Glacial Sea
"The view from the crow's nest, in the fire of the early morning dawn was a picture of beauty this morning. The mist and early morning fog was thick, adding a hint of danger to the imagery, but not so thick to concern skilled sailors such as ourselves. The water was calm, the early morning fire in the skies creating an abstract of beautiful orange, fiery golds and ambers about the surface, almost as if stained glass, though the priests and nuns wish they could make their windows such pure works of beauty and art. The fog was only magnifying the beauty. The call of a loon echoed to the south of us, out to open water. The icebergs out there, even through my spyglass, seemed but ghostly shapes of white and pale blue. The sunlight reflected off them, creating dazzling light beams, as if the sun's beams wished to dance within the beautiful scene. It was and is truly breath-taking my friends. Somewhere to the north east of us, as the shadowy haze of the granite cliff shorelines just came into view, I heard the echoing call of a moose. Likely wading the shallows many kilometers away near the shoreline, where the kelps and reeds they find so enjoyable grow in abundance. The call was deep, rumbly, not unlike an oxen in some ways, but with much more power and a deeper rhythm. Then above me, as the soft breeze filled our vessel's sails, an osprey called out in triumph, diving hard to the east! The noble bird's sharp eyes obviously had identified breakfast, though whether trout, carp, pike or some other fish I could not tell you. But I can tell you the magnificent beast was successful. I didn't get a good look at it, it was but a blur when I turned to see the beginning of its dive. But I heard the splash and the gleeful and victorious call, along with the flapping of wings. I wanted to shriek out my agreement to that most noble bird, let me tell you my friends. There is something enlightening about sailing the Glacial Sea during early summer mornings. I honestly believe it is an experience every man of every walk of life in our homeland needs to experience in their life. It is a damn shame so many do not."
Spotter Jeremy Shrey, Spotter for the Schooner, Lui-Píkeis
Geography
The Glacial Sea is a massive lake that was formed by a glacier melt an untold time ago. The middle of the lake is as of now still a truly unknown depth, and it is known as a sea, because of its sheer size and the fauna it supports, but it is fresh water. At the widest point north to south it stretches over four hundred and fifty kilometers. East to west is much the same, the furthest points of the shorelines just over four hundred kilometers apart. Icebergs litter the lake, remnants of the glacier that used to stand here. Islands dot some sections of its south-west, with a few more to the north and north-east. The lands around the lake are fertile of course as one would expect, though in most places only a few dozen meters back from the water's edge there is a steep slope, or even a sheer granite ridge a few meters tall, leading to the elevated tundra highlands it is mostly surrounded by. The exception to this is along its western bank, which has a more gradual slope, as well as two other regions, north-east and northwest. The regions around the mouth of where the Tiber exits the lake in its run to the sea in the northwest, along with the area where the Nordjeim flows free from the lake's grasp in the north-east. To the east, along its coast of the Durin Province, the Shivering Wood hugs its shoreline in the north, whilst further south in the province, as if the lake had rended the earth, the shore suddenly runs its course, and instead the water is shadowed by a granite rockface once again, the peaks of Sheer-Stone Range gazing down at it, which transitions along the shores to the largest remnants left of when the world was but a frozen tundra across the planet, the Glass Spear Peaks. It is here, in the shadow of these glacial giants, that the Tiber flows from the southern lands and into the Glacial Sea. The southern coast continues to be sheer and rocky as you follow it to the west along the Broken Fang province, for here The Steppes glare down at the lake. But north of that along its western banks, one will find they come into the Icevale Lowlands, the cool marshy terrain meeting the lake in a loving embrace of near equality, the slope and elevation so gradual a change. Many communities dot the coast of this massive lake of course, and ships are a common sight for fishing, travel and trade. The lake itself is known to many outside of Suranth by stories of the region's majesty and picturesque beauty.
Ecosystem Cycles
The obvious change is in the winter, when most of the larger game animals that normally live nearby along shorelines for the rich and fertile plant life that grows in the shallows and along the shore move further inland. This is because these plants are dead and frozen the water in most shallow spots frozen over (though the majority of the lake does not freeze, likely, it is hypothesized, due to sheer size). Many flock birds migrate south, to more hospitable regions like the most southern edges of Depenwood, or even as far south as Valewyr.
Localized Phenomena
Howler Storms: In the winter, the eastern regions of the lake, as far south as Moss Bay and all the way up to the Shivering Wood is known to experience brutal ice storms known as 'Howlers' that seem almost malicious in nature, that have been known to engulf the entirety of the Foljeim and Durin Provinces, including out to sea off their eastern seaboard with the Nor'westor Sea. It is the belief of some scholars these storms seem malicious in nature, though lacking any such magic so far out, because they center on a Void Wounded stretch of the land in the Glass-Spear Peaks on the eastern seaboard, the other side of the glacial range from where it meets this lake. This is but an unconfirmed theory, mostly because it is naught but ice, snow, and death within the Glacial Peaks, so since there would seem to be naught worth exploring or harvesting, either archaeologically or resource wise. However these storms are dangerous and have been known to have such ferocity as to freeze the sails and masts of vessels, even causing the masts to snap under their own weight. Thankfully these storms are rare but given they can kick up quite swiftly, generally out sailing one isn't an option, so it is considered a gambit to sail any part of the waters in that region during the winter.
Natural Resources
Water of course, along with all manner of freshwater fish and other such aquatic food animals. Kelps and reeds of various kinds that can be used in fabrics, along with others that are edible and used in all manner of foods. Hunting, especially during the summer and autumn, around the lakeshore regions is excellent, with a healthy selection of all manner of game and water fowl.
Alternative Name(s)
Lake of Dancing Ice
Owner/Ruler
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
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