Underwater topography is greatly misunderstood by the common layman.  The variety and breadth of the undersea land is as great as it is on our surface world.  Through terrible perils and countless hours, Keoish intelligence agents managed to compile some information on the most remote and mysterious locations on Oerth.

Keoish Intelligence Report from the Azure Sea Part III

This, being the last of a three part series, now describes the peoples and locations below the surface of the Azure.  Underwater may be the most dangerous environment on Oerth.  Putting aside the usual dangers of crushing pressure, breathing, temperature, and darkness when one travels the depths, there is the unmistakable fact that when under the surface, humanity is by far the weakest creature in the Azure.  Creatures both animal and intelligent rule these areas.  The information I have obtained was done at great risk, so I beg my fellow agents of the Lion Throne to use this knowledge wisely.

Sahuagin Empire.  First and foremost of the undersea empires is that of the sea devils.  Their empire dominates the Azure Sea and no significant power realistically challenges their rule.  But their will is not absolute, and there are many areas that are beyond sahuagin control - due to isolated geography, hazards of the area, neglect on the sahuagin's part, or other factors.  The grand capital city of the sahuagin lies in the middle of the Azure Sea, on the edge of the deepest trench - the Mirodian Deep.  The trench itself is far deeper than the sahuagin can safely go, but they constantly send war parties into the depths to challenge the monsters within.

Some notable plots of the sahuagin include establishing some sort of experimental seabase in the vicinity of the town of Saltmarsh.  The sahuagin baron that rules this portion of the Azure is a notorious four-armed brute by the name of K'thstraam.  Aside from planning this seabase, there seems to be some special attention he is giving to one of our island colonies, Angler Island.  Some investigation is on order to determine why this sahuagin noble has such interest in this area  (Note 1).

Another troubling development are reports that some sahuagin priestesses are working on perfecting magical spells that would allow sahuagin to temporarily survive in fresh water.  This would most likely lead to sahuagin raiding parties moving up rivers to catch unprepared human habitations further upstream of major riverways.

Finally, I have a theory that the Scarlet Brotherhood and the Sahuagin Empire have some sort of alliance or mutual understanding.  I believe that the blockade maintained by the Brotherhood is being supplemented by actions of the sahuagin.  The sahuagin must pass on information to the Brotherhood ships on blockage runners for the blockade to be effective.  I have no proof, but I believe that the sea devils may actually assist the Brotherhood in taking the vessels themselves.  This action is significant in legally challenging the blockade.  Assistance from an organized nonhuman empire may nullify certain aspects of the Pact of Greyhawk regarding the Brotherhood's "navigation enforcement" claims.  Getting evidence of this conspiracy would therefore be of highest importance to the Keoish navy.     

The Pomarji Badlands.  It has been theorized that, when it comes to evaluating undersea life, "as goes above, so goes below" - meaning that any land based phenomenon will have an aquatic equivalent.  Nowhere is this theory more profound than the expanse of the continental shelf located south of the Pomarj.  This stretch of undersea topography, starting just east of the city of Gyrax, is known to mariners as the "Pomarji Badlands", due to the many tribes of aquatic humanoids that have made their homes there, mirroring the humanoid occupation in the lands above. Tribes of koalinth, merrow, and scrags dot the shallow waters of the continental shelf here, forcing even war parties of the sahuagin away (Note 2). 

Koalinth are the far majority race here, and they focus most of their attacks on other competing koalinth tribes, using the rarer merrow and scrag tribes as mercenaries.  Tribes such as the Blood Tridents, Shark's Jaws, and Hammerheads constantly vie with each other for dominion over small patches of territory.  Currently, there is a huge underwater holy war going on between three major factions of koalinth. 

This war has taken on an element of importance far beyond the usual goblinoid skirmishes, involving most of the goblinoid tribes in the Badlands.  Thus, from a surface dweller's perspective, the southern coast is safer than the northern and eastern coasts of the Pomarj.  The war between goblinoids keeps them from mounting effective surface attacks .  Even so, surface travelers usually try to keep a wide berth around the Pomarj out of general principle (Note 3).  Troubling signs have been noted in that each warring faction is bringing more allies and creatures to fight on their behalf.  Strange creatures such as sea lions, sea serpents, and even terrestrial mercenaries have been spotted in battles between these forces, with further escalation likely (Note 4).

"Old Slash Eye". In the deep waters south of Port Toli lies the lair of a great and powerful kraken known to old sailors as "Old Slash Eye".  It controls a wide range of territory in Jeklea Bay and is a constant threat to any ships passing by.  One dogged rumor surrounding this beast is that in its horde lies some sort of powerful artifact, this has been the death of many would be treasure seekers (Note 5).

