📍 Location:
Far below the Tide woven Pavilion, beneath a spiraling reef known as The Crown fall Spiral, lies the entrance to the Drowned Labyrinth — a submerged city of the Thalassarchs, an ancient oceanic dynasty long lost to the surface world.
The labyrinth is protected by flooded corridors, pressure-sealed chambers, and forgotten Dao formations—all synchronized with the sea's breathing.
🏛️ Design of Zaryss – The Sunken City
Architectural Style:
Vaulted halls carved from bioluminescent coral and pressure-tempered shell stone.
Ceiling glyphs drift like jellyfish, glowing in deep blue and violet.
Murals show the Thalassarchs riding leviathans and communing with tide-spirits.
Coral growth has reclaimed much of the city, fusing it with the reef.
Zones:
The Tide wound Vestibule – entrance hall with mirror-flooded floors. Traps lie beneath false shallows.
The Spiral Cloisters – maze of slowly turning currents; those without Water Dao attunement are spun until unconscious.
The Pearl Maw – a sealed chamber where relics and echoes of spirits linger in suspended pools.
The Leviathan Seat – final sanctum, shaped like a conch, where the Crown is sealed.
🐉 The Leviathan Spirit – Guardian of the Crown
🔹 Name: Suul'Zereth, the Abyssal Mind
"He who remembers the weight of tides before men walked land."
🧬 Essence Type:
Ancient Ocean Spirit / Leviathan Fragment
Semi-sentient, dreamlike consciousness
Bound to the Crown by Thalassarch ritual
🌀 Appearance:
Vast, serpentine body coiled like a sleeping whirlpool
Translucent scales show fragments of water memory
One eye always open, like a lighthouse in the dark
💠 Abilities:
Tide-Phantom Projection: Can conjure specters of drowned memories as illusions or attacks
Pressure Field: Alters water density to crush or protect
🧠 Role in Narrative:
Acts as final test and guardian of the Crown
Will not fight directly unless provoked
Offers Feng Xian a chance to "exchange memory for passage" — revealing a secret about the Thalassarch fall, or even his own past
⚠️ Underwater Dangers on the Way
Before reaching Suul'Zereth and the Crown, Feng Xian must face several threats:
Coral bind Wraiths
Former Thalassarch priest-guards drowned by pact-violation
Bound in barnacled armor and coral spears
Attack those who disturb relics without respect
Current-Mirroring Pools
Chambers with surface-like pools overhead
If disturbed, gravity flips, and intruders fall upward into crushing water ceilings
Some pools show visions — others trap minds
Tide-etched Seals
Formations that drain Qi if improperly approached
Only Water-aligned or balanced energies can bypass
Testing ground for Feng Xian's new dual-aspect cultivation