Notes on the Candlelight Sea - The Spirefort

The Spirefort is the northmost headquarters of the Royal Marine Navy, located amongst the ice floes of the Kosatka archipelago. Represented by a tall-finned male orca, its recruits specialize in distanced battle, becoming masters of spears, firearms, and artillery. Their ships are armed to the teeth with all manner of cannons and harpoons, sacrificing speed for pure firepower.

Bitterly cold and unforgiving, the Spirefort undoubtedly produces the most stoic and stern soldiers in the navy. From the top of the Sarissa – a colossal frozen tower famed as the tallest building on the sea – the great chieftain of Kosatka looks down upon his subjects with disdain. But Sovnya, the town below, manages to cultivate much more warmth. The people of the Spirefort gather around the firepits in great feasting halls and humble pubs, blotting out the arctic chill with strong beer and even stronger songs. A large town square plays host to dozens of traders, offering anything from thick animal pelts, to coldweather medicinal herbs, to gems harvested from nearby caves.

Every year during summer, the best marksmen from around the sea may participate in the Arquebus Rites – a competition of precision shooting that grants the winner a place of honor within the Spirefort military. The guns of every victor hang upon the stones of the Sarissa’s great elevator shaft. And after nearly five thousand years of competitions, the walls are not yet half covered – a testament to the incredible height and longevity of the spire.

The hardened Spireforters are known for icy exteriors that melt away in happier times. But in the eyes of the chieftain, the weak do not survive here, and those touched by weakness must either cut it away, or die.