The Brumefringe

The Brumefringe is a dense, nigh impenetrable fog that surrounds parts of Ejilan. Cartographers consider the planet split into two distinct regions: The Known World, encompassing all the lands untouched by the fog and (relatively) easily accessible by man and beast alike. The Beyond makes up the rest - Any waters, lands, or otherwise that sit through the fog are considered part of the Beyond.

Definition

For clarity, the enchanted fog itself is referred to as "Brume," where "The Brumefringe" refers specifically to the large band wrapping the planet's oceans. Brume can be found in places that are not part of the Brumefringe. It is notably distinct from a normal, natural fog as described here.

History

Some historical records mention voyages to lands now considered to be in the Beyond prior to the Cataclysm's wane, though they are unconfirmed. Most historians suggest that something during the latter years of the Cataclysm brought about this fog. Many have pointed to the ice age that began the waning, saying that the magic-imbued ice melted into the enchanted fog. It was first passed and returned from by a Falkish crew in 87ME, the first recorded passage in modern Edeoxen history. It is worth noting that previous expeditions may have been successful, but never returned to Edeoxes. In the Golden Era of the Navigators, expeditions were frequent and some permanent outposts and colonies were established, though with varying levels of success.
Lemaroux's Gate promised Edeoxen nations a permanent passage and the possibility of true conquest of the Beyond, but the wars that almost immediately followed it's opening and caused it's subsequent destruction quelched that possibility. As a result of the Navigator's decline, expeditions have mostly been privately organized as permanent exoduses to seek and grow new lives and wealth in the Beyond. Only a few companies promise a circuit back to the new world, and even those are not guaranteed.
Some scientists and magic scholars alike claim that they have proven the Brumefringe expands every year and that the rate of it's expansion is increasing, but this is met with doubt and skepticism from the academic community at large. Still, a not insignificant minority of academics are aligned to this view and fear what it could mean for the world.

Passage

Passing the Brumefringe is very difficult. Ships often claim that compasses no longer read accurately, sometimes multiple on the same ship reporting a different magnetic north. The denseness of the fog prevents any true navigation by sun, moon, or star. Many expeditions have spent weeks or months in the Brumefringe and found themselves traveling back toward the Known World, having somehow been turned around despite never changing rudder.
Others are not so lucky, disappearing entirely in the fog. Obviously no record other than the total disappearance of these ships gives any hint to their fate, or how it came to be. Some ships have been found adrift on the open ocean with no bodies aboard and still others seemingly destroyed in combat, riddled with corpses.
Magic cartography (sometimes obnoxiously shortened to 'Magicartigraphy') has proven to be the most reliable method of getting vessels to the Beyond. The Navigators are the only existent magic order that practices the art. Possessing a map and the means to actively navigate with it seems to imbue a ship with the ability to at least hold course through the Brume. These maps are almost always consumed upon a single journey and must be crafted such that they have a specific, known point of departure and destination. Maps that can be used even a second time or that have multiple legs of a journey are highly valuable and require a great deal of magical power, knowledge, and ingredients to craft.
Using these maps does not require the same prowess as crafting one, but does require some level of training. Often, an expedition's captain will study under the Navigator making his map for some weeks or months, learning just the bare minimum to use the specific map or maps they've been made. The most effective expeditions have skilled magic users or Navigators themselves on board to aid in passage.
Even with a map, strange illnesses, attacks, or other hazards can befall a ship in the fog. Should these be fought off or otherwise avoided, a successful passage could be as fast as a few weeks steam through dense, unsettling Brume.

Dangers

It is impossible to say all of the dangers brought about by the Brume. The most commonly reported hazards are, obviously, navigational. Ships have reported being turned in any number of circles and directions, sometimes ending up thousands of miles from where they had thought in a direction they did not expect. As mentioned, ships have been found completely desolate with lifeboats and launches intact - suggesting some kind of magical interference or perhaps kidnapping, though without signs of struggle. Others have been found nearly destroyed and full of signs of combat. It is unclear if this was the result of more traditional encounters with pirates or some Brume-related incident. Ships have been reported to take on water without having holes or having untreatable illness savage the crew. Some have reported mysterious losses of cargo or fuel. Magical beasts have been reported, some which turned out to be ethereal and perhaps even hallucinated, while others have destroyed ship and sailor.
It is unclear, even of the above listed dangers, which are real, which of those are a result of the Brume, and if there is any rhyme or reason to it's happening. Many a sailor has a tall tale about experiences in the fog, if they've lived to tell about it.

Manifestation

The Brumefringe looks, to the untrained, to be like any other fog. Still, there is an uneasy stillness and weight to the mass. The oceans calm under the fog, seemingly suppressed to an almost glassy stillness. Sound is somewhat muted, as though everything were blanketed in thick, heavy snow. Sailors already weak of lung report breathing difficulty and some have succumbed to incurable, unknown illness. The transition from the clear, open sea to the Brumefringe is rapid. It appears as though one is approaching a storm's wall. Passing through the first layers is simple enough - It is only once a ship is entirely enveloped that the effects become apparent. Even at midday, light is low, giving an eerie, grey-green hue to the atmosphere. It would look like the sun behind the clouds of a massive storm yet without the rain or thunder. At night, visibility is so low it may obscure the bow of a ship from the stern. The most powerful ships lamps and spotlights do not penetrate more than a few hundred yards in the best of conditions.
At the northern and southern reaches, where the Brumefringe meets glacier and frozen land, the fog becomes a raging tempest of ice and snow, creating dangers that have been entirely impassable by any recorded journey.

Localization

The Brumefringe encircles the entire Known World, the Icebrume storms covering both the southern and northern extremes, with the more 'calm' fog making up the band in between. It is seen both to the east and west. While not fully explored, the most thin part of the fog is near to the northern tropic, east from Edeoxes and Akend. This region has been dubbed Lemaroux's Gate after the historical event, and is the busiest corridor for expeditions venturing to the Beyond and back.
Outposts in the Beyond report that much of the Beyond is covered in small patches and larger, moving masses of Brume. These sometimes envelop entire islands and cities - Sometimes with no effect at all, other times bringing great catastrophe. Colonies have been found completely empty, with no sign of life after a passing of a Brume mass, yet the same system could leave another three outposts untouched not miles away.
Very occasionally, a storm or wind will seem to split off a spur of Brume from the fringe and spin it off to the Known World. Usually this only affects ships in the far seas, which are usually headed on expeditions Beyond and are prepared for such events. (In many cases, it is seen as a good omen to these sailors, as they can cut their teeth and their preparedness on a small, light cell, hopefully allowing them to identify problems that may have brought doom to their expedition through the fringe.)
In some very rare cases, these masses of Brume may be large enough or fast enough to last until they reach the lands of the Known World. These events are seen as potential disaster, despite none having caused more than hysteria or seafaring navigational hazard. The rich will often flee for distant homes and those who cannot flee will board themselves into homes and makeshift shelters, riding out the fog until it dissipates. Magical beasts not seen since the Cataclysm and other anomalous happenings have been reported on land shortly after these events, though nothing that has left permanent scars.