Those who sail the oceans will often tell strange stories about what can be encountered out there. Some of these may be true, some may not.

1. A circular windstorm makes it impossible for ships to travel through it to see what is beyond. The storm quickly turns ships to splinters and it’s said there’s a similar effect underwater as well. The storm never moves and is clearly artificial in nature. Some say it’s a magical barrier erected by a mage or godling whose island lies within.
2. A famous treasure ship went down many years ago and so far no-one has managed to find it, though many have looked. Recently, coins and other items that seem to be from the ship have been turning up in various ports, which would suggest that someone has discovered the ship, or stumbled across at least part of its cargo.
3. Ghost ships aren’t an uncommon thing for sailors to claim they’ve seen, or to have actually seen, but it’s rumoured that there’s an entire fleet of ghost ships prowling the ocean. It’s said that those who encounter the fleet are attacked and, once defeated, the attacked ship and its crew join the ghost fleet. Though no-one has been able to confirm this, as no-one can definitely say they’ve encountered the fleet.
4. Hidden behind a permanent bank of fog, forever hidden from the sun, is an island said to be occupied only by the spirits of the dead. The island is said to be where the souls of some of those lost at sea go, forever to haunt the place and never move on.
5. Many ships have been lost to a maelstrom out in the deep ocean, which is a curious place for such to form. Moreover, sailors would have it that the maelstrom is found in different places, as it appears to move around. They claim that the maelstrom is a living thing that hunts down ships to swallow up in its swirling maw.
6. Part of the ocean is to be avoided for the water there is like air in constitution, yet still water when it comes to breathe it. When ships travel into the region, they sink into the air-like water, as the water is unable to bear them up any more, and everyone onboard will drown unless they can breathe underwater or somehow escape to the surface.
7. Sharks can be dangerous, though there are greater dangers in the ocean, and most sharks are not a threat. There’s a rumour, though, of a frenzy of sharks of many different types. These sharks seem to act with intelligence, seeking out prey and working together to attack it. Some suggest the sharks are intelligent; others that they are under the control of someone.
8. There’s a pirate ship that is only intermittently seen, and no ship sent to hunt it down has been able to catch it. Those who have encountered the pirate ship say that it appears on the water out of nowhere, literally shimmering into existence, rather than visibility, and disappears the same way, making it impossible to catch without magic.
9. There’s said to be a reef somewhere in the ocean, but one that isn’t constant. It seems to remain in roughly the same place, but sometimes it’s said to rise up from the sea bed, breaching the surface as ships pass and ripping out their bottoms. Sailors call it the Eater of Ships and swear it is alive.
10. Whaling ships have been failing to return to port. There have been reports of bits and pieces of the ships washing up on the shores, or being found in the general area where they were last known to be. Finally, a survivor was found and the whaler said their ship was attacked by a pod of whales acting in concert to deliberately sink the ship.