The Pharos Chain of Thalasseia

Maritime • Navigation & Law

The Pharos Chain guards the Shattered Sea with nine lights, numbered clockwise from the Northern Gate. Thalasseia fuels its beacons with olive oil and imported lenses; foreigners must secure a Sea Writ before entering beyond Pharos I or VIII.

Pharos I — Aigilon Gate (Northern entrance; major foreign port)

Role & Layout. The empire’s outward‑facing harbor. A stone headland mole cradles a deepwater quay, customs yards, and the Sea Writ Hall (foreign clearance). Twin tiered lights—a revolving crown lens above and a lower sector lamp—paint reefs red and the fairway white. Chain‑boom sockets span the narrows.

Operations. Gate‑1 cadence (long • short • long) replies on the hour; a semaphore yard repeats weather and current roses. Quarantine island to windward; olive‑press guild delivers first‑press to the cisterns by rite. Pilot College trains chain pilots; examination boats practice through the sector on fog days.

Trade & Law. Most foreign cargo clears here (timber/olives/pearls out; grain, glass, and manuscripts in). Sea Writs stamped and sealed; no foreign hull may pass the inner boom without writ and pilot. Contraband lists posted bilingually; amber overlay signals inspections; red sector drops when booms rise.

Quirks. Aigilon’s foghorns are bronze throats tuned to different keys; veteran pilots hear the tide change in the overtone.

Pharos II — Crownwatch (North archipelago)

Basalt stack drilled with a ring‑stair; keeper huts cling like barnacles. The light throws hard white then a faint green prismatic kiss that confirms which side of the stack you hold. A wind‑harp strung in the access arch sings on onshore blows—locals wager the squall’s strength by its pitch. Cisterns carved into the stack catch winter rain; a cliff crane swings up cargo nets when the swell pounds the ledge.

Pharos III — Mistreef (North archipelago)

A low coral table rimmed with constant spray. Short‑short‑long cadence; an amber sector screen marks the worst shoal. A black‑iron fog bell tolls over the surf gap. Night plankton blooms make the wake run electric; keepers scrape intake screens every dawn. Divers chalk the reef teeth with lime before gale season so wreckers can read them in whitewater.

Pharos IV — Star-Arch (North archipelago)

A natural stone arch straddled by the tower; a suspension catwalk links to the supply cliff. Paired leading lights—narrow slit fore and aft—thread the only safe line across cross‑currents. In winter gales the arch moans; the note shifts subtly when the bottom migrates after storms, and the pilot logs track that pitch as a sounder of sorts.

Pharos V — Eastreach (East coast of the Shattered Sea)

Headland terraces of olive trees climb behind the light. Big under‑floor cisterns feed lamp and village; a net‑yard repairs the fish convoys’ gear. Current boards post each market‑day. The lamproom floor is old salt‑glass from Rishama—its waviness shimmers in noon light, a reminder of a batch that taught everyone humility.

Pharos VI — Naukrion High Light (Capitol)

Tall white cylinder integrated into Naukrion’s harbor works. City cadence (long • short • short every two minutes). Sector shutters trace the inner boom and mark the royal berth; a semaphore mast passes orders to harbor pilots and customs. Houses the Master Lens—imported via Al‑Majra, polished in Siraj, then mounted here. Olive‑ash polishing is a temple rite; apprentices sweep the gallery sunwise.

Pharos VII — Saffron Shoal (South archipelago)

Pearl‑ground sentinel. The tower carries exclusion flashes when divers’ buoys lace the shoal. A small assay bench grades pearls for convoy seals; a spice‑cutters’ siding stacks baskets for the southern markets. At neap tide the shoal sings—pilots swear you can steer by pitch when fog eats the light.

Pharos VIII — Navarchos (South archipelago; primary naval base & port town)

Role & Layout. Thalasseia’s fleet heart and the southern foreign‑clearing port. A fortified mole shields drydocks, boom‑net towers, a signal yard keyed to fleet formations, and a segregated civil quay with its own Sea Writ desk. The pharos crowns the admiralty wall.

Operations. Fleet cadence (double‑long at the hour red sectors across boom‑nets; amber when drills lock the docks. Review Day lights the mole with oil pans; the pharos runs double wick while admirals read the year’s winds. Naval chart school and kite yard maintain formation signals; powder magazines sit under salt‑vaults.

Law & Access. Foreign hulls enter only by written orders; without them, escorts hold them outside the net. Stores and repairs clear through the civil quay under inspection. War‑prizes are adjudicated at dawn bell in the Yard House.

Quirks. The mole stones are cut with tiny lionheads; sailors rub one for luck before blue‑water patrols.

Pharos IX — Stormgate (South archipelago)

Weather headland that takes the brunt of the open ocean swell. Tall revolving lens plus a storm semaphore that repeats wind force and barometer to the whole chain. Keepers’ gallery is inlaid with mother‑of‑pearl from wreck salvage; tradition says it buys mercy. A copper lightning spine runs to a tide pool; thunder here can split your molars.

Foreign Access & Signals

• Sea Writs: Foreign vessels must obtain a Sea Writ at Pharos I (Aigilon Gate) before proceeding inside, or at Pharos VIII (Navarchos) if arriving from the south under naval escort.
• Cadence Rules: White lights = clear lanes; amber overlays mark hazards; red sectors = no entry (booms, nets, or DMZ-style limits). Semaphore repeats cadence changes along the chain at the top of each hour.

Operations & Supply

• Fuel: First-press olive oil with ash-wash for clarity; wick looms maintained by lamplighters’ guild.
• Lenses: Standard plates and prisms imported via Rishama (Siraj finishing), mounted in Thalasseian frames.
• Pilots: Boarding grounds at Pharos I & VI; chain pilots rotate seasonally and share current logs with the proofhouses.