Odus · EverQuest (original release)
Erud’s Crossing
The strait the ferry crosses between Qeynos and Erudin, following the path Erud himself sailed to Odus: open sea, sharks, a sunken ship of undead, and one small, crowded, dangerous island at the halfway point.
Erud’s sea road
Erud’s Crossing is the zone the ferry from Qeynos to Erudin passes through, and it marks the route the Great Erud travelled to Odus centuries ago. Allakhazam calls it a quiet body of water sandwiched between the two cities, with a single island where a small clan of Kerrans lives alongside vampire bats, snakes and spiders.
Just off the coast lie the remains of a sunken ship crowded with undead, and the waters are full of sharks, so swimming out from shore is risky. The EQ Atlas rates the zone at levels 5 to 15.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Erud’s Crossing · Allakhazam: Erud’s Crossing (zone)
The island’s web
The island is small and its creatures are tangled together. Monsters of the same kind join each other’s fights, so it is common for a second one to wander in. The Kerra Isle beetles are liked by the Kerrans at the dock, who are among the strongest creatures here: kill the beetles and the Kerrans turn on you, and Island Madmen, some of them dangerous casters, begin to spawn by the docks.
Killing beetles can also bring aggressive, high-level fire elementals out of the island’s volcano. The spiders seem to know what is happening everywhere on the island, and rumour says the whole population has sometimes swarmed one attacker. The P99 Wiki adds that wisps help each other and wander everywhere.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Erud’s Crossing · Project 1999 Wiki: Erud’s Crossing
No way out
There is practically no escape if a fight goes badly: no zone line within easy swimming, no guards, and most monsters will follow you into the water. Zombie sailors spawn regularly and make good hunting, but rumour says they sometimes spawn en masse and swarm the island, and tougher skeleton sailors can appear in their place.
Even so, the EQ Atlas thinks it can be great fun: exciting, lightly hunted, and full of camaraderie, since one wrong kill or train can kill nearly everyone there. Players come for the wisps and for the zombie sailors’ rawhide armour and Qeynos quests. The Kerrans who live here are not the Kerrans of Kerra Isle; the Atlas warns that the two islands are often confused.
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Erud’s Crossing · Project 1999 Wiki: Erud’s Crossing
Catching the ferry
The only way here is the ferry between Qeynos and Erudin. Coming from Qeynos, the boat runs along the island’s shore for a long while before docking, so impatient travellers jump ship and swim in, which also avoids the Kerrans at the docks.
Going the other way, the boat from Erudin passes far north of the island; a strong swimmer can jump off and reach it, but catching the boat on to Qeynos from here is much harder.
Lore tied to this zone
Sources: EQ Atlas (eqatlas.ca): Erud’s Crossing · Allakhazam: Erud’s Crossing (zone) · Project 1999 Wiki: Erud’s Crossing