Sapphire Sea

"Some people say that it's the end of the world, but I don't believe that. The Ranata live out there on their islands. We know that much. As for what's beyond that? Well, I honestly don't know. Even Katanya Xira didn't come back from there."
-Masari Calliano, Avadian wayfarer, discussing the Sapphire Sea.

The Sapphire Sea is the name given to the vast body of water stretching between the eastern coast of the continent of Arikanda and the western coast of the continent of Kas. The Sapphran culture, the founding culture of the Helikan League, inhabit the southwestern shores of this sea, and take their name and the name for the region of the Sapphire Coast from it.

Geography

In technical terms, the Sapphire Sea blurs the definitions of an ocean and a sea. Most of its breadth spans thousands of kilometres from shore to shore. However, in the south that distance vastly reduces as the shores of Arikanda and Calina grow closer together. At its furthest southern point, the Sapphire Sea can easily be crossed by boat, eventually becoming a narrow isthmus known as the Straits of Kas. The Free City of Kas sits here, built across both continents' shorelines and across several small islands in between. South of Kas, the Sapphire Sea ends and the Calinan Sea begins. The southwestern shore of the Sapphire Sea is home to a great deal of settlements, with many independent city-states being built along deltas and river mouths emptying into the sea, including the city-state of Barkos, one of the more prominent cities of the Helikan League. Coastal settlements are much less common on the northwestern edge of the shores belonging to the Kalriv Empire, however there are a small number of exceptions, such as the major city of Lycrus. The largest collection of islands in the Sapphire Sea are the Ranata Isles, a scattering of hundreds of small volcanic islands over the space of several hundred kilometres. While rarely visited by Arikandans, Avadian explorers report the islands being home to idyllic white sand beaches, stretches of palm trees and forests, volcanic mountains and lava reefs. Most of the lands east of the Sapphire Sea are shrouded in mystery, and indeed most citizens of the Great Empires and city-states of the Calinan Sea do not even know there is anything beyond those shores. The lands around the Free City of Kas are somewhat similar to the western shore, mainly consisting of plains, scrub and rolling hills around the city. These steadily increase in density before becoming a thick, almost impenetrable temperate rainforest. It is unknown what lands exist beyond that rainforest.

Type

Sea

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