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Sea of Scarlet Waters

Properties2
tagseraedal, location, sea, maritime, western-empire, scarlet-waters, volcanic, trade
aliasesSea of Scarlet Waters, Scarlet Waters, The Scarlet Sea, Scarlet Sea

7 min read

Infobox

Sea of Scarlet Waters

Maritime Dossier
AttributeDetail
Sea NameThe Sea of Scarlet Waters (The Scarlet Sea)
WorldEraedal
Bordering RealmsWestern Empire (West & North), Mount Nimro (South), Baalgor Wastelands (Southeast)
Coastal ProvincesThe Scarlet Mountains, Southern Tarldet Plains, Coast of Giants
Key Harbors & PortsPort Scarlata, Fort Kurgas-on-Sea, Anchorage of Cinders, South Spire Approaches
Waters PhenomenonDense crimson algae blooms, iron-rich silt runoff, sub-aquatic sulfur fumaroles
Naval PowersWestern Empire Southern Armada, [[Mount Nimro
Patron FaithsGozreh (Storm & Blood-Waves), Pharasma, Asmoddeus (Imperial Naval Charters)
Major PerilsBoiling thermal vents, Crimson Fog, Giant Catapult Galleys, Slumbering Galchutt Abominations

🌊 Overview: The Crimson Deep

The Sea of Scarlet Waters is one of the most striking and dangerous bodies of water in all of Eraedal. Wedged into the south-central underbelly of the continent, this expansive maritime basin is cradled by the forbidding precipices of the Scarlet Mountains and the open grasslands of the Tarldet Plains to the north and west, while its southern shores lap against the scorched volcanic ash of Mount Nimro and the parched flats of the Baalgor Wastelands.

The sea takes its ominous name from its uncanny, rust-red coloration. When the morning sun crests the eastern peaks, the entire expanse gleams like fresh arterial blood. This crimson hue is born of a volatile synthesis: rich iron-oxide runoff pouring down from the mineral-heavy Scarlet Mountains, hyper-dense seasonal blooms of bioluminescent red algae, and hundreds of sub-aquatic thermal chimneys belching sulfur, steam, and volcanic minerals into the deep trenches from the magma chambers of Mount Nimro.

For the Western Empire, the Sea of Scarlet Waters is both an indispensable strategic highway and a treacherous frontier. Through its northern straits pass heavily escorted imperial convoys carrying iron, grain, and mined minerals between the industrial heartland and the eastern coastal ports like Ptolus. Yet its southern reaches are an active warzone, where imperial galleys clash with the colossal war catamarans of the Kingdom of Giants and dodge the boiling currents of volcanic upwellings.

🗺️ Geography & Maritime Channels

             [ WESTERN EMPIRE / TARLDET PLAINS ]
            (Imperial Granaries, Highways to Ptolus)
                                |
     [ SCARLET MOUNTAINS ]      |      [ STRAIT OF BLOOD-MIST ]
     (Iron Cliffs, Red Silt)    |      (Naval Passage to Bay of Ptolus)
                \               |               /
                 \--- [ THE SCARLET BASIN ] ---/
             (Boiling Fumaroles | Crimson Algae Blooms)
                                |
               [ THE ANCHORAGE OF CINDERS ]
             (Western Empire Fortified Naval Redoubt)
                                |
             [ MOUNT NIMRO & MOUNT NIMROD ]
          (Volcanic Ash Plains, Lava Deltas, Giants)
                                |
                 [ BAALGOR WASTELAND SHORES ]

The waters of the Scarlet Sea present unique nautical challenges:

  1. The Crimson Blooms: During the hot summer months, microscopic flagellate organisms multiply into immense, shimmering slicks of red algae. While harmless to ship hulls, these blooms deplete the water’s oxygen, suffocating ordinary fish and causing hundreds of silver-scaled sea serpents and reef sharks to surface in ravenous, agitated feeding frenzies.
  2. Sub-Aquatic Fumaroles & Boiling Slicks: In the southern quadrants near Mount Nimro, the seabed is fractured by volcanic rifts. Entire square miles of the sea can suddenly begin to boil without warning, churning with superheated steam that strips paint from hulls, warps timber joints, and scalds unwary sailors who fall overboard.
  3. The Strait of Blood-Mist: The northern neck of the sea, where it funnels past the southern ridges of the Tarldet Plains toward the approaches of the Bay of Ptolus. Dense banks of red-tinged marine fog hang perpetually over the water, cutting visibility to twenty paces and providing ideal cover for privateers and corsairs.
  4. The Iron Cliffs: The western shore along the Scarlet Mountains is lined with sheer, blood-streaked rock faces rising five hundred feet out of the waves. Possessing no natural beaches or landing coves, ships crippled in storms are smashed to splinters against the jagged red stone.

