The Sea of Red

The Sea of Red is the fifth book in the Nyis adventure series, written by Wyelf Nereset. While critically considered the best book in the series, it often ends up in second or third place in popularity polls.

Plot

In The Sea of Red, the crew find themselves in a part of the ocean that seems to be constantly so dark that it looks like night time, the water itself has a reddish tint to it. The crew notes little to no aquatic life in the sea, while observing the sea, a gull falls out of the air and lands on the boat, an inspection of the gull reveals that it has 8 eyes and horrible growths along its wings, this puts the crew on edge. Eventually captain Merte spots not just land, but a dock and lighthouse. As to not wake the sleeping crew, Merte takes the awake Relip and Areen from their place in the recreation room below deck and they begin exploring the new island. In the lighthouse they meet the inhabitants of the island, described as shambling plague ridden syneri, they walk upright and seem intelligent, calling themselves the Eirmyif. The lighthouse keeper tells the three men where they can find the primary settlement of the island, while also warning them of the temperament held by most of his people. The group begin hiking towards the town, along the way they run into a large creature resembling a cephalopod but adapted to life on land, it attacks the men with its many rows of teeth and large tentacles, chasing them away. They decide to wait till the rest of the crew is awake before trying to make the journey again. After the crew awakes, Merte tells them that they must stay on the boat until told that it is safe to leave, he takes Relip, Areen, Wyck and Eriis with him to make contact with the inland town the lighthouse keeper told them about. Along the way they fight a smaller cephalopod species but are able to overpower it, carving off some of its parts for cooking before deciding that it isnt smart to cook the food that makes you look like an Eirmyif. Upon reaching the settlement, located at the island peak, the party are greeted with frustration by the local Eirmyif people, who lead them to a pit in the ground. In the pit is Lyeot Utesen, who at some point left the boat, braved the wilds of the island and ended up in the town. When the crew asks to take him back the Eirmyif town overseer says that he will be eaten at a feast later on. Eventually the party devises a plan to rescue Lyeot, the plan involves releasing a number of dangerous indigenous animals kept for food by the town and in the chaos, taking him out of the pit. The plan starts off well but as the party are escaping they get into a fight with the guards of the town gate, wielding rudimentary spears however they are easily dispatched. As they make their way back to the boat, the lighthouse keeper asks to go with them, Merte accepts, though the character only shows up a few more times throughout the series.

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Reception

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