Excerpts from "Sea of Fallen Stars"

[Wids]

Sea of Fallen Stars
Published in 1999 by TSR Inc.

This topic is a collection-in-progress of various potentially helpful charts, lists and descriptions from the Sea of Fallen Stars supplement. As Sea of Fallen Stars is an officially published Forgotten Realms supplement, its contents are considered canon unless overwritten or nullified by later canonical Forgotten Realms corebooks and supplements. And as numerous pages of the Forgotten Realms Wiki related to the Sea of Fallen Stars (aka. the Inner Sea) are still sourced to this book, it should be pretty safe to say that Sea of Fallen Stars hasn't been decanonized yet. Though published for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (D&D's "Second Edition"), the various charts and tables can be easily adapted to the Third Edition rules.

As usual, we'll just conveniently forget that the atrocious Fourth Edition exists. Savvy?

One name which will appear plenty of times in the subsequent posts is Serôs. Serôs is the proper name for the undersea regions of the Sea of Fallen Stars. In the Aquan tongue predominant among the sentient aquatic races, "serôs" translates to "the embracing life."

[Wids]

Maritime Laws and Customs
(pg. 14)

Many Cormyrean, Sembian, Thayvian and other national laws covering sea travel are on record. Many people looking into these matters for the first time admit surprise that so many countries share quite similar laws for their naval conduct, differing according to how each country's social and fiscal priorities are set. Rather than list exact punishments and codes of law for all Inner Sea powers, here are the basics; DMs can adapt what follows to best suit the tone of their own Realms campaigns.


• All countries and most cities recognize one simple precept: The captain of the ship is the sole voice of order and conduct. As kings rule with total authority in their own lands, the captain rules his ship, and he has the power of life and death over all aboard her. Cormyr's and Impiltur's ship captains rarely put criminals to death aboard ship, instead jailing them in the ship's brig and bringing them home for punishment.

• Mutiny against a ship's captain is a crime not suffered by any sea power. If successful, the mutineers can return to port and present their case before the proper authorities. Only Cormyr has ever refrained from hanging a mutineer (and then, only twice), regardless of circumstances. Most mutineers become pirates or privateers without homes beyond their berths and bunks in the Pirate Isles.

• Piracy is an offense that many decry along the Inner Sea, though some states offer harsher punishments than others. Cormyr allows first offenders of piracy to keep their lives, but at the price of one hand; the second offense costs the pirate's life. Most hang pirates upon proof of their crimes, though few question a captain who defeats a pirate crew and hangs them from the yardarm of his own ship. The rotting corpses of pirates can occasionally be seen near the Pirate Isles. The only pardon for those guilty of piracy is to recruit them as corsairs to hunt down their former fellows as unofficial arms of the coastal governments.

• Smuggling is an even greater problem, because smugglers are either dodging taxes or providing a need or a product that is banned to political or legal machinations. Most powers confiscate the smuggled goods, then tax the smugglers two to three times the cost of the contraband for early offenses. Repeat smugglers end up banished or put to death. Smuggling is rampant on the Dragon Reach and among the Dragon Coast cities and the Vilhon Reach.

• Salvaging treasure from shipwrecks is not unlike dungeon delving, though it is more difficult due to the hostile environment. Any ship sunk within territorial waters officially becomes the property of the authorities, but they usually claim only 20% of the treasures or goods recovered. Another 20% of any salvaged treasure automatically goes to the ship's captain, and he gets first choice of the goods. Folk who quarrel over such arrangements often find their chartered ships abandoning them while they dive, leaving them to drown.

• Ten miles offshore is the recognized limit of territorial waters for any lone port or country. It's tricky to recognize waters around the Alamber, as Mulhorand, Thay, Unther and various independent cities have laid claim to overlapping territories at times, and thus sea battles happen as one power's vessels find another power's within "its territory."

• Attacks on a country's ships within that country's waters are considered acts of war and are dealt with harshly and quickly. (Sinking or confiscating the offending ship and the imprisonment or execution of its crew are the most common penalties.)

• Fishing in territorial waters without paying either the local or national authorities is illegal, but hardly enforced anywhere save along Cormyr's and Sembia's coastal fishing areas. Despite penalties to the contrary, most local fishermen attack each other's boats when they feel someone is intruding in their waters, leading to many bitter rivalries and feuds among neighboring coastal villages.

