#156 The Coralstone Bunker

Age: 100 years

Hidden or Lost?: Hidden

History: Tetra Coralstone had a secret. When she arrived at the small fishing village of Sunset Cay, the locals were certainly suspicious of her, but came to trust the outsider as she settled into her remote cottage at the foot of the mountain. She had a kindness and curiosity that was alarmingly infectious.

Despite her beloved reputation, or maybe because of it, rumors about Tetra began to circulate. The local youth passed around stories of the small beauty carrying massive sea boulders back to her cottage in the dead of night or of strange streaks and odd lights piercing the darkness ober the mountain. But most considered these to be the tales the young. Thus a deep sadness and rage gripped the village when Tetra was found mysteriously murdered.

A couple of days before she was found, a pair of hulking fisherman in long coats came looking for a woman fitting Tetra’s description, but the people of Sunset Cay protected their own, refusing to give up her location. However it seem to have been for naught. Strangely, a search party for the men who were looking for Tetra, tracked them back to the shoreline where it seemed that they had disappeared.

As they searched Tetra’s cottage the village leaders finally discovered the truth of her tale. In a long letter written on parchment of dried seaweed, Tetra had left a record of her trials. She was the sole survivor of the undersea kingdom of Mermal. Something of a mad scientist in her home country, Tetra devised a way for merfolk to breathe air and swim through it like their native waters. Tetra wanted to share her procedure with the other sea kingdoms, as well as the surface world, dreaming of a world united. However the neighboring sea kingdom of Hadalis caught wind of Tetra’s work and in their fear went to war with Mermal, sundering the entire kingdom to try and destroy her discoveries.

Tetra escaped with her work, performing the breathing procedure on herself and bringing the crown gems and weapons of Mermal with her. Just outside of Sunset Cay Tetra built a secret underground bunker where her innovations, and the last memories of Mermal, could survive.

When the village leaders sought out Tetra Coralstone’s bunker they found dangerous sea creatures floating through the stale air of the corridors, vaults full of priceless sea gems, and a laboratory preserving Tetra’s work. To this day the people of Sunset Cay hold the Coralstone Bunker as a valuable secret, safe from those who would see it destroyed. Waiting for the messenger who can continue Tetra’s work, and bring her dream to life.