Bay of Mynilad

The Bay of Mynilad is the largest and busiest body of water in the Tagápulo Empire. At its southern end lies the city of Mynilad, the imperial capital, where the great river Ilog Pasi meets the sea. Ships from across the Great Ring anchor here throughout the year, and the city’s marketplace is among the busiest in the world. The bay's coast is lined with villages and towns, and its waters are always alive with fishing boats. The Bay of Mynilad is central to the wealth and power of the Empire.

The Bay - or more precisely, its god Luek - is also a problem for the Empire. When the Tagápulo conquered the region from the Ilogaro people, they adopted the worship of Luek. This was standard practice for the Empire: local deities were honored and incorporated into the faith of nearby citizens. But Luek remained first and foremost the patron god of the Ilogaro. Though defeated and made subjects of the Empire, the Ilogaro have never abandoned their hopes for independence. Every few generations they rise in rebellion - most recently about seventy-five years ago. These uprisings have always failed, yet the Empire has never been able to carry out its wish to eliminate the Ilogaro, because of Luek's protection. Rebels have often taken refuge on Luek's sacred island of Lumai, which lies within the bay and near the capital, and every imperial attempt to seize them has been thwarted by the god, who refuses to allow his sanctuary to be violated. When the Empire tried to destroy Ilogaro villages along the bay's shores, the people fled into the water, and striking down anyone praying to Luek in his bay quickly proved a sure way to provoke his wrath. During the last rebellion, Luek went so far as to halt all traffic through the bay for weeks, until the Empire relented and allowed the rebel leaders to remain on Lumai under the condition they never leave.

For the Empire, this is a difficult situation to endure. The priesthood of Luek is almost entirely Ilogaro and openly sympathetic to their cause. The current Apo of Luek, Langa-ay, taunts the Empire whenever given the chance; both his parents were rebels in the last uprising, and he has carried a lifelong hatred of the Tagápulo. No amount of worship or sacrifice on the Empire's part has weakened the bond between Luek and the Ilogaro - and it seems certain they will rise in rebellion again before long.

Notable Spirits

The Bay is the domain of Luek, patron god of the Ilogaro. His sacred island is Lumai, home to the Pangdambana ni Luek, the great temple dedicated to him. Yet Luek is not the only spirit bound to the waters of Mynilad.

The Bay - and especially Lumai - is haunted. When the Weeping Plague struck Mynilad a century ago, the Emperor ordered all who were infected, and all merely suspected of infection, to be removed to the bay's islands. When those filled, quarantine ships were moored offshore and packed with the dying. The measure may have spared the city, but no care was given to the suffering of those condemned.

Since that time, ghosts wander the waters and the islands. On moonless nights, sailors glimpse phantom ships adrift and ruined shelters flickering with spectral fire. These spirits are not hostile; they rarely acknowledge the living at all. Instead, they linger as a persistent, tragic reminder of what the Empire is willing to do when threatened. At each new moon, the priests of Lumai venture into the darkness to guide a few of the restless dead to peace. Yet their task is vast, and it is said that centuries will pass before all are freed from their torment.