Slow Ocean

The Slow Ocean is a vast body of water found within the realm of Panaton.

Background
The Slow Ocean is filled with water, but its chief characteristic is its slowed time. Any creatures that swim through it and any ships that sail across its watery surfaces will exist within a state of "stopped" time. Ripples generally don't change time states and in an across the Slow Ocean. Observers see an unmoving flat region as hard as stones and the color of blue-green crystal. At its edges, frozen waves fail to break. That is, unless an observer spends time watching a wave or a ship come in to shore, which can take a full day to transpire, like watching the sun inch along the sky. Attempting to change the state of something in or on the surface to one other than stopped time is three steps more difficult than normal, and even if successful, the changed state will last for only a single round.

Falling into the Slow Ocean changes a creature's time state to "stopped." If this happens near a water craft or a submerged ocean creature, what was previously moving at what appears to be slower than a snail suddenly rushes forward.

Mulr
Various creatures will swim throughout the Slow Ocean. The most obvious, however, are the whale-like Mulr, with finned white bulks a hundred feet in length. They're drawn to activity in the surface, because the Mulr prefer the taste of flesh that's only recently transitioned from some other time state. Sometime the Mulr hunt in pods, other times they'll serve as mounts for the octopi who've colonized a coral region within the Slow Ocean. (Nether the dothin nor the Thexx know anything about these octopi, other than the rare sighting of one riding a Mulr.)

Durators
A race of humans never before seen to the land of Panaton sail the Slow Ocean. Their ships are large, double-hulled sea canoes that are 60 ft. long and 5 ft. across, typically with two sails and a crew of usually 15 people. construction materials can vary, but they'll often include salvaged synth and harvested wood components. The Durators are a secretive people that are fully aware of the nature of the Slow Ocean and even of Panaton itself, and keep oral traditions alive of their arrival onto Panaton uncounted generations earlier. They choose to keep to the Slow Ocean because life along dry land speed past, safely leaving them behind to sail forever. However, from their perspective, something interesting falls into the water every few minutes or so, and becomes synced with their native time stream. For Durators, each "day" on the Slow Ocean lasts for almost a year. Thus, the Durators can choose to be picky about what they pick up, or more often, pirate.