The Boneyard
Ghost of leviathans past
T
he Boneyard is, technically, a strait between Igry Island and Thigry Island, but it is more commonly referred to as a bay because the two islands are exceedingly close near the port city of Mavey.
It is named such because it acts as a natural collection point for the black bones of all manner of giant leviathans that ply the Aequin's waters. These bones are then processed as ebny and shipped out to markets around the world.
Geography
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he Boneyard's waters are considered to be extremely treacherous. It's not that the sea is any more dangerous in this region than anywhere else (although it is subject to the same sudden storms that are a hallmark of all Aequin's waters). But the nearly-conjoined nature of Igry Island and Thigry Island and the prevailing southwesterly winds and currents make this region a natural collection point of leviathan skeletons. Given that much of The Boneyard's waters are relatively shallow, these bones, sometimes lurking just below the surface, are perfectly capable of puncturing a hull and sinking a ship. The fact that the bones themselves are usually dark as night makes them especially difficult to spot from above the water. And since winds and currents are constantly shuffling the locations of such bones, their locations are nearly impossible to map with any certainty.
Fauna & Flora
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n the early days after the original settlement of Igry Island and Thigry Island, it was thought that The Boneyard was home to a horrific assortment of the Aequin's largest and scariest sea creatures. This was a simple assumption based on the unusual preponderance of the massive, black skeletons that came to rest in the shallow waters, or found themselves completely wash up on the shores. The thinking was that, if there are this many bones to be found of the deceased creatures, then their living population in The Boneyard must be huge.
It's now known that The Boneyard's waters do not have any larger concentration of the sea monsters than any other comparable sea across Excilior. In fact, the relatively shallow depth of the bay probably makes the leviathan population somewhat lower in The Boneyard than is common in other bodies of water. Cognoscenti have come to realize that the regular accumulation of ebny bones in the waters, and on the shores, of The Boneyard, is driven largely by geography, winds, and currents.
The ebny-accumulation process is also exacerbated by razers. The epic currents and storm surges driven by those frightful hurricanes tend to drive the gargantuan ebny bones into the bay from original resting places farther offshore. In some cases, they deposit the bones and skulls directly on The Boneyard's beaches.
Natural Resources
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he primary resource associated with The Boneyard has always been: ebny. In a given year, as much as 60% of the global supply of ebny can originate from this region. The Thignian cities of Champierlin and Mavey are almost exclusively dedicated to the harvesting and processing of ebny bones. And the port city of Signeressie exists almost solely for the purpose of shipping the finished product out to the rest of the world.
When the first pioneers explored The Boneyard and its encompassing islands, they reported that the narrow channel between them was utterly impassable because the collection of leviathan skeletons was so thick. Although it would have been arduous work, the early accounts indicate that it was theoretically possible to walk from Igry Island to Thigry Island merely by hopping from one bone-or-skull, poking up out of the water, to the next.
The only ships that regularly navigate The Boneyard are specially-outfitted trawlers. They skim the waters of the bay, searching for new bone collections that may have accumulated under the surface. They are also equipped with armored keels to ensure that they are not sunk by the same bones they are trying to harvest.
Maps
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The Boneyard
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