The Waters of Gelleram

Note: Image associated is from Ironage.media, specifically their prompt, 'The Ophidians'

"The day had begun as any other summer day had, with nary a sign of what was brewing beneath the cerulean waves. We had grown too comfortable relying on the sea's bounty and, worse, too stingy in our thanks to Yeferat, who had taken great care to preserve Gelleram from its founding by our great-grandfather's great-great-grandfathers to, now short years ago.

We had ignored his Prophet and deemed him crazy, even as the fish fled, first from our nets, soon from our boats, and lastly, the Bay itself. For a month, the Bay sat empty of any fish we knew how to catch, and instead, we ravaged it of any and all clams, mussels, and crabs we could find. Even the broken traps and haulers did nothing to turn us to wisdom. Fishers who went out and did not return despite crews with over a century of collective experience did nothing to dissuade us from our abuses. Even 10 ships being lost was of no concern to those who didn't count family among the missing.

And then that day began. A beautiful morning it was. The birds who had followed the fish away from the Bay had returned, their cries sweeter than the purest harpist's symphony. The sea was a shining sapphire, the barest hint of movement upon it as the breeze came in from the west; unbeknownst to us, it lazily dragged a storm behind it, one last effort at mercy before His Judges would be unleashed upon us. It was almost Noon before the weather had shown the sign of its turn. Some fishermen had just returned to the docks, having found no fish despite the unending chorus of gulls. I remember the man we now know as a Prophet staring at the sea, weeping silently, as he turned to me and said but a few words.

"Our doom, has arrived."

As I looked out onto the sea, I saw it draw back as a snake does before it strikes, the few boats whose hope, or greed, had outlasted the others left stranded on the sandy floor of the Bay. The storm crackled in the sky upon us in seconds as it slid clear of the mountains, a hot torrent birthed from fat, low-hanging clouds of black obsidian. The screams barely reached us, situated as we were on the high bluffs. At the same time, the crash of titanic waves against the lower levels rattled even our carved stone homes. Then came the hissing. The sound of ships breaking, men screaming, dying, floating up to us as the first flashes of lightning showed us just how severely we had lapsed in our duties.

Yeferat had released his Ophidians upon us. Hulking golden serpents, powerful enough to churn the sea herself into nought but mountains of black water and white-capped fury, twisting even the air into deadly hurricanes if they kept at it long enough. Beasts that some have said may not have been made by Yeferat or any of his siblings. Yeferat had challenged the Ophidians for command of the seas in the time before man, and now Yeferat had unleashed them upon us. The highest of rebukes for our foolishness. Perhaps the only fitting punishment for the city he had provided for for so long. A handful of us escaped fate that day, myself among them, though I knew then that I couldn't forestall fate forever. I only hope that Yeferat will spare you any harm, friends."

The man telling the tale, who was in his middle years, smiled at the crew that had sailed him near the Ruins of Gelleram, seemingly content that his audience had listened to the tale. His stooped back slowly rose as the story was told, and now he stood straight up, proud once more, after years of guilt and self-pity had taken their toll on him. And before any could speak to point out that he hadn't answered their Captain's question of why he wished to sail near the Cursed Bay, to the Ruins of Gelleram, the man had dove headlong into the water, swimming hard for the broken tower just visible beneath the water's surface. He did not make the tower. Something shimmering underneath the surface had snatched him by the leg as he crossed into the Bay. Having heard his tale, the crew who saw it swore to never speak of the strange man nor what they thought they had seen lurking in the cursed waters of Gelleram.