[Wids]

Customs and Traditions
(pg. 15)

There are many traditions among seafarers, some of which are based in part on superstition and part on sensible regulations. Customs vary wildly among the nations, cities and villages along the Inner Sea.

Ships are named in consistent patterns, each group with its own pattern. While some deviations do exist, these are only minor.


• All of Cormyr's official naval vessels are named for the monarchy's rulers. Some are given fanciful names like Valashar's Bane while others sport actual names such as Queen Besmra. Cormyr's corsairs and privateers (which unofficially fight the pirates for reward from Cormyr) use lesser known titles for weapons used by Cormyr's rulers as ship names, such as Drake's Tooth (after Shiningbite, Queen Gantharla's sword) or Undying Gaze (after the eye-studded war shield of King Draxius the Never-Dying).

• Sembian vessels, whether naval or commercial, are all named for various coins around the Realms, such as Three Falcons Volant, Yulthaari Hunter or Bicentan Sail.

• Official Thayvian vessels (those owned by the zulkirs or tharchions and Thay's navy) are named after spells, types of magic-users and specific spellcasters (Lightning Bolt, Black Tentacle, Alkammar or Enchanter). Other Thayvian vessels have varied names still somehow linked to magic.

• In times past, most pirates named their ships after great battles or their captains. Now, there is almost no rhyme or reason to the names of pirate ships. (Some pirates betray their origins by using the naming patterns of their old homes.)

• Ships of Mulhorand, Chessenta and Unther are named after various creatures, monsters or myths of the sea, often mixing them with familiar terms, such as Sea Hag or Unthalasshark. The god-kings name their government vessels using elements of their own mythologies, for Eye of Horus or Purse of Nephythys.

• Ships of Impiltur, Thesk, Atumbel and Aglarond tend to name vessels after their uses or the products they carry, such as Spicesail or Timberhold. Some ships gain colorful names that outstrip their own opulence, such as the ragtag ore-hauler Dragonjaws' Bounty, the spice trader Golden Wayfarer, or the farmer- and miller-owned Chauntea's Blessings.


Ship colors have traditional rules as well, both for the paint of the hull and the color of the sails.

• Most sails are made of coarse, drab canvas. A sign of wealth among seafarers is for the captain to have the sails dyed or made of fine materials such as silk or muslin. Cormyr objects to any who use purple sails, as they use it themselves and most folk assume that ships with purple sails are Cormyr's ships. (Some pirates count on that to disguise their vessels.)

• Most ships' hulls are painted in dull colors. Black, however, is reserved for official vessels owned by heads of state. (Such ships are often sent ahead of the actual vessel upon which a ruler sails, to attract the attentions of pirates and assassins.)

• Cormyr's official "Blue Dragons" navy paints the gunnels, mainmast and bowsprit a bright blue so pirates and blackguards know that the eye of Cormyr is on them.

• A tradition existing among disease-bearing ships is to stain the sails and mainmast of a plague ship with blood or red paint, signaling a port or passing ship for either clerical aid or a merciful death by fire arrows (or fireballs) to burn the ship to the water.


Finally, the flags or "colors" a ship flies immediately mark the group or state to which the ship owes allegiance.

• Ships can signal other ships with their flags. Cormyr's ship flags all have the Purple Dragon facing away from the mast, the opposite side of the flag holding the captain's (or highest-ranking officer's) personal mark. To turn the flag around and have the dragon face the mast signals that the ship wishes to come alongside and talk. Most ships' flags have a symbol on one side that, when reversed, sends a similar message to passing ships.

• Multiple flags on the mainmast and from the stern of the ship communicate numerous things, though most powers wish to keep such codes secret so their enemies cannot decipher their meaning. Cormyr and Thay, most of all, use an elaborate system of no less than four flags beneath their main colors to signal other ships.

[Wids]

Beliefs and Superstitions
(pg. 16)

Beliefs and superstitions are as vast a sea of tales as the one upon which the sailors who tell them sail. The truth of these is suspect, but enough folk believe in them that even evidence to the contrary is seen as an exception.

• If a shark bites a boat and leaves any teeth in the wood, the boat has as many days as there are teeth before falling prey to disaster.

• If you cut your hair or nails while at sea, you will drown before returning to shore. Grooming is seen as an offering to Sune, and the jealous Umberlee will claim the life of the offender.