Ghost Shipyard. An ugly expanse of water located north of Jetsom Island is known as the "Forest of Broken Masts" - referring to the timbers of the sunken hulks of countless pirate battles strewn about here.  These unhealthy waters are swarming with undead - lacedons, zombies, drowned ones, and other undead populate the sunken ships and occasionally sally forth to raid the coasts.  In the middle of this area is a tall stone spire, surely artificial, that extends from the sea floor to just poke out through the surface.  Called the "Gargoyle Spire" as many kapoacinth are observed circling the spire in an endless patrol.  Careful observation of the spire reveals that there may be some windows in the edifice, suggesting that it is the home of some powerful evil entity (Note 6).

The River of Ice and Ice Cylinder.  Water in its solid form, ice, is less dense than liquid.  Hence, it floats.  That basic fact is turned on its head when a traveler along the sea floor encounters the River of Ice.  A trench line on the seafloor is frozen solid, radiating an intense cold in the waters around it.  The icy river is slowly expanding outward.  If one follows the river to its source, it leads to a strange construct, the Ice Cylinder.  A 40' tall perfect cylinder of absolute cold, it radiates chill, magic and evil in the waters surrounding it.  Clearly, there is nothing natural about this!  There seem to be many similarities between this alien construct and the notorious Icespire, making it a mystery probably best left unexplored (Note 7).   

Castle of Solid Water.  There are several locations in the Azure Sea where land dwellers have established some sort of undersea abode.  The air filled caverns that the Archmage Dwamij occupies is one such example.   Another oddity of underwater construction is this fortress.  Invisible to normal sight, this is an edifice that is apparently a normal terrestrial castle made of blocks of water that are strong as stones.  These blocks are not glass or ice, they are simply - water that has been magically solidified.  There are walls surrounding a tower with no apparent doors or openings.  Because the architecture of this building closely resembles old Aerdy designs, it is likely that the designer/resident of this place is some sort of Great Kingdom wizard who sought an underwater base of operations.  The explorers who discovered this castle could only generally ascertain the outline of the building, they could not discover a way into the structure.  The magic that makes the castle transparent does not reveal anything in the interior of the castle, the only way to learn more would be to somehow force ones way into a tower or within the walls.   There is no indication as to who is behind this marvel of construction or what its purpose could be.

The Battlegrounds of Smoking Waters.  The boundary between the sahuagin empire and the ixitxachitl kingdoms is a section of extreme volcanic activity in and around Amedio Bay.  Indeed, the demon rays dominate the shores of the Amedio from the Olman Islands to the far south and represent a true challenge to sahuagin supremacy in the southern seas.

Just a few miles north-east of the lost city of Tamoachan is a section of the Amedio Bay that is constantly bubbling and churning on the surface.  Old sailors refer to this as "The Boiling Shore" but to the subsurface races this area is roughly translated as "Smoking Waters".  On the seabed there are rifts that gout forth superheated minerals that look like chimney smoke - giving this place its namesake.  Volcanoes are constantly rumbling and plumes of boiling water erupt from geysers that can scald the unwary in a moment. While the natural hazards of this area are bad enough, this place is also marked by constant total war between the sea devils and the demon rays.

The Smoking Waters are the practical demarcation zone between these two evil races.  Each side sends a constant stream of warriors to clash amid the deadly heat.  The ixitxachitl currently have the upper hand in the war.  Spotted under the surface are strange ziggurat like structures that reflect the architecture of nearby Tamoachan.  Evidently, the ixitxachitl use these structures as some sort of magical channeling for their priests.  Vampiric rays are commonly encountered here as war leaders and there are rumored to be ixitxachitl "liches" conducting mystic rituals in the ziggurats to aid the war effort (Note 8).  For the sahuagin part, the local baron has been sending in wave after wave of troops to no real effect and has been pulling in resources and soldiers from the neighboring provinces to use as reinforcements.  This area is a true drain on the Sahuagin Empire.  May both sides lose! 

