Atlantoa, Yokudan Goddess of Storms, the Deep, and Shipwrecks.

[Memory Stone of Yokuda recording the sinking of the merchant Vessel, Gada and the death of its crew.]

Deep into the ocean sank our ship as it attempted to match the ferocity of Atlantoa and her minions. I, Captain Qasmir As-Salemu No Hano, am responsible for the perilous journey into Sep's Ocean, a terrifying region of water west of Yokuda which no sane sailor would dare brave.

We were on the lookout for a merchant vessel which our sources told us was laden with all manner of fine and expensive silks. These would fetch a high price in the right market-places, I thought. As we neared the vessel, cannons primed for a shot at her masts, we made an attempt at stopping her in her tracks. Alas! She suddenly turned and began to flee, trying to lose us in the veil of mist which had just arisen to the west. Again, we followed her, not caring to lose such a prize after all the time we had spent tracking her.

However, as soon as the merchant vessel entered the mist, we pulled back and waited; they may have been foolish enough to venture into danger, but I was not going to risk my crew and ship for some over-priced fabrics! 'Twas a good thing we didn't enter the mist 'cos no sooner had we made to turn the ship around than the mist pulled away and we could see that the merchant vessel had capsized. We waited to see if the ship would move or continue to tip over, but it stayed rather still despite its bobbing on the waves. In an instant, the last of the ship sank beneath roiling, churning sea and a number of the crew rose to the surface as bloated corpses. Then, there was an almighty rumble, as if Tall-Papa had bashed his large stick against the rim of this world, and something large and sea-green rose from the spot where the ship had been.

"I am Atlantoa, goddess of the Deep, Bringer of Storms and the herald of a New Dawn. All who stray westwards from Yoku and attempt passage beyond the vapour-borders court demise at my hands!" She rose out of the water, a sea-coloured matron with a coral crown and 8 grasping arms of power, 4 for creation, 4 for destruction, as I later found out from a priest of her cult. She roared and brought lightning from the sky, the sea churned and turned red as she plucked corpse after corpse from the depths and gorged on their blood. She stood taller now, taller than White-Gold, and with her left hands she swiped at the water and snatched our vessel from the sea and raised us to meet her azure gaze.

"Who are you, sailors that dare trespass in the domain of Atlantoa? Did you offer these men as foolish, arrogant sacrifice or are you simply lost?"

"We are lost, your Divinity, we are an escort party guarding that merchant vessel beneath you. We must have been blown off course and ended up here by accident."

"Do not lie to the sea for the sea has no time for lies and speaks only truth, with a watery face do I say this: You were following these men to take their valuables and their lives, you shall be punished for your arrogance and predation."

Before I could issue the order to flee, the Goddess stretched her right hands and snatched half of my men and consumed them in handfuls, causing great torrents of blood and gore to fall upon the deck. When she finished crunching the bones of my men, she reached out with her 3rd right hand and snapped the ship's mast in half, with her 1st she broke the ship in half, with her 2nd she crushed boatswain and with her 4th she plunged me into the deep and pulled me high into the air.

"Now you know that the sea is unrelenting in pursuit of liars, my mercy comes to you as balance from the destruction which you have witnessed, but know that only you will survive, Captain Qasmir. I shall devour the rest of your crew and leave you to a lifetime of regret and misery. This is my eight-handed mercy!"

Atlantoa devoured all of my men, whipped up a storm with all 8 of her arms and pushed with her left hands to cause the torrent of air to propel me homeward. I have commended this tale to memory and hope that it serves as a warning to those who would venture too far and attempt to lie to the Sea.