Ever since the eighth "Submersible No. 3" was salvaged near the shores of Frost and taken to Dagger Island near the City-State, that island was designated a military zone by the City-State authorities, and the two nearby shipping lanes were also no longer open to the public.
This naturally led to a lot of speculation, not just among the locals of Frost, but also amongst ship owners forced away from Dagger Island, and nearby pirates and adventurers. They were curious about what was happening on that island, curious about what secrets the Frost authorities were hiding, and among these speculations were guesses that seemed plausible, ranging from "researching new weapons" to "conducting dangerous rituals"—but none of them were reliable.
There were already very few people in the world who still knew of the "Abyssal Project".