The Hunting Grounds of Sekolah - aka The Emptiness.  This stretch of seafloor is an exception to the geologic diversity that is normal for the Azure.  It is a flat, empty plain along the sea bottom, devoid of life of all sorts.  Sahuagin legend has it that their deity Sekolah once hunted there and so killed every living thing in a broad swath of territory.  Surrounding this blasted seascape are particularly jagged sea mountains, making a ring around the empty lands.  These mountains are called Sekolah's Teeth and may hide all manner of exiled or isolated creatures, though the fact that nothing lives in the nearby plains would keep the number of any refugees from the sahuagin to a minimum.  One noteworthy aspect of this area is that scattered about on the sea floor are nodules of valuable metals that have precipitated out of the water and formed on the floor here (Note 9).  The sahuagin regard the plains and the metals therein as off limits as they "belong to Sekolah".  This may be an opportunity to do some undersea mining!  Provided, of course, that some sahuagin avatar does not really prowl these eerie waters.         

The Mysterious Murk.  This is a section of seafloor that houses a morkoth infestation.  Canyons and trenches are carved into the sea floor in crazy, dizzying patterns.  These horrid creatures can even make their excavations into mindbending optical illusions that can mesmerize creatures passing over them.  Furthermore, these creatures seem to have some sort of connection to the surface world, as there have been incidents of false treasure maps popping up in coastal towns that have led some hapless treasure seekers to these hypnotic caverns.  The waters in and around these tunnels are especially murky and the visibility problems no doubt amplify the morkoth's hypnotic magic.  A singular report from a group of survivors relates that the morkoth have a rare clan of huge, salt water vodyanoi (umber hulks) continually expanding and changing up the hypnotic carvings.

The Blue Void.  Suspended in the depths of the sea is a 100 foot wide column of bright blue water which, evidently, extends from just under the surface to a bottomless hole in the ocean.  Throughout this column of water, the water pressure, light, and temperature is consistent with that of approximately 10 fathoms, regardless of the actual depth.  Sages suspect that this phenomenon is in essence an underwater version of a "fading land" phenomenon that occurs in certain areas of Oerth.   In support of this theory, tritons are often seen coming in and out of the void on missions known only to them.  This void can be a haven for terrestrial adventurers, as it can provide a respite from the hazards of deep diving.  However, some stories relate that those who enter the void may find themselves gated away to some other location, maybe even other planes of existence, such as the Elemental Plane of Water itself.     

The Dark Forest.  In spite of the ominous sounding name, this is actually a haven for good aligned folk under the sea.  It is a wide kelp forest on the top of an undersea plateau, approximately the size of the Axewood, located just off the Naerie coast.  Kelp need light to grow, so it is a mystery how such a forest can exist in waters that regularly get over 200 feet deep.  Even accounting for the plateau, it should be too deep for kelp to exist there.

The answer lies with the tending of the aquatic elves, for this forest is a haven for them, sheltering an entire city within the kelp fronds and sea weed.  These folk show far more skill with magic than is usual with these peoples, creating wondrous items that allow the kelp to survive great depth, conceal their location from outsiders, and replenish food sources, among other fantastic effects.  The city itself is a wonder, with buildings made from rock, coral, and magically treated glass.  There are suggestions of terrestrial elf magic in the architecture of their buildings, all carefully hidden within the kelp forests.

As the sahuagin are a violent and rapacious species, the forest also attracts all manner of fish and sea life.  The forest teems with natural and fantastic animals, and great mineral wealth can be found amid the rock croppings of the base plateau, along with giant sized mollusks with huge pearls.  Brightly colored fish swim about the forest while the upper reaches of the kelp (some of the tallest kelp reach the surface) hold sea otters and dolphins. 

Local legend has that the deity of the sea elves, Deep Sashelas, made some personal protection wards over his chosen capital.  Regardless of the source, there are powerful protection magics at work here.  The sahuagin have made forays into the forest before, but have been routed each time by protective magic and local fauna.  It is unknown whether or not the sea devils are aware of the sea elf enclave.  It seems that because of the hazards of the forest and the need for war bands elsewhere in the Empire, the sahuagin have given up on further exploration of the area. 

The elves themselves are typically insular and wary of strangers.  But a significant proportion of them subscribe to a philosophy of cooperation with other good aligned intelligent races.  This faction provides what help it can to any who oppose the sahuagin, providing a safe refuge for a small tribe of mermen, some locathah, and even a few sea sprites (who avoid the city and stay in the forest).  The forest and the city are magical places, filled with wards and wonders.  The interior is a riot of color and fantastic vistas, with fish, elves, and plant life cooperating together to shield themselves from harm.  Even a rare human can find refuge on a temporary basis, and this location may be the source of legends of fisherman who disappear at sea, only to return after many years with curiously altered memories and not having aged a bit.  With all that it implies, the Dark Forest is indeed an underwater fairyland.

