The Black Storm Littoral
Vibe
Fortress ports, desperate salvage, and faith tested by the sea.
Geography
The eastern coastal realm, bordered by the Pax River to the west and open ocean to the east. Colder currents have brought thicker fog and larger storms. Black sand beaches turn to glass where lightning strikes. Some tides arrive at the wrong time, with no astronomical explanation. Roughly 40% of the population lives in sea‑caves or under‑harbor structures built into the cliffs.
People
Common Races: humans, half‑orcs, tieflings, dwarves, elves, tritons, dragonborn. Triton enclaves along the coast warn of movement in the deep trench offshore.
- Zizz — Forest Gnome Rogue (Arcane Trickster), Guide of Sablecoast
Cities
- Grimharbor - captains' councils have formalized into a wartime confederacy. Privateers now escort food convoys rather than raid them.
- Pearlwatch - its lighthouse beacons burn with imported Embercrag heat‑stones. The light is considered sacred and is strictly rationed.
- Saltmere - the reed labyrinths that protect the harbor freeze solid in winter, trapping smugglers and patrols alike.
- Blackreef - grew into a refugee island, built from wreckwood and bone‑white ice.
Points of Interest
- The Drowned Basilica - an ancient structure that surfaces from the sea more often than it should. Some say it is rising.
- Stormbreak Arch - storms still split around it as they always have, but now leave glittering rime on the rock that cuts skin on contact.
- The Sable Trench - lights move below the waterline in patterns that some scribes claim resemble written script.