Crossing Awornus

Ellie demanded to see her father, the king, whom she loved very much. Was he so afraid of the sea that he would not see his own daughter? Apparently. When she asked a knight to send him to her, he explained that the king would not risk being infected by the potential contagion she contained from crossing the frightening, forbidden sea of Awornus. The sea was such an altering place, the king could not possibly risk being changed by someone who had crossed it - not even his own daughter. Worse yet, the king felt that she had been so altered by the sea, that with another princess as a true love, Ellie herself posed a danger to the kingdom. As such, for the greater good of the kingdom, she must never return.
Our princess just couldn’t understand. What was wrong with finding love in any form it takes? A true love is a true love, isn’t it? And why was crossing the beautiful, calm, enlightening sea forbidden? The sea had helped her on her journey to finding love, and even finding herself, and nothing bad had happened. Couldn’t he see that if crossing the sea had changed her, it was only for the better? Maybe if he crossed the sea himself, he would understand, but how to get him there if he wouldn’t even lay eyes on her willingly… All of a sudden, Ellie had an idea; what if she brought the sea to him? Then he’d have to see it. It wasn’t the easiest of ideas, but it was a start. She traveled with her true love all the way back to the sea and filled a water skin with part of the sea. Once they returned to Jombel with the skin of water, they discovered it had run dry in the course of their journey. So off they went again to the sea of Awornus to fill the water skin to bring back to the king. Again, upon returning to Jombel, the water skin ran dry. Clearly her plan wasn’t working.