A final mystery.  A final note from the notorious troublemaker Xavier Yanquis Zerton (aka XYZ - although this is the third variation on his name I have been given.  I fear this knave is now just toying with me.)  is that he has come across some artifacts from what can only be described as an ancient Suel cache.  XYZ outrageously claims that there is a lost city of Suel migrants in a huge dome under the sea, and that somehow he managed to sneak under the dome and recover a coin collection and remarkable armor and weapons from the place.  He refused to give any precise location on the city, but after a thorough check of the items he retrieved, they are certainly Suel inspired and of recent make (Note 10). 

Maybe it is worth the time of some adventurer to plunge into the depths to seek this place and the others described.  But for the time being, I must leave this report.  But exploration is never ending.  Keoland and others will always be sponsoring groups to push back the wilderness and increase our knowledge of things unknown.  May fortune favor those bold adventurers!

As always, your faithful servant of the Lion Throne,

Admiral Stoutheart, Keoish Navy

1.  The Empire of the Sahuagin has been detailed in the article "Sahuagin of the Azure Sea" on Canonfire.  The current political state of the Empire is in flux, see the 2e adventure "Sea of Blood" for details of a potential coup in the sahuagin leadership and some explanation of the gaps in their statecraft.  Baron K'thstraam was introduced in the Monstrous Arcana series of adventures starting with "Evil Tide" and could also retrofit to be the identity of the sahuagin baron from module U3 "The Final Enemy".  From the Monstrous Arcana module "Sea of Blood" the sahuagin capital city was known as The City of Abiding Hunger.  I place it, and the Mirodian Deep (the trench that runs up against the city), in the very middle of the Azure approximately at hex U3-115).

2.  The sahuagin are content with simply containing the koalinth tribes to this continental shelf, and only occasionally raid into this area, focusing their forces elsewhere.  To take over this part of the Azure, the sahuagin would have to mobilize their entire empire to the task. This, perhaps counter intuitively, makes the Pomarji Badlands a potential good hiding spot for those fleeing the sahuagin, as the koalinth tribes spend so much time fighting each other that it is possible to find shelter within the many sea gullies and caves in this region.

3.  The undersea humanoids and their surface cousins have cooperated before in the past in the original taking of the Pomarj (see "See the Pomarj and Die" by Joseph Bloch in Dragon Magazine Issue 167) and in various raids on shipping lanes and coastal towns.  More so in the eastern and northern parts of the Pomarj, where raids by sahuagin and sea zombies are more common.  The southern coast of the Pomarj has a major humanoid war occurring under the surface, giving passing ships a respite from their normal depredations (see Note 4 below).    

4.  The majority of the koalinth worship an undersea version of Maglubiyet, but another tribe found favor with a dark god of underwater outcasts - Panzariel.  This blasphemy could not stand among the orthodox hobgoblins so a war broke out.  The resulting conflict had lasted for months with no real resolution until a singular event caused the unholy war to spiral out of control.

One tribe, the Red 'Cudas, had been defeated in a battle by the Panzariel worshippers (a tribe known as the Doomseekers).  In a rage, the Red 'Cuda Sub-Chief made some vile curses against the goblinoid powers.  To everyone's amazement, nothing happened - he was not struck down by the goblinoid gods for his blasphemy.  The Sub-Chief, thus emboldened, rose up and slew the tribal chieftain and his shamans and took over the tribe.  Now styling themselves as the "Godkillers", this faction of undersea hobgoblins is now militantly atheist.  This has turned the unholy war into a three way jihad between the Doomseekers, Godkillers, and the orthodox koalinth led by the Hammerhead tribe. 

The largest tribe is the aforementioned Godkillers.  They are led by the exceptionally strong and charismatic Sub-Chief (now known as the Warlord) Xavag, who has built up his tribe and their allies to become the most powerful of the koalinth.  Due to Xavag's continued military successes, he has assimilated many smaller tribes to his own.  Warlord Xavag has been compared to an undersea Turrosh Mak, as he is charismatic and clever far beyond the average goblinoid.  These hobgoblins occupy a wide swath of territory across the central portion of the Pomarji Badlands (their center of operations is at roughly hex B4-107).

The Doomseekers and their allies are the smallest in numbers, but as Panzuriel worshippers, they have a variety of monsters from the deep that they can call on for assistance.  Some octopi, morkoth, and other unsavory creatures are nominal allies of the Panzuriel faction.  Their territory begins at the very easternmost edge of the Pomaji continental shelf.  Over the tip of the continental shelf is a sharp cliff, known as "The Drop" (approximately at hex U3-107) where the Doomseekers call to their vile deity for assistance.  From these depths, come monsters.  Indeed, the leader of the Doomseekers is an exceptionally powerful Eye of the Deep that came from such a summoning (exceptional in that these foul beasts usually cannot survive in shallower waters - some powerful boon of Panzuriel must be protecting it).

