Sungzel Sea (/sŭng-z′əl sē/)

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The Sungzel Sea sustains every aspect of life for the people. True to its location in the center of the Freelands, it is at the center of our hearts - a sacred oasis in an otherwise barren and desolate land. To us, the Sungzel is a symbol of life, of hope, and the promise of the more prosperous future.

— A Ja'nakh Guide

Description

Travel north and east from the Stormbreak Mountains across the border from Kungaroun and one will eventually encounter an epicenter of life in the Zuul’hy Freelands known as the Sungzel Sea. Second only in size to the Upanje, at its widest points the Sungzel stretches 210 miles (338 km) North-South and 317 miles (510 km) East-West.

History: A Sea or A Lake?

Sungzel in the First Age

Ancient Imperial documents from the time when the region was known as Agulazvlat record in great detail that the Sungzel Sea was once part of a much larger, contiguous body of water that connected what is now Lake Evigsmeer to the northwest and Danya Harbor to the northeast, ultimately stretching to the Gulf of Vyndria in a very similar way to how the winding Thuenelv Straights and Khazwa Sea do today.
As the ocean levels surrounding Gokrenxia receded over the course of centuries, the deep saltwater basin became cut off from the ocean. Major inflows of water from the surrounding streams slowly transitioned its composition from saltwater, through brackish, and finally to the freshwater body it is today.
To the elves, the Sungzel channel was an efficient path for rapidly moving goods and people back and forth between the Eastern shores of Gokrenxia and central Gokrenxia, almost to the border of what has, in recent years, become the kynekin kingdom of Vath'azen.

Sungzel in the Second Age

In much the same way as the composition of the sea has chanegd from saltwater to freshwater, so too has the composition of the area's residents. Today, an estimated 1.6 million people have made their homes along the sea's 1,200 miles (1931.2 km) of heavily forested coastline, congregating in seven well-established port cities ranging from around 3,000 residents to as large as 28,000 (the current capital of the Freelands' and its 3rd largest settlement).
Attributed in large part to the position of neutrality ascribed to both the ja'nakh people and the Freelands by the Thee'nor Accord, the character of cities and residents surrounding the Sunzel are a beautiful and interwoven tapestry of culture. The major settlements distributed between southern and eastern Zuul'hy are a fascinating mix of the old and new. There are those rebuilt upon the ruins of the Empire standing in stark contrast to those established in more recent years which demonstrate fresh ideas in city design, layout, and building architecture.
Though Central Zuul'hy has limited coastline access to the Sungzel, its residents have deliberately chosen to never rebuild the Imperial port that fell in the third year of the Great War. Thus it stands in ruins as a testament to those who would seek to revive the flames of the Great War.

Hydrology

The warm ocean airs originating from the mideastern coasts of Gokrenxia travel westward until the Stormbreak mountains forces their path northward where they dump the heaviest rainfall found across the entire Freelands on the Sungzel - an estimated 43 inches (1100 mm) annually. The sea is further fed by five rivers, and has no outflows, classifying it as an endorheic lake (though it's never been renamed). Water levels are maintained through seepage into the ground and evaporation.
Evaporation plus the lack of outflows creates a problem in that mineral deposits and salinity increase over time. To keep the Sungzel from becoming unable to sustain life, the ja'nakh of the Freelands hold a grand event annually where a delegation of wizards from the new Imperial Vice-Kingdom of Lysandre come and purify the waters.

Type

Freshwater Lake

Surface Area

58k mi²

Average Depth

74 ft (22.5 m)

Maximum Depth

304 ft (92.6 m)

Inflows

5

Outflows

0

Location

Zuul’Hy Freelands

Coastline (by Region):

Southern Zuul'hy: 543 mi (873.9 km)

Eastern Zuul'hy: 540 mi (869.9 km)

Central Zuul'hy: 117 mi (188.3 km)

Notable Cities (7):

Thee'nor, Southern Zuul'hy

TBD, Southern Zuul'hy

TBD, Southern Zuul'hy

TBD, Southern Zuul'hy

Nanham, Eastern Zuul'hy

Tyarmu, Eastern Zuul'hy

TBD, Eastern Zuul'hy

Did you know?

Sungzel is the Old Imperial word for "prison." What an odd name for a body of water. It begs the question of... Why?
The kynekin Historians of Stoverj as well as the dwarven academics of House Weymont have scoured the voluminous tomes of their libraries and claim no books that survived the Great War speak to who was imprisoned around this place. More conspiratorial folk have pointed to this as evidence of yet another Imperial cover-up. They assert that whomever, or whatever, it was has escaped in the sixty years since the region was handed over to the ja'nakh. They posit that perhaps it is striving to remove all evidence of its existence.
Is there something or someone trapped beneath the surface of the Sungzel Sea or was its name perhaps the sarcastic commentary of an elven Tide Trader who felt trapped by the confines of a lonely ship on the shifting waters? Who really knows why the elves do anything?