Violet Reach

Like its southern neighbor, the warm equatorial ocean between Ristshan and Arrboth is named for the color of its skies, tinged by the element of Fire into a vibrant shade between water's blue and fire's red. This heat brings life with it, in the form of beautiful coral reefs and colorful tropical fish, but also danger from great sea monsters, seasonally violent weather, and volcanic vents. Even its civilized denizens have a fierce reputation among sailors for their raids and protectiveness of their islands. Even so, many who have crossed the sea will attest that the dangers are well worth the beauties witnessed on the trip.

Geography

With the liveliness of its heat, the Violet Reach has dense forests of seagrass breaking up its sandy bottom in many places. Ruins are not uncommon, nor are lush coral reefs or columns of ash from deep below, depending on the region. Brighter and shallower in many places, some of these sights can be appreciated even from a boat in clear weather. Not all of those sights are a cause for simple awe and appreciation, however. While the merfolk's ruins have long since been picked clean by their own, the Sunken Coasts of Arrboth and northern Ristshan are said to hold traces of ancient elemental civilizations, or perhaps surprisingly advanced mortal ones for their time. These regions were previously part of their respective continents, but the rise in sea level after the Fall of the Icemen caused a mass melt for nearly everywhere besides Nalanosa has left them permanently submerged. They are a common and dangerous spot for adventurers to try to explore, with their ancient historical relics and artifacts. However, pirates are well aware of this fact too, and are all too happy to bide their time for weakened adventurers to emerge with the same. More inherently dangerous are Whaler's Deep and the Serpent's Trail. The former is known as a hotbed of ecological activity, a thriving ecosystem with sea monsters and whales at its top and various fish that hide within its forests of seagrass and ribcages at its bottom. While it can pose a great opportunity for hunters and whalers, drawing blood in its waters is an extremely risky prospect at best. The Serpent's Trail, on the other hand, is a region of volcanic vents connecting to the same chain of volcanoes that separates the Ashlands from the Midland Steppe of Arrboth. A difficult region to gain anything of use from, merfolk nonetheless guard it jealously for the rare metals it provides access to, regiments attacking most ships that wander too close and making a trip to the Ashlands by sea that much more treacherous.

Fauna & Flora

The elemental heat and protective waters combine in the Violet Reach to create an extremely vibrant ecosystem. Apart from plants, coral, and tropical fish, however, this can be a cause for concern for those who would want to journey into or across the ocean. Sharks, giant eels, sea monsters, and even aquatic wyverns and dragons lurk in the waters, and it can be hard to tell where reality ends and sailors' drunken tales begin on account of the sheer variety. Thankfully, most of these predators are not interested in passing ships when they could instead attack a more appetizing whale or giant octopus, but they are not always intelligent enough to tell the difference depending on their circumstances. Apart from the more obvious but invisible water sprites, simple elemental life attuned to light, fire, and air is surprisingly common on many of the region's tropical islands. Fire sprites dance among the hot sun while air sprites fly between the palm trees along with the region's colorful avian life. Even among the fish and birds there are some that possess elemental capabilities, some of the former possessing limited flight while the latter glow to blind or deter predators. Even escaped Namazu sometimes manage to find a surprising ecological foothold in the depths despite being unnatural, often hiding half-submerged on the sea floor and causing an explosive surprise for those that disturb them.

Natural Resources

Fish take an easy top spot for the ocean's bounty, either for food, their rare and colorful natures, or even for supernatural properties, but they are far from the only contenders on the list. Blubber, bones, and occasional patches of Diver's Bait are all available to those enterprising enough to acquire them, though there is always competition in such a lively location. Rare feathers from birds - or the birds themselves, as exotic pets - are also considered a valuable export for those who know where to find them. While only merfolk tend to seek them, the Serpent's Trail also contains a variety of valuable ores among its vents, ranging from mundane iron to rare and precious Orichalcum. In fact, any merfolk metals or gems not acquired from raiding are extremely likely to come from this specific area. Due to the rarity of some of these volcanic metals, however, a genuine attempt by an enterprising noble to take some for themselves will occasionally occur, only serving to justify the paranoia of Mount Maenad's denizens.

Type

Ocean

Included Organizations