 
Among the sunken treasures of the Suvan Sea is Crown Reef. Named for its characteristically shaped coral spires, Crown Reef had only started as a Charoda’s get away. A home away from home, a palace in its own right, Crown Reef has its own high walls, corridors, and towers…on a miniature scale. The only true royalty about it is the centerpiece reef structured with a living space and large storage space. What once housed artifacts of the past have been taken away by some means unknown. The high walls of the mini-castle kept larger predators like sharks out, and the towers were mostly built for a signal. The towers in their entirety are coated in a phosphorescent coral species that glows in the deep, dark ocean, a signal for the original architect to find his way home. Since then, other coral species have been rooted in the surrounding area, making the castle more vibrant than ever.
The castle, unfortunately, has long been abandoned, even after years of Charodae migrating through or even moving in. However, that has left plenty of room for expansion. Charodae have used their gift to change this once small castle to a post in its own right. While mostly dominated by small and crude coral structures to serve basic necessities, some of the sea-dwellers have adapted the area into a check point for many of the few underwater adventurers. Seahorses and velispars can be tended to and most long terms residents are fairly competent in their coral manipulation to set new comers up with the basics if another part of the reef isn’t open already. Sometimes functioning as a market for the deep sea adventure types, there are plenty of weird gizmos and relics to find there. Where they came from is unknown to most.
The structure of Crown Reef is fairly basic. Over the span of a small fort, as far as Charodae-specific accommodations are concerned, the reef stacks up “two stories” over an underwater hill. The coral that makes up the reef’s structure is rough, boney, and alive. The reef naturally expends by itself, and the Charodae are sure to keep their doors open by curving the tops outward. Other invasive species, brought for decoration and utility, also populate the reef and its surrounding area. The whole reed lights up in the darkest hours. The hill is just high enough for the noon sky above and the sun’s rays to reach and light up the reef.
The hill itself is questionably formed by volcanic rock. Magma vents a few miles from the hill are periodically spewing molten earth up in formation of a new hill which, once it has grown to a point, is pushed away with the moving crust of the world making way for a new hill to form. There’s only rumor of Azenth Charodae patrolling the area to prevent the total formation or eruption of an underwater volcano, but no one ever notices a Charoda living around long enough to manage that.
Joining the Charodae, velispars, and seahorses are a number of aquatic species – fish, crustaceans, cephalopods, and mollusks. No dire species are native to the area, and the sheer design usually does not permit for sharks, dolphin or whales – although pods are still a wonder to witness when they pass over the hill or along its summit. The community is based around the idea of B.Y.O.S., “bring your own…stuff.” The reef is accessible on all sides and welcomes many. The reef itself is deep enough to avoid the raider threads above and, it that’s not enough, is also walled in like the Crown Castle itself.
For a Charoda on the open seas, this is one of the places under the world to see at least once, and all the more often if in search of some adventure in the Southern Suvan.
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by Trident on March 2nd, 2012, 8:20 pm 
