The Drowned Shrine

• Original Purpose: A simple altar to beseech safe voyages and good tides.
• Current Purpose: A ritual site where priests read swirling water for glimpses of the future, as well as a place to offer tributes to calm the capricious sea.

• Open-sided stone structure with delicate arches that let the tide flow in and out.
• Tide pools carved with concentric runes catch seawater, shimmering with phosphorescence.
• Coral and shell motifs adorn every surface.

• A winding stair down from the cliffs.
• Hidden sea-caves allow small boats to dock directly within the shrine during high tide.

• Sight: Shafts of light pierce the water, revealing darting silver fish and strange shadows.
• Sound: The constant echo of waves through cavern channels, occasionally forming eerie almost-words.
• Smell: Salt, kelp, and faint incense.
• Touch: Damp stone slick with moss, surprisingly warm despite being wet.

• Priests and priestesses of Thalor, often draped in robes woven from sea silk.
• Schools of tiny, bioluminescent fish that linger in the pools even at low tide.
• Occasionally visited by deep oracles from distant undersea realms.

• Offerings of pearls and polished driftwood.
• Iron braziers burning resin that releases blue smoke.
• Intricately carved tidal basins used for scrying.

• Ancient tide stones that amplify divination.
• Forgotten offerings swept under rocks by the tide — coins, rings, even lost minor relics.

• When strong rituals are performed, the tide sometimes rises abruptly, pulling the careless into hidden sea tunnels.
• Certain basins react violently to lies spoken nearby, sending jets of cold water to knock speakers from their feet.

• Waters here resist magical contamination and heal minor ailments.
• The shrine’s pools can sometimes show distant places or events when properly invoked.

• Over time, sea levels and storms have reshaped parts of the shrine, collapsing older altars and creating new tidal inlets.

• An elegant fusion of coastal elven design with natural coral growth encouraged by old druidic blessings.
• The shrine seems half-built, half-grown.

Runes etched into the tide pools can call up walls of water or summon spectral sea serpents in defense.

• Site of many important Virellian treaties sworn before the sea’s witness.
• Local legends tell of lovers who leapt into the pools, vanishing only to reappear years later in distant lands.

• Popular among sailors and merchants seeking blessings for voyages.
• During certain moon phases, the entire shrine is lit by phosphorescent algae, drawing crowds for night-long vigils.