Unknown Seas

The Sea of the Unknown lays before us, cold and callous. Behind us stand the comforts of home, the assurance of a path well-trodden. But some of us feel called to something else - something unseen, undefinable. Those hopes and nebulous dreams rest out over the horizon, beyond the chop and spray of the slate-gray sea that crashes at our feet. We know not how to reach those dreams; we know only that we must try.

In the 15th century, the world beyond Europe began to emerge from myth and legend, and it was the Portuguese who led the way. They founded an empire that stretched from China to Brazil, and the peak of their achievement was Vasco da Gama's discovery of a sea route to India. Still today, landmarks, coastlines and currents around the world bear Portuguese names, and the oceans of the world are one vast watery grave for Portuguese seamen. For those who sailed beyond the known world life was harsh beyond measure.

Most had become pirates or scavengers who would just sail around seeking food or the necklace, which over time seemed more like a myth. Only two seasons were left in the world, cold and frozen. Oddly, mostly everyone liked when the season was frozen since the people could stop sailing around and walk on the frozen waters as though it were land.