⚔️ Naval Dominance & Imperial Cold War

The Southern Imperial Flotilla

The Western Empire maintains a formidable naval squadron stationed at The Anchorage of Cinders—a heavily fortified naval base built upon an artificial breakwater of quarried basalt:

  • Iron-Banded War Galleys: Unlike standard northern timber ketches, imperial warships operating in the Scarlet Waters are equipped with flame-retardant treated hull timbers, reinforced iron rams, and deck-mounted fire siphons capable of spraying volatile alchemical naphtha.
  • The Black Ship Sightings: Rumors along the waterfront insist that the legendary, warded Black Demon Ships of the Western Empire occasionally anchor in deep, fog-draped coves of the Scarlet Sea, discharging cloaked arcanists on secret imperial commissions.

The Giant Catamarans of Mount Nimro

In recent years, the rising power of Sunder Blackrock’s Kingdom of Giants has extended directly onto the waves:

  • Giant shipwrights, utilizing massive ironwood logs hauled from the northern fringes of the Yin-Sloth Jungles, construct immense double-hulled catamarans sixty feet wide.
  • Powered by banks of thirty-foot oars rowed by Jotan and Gigantes warriors, these colossal vessels mount giant boulder-catapults that can shatter an imperial galley in two salvos. They aggressively patrol the southern coastline, sinking any imperial slaver ship that approaches the giant kingdom’s borders.

📜 The Tri-System Synthesis: Scarlet Waters Canon

1. The Physical Shell (Palladium Canon)

  • Sourced from Palladium Fantasy RPG Book 08: The Western Empire (2E), Book 10: Mount Nimro, and the Main Rule Book (2E) (pages 286, 288).
  • Preserves the canonical position of the Sea of Scarlet Waters bordered by the Western Empire peninsula, the Scarlet Mountains, and the volcanic domain of Mount Nimro.

2. The Ancient Bones (Praemal / Ptolus Lore)

  • The Monument of Xy: In the sacred Tristine Chronicles, Mount Nimrod is described as “the burning mountain before the Scarlet Waters” raised during the Age of Chaos to mark the passing of the Chaos Lords.
  • Deep within the ocean abyss beneath the scarlet algae lies the Sunken Caldera of Xy—a pre-cataclysmic basalt rift where ancient entities bound during the imprisonment of the Galchutt / Old Ones slumber in cold magma. The psychic radiation of these elder aberrations leaks upward, causing the algae to mutate and occasionally granting telepathic madness to deep-sea divers.

3. The Active Pulse (Pathfinder 2e Remaster)

  • Aquatic Combat Engine: Operates under PF2e Remaster aquatic rules (swim checks, underwater weapon restrictions, breathing hazards from boiling steam).
  • The Faiths:
    • Gozreh: Prayed to as the Blood-Tide; sailors offer flagons of vintage wine to the waves to placate the red waters.
    • Pharasma: Worshipped at coastal beacons where the souls of sailors lost in the boiling vents are commended to the Lady of Graves.
    • Asmoddeus: Invoked by imperial admirals to bind marine press-gangs with unbreakable legal oaths.

⚔️ Tactical Statblock Dossiers (PF2e Remaster)

Scarlet Sea Blood-Drakeling (Creature 6)

Large, Dragon, Aquatic, Chaotic Evil

Scarlet Sea Blood-Drakeling

Perception +14; darkvision, wavesense (imprecise) 60 ft.
Languages Draconic
Skills Athletics +16, Stealth +14 (+18 in red algae blooms), Survival +13
Str +5, Dex +3, Con +4, Int -2, Wis +2, Cha +0
AC 24; Fort +16, Ref +13, Will +11
HP 95; Resistances fire 5

Speed 20 feet, fly 40 feet, swim 50 feet
Melee [one-action] Jaws +16 (reach 10 ft.), Damage 2d8+7 piercing plus 1d6 fire
Melee [one-action] Tail +14 (agile, reach 15 ft.), Damage 2d6+5 bludgeoning

Boiling Water Breath [two-actions] (evocation, fire, primal) The drakeling exhales a 30-foot cone of boiling, scalding water (usable underwater or in air). Creatures in the area take 7d6 fire damage (DC 24 basic Reflex save). Recharges in 1d4 rounds.
Crimson Camouflage While swimming within red algae blooms, the drakeling is Concealed.

🎯 Role in Regional Politics & Campaign Hooks

  1. The Conduit to Ptolus: Merchant convoys departing the Western Empire’s southern granaries use the Sea of Scarlet Waters to bypass the war-torn interior roads of the Three-way Civil War, sailing north into the Bay of Ptolus to supply Holy Emperor Rehoboth’s court.
  2. The Sunken Vault of Iron: An imperial iron transport was sunk by giant catamarans near the Scarlet Mountains. Its cargo included three warded crates of masterwork dwarven armor destined for the City Watch in Ptolus.
  3. The Scalding Siphon: Volcanic shifts under Mount Nimro have caused a major steam vent to open directly along the primary shipping channel, cutting off maritime trade. Imperial admirals offer a heavy bounty to any party of adventurers capable of diving into the vent to neutralize the elemental catalyst driving the eruption.

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