no-go zone with many popular sea based trade routes preferring to go through the northern waters just to avoid the chance of being pulled in. As treacherous as this may sound, it has become the fixation of many reckless adventurers. Obviously this is from the outside perspective, what does the Lucid Isles hide that would allow itself to become the temptation of so many?

It hides a world full of powerful magic. The cloud of mist is most certainly not a natural phenomenon. The residents of the islands have spent generations maintaining a powerful protection spell. The residents are a diverse group of Sirens, Merfolk, and Avians. The sirens live among the beaches, caves, and lowlands. The Merfolk live in the waters, and the Avians reside in the tall parts of each island. The Islands were not always closed off. A long time ago the three races were pretty open to outsiders, even going so far as to allow many of them in. Unfortunately, this generosity was repaid by a greedy human warlord who brought his armies in an attempt to claim the land for himself. He was eventually fought off through the powerful magics the natives possessed, but their opinions of any outsiders were forever damaged. Now, the luckiest outsiders are kept alive as prisoners for a couple of days before they are eventually executed or fed to the water’s various creatures. The Merfolk and the Sirens blended their magics to create the mist wall while the Avians turned the winds hostile towards anyone who would dare attempt to conquer them again.

But why would one want these lands? A local legend that has survived through generations has been that the islands are the remains of a powerful beast that roamed the oceans before modern civilization. The beast wielded powerful magic and was like a god. When the beast was laid to rest his remains carried remnants of his power. It manifests itself in powerful gems that in the right hands, can produce powerful spells beyond comprehension. The islands themselves don’t outwardly have this appearance, giving off more bland rock faces, but the legend holds true and the inhabitants are careful to honor this mythical beast. To outsiders, people who even remember being around to hear these tales don’t believe it, the rest of the world has no shortage of artifacts and power sources for people. This creates a lot of skepticism for the real value in seeking the truth out, but it is a legend that attracts many nonetheless.

Where does that put them now? If you find yourselves unfortunate enough to be swept into the mist, you better be prepared to make a case, otherwise you might find yourself becoming fish food. They have never actually allowed someone to be released back into the world, but in super rare cases they will allow you to wander around the islands before eventually killing you some other way. They have let people get by with offering knowledge or resources kept on their persons as bargaining chips, but nothing has ever swayed them enough to be lenient. Though, even though the Avians keep a watchful eye beyond the mist wall, there are many things they miss and more and often than not people will find themselves educating them.

In a future time period a war breaks out which forces the Lucid Isles to break their seclusion, but that isn’t in the scope of the time period I’m building now. Like the Island of Grong, I wanted another place that I could put more non-humans, which makes 3 different places in the world where there are exclusively non-humans. I think these places are always the coolest to make, but also the hardest for me to write. This is because I am trying to find a balance between something that feels familiar enough while also pushing the boundary of what normal humans are capable of. These descriptions are pretty vague for a reason, general ideas that I hope to flesh out by writing actual stories when I get through this initial worldbuilding section. 

To that end, thanks for reading this far! If any of this interests you or you have an opinion, do not hesitate to tell me either on the twitter post or the blog here. Not sure how easy it is to discover blogs, but I’m glad that you’re here! There is only one other “big idea” post about locations in this mini-series and I can’t wait to complete it. So yeah, one more time, thanks for taking the time to read this and I will be back tomorrow!