Aurora Bay

"Aurora's Bay is where the sky meets the water, where the Goddess of the North wept clear tears, and thus we name it after her."

— Elya Korsiki, Maiden of the Cold-Iron Spear

Located in the northern portions of Helenic, Aurora Bay is a cold freshwater sea which flows out into the northern ocean through a narrow strait. While it is called a "bay", most scholars agree it is instead an "inland sea" by definition. Some scholars which disagree refer to instead as an "overgrown lake", and the debate has only recently managed to cool down enough to allow discussion of the finer points of classifying bodies of water. What is more important to many is agreeing on the name "Aurora Bay" for the feature, which largely is rooted in how those living close to its shores keep calling it such. Scholars collecting the stories about this sea have traced it to an ancient story about the Goddess of the North, told amongst humans who live in Durrsk.

Use of the sea is central to a great many cities and towns along its shores, from commercial fishing to trade routes. The fortress known as Aurora's Gate was built across the northern strait to control access from the ocean. It does this with a series of mechanisms to bring ships upwards against the flow. Cities can thusly export and import goods from elsewhere, so long as the merchant vessels are willing to travel the treacherous cold northern ocean. The eastern reaches of the sea connect to trade routes such as the Old Alishan Way, while the southwestern area connects to the Imperial port city of Cold Harbor.

Legend of Aurora's Tears

As transcribed from the oral traditions of Durrsk:

In the time long before the Empire rose to prominence, there were only four Goddesses. The Goddess of the North, Aurora, was long regarded as a cold and heartless being who brought nothing but hardship and misery to the people of the land. No altars were made to worship Her, nor were any temples raised to Her glory. Rather, prayers were offered instead to the Goddess of the South to bring back the warmth and light needed to survive in the world. So it was the people would suffer for a time only to gratefully receive a reprieve from the Goddess of the South. This was how things were, now and forever before.

Then came a day when a young man traveled into the snowy mountains, climbing to the tallest peak to seek Aurora's domain. When his life's fire began to fade from the cold, finally She came to him and silently stood watch. As he went to breathe his last, She leaned in to ask a question. "Your people fear My power, despise My touch. And yet you come seeking me. Why?"

Now that he had found the Goddess, he struggled to burn the last of his life in order to answer Her question. "To ask You to spare them Your fury... and share with them Your love instead." And as the Goddess stood in confusion, the final spark of life was spent.

Aurora closed Her icy blue eyes, before turning to face the south. One step took Her down from the mountains, but this was all She could manage before tears began to flow. Icy and cool, but nevertheless pure. Aurora's tears flowed and filled a basin in the world, bringing cool and fresh water to the land, and then She returned to Her domain. Winters were never as harsh after this, testing the people so more would survive the tests of hardship. Every generation, one brave soul must travel to the tallest peak in the northern mountains and bring an offering for the Goddess. Should Aurora find it pleasing, She will show appreciation with a prismatic curtain of light spread across the sky - the only warmth which She can offer to the people.

Geography

Aurora's Bay is oddly shaped, with three distinct curves to the shore and rough cliffs making it difficult to access outside of these safe harbors. At the northwestern corner of the sea is the strait named "Aurora's Flow", connecting the sea to the northern ocean. Aside from this, there are a few rivers which feed into the sea as opposed to out of it, starting in the mountains and hills. Most of the surrounding shoreline is clear, or has only scattered forest covering it. There are also a few small islands present inside the sea, though these are not large enough to support much more than momentary stops for ships trying to avoid storms on the sea.

The first of the safe coasts is along the eastern end of the sea, though there are few active ports there in recent generations. Legends say there once was a city on this side of the sea, but its exact location has been lost amidst ambivalence to the state of the shoreline. Thus the eastern shore is mostly used by merchants carrying wares of dubious origins. These merchant companies construct temporary ports to use bay skimmers to transport small batches of goods they do not wish to transport along the Old Alishan Way.

Along the northwestern shoreline, Durrsk maintains both the Aurora Gate and a port known as "Frostwater". Ships entering from the northern ocean must travel through Aurora Gate, requiring a travel fee to be paid for access. Then the ships will restock in Frostwater before traveling south across the lake, or using bay skimmers to carry smaller shipments along the sea's coasts. Only one other harbor exists here, actually dug out of a rocky cliff and run entirely by one dwarven clan. Coldstone Hall primarily serves only dwarven interests, and thus is not a prime stop for merchants who are not specifically traveling to the clan hall. However, Coldstone Hall is one of the two stops on Aurora Bay capable of taking ships into drydock for repairs or refits.

Perhaps the most well-known shoreline is the southern shoreline, which has the least amount of safe locations to create a harbor in. North Harbor was built by Imperial citizens in order to allow trade to flow across this coldwater sea, primarily being imported from Durrsk in a route which doesn't involve taxes paid to Gilvonnaie to travel through their borders. North Harbor is protected by a the nearby Fort Snowfang, providing both Legion protection as well as a small Navy presence to cause waterborne threats to think twice about engaging any trade bound for the Imperial docks. Ship owners rely on the Imperial drydocks for work done on their vessels, and others who require bay skimmers will find it relatively easy to find willing owners to assist - for a fee.

Type

Inland Sea

Included Locations

• Parseil, the Ruined City

Related Ethnicities

• Children of Ash