The Crater Sea
The Crater Sea is a circular, extremely deep body of water which is bordered by Alhamland to the north, the Alborian Empire to the east, and Fruchtbarland, The Valorous Dominion, and the Kingdom of Bommbergonia to the south. To the west of the Crater Sea lie the treacherous waters of the Shattered Sea.
Formation
The Crater Sea was the epicenter of the Cataclysm, speculated to have been the location of the primary Serpentfolk temple city involved in the failed ritual. Speculation is all that can be done, as the Cataclysm replaced whatever once stood there with a massive crater 250 miles across which quickly filled with water, creating the Crater Sea. In its center is the magical phenomenon known as The Spellstorm, a roiling mess of residual magical energies from the cataclysm which has become self sustaining and is a tremendous navigation hazard.
Navigating the Crater Sea
Old seafarers will tell you that the crater sea remembers the violence of it's creation, and will revisit that violence on the careless sailor. Whether this is true or not, navigating the crater sea isn't for the faint of heart.
The Outer Ring
While one might assume that staying as far from the violent heart of the crater sea as possible is best, the very outer reaches of the sea are rife with their own dangers.
The Shifting Shoals
Where the waves and outer edge of the Spellstorm meet shallow water and shorelines exists a region of constantly shifting dissolving and reforming shoals and sandbars known as The Shifting Shoals. Due to it's everchanging nature, it isn't possible to chart, and even more dangerous than the visible pieces of land are the half formed ones, lurking just beneath the water and waiting for a deep keeled ship to ground itself.
Piracy
Despite the best efforts of The Crater Sea Trading Company, piracy is alive and well in the outer ring of the crater sea. Operating out of shallow bottomed ships suited to both the sandbars of The Shifting Shoals and the rivers and shallow bays which they operate out of, they are quick to swarm any ship foolish enough to become grounded, and even reaching out into the golden zone when a ship ventures too close.
The Golden Zone
Between the Outer Ring and The Spellstorm lies the golden zone, a narrow ring which is far enough from both the Shifting Shoals and the Spellstorm to allow safe passage to any seafarer who can navigate well enough to stay within it's bounds during their journey around The Crater Sea.
Particularly daring or foolish navigators and captains often try to push the limits of this safe area, either skirting the outer edge as closely as possible on short trips along one side, or attempting to shorten their trip to the other side by cutting as close to the spellstorm as possible. Few of the ships who attempt to push their luck are successful for long.
The Spellstorm
The Crater sea is awash with residual magical energies from the Cataclysm which have become a self sustaining magical phenomena commonly known as The Spellstorm. Sailing anywhere near the center of the spellstorm spells certain doom, but as these energies are strongest at the center and weakest at the edges, ships often make calculated gambles when it comes to traversing it. Wise sailors skirt the very edges of the sea, but more reckless captains will cut things closer, shaving time off their journeys at the risk of running into the hazards of the spellstorm.
Known Hazards of The Spellstorm
- Strange Sea Monsters
- Waterspouts
- Whirlpools
- Sudden Storms
- Dry Ice Hail
- Random Magical Discharges
- Dimensional Rifts
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