• No ships set sail on Shieldmeet. Those that do are cursed to drift for years, destined not to reach port until the next Shieldmeet, or they are lost forever.

• Red-haired people bring bad luck onto a ship, thus barring their use as dockhands.

• Pouring wine on a ship's foredeck, the mainmast and the bow ensures a prosperous and safe voyage.

• Keep two dogs on board ship, and scrags and sea ogres will never bother you.

• If a tressym (a winged cat most common in Calimshan) alights on your mainmast, prepare for three days without wind.

• Figureheads on ships are most often of unclad females of any variety of races, since Deep Sashelas may protect "her" and the ship that carries from harm during a voyage.

• Dolphins or porpoises swimming alongside a ship are signs of good luck, and it is bad luck to kill one, even for food.

• If you count your catch, you'll not catch any more fish that day.

• Never utter the word "drown" while at sea. It attracts Umberlee's attention without fail.

• If you fall overboard, it is useless to fight Umberlee by learning how to swim.

• The full moon's light purifies the sea and prevents any evil from harming a ship.

• Temple bells heard while at sea (while passing along a coast, pulling into harbor, etc.) signal the impending death of someone on board.

• Carrying the feather of a peryton keeps the bearer safe from death by shipwreck.

• Tattooing open eyes on your eyelids warns you of danger while you sleep.

[Wids]

The Depths of Serôs
Pg. 33-34 and 183-185, all depths included

Depth of Serôs (depth, in feet) - Maximum depth for...

Shallows (0-150 feet) - Kelpies (60 feet)

Gloom (151-300 feet) - Sirines (200 feet), Crabmen (300 feet)

Twilight (301-600 feet) - Surface Races (350-600 feet), Sea Hags (400 feet), Selkies (400 feet), Aquatic Elves (600 feet), Koalinths (600 feet)

Upper Depths (601-1,200 feet) - Dolphins (700 feet), Locathah (800 feet), Sea Lions (800 feet), Lacedons (800 feet), Ixitxachitl (1,000 feet), Kuo-Toa (1,000 feet), Seawolves (1,000 feet), Malenti (1,200 feet), Merfolk (1,200 feet)

Lower Depths (1,201-2,400 feet) - Merrow (1,800 feet), Dragon Turtles (2,000 feet), Morkoths (2,000 feet), Sahuagin (2,000 feet), Baleen Whales (2,000 feet), Shalarin (2,400 feet)

Underdeep (2,401+ feet) - Scrags (2,600 feet), Tritons (3,000 feet), Eyes of the Deep (3,000 feet), Hippocampi (3,000 feet), Sperm Whales (3,000 feet), Storm Giants (4,000 feet), Krakens (5,000 feet)


Temperature
Any surface-dwelling creature traveling at the Twilight or lower (more than 300 feet underwater) needs some form of protection from the cold that exists at these depths. Unprotected characters suffer -2 penalties to Attack, Damage and Initiative rolls. These penalties are cumulative with standard underwater combat penalties.

Serôsian Armor
Most adventurers are surprised by the relative lack of armor among the races of Serôs. Once visitors learn the importance of mobility, speed and maneuverability in swimming and combat, they realize that armor as they know it needs to change.

The shalarin and tritons craft two special types of armor. Silverweave is a flexible, light fabric made of silver coral strands (see "Encyclopedia Serôsica" (coming in a later post)) that are treated to become as durable as chainmail but as light and flexible as cloth. Silverweave is worn only during wars, and these are most often leggings to protect one's mobility (as one can't swim with a badly wounded leg). The harder, bulkier but more ornamental and durable armor is pearl armor, which roughly equates to plate armor though it is much lighter than metal armor. These armors work differently in that they have no set Armor Class of their own; they simply add a +2 or +5 Armor Class bonus (respectively) to the wearer's normal Armor Class. For more on these armors, see "Encyclopedia Serôsica."

Serôsian Clothing
As surprised as Faerûnians are about the lack of armor among Serôsians, they are less surprised by the general lack of clothing among these societies. As very few fabrics provide any protection or warmth in the water, the primary purpose for the invention of clothing is negated.