The Hammerheads and their allies (a few scattered minor tribes of koalinth who still follow the goblinoid deities) are facing the brunt of the Godkiller's attacks, and are getting desperate.  Rumor is that they are even attempting to make allies of air breathers in an effort to regain the initiative.  Their base of operations is near the mouth of the Jewel River near hex F4-110.  The Hammerheads lost their chief in battle and are now ruled by a council of priests, shamens and witch doctors from the combined loyalist hobgobin tribes.  All are fanatical servants of Maglubiyet and press their followers on to more and more engagements with the blasphemous Godkillers.   

Full scale battles are now becoming more and more common throughout the Pomarji Badlands.  Passing ships report seeing blooms of bloody water as they pass near the coast.  Sharks are constantly attracted to the battlezones as well as sea serpents and other monsters seeking food from the remains.  Usually koalinth conduct simple raids for small amounts of territory or treasure as their method of waging war.  This war is far different, this is a war of annihilation.      

5.  This rumor is true, the artifact in question is an Orb of Dragonkind.  The kraken only knows that the orb is powerful and evil and is trying to ascertain the powers of the artifact.  See Dragon Magazine Issue 230 for details.

6.  Indeed, a powerful necromancer mage and a priest of Nerull make their homes in the spire (hex M4-118).  There are attending acolytes, guardians, laboratories and traps all crammed into their headquarters in order to oversee a grand project.  They are gathering enough material to create a fleet of undead hulks out of the sunken ships in the area, making the Forest of Broken Masts an undead shipyard.  Their goal is to spread Nerull's will throughout the seas with a massive undead fleet.  Junior mages and priests have the job of going out into the ports of the world and spread false treasure maps and rumors in order to lure in more potential ships and crew for this undead navy.  Currently, the evil necromancers are keeping the undead raids and forays to a minimum, in order to gather in more victims, and that plan is steadily bearing fruit.

One agent for this group is the notorious necromancer Yedis, who currently operates out of Monmurg.  This foul mage runs a series of laboratories and a prison complex known as the Necrohazard in a rundown part of the city.  See "Keoish Intelligence Report on the Sea Princes" on Canonfire for more details.   

7.  See the series of articles by Tauros on Canonfire detailing the horrific Icespire.  The Ice Cylinder itself is near hex S2-104 and the River of Ice is moving in a general northward direction from the base of the cylinder.  The ice river is now over ten miles long and growing.  It is unknown if the river has a particular destination or what would happen should the river reach an inhabited shoreline.   

8.  The ziggurats test positive for necromantic and evil magic.  From the carvings in these mysterious structures, it is unclear whether the natives of Tamoachan were their architects.  It does appear that the original builders were human, but the hieroglyphics suggest that these people had a very unconventional and unnatural relation to evil creatures of the sea.  Ghastly rituals of human sacrifice to sea creatures is a prominent theme, as well as prophesies of doom.  The main battlegrounds between the sea devils and the demon rays are located at approximately hex Z3-134, near the ruins of an extensive temple complex and many fissures spouting boiling hot water. 

9.  Principally, large hunks of copper, cobalt, nickel, and manganese are the most common nodules.  But the dwarf oceanographer, Zeth Blackhands of Irongate, theorized that some precious metals like gold and even adamantite could also be mined from these nodules.  The fact that a dwarf came up with this theory is commonly cited as further proof that the dwarfish mindset is so ingrained into their psyche that it manifests itself even when the dwarf in question chooses the most unconventional of professions.    

10.  This city was first described in Part II of this series of articles on Canonfire.  A future article will go into more detail on this remarkable find.  

For underwater adventuring in general, see Dragon Magazine Issues 48, 235, 250 and especially 190. 

Modules and supplements include:  Slavers, The U series, the Sea Devils Monstrous Arcana series, Of Ships and the Sea, the Savage Tide Adventure Path in Dungeon Magazine  

Canonfire article "Sahuagin of the Azure Sea" with map of their territories available in the downloads section.  See "The Undersea Alliance Adventure Path" by Wolfsire on Canonfire for more adventuring ideas in conjunction with the U series of modules.

For additional reading regarding goblinoid deities for the goblin holy war - see the "Monster Mythology Update" by Auld Dragon for inspiration on Sekolah, Panzuriel and Maglubiyet (and other nonhuman deities).

http://blog.aulddragon.com/monster-mythology-update/