Authored by Malrix Morvain, 1st Chair of the Pearlwright Collegium
The world is dominated not by land but by oceanic layers. Landmasses exist only as fractures, uplifted ridges, or debris caught between resonant currents. The Estes Sea is the central and defining feature of this world: a vertically stratified body of water composed of three primary zones:
The Sunlit Sea – surface waters and island chains
The Mid-Sea Labyrinth – the hollow ocean beneath
The Abyssal Cradle – the deepest and least understood region
These layers are bound by resonance structures generated by naturally occurring pearls. Vertical travel is possible only through specific vents and fractures.
The surface world consists of five major maritime regions. Each possesses distinct pearl biomes, creature behavior, and political occupations.
A region of fortified island chains and controlled trade waters.
Dominated by the Shogunate and Imperial Dynasty
Privateers enforce maritime authority
Volcanic activity breeds abundant Meito elemental pearls
Residual conflict creates unstable Kokuto drift-pools
Considered the most regulated waters of the Sunlit Sea
Icy, storm-wracked waters surrounding floating archipelagos.
Homeland of the Buccaneer Confederacy
Yoto pearl concentrations elevated due to harsh survival conditions
Great Pearl Beast migrations occur seasonally
Icebergs hum with dormant resonance, producing auditory illusions
A deep-water expanse shaped by trade corridors and trench systems.
Controlled economically by Epsilon
Bounty Hunters operate under Epsilon’s commission
Small and Medium pearls common; Large pearls occasionally drift upward
High density of cephalopod-class predators and Kraken sightings
Fragmented warm-water island clusters formed from collapsed caverns.
Densest population of independent pirate crews
Peak biodiversity and pearl variability
Seasonal storm belts generate drifting shipwreck fields
Origin of many pirate legends regarding treasure, beasts, and phantom islands
A global equatorial ring of unstable weather and fluctuating resonance.
Pearl Hurricanes occur with irregular frequency
Floating islands drift unpredictably
No permanent settlements
Considered the natural barrier between hemispheric powers
The hollow ocean beneath the Sunlit Sea forms a dense network of caverns, tunnels, and resonant chambers. Light is provided not by the sun but by pearl rivers and reflective mineral strata.
The region divides into four primary subdomains:
Caverns illuminated by blue Meito vents.
Populated by creatures adapted to elemental heat
Frequently raided by illicit pearl harvesters
Known for producing aberrant crystalline growths
A network of red-lit chambers infused with Kokuto pressure.
High aggression fauna
Bodies from surface conflicts occasionally drift here and mutate
Navigation difficult due to irregular currents
A resonance-amplifying region where sound behaves unpredictably.
Former refuge of exiled Yoto practitioners
Weapons forged here retain “memory” of prior wielders
Unstable acoustic echoes distort perception and orientation
A vertical water shaft connecting the Labyrinth to the Abyss.
Gravity shifts intermittently
Migratory path of several Great Pearl Beasts
Believed by many scholars to predate human civilization entirely
No region of the world is less understood or more feared. All confirmed information originates from:
Great Pearl Beast remains
Accounts of Pearlwright survivors
The ascent of Giant Pearls
The Abyssal Cradle is believed to be the primordial origin of pearls and all associated resonance phenomena. It is characterized by:
Inverted pressure fields
Zones of absolute darkness interrupted by pearl luminescence
Creatures of exceptional size and age
Evidence of ancient, possibly nonhuman architecture
Officially, all expeditions to the Cradle are prohibited.
Unofficially, many continue.
The three oceanic layers are connected through four natural passage types:
Stable spiral tunnels carved by sustained pearl pressure.
Unstable openings generated during Pearl Storms.
Most collapse within days or hours.
High-temperature water columns functioning as natural elevators used by migratory beasts.
A direct path descending toward the Abyssal Cradle.
The only known continuous vertical corridor.
Ships equipped with pearl engines and guided by trained Pearlwrights can descend safely; others are destroyed by pressure collapse.
Control strategic island fortresses in the Western Ocean and maintain listening posts in upper Mid-Sea caverns.
Occupy cliffside strongholds above Polar Ocean ice vents, enabling rapid movement between surface and Labyrinth.
Anchor fortified platforms above the Northern Abyssal trenches, exploiting pearl-dense shipping lanes.
Concentrated within the Southern Archipelago and its unstable reef systems.
Operates across all three layers:
Surface: Diplomatic towers and archives
Mid-Sea: Resonance laboratories
Abyssal Shelf: Restricted zones under Malrix Morvain’s direct control
A perpetual whirlpool intensifying pearl growth and drawing ships into its orbit.
A vertical waterfall in the Mid-Sea where Golden Kingfish occasionally ascend.
Hanging root formations from collapsed islands resembling forests suspended upside-down.
Abyssal fractures producing harmonic resonance.
Some frequencies appear to respond to human presence.
Mariners must understand the following:
Pearl biomes migrate after significant storms
Cavern structures shift due to resonance erosion
Great Pearl Beasts alter sea patterns through movement alone
Island mass changes over decades due to vertical tectonic shifts
No single map remains accurate longer than one year
All navigators are instructed to treat the Estes Sea not as a static landscape but as a living, resonant entity.