The Stone Marshes

Aelin waded for days across a drowned city to reach the weapon that would end Erawan — and found a mirror instead, one that showed her the price was her own life, down to the last drop.

A great holy city stomped flat by something god-sized and swallowed by the marsh: gray standing water for miles, toppled columns, golden eyes moving under the surface. Brannon sent Aelin to the temple at its centre for the Lock. She crossed all of it to get there.

The place

A city a god stepped on, and the water took the rest.

The Stone Marshes are what's left of a great city in southwestern Eyllwe — impressive architecture, a holy heart, and then a cataclysm that sank the earth for miles, like something god-sized put its foot down. The rivers came inland and the beasts came with them, and the city drowned and was forgotten. What's left is gray standing water for miles, toppled columns and half-sunk archways, and a ruined temple still standing at the dead centre. Golden eyes move under the surface the whole way across.

What happened here

She came for the weapon. She left with the bill.

Brannon reaches Aelin after Skull's Bay and points her here: the Lock is in the temple at the marsh's centre, and with it she can seal the Wyrdkeys and finish Erawan. Her company wades days across the ruin — and the wyrdmark-covered chest at the temple's heart holds a witch mirror set with the Eye of Elena, not the Lock. Five hundred ilken come down on them in the ruins, Lysandra turning the marsh's own beasts loose to meet them. Then Aelin and Manon press their hands to the glass and step into the past, and it shows them the true Lock was Elena's all along — and the gods' price for it is every drop of Mala's bloodline. Aelin's.

Its people

Who walked here.

Swipe to meet them all

Aelin Galathynius Queen of Terrasen · Heir of FireAelin Galathyniuspassed throughEnter Aelin Galathynius →

Lysandra Shapeshifter · Lady of CaraverreLysandrapassed throughEnter Lysandra →

Erawan Valg King · The Thing Under MorathErawanpassed throughEnter Erawan →

Rowan Whitethorn Fae Prince · Of the CadreRowan Whitethornpassed throughEnter Rowan Whitethorn →

Aedion Ashryver The Wolf of the North · General of TerrasenAedion Ashryverpassed throughEnter Aedion Ashryver →

Lorcan Salvaterre Lorcan Salvaterrepassed throughEnter Lorcan Salvaterre →

Elide Lochan Elide Lochanpassed throughEnter Elide Lochan →

Also in the story

Connected

Allies, rivals and enemies — the ones this story crossed.

The history

A drowned city, a wrong prize, a true one.

The sunken temple, told in the order it happened.

The city a god stepped on
Once there was a great city here, holy and well-built. Then a cataclysm dropped the ground for miles in a single stroke, the rivers rushed in, and the beasts with them. The city drowned and the marsh kept its name over the bones of it — with a temple gone under at the centre, and the Lock hidden inside.
Brannon's errand
Generations later the long-dead Brannon reaches Aelin and sends her here. Find the Lock in the temple, put the Wyrdkeys back through the gate, end Erawan and the Valg. Her company sails a dead coast and starts wading — days of gray water with golden eyes moving beneath it.
The wrong thing in the chest
The chest at the temple's heart is skinned in wyrdmarks. Inside is not the Lock but a mirror marked with the Eye of Elena — a witch mirror. Ilken come by the hundred while they stand over it, and the marsh's own beasts get turned on the attackers. Then Aelin and Manon press their hands to the glass, and it takes them into the past: the Lock was Elena's all along, and the price of using it is Mala's bloodline, drop by drop. Hers.
The debt she carries out
She wades back out with no Lock and a mirror instead — and the shape of the ending now sitting in her head. What the Stone Marshes really hand her isn't a weapon. It's the bill, with her own name already on it.

Landmarks

What the Stone Marshes are made of

You reach it by wading, and everything worth reaching is at the bottom or the dead centre of it.

The sunken templeThe holy heart of the drowned city, still standing at the marsh's dead centre. Brannon sends Aelin miles across the water for what's inside it. What's inside it isn't what he promised.The witch mirrorSet with the Eye of Elena, waiting in a wyrdmark-covered chest where the Lock should have been. Press a hand to it and it shows you the past — including the piece of it you'd rather not have seen.The beastsSomething with golden eyes moves under the marsh the whole crossing. Lysandra learns to point them at the ilken instead — the drowned city's last defenders, borrowed for one afternoon.

All of it

The File

Region: Sunken holy city, marshes of southwestern Eyllwe
Once: A great city of impressive architecture — until a cataclysm sank the earth for miles
Known for: Gray standing water, toppled columns, golden-eyed beasts beneath the surface
The quest: Brannon sent Aelin here for the Lock — to bind the Wyrdkeys and end Erawan
Found instead: A witch mirror marked with the Eye of Elena, not the Lock
What it showed: That the true Lock was Elena's — and the price was Aelin's own bloodline

We're Caffeine and Curses. The Library started as my design research — I can't put Nehemia on a shirt without knowing what her kingdom cost her — so we keep the notes here where everyone can use them. The pages are fan-made, not official; the licensed designs are in the shop.

Officially licensed