The Court of King Neptune

There is no flatter land than the calm sea. Air without obstruction moving solely at its own whim. Nothing's more fickle. As a sailor I've had time to contemplate all the wonders of nature, and I can tell you that the sky is like the heart of a man placed in a great emptiness. There are doldrums and their opposite. There's lightning and thunder and storms of every conceivable hue. But the wrath of the sky pales before that of the sea. Every sailor knows that the worst weather in the world lies deep at the bottom of the ocean - far from the eyes of any man. When the water turns dark as wine and small bubbles begin to rise all around a ship, sailors take heed. In the sky, lightning travels in a straight line but under the ocean light explodes in every direction as the surface flickers in wan shades of blue-green. And ships just sink without sound or warning, sudden guests in the court of King Neptune.