The Deadmouth
The Entrance to the Island
The Deadmouth presents the only established option for a colony fleet of any real size to land on Deadmouth Island. Highport - a port city consisting of the remnants of three centuries of attempted colonies spans the fjord. The fjord itself is guarded by Cressard Isle that has two narrow straits around it, both relatively friendly to ships. Steep cliffs, a feature through most of Deadmouth Island, run along most of the Deadmouth, though there are a number of landing places for smaller craft. At the end of the fjord is the highest cliff of them all, atop which sits the town of Cliffegarde.
Geography
The Deadmouth runs nearly 90 miles inland from Cressard Isle—the mouth of the fjord—and is surrounded by sheer rock faces that rise up to as much as 4,000 feet on either side. The port city of Highport spans the Deadmouth at its lowest and narrowest point, roughly two-thirds of the way along where the rock faces drop as low as 120 feet above the water line and the fjord narrows to less than 1 mile across.
The Deadmouth sports two permanent waterfalls, Horseshoe Falls at the very end of the Deadmouth, underneath Cliffegarde, and Sunny Point Falls at the "elbow" of the Deadmouth, where it swings around to the west. After heavy rain temporary waterfalls can be seen running down the steep sided rock faces that line the fjord. They are fed by rain water drenched moss and will last a few days at most once the rain stops.
Cressard Isle lies at the entrance to the Deadmouth and channels either side of the island mark the main passages into the Deadmouth itself.
Fauna & Flora
Important marine flora of the Deadmouth include eelgrass and kelp, especially bull kelp.
Marine mammal species found in the Deadmouth are harbor seals and orca. Although orca are sometimes seen in the Deadmouth proper they are far more prevalent around the Cressard Isle, south of the Deadmouth.
Many fish species occur in the Deadmouth. The various salmonid species, including salmon, trout, and char are particularly prevalent.
Common forage fishes found in the Deadmouth include herring, surf smelt, and sand lance. Important fish of the Deadmouth include hake, cod, walleye pollock, and the spiny dogfish. There are about 28 species of rockfish of many types found in the Deadmouth. Among those of special interest are copper rockfish, quillback rockfish, black rockfish, yelloweye rockfish, bocaccio rockfish, canary rockfish, and Deadmouth rockfish.
Many other fish species occur in the Deadmouth, such as sturgeons, lampreys, various sharks, rays, and skates.
The Deadmouth is home to numerous species of marine invertebrates, including sponges, sea anemones, chitons, clams, sea snails, limpets crabs, barnacles starfish, sea urchins, and sand dollars. Cressard crabs occur throughout the waters surrounding Deadmouth Island, including the Deadmouth itself. Many bivalves occur in the Deadmouth, such as Deadmouth oysters and geoduck clams.
There are many seabird species of the Deadmouth. Among these are grebes such as the Deadmouth grebe; loons such as the common loon; auks such as the pigeon guillemot, rhinoceros auklet, common murre, and marbled murrelet; the brant goose; seaducks such as the long-tailed duck, harlequin duck, and surf scoter; and cormorants such as the double-crested cormorant. The Deadmouth is home to a non-migratory and marine-oriented subspecies of great blue herons. Bald eagles occur in relative high densities in the region.
It is estimated that more than 100 million "gooey ducks" are packed into the Deadmouth's sediments. Also known as "king clam", "gooey ducks" are considered to be a delicacy in many other cultures.
Natural Resources
The area surrounding the Deadmouth has large supplies of water, large reserves of timber and fertile soil.
Type
Fjord
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