Shining Light On A Sea Of Darkness

Just below the huge towering cliffs of the Cape of Oijon, the majestic ocean boils and foams in an impressive constant uncontrollable fury.

There are many shoals of small fish with their tiny scales flashing in the tumultuous waters giving the sea the appearance of molten metal. The ocean crashes into huge unseen gullies and then it explodes into many incredibly wondrous white water fountains that rise high into the sky.

This spectacular sight, for many mariners over hundreds of years, has been likened to the gateway to Hell. And laying just beyond it was the Sea of Darkness, which they truly believed was infested with monsters and the spirits of dead sailors; it was to them the end of the world and through it they could not pass.

The churning, raging currents along this twenty mile reef had provoked many stories of terrifying legends and constantly had put fear into the hearts of hundreds of men. Over countless number of years, this had slowed the pace of any real exploration along the west coast of this vast expansive continent.

So, the king of the upper lands, who did not believe in all this fabricated superstitious nonsense, persuaded one of his sea captains, to find out what really did lie south of the Cape of Oijon.

The spectacular fury which had caused such terror for the sailors over so many years was he believed, nothing more sinister than rough seas crashing against the cliffs.

The crew was full of dread and trepidation as to what might be their fate if they were to enter this frightening journey and asked many questions of the captain.

The captain answered all the fears of his crew with reason and common sense. This seemed to settle most of their fears and so a quiet hush fell over the ship. Many of the sailors prayed for their souls to be saved and for their death to be without pain.

Then their ship set course for the end of the world, to discover whatever may be waiting for them in the Sea of Darkness and almost without any warning their ship just plunged over the edge.

Their ship was thrown from side to side by the huge waves and they all felt that soon it would be crashed against the rocks and then broken into many pieces.

Time seemed to stand still for these intrepid sailors, the journey was like an eternity and their work was hard and tiring. But they knew that they could not give up, they would only hope for survival.

The final result of this incredibly wild endeavour must have surprised the faint hearted among his crew, because in less than twenty hours, they had cleared the sinister Cape of Oijon barrier and broke out into calm waters, with not a monster, or devil in sight.

Their fears now completely behind them, they steered their ship easterly and were rewarded with the sight of a new unexplored coast reaching out into the distance.

They had conquered their fears and had gone where no man had gone before and in so doing they had finally managed to shine a light on dark waters.

It had taken many people before them, over one thousand years to try to navigate nine hundred miles southwards from the Gates of Kiasan.

The captain’s bold dash into the dreaded Sea of Darkness opened the door to a new surge of discovery and the remaining five thousand miles of coastline were mapped in less than seventy years.

The Sea of Darkness had been only in their fears and in the shining light of discovery the darkness melted away.