something in that treasure is magic. maybe the kingdom they stole it from is magic, could be some sort of elven kindgom. there's a special compass that could also track it, the crew has a hold of it and they are using it to find the rest of the treasure. but some sort of sea monster eats the treasure for some reason or another, could have just noticed something shiny and accidentally ate it, so this leads the crew on a new quest to hunt this beast down. they get excited because all signs point to this being a creature with a very high reward amount for slaying it. however, the sea monster goes to a sea known for being haunted (we could name it something Wicked), but they are so deadset on getting that treasure before the elves/whatever do that they follow it in anyway.

i also agree that one faction to focus on is better, i was worried it would get confusing and overpopulated if we included both. so maybe we could only play Important characters from the navy when they're necessary and then temporarily retire them when they step off-screen

i think the rp could start with them discovering that the compass is now pointing in a new direction instead of the stable one. gives us time for the storm drama and maybe a quick run in with the navy

-main sea monster's name is Mori'substel

Admittedly I usually avoid magic in my writing, so this may be very flawed or boring by usual magic-enjoyer standards. But I wanted to provide some Can and Cannots so magic cannot solve everything. I will be focusing on the elf magic for this since they’re the ones who we’ve mentioned having the most magic thus far.

Firstly, magic is kind of like science, except that they can’t really explain it properly but they do know how to use it. Magic itself could be some type of odd energy flow, something connected to water maybe since water is 1) natural, so elves would be more inclined to really connect to that, and 2) this is an Ocean roleplay. It could be that magic just kinda sits in the air at all times like moisture does. Magic comes in higher concentrations in the water, which is why the sea has a multitude of strange leviathans that would have never evolved under normal circumstances.

Magic reacts differently with different materials. It’s averse to iron and silver. It either won’t work or the reaction will be explosive, implying that there’s probably a whole separate table of magic types, but it’s so hard to even begin to try to categorize that they usually give up early, and they just follow a Basic Guide of magic. Magic creatures are more likely to be warded off by iron but usually won’t be too harmed by it, there’s just something about it that makes them wary. It could be that it’s similar in appearance to silver, which is highly deadly to all magic beings. Which could mean that silver is an outlawed material in any place that is governed over or has a tight alliance with the elven kingdom. Silver can really mess up a magic construction and can greatly wound magic forces - though clearly not too terribly, as the elves have found a workaround if they’re this powerful.

Magic could work like radiation, which is why it causes these odd beings to evolve after centuries of exposure (I imagine all of the magic creatures really are just creatures, but they’ve adapted so much over time to the magic that they’re very strange creatures). Depending on the concentration, this radiation could be extremely strong, which is why there’s a magic compass that can latch onto that artifact they need so terribly. This could also be why Moose’s potential character can get away with the “magic use makes your ears pointy!” excuse - elves and other pointy-eared beings are known for being born more in tune with magic, similar to a 6th sense, and if a human works with it for an extended period of time they, too, will start to develop elf-like traits. Not that their DNA changes and they become a new species, but you can see how elves evolved over time.

Because elves are more in tune with magic, they can cast it directly from their fingertips — if they’ve gone through the training required. Certain genes make magic expression stronger or weaker. It’s kind of like being double-jointed. Some elves can cast magic, others cannot. Being good at casting magic is a whole other thing because even if half the population is capable, they usually haven’t stretched that muscle enough to work well. Members of the royal guard, military, and royal family themselves probably undergo extensive training in this field so they can, and therefore they can keep their power.

That’s all I have right now, if there are any questions we can build off it.

Also, I’d like to briefly touch on magic classes so we can differentiate em better.

Wizards are like scientists, they study magic and attempt to classify it. They run experiments and are very knowledgeable on the subject, and therefore many other things since magic is so woven into this world. I imagine there are subclasses of wizard - are you a botanist? A biologist? A marine biologist? But as a wizard instead so you’re studying the magic aspect of these things specifically?

Mages are spell-casters, typically employed by nobles and the royals, sometimes deployed on missions such as hunting down pirates who know where the royalty’s famed treasure is. While they don’t usually experiment, they do read the articles and such written by wizards and follow the ‘known’ rules of the time. Usually the higher up their employment is, the better spells they can cast as they will be working closer with wizards and such.

Witches are illegal magic practitioners, usually women. They practice a more ‘primitive’ version of magic that depends more on raw materials themselves as well as the illegal use of magic beings. Ex: shaking a fairy like a salt shaker to get all the pixie dust out and add it to your otherwise typical, non-magical concoction. Witches are usually who cast hexes and curses. Typically these are made of specific ingredients and then cast with specific prayers, but a powerful witch can just as easily do it just by pointing at someone and saying something in a magic tongue.

i know there are other magic classes but i can’t think of em so that’s all you get