Adventurers who explore the oceans of their world to their farthest reaches will eventually discover the Maelstrom: a terrifying region of hurricanes, whirlpools, and jagged rocks. Drunken sailors often boast of death-defying encounters within the Maelstrom, but none who have sailed its waters have ever returned.

Adventurers who brave the Maelstrom must spend days battling storms, skirting whirlpools, and navigating through treacherous shoals. The passage is so intense that the crew is likely to be rendered unconscious. Lucky adventurers will awaken in calmer waters, under a cloudless sky—a glittering green expanse known as the Forgotten Sea.

The Forgotten Sea stretches for hundreds of miles in every direction, and it boasts hundreds of islands. Powerful ocean currents prevent ships from approaching these islands, and any attempt to do so will cause a ship to lose control and be smashed on a rocky shoreline. Watchful sailors may glimpse strange things on the islands: impossibly tall humans in fine clothing, monstrous reptilian beasts, and great stone carvings in the shape of human faces. Intrepid explorers will eventually catch sight of a towering bronze colossus shining brightly on the horizon. This beacon serves to guide ships into the harbor of Mytros, the greatest city in Thylea.