The Kraken Isles

Forming the southern border of the Silent Sea, the Kraken Isles are widely regarded as a navigational barrier, forcing sea traffic in and out of the sea to opt for the safer passages to the north. The Isles are a chain of floating islands, buoyed up by extensive colonies of unique sea life that live at the bottom of the islands.

Navigation

All but the most daring of captains consider the Isles impossible to navigate safely. The way they drift in the tides and currents is very difficult to predict, and even in calm waters the islands can suddenly shift direction and crash violently against each other, shattering any ship or boat caught between them. This was originally believed to indicate the presence of a Kraken, or possibly several, as it matches descriptions of how krakens feed, but advances in diving technology combined with the foolish bravery of adventurers who decided they wanted to try their hand at slaying one of these mighty beasts resulted in the discovery of these less dramatic, previously unknown sea creatures.   In recent years, with piracy on the rise in the north of the Silent Sea, an increasing number of sea captains have chosen to brave the Isles, trusting their sailing skills more than their ability to fight off pirates. While several ships have been crushed by the waters, the passage has proven to be quite possible, especially for more nimble ships. And while nobody has a thorough understanding of the Isle's movements, some more experienced navigators have noticed enough patterns that it might soon be possible to teach reliable pilots to steer through the shifting maze.  

Kraken's Lung

The sea life living under the Isles, dubbed Kraken's Lung by scholars (and the Landmaker or "a damned nuisance" by sailors), is a creature that seems to defy classification. It takes root and grows long leafy fronds like a seaweed, and yet it moves these fronds as deliberately as any fish moves its fins - indeed, it is believed it uses these fronds to steer its island, catching the shifting undersea currents to stay within the Isles, and to some extend maintain its position within the isles. And this movement is no subtle thing - when taking samples, divers were surprised to discover that cutting a frond would recoil as if in pain, and with enough force to drag anyone still holding on further into the depths below the island. Furthermore, the cut ends seep a dark ichor that seems more akin to blood than sap.   An account of one such diver who was dragged below tells of smaller, similar fronds growing up from a sea floor strewn with large, irregular gouges, leading scholars to believe that young specimens of the species grow on the sea floor at first, eventually growing large enough to rip a mass of stone up from the earth to form a new island. This remains unconfirmed, however, as divers rarely survive going so deep without the aid of magic, and such an expedition has not yet taken place. Indeed, the original witness was clearly suffering from the diving sickness as he made his report, and expired not long thereafter.