The most non-utilitarian items worn by any native of Serôs are jewelry, including rulers' crowns at Eadraal and other kingdoms, and magical items. Crowns are often carved from coral, or scavenged gold from shipwrecks is sometimes melted and recast into a crown, though they are smaller, lighter and more streamlined than any surface ruler's crown. A merfolk crown tends to cling to the head and fan backward through the monarch's hair, with a large forehead guard that comes to a point on the nose. Shalarin rulers wear no crowns; their ruler's symbols are unique bracers worn on the left arm. The eadar (emperor) wears a platinum bracer, the finars (kings) wear gold bracers and the golmars (dukes) wear coral bracers inlaid with some gold. Some younger shalarin (and the aging eadar, who found the trend interesting) have pierced the crowns of their dorsal fins with gold loops taken either from treasure hoards or the ears of dead pirates.

Members of all Serôsian cultures do wear belts, harnesses or bandoliers when equipment or weapons need to be worn or carried. These items, which appear similar to supple leather, are almost made in one of two methods: kelp fronds treated for durability, or treated sea-snakeskin and eelskin. Very few wear more than this due to the drag such items create when swimming. Clothes were once common among the nobility of Aryselmalyr, though that may have simply been a hold-over from the elves' days as surface-dwellers. Today, the only clothing regularly seen on any of the major aquatic races are the courtly finery among the sea elves and the shalarin, and these diaphanous silken weaves simply mark the wearer as a certain rank or position.

[Wids]

Surface Powers beneath the Waves
Pg. 56

Many of the surface-oriented powers entered Serôs via the gods' faithful lost at sea. Once saved by members of the aquatic races, the grateful victims shared their stories, their knowledge and their piety with their newfound friends. Other gods became known through trade and other contact with surface folk over time, whether they entered Serôs or undersea denizens rose to the surface world and learned of them there. A third option is the potential worship of powers was assumed to be limited only to Faerûn, when in fact the aquatic races also heard the call of some pervasive gods, such as Mystra or Oghma. Regardless of the faith's origins in Serôs, the gods listed here are major religious powers within the Inner Sea.

Shalarin Worship
Pg. 56

Due to unknown circumstances among their own gods, the shalarin who reside in the Inner Sea found quickly upon their arrival that some of their gods did not answer their prayers, despite no change in the shalarin's piety or their methods of worship. Believing this to be a test of faith, some priests of the First and Second Passings retained their worship of the old gods, but this died out within a generation. Other shalarin priests found that they recognized their own gods in the Serôsian sea powers, only that their names had changed, and they simply became an offshoot of those religions (using their standard forms of worship rather than the more common Serôsian forms). Some shalarin, especially those of the Third and Fourth Passings, have taken to the worship of some of Faerûn's gods with fervor and have been accepted by those gods and their clergies.

Of all the faiths of Serôs that the shalarin embrace, they worship Trishina more above all others, followed by Eldath, Persana, Istishia and Mystra. All shalarin, whether priests or not, worship Trishina as Ri'daa'trisha, and treat her within their transplanted culture as a mother goddess. Each of the shalarin castes also seems to have a patron god or goddess paired with Trishina to rule them (or perhaps to act as parents of that caste; shalarin are as protective about religion as the locathah).

The one thing that links all of the shalarin faiths is that they adapt the names of the gods to fit within their own naming systems. While they acknowledge the names others use for them, the gods they choose to worship have shalarin names. Below are the alternate names that the shalarin use in worship (these are considered aliases of said powers, but only among the shalarin):

Common Name / Shalarin Name
Deep Sashelas____Ri'dea'shela
Eadro___________Ri'dea'dra
Eldath___________Ri'daa'lada
Istishia__________Ri'dea'shia
Milil_____________Ri'dea'mila
Mystra___________Ri'dea'mystra
Oghma__________Ri'dea'goma
Persana__________Ri'dea'prasa
Trishina__________Ri'daa'trisha
Umberlee_________Ri'dea'brela


(Wids' Notes: Blibdoolpoolp, Ilxendren and Sekolah, though also gods of Serôs, are not venerated by the shalarin (or by anyone aside from the kuo-toa, ixitxachitl and sahuagin, respectively). And Valkur was not introduced to the Faerûnian pantheon until Faiths and Pantheons was published in 2002, three years after Sea of Fallen Stars was published. This should explain why these four gods are absent from the list of shalarin-honored deities above.)