Do-Po, The Carbonated Sea

In the Southernmost reaches of Sictoire, a cluster of islands erupt jaggedly from their rose-taupe sea, grasping up into lazy clouds with fingers of sharp grey slate.
If you squint your eyes against the sun on a clear day, you can see the ravaged and rotten timbers of a previous generation of tall ships that dared the waters, and found cold rest suspended in the air, with hulls punctured through on these vengeful stone spikes. Birds nest safely and circle overhead, cackling greedily at the next ship that might be dashed and set upon, spilling its cargo and supplies to be picked over. Coal black harpies with brightly ornamented wing tips tuck and dive, contesting the birds and each other for baubles, bottles, and pieces of gauld before they can sink to the bottom of the Do-Po sea. Limber vessels slither through the treacherous waters, with crews praying the Sent and the Sender for the hard winds that will ferry them quickly through the bubbling waters and into calmer seas.
Do-Po, named after the famous explorer Chen Do-Po, is a body of water that spans from the Western edge of the Kerugulean Ocean, cupped in by the long coasts of the Syndikingdom of Arathia, and crucially connected to Massacre Bay by the relatively new Figg's Channel. Besides being affected by the tropical storms common in this part of the world, Do-Po boasts two key features; the strangely cold waters in such a subtropical climate, and the bubbles.
"Big as horses! Big as two horses! Big as a Sendin' coach! 'ts jus' air bubbles, same 's you 'r me might'n breathe 'n the bath, but tossed up t' size of a Sent Sendin' house!" -Tohmas Risnobutton, first confirmed deep-sea dive in the waters of the Do-Po sea. Dr. Risnobutton was a strong proponent of the Titan theory, and hypothesized that the Do-Po phenomenon was due to the breath of the titans. Indirectly, his research fueled the rumours that there was unimaginable wealth; titan gauld to be found on the islands and within the murky waters.
The enormous, often acidic bubbles that rupture the dull water in a steady rhythm are what make the sea such a challenging prize for sailors. They're large and violent enough to shatter non-reinforced hulls, and to help roll even the largest ships into the rock formations. The prevailing discourse on this region is that the bubbles are caused by a massive creature or creatures underneath the depths, although there's very little concensus on what creature that might be. A less accepted theory states that an enormous underground pocket may be sending these bubbles up through the water, perhaps the work of underwater volcanic gasses.
Historically, it's believed that the sea levels in this region were much higher, and that is why the islands skewer ships high above the waterline.
The islands themselves are mostly unnamed in official atlases, but some are quite verdant and very much inhabited beyond the unwelcoming exterior. These people groups are as of yet completely unknown to the outside world and untouched by official study.

Type

Sea