Shattered Lands Seas

There are many oceans and seas on Norrath that have yet to be rediscovered by adventurers or even the FSTC. It will be quite some time until we visit theses oceans to find if any changes have occurred on the surface or below the waves. But we do have a decent chart of the seas resting within the Shattered Lands.

The Shattered Lands has numerous seas dividing its islands. Most of these seas were formed in the recent rending of Old Antonica, what the Shattered Lands used to be. Most of the waterways are dangerous for both the extreme conditions as well as the dangerous denizens that inhabit the water of the air of a given sea. Here are the known seas within the Shattered Lands as charted by the Far Seas Trading Company.

The Coldwind Coast Relative Island: New Antonica in Karan This is a cold temperate sea. It has strong winds and choppy waves. It is a great territory for sailing, but only within a ship worthy of ocean travel. Birds of many sizes glide with the currents. Beneath the waters lurk dangers such as sharks and aqua goblins.

The Tranquil Sea Relative Island: All This sea is nearly always sunny and with clear skies. It is the largest sea in the Shattered Lands and nearly all islands have direct access to it. The waves here are gentle and allow ships to skim across them with little resistance. This would be a wonderful place to sail if it were not for the lack of wind current. The winds blow far too gently in this sea. Many great ships must employ rows of oars and even magic to provide locomotion for their great hulking vessels that must pass through this sea to reach the Trade City of Freeport located in the Commonlands.

The Neriuss Flow Relative Island: Nektulos in D’Lere This is a sea of dark waters. Ash floats above the waves creating a dense black fog. The ash floats in from the northern territory of Lavastorm. It shields many of the lurking beasts within the water as well as occasional Kheklok raiders, a relative race of the frogloks that exists within the ocean depths.

The Sea of Mist Relative Island: The Enchanted Lands This is a sea of gently rolling waves and wind currents. It is most known for forming an odd mist during the early hours of dawn. That mist flows with the current to enter the shores of the Enchanted Lands.

The Sea of Crossed Swords Relative Island: Zek This is a sea located near the orc island of Zek. The waves here are tall and they create slow navigation, something undesired to any mariners who sail this sea. There are numerous orc patrols sailing these waters and even deep sea orc war galleys passing through to perform raids in adjacent waterways. This sea is considered the territory of the Deathfist Empire.

The Seafury Relative Island: The Thundering Steppes in Karan The Seafury is a sea notorious for violent storms and extreme ocean conditions. It is almost always stormy in this region and the waves here dwarf any other sea. Visibility is nearly cut to a minimum and only the largest and strongest creatures can survive in the harsh environment. Aviak air raiders also stalk the winds in search of ships to plunder and sink.

The Sea of Sand Relative Island: Ro This sea is like a wall of sandstorms that races around the island of Ro. Any ships that dare sail into this maelstrom is soon to be sandblasted and its crew most certainly with it. There is no known passage through this anomaly. What sort of creatures could exist in this sea is unknown. Rumors abound that the massive sandstorm that comprises this region is actually a sentient being. Such babble is usually scoffed at.

The Gunthak Flow Relative Island: Ykesha The Gunthak Flow is a sea of many small uncharted isles. These isles have a great number of lost pirate booty and ruins of old troll fortresses. It exists in a tropical environment. The seas are warm and humid as is the gentle breeze. The breeze occasionally gives way to fierce hurricanes, but that is not a common occurrence.

The Blackwater Relative Island: The Feerrott This is a sea of countless naval battles. Ages ago this sea was controlled by the second coming of the Rallosian Empire, a brutal ogre militaristic empire that ruled with an iron fist. There are often many shipwrecks to be found in this sea as well as an occasional floating hulk of what was once a formidable ogre War Galley. Numerous stories of ghostly ships abound and cause many mariners to shun this body of water.

The Fanged Sea Relative Island: Everfrost This is a sea filled with icebergs and chilling cold winds. A chilly haze fills the sea, cutting visibility down to dangerous levels. Naval vessels will often need to avoid smaller bergs or take damage upon collision. Many ships have had their hulls cut open as easily as a knife cuts through butter jum. Ice storms are frequent in this region.

Freewater Channel Relative Island: The Commonlands in D’Lere This is a sea of rolling waves and an equally gentle breeze, but a breeze of cutting chill. The water is thick with brine and islands of seaweed float along the surface. There is a gentle uneasy calm about this sea. It is well known for the frequent aqua goblin assaults upon nearly any ship that dare cross it. Some sailors report that their ships were boarded by pirates in aqua goblin costumes or even members of the Seafury Buccaneers. The Seafury Buccaneer piracy reports are quickly dismissed since they are part of the Freeportian armed forces and would never return to their days of high seas raids. The sky of this sea is filled with a canopy of gloomy gray clouds that shower down gentle drizzle. The water’s extreme saline content makes it difficult for even normal salt water denizens to exist for long periods of time.

The Cauldron Relative Island: Lavastorm The Cauldron sits in a locale with an extremely large number of geothermal vents beneath the waves. The sea boils and large bubbles may form that can actually cause damage to a ship’s hull should they collide. Whirlpools are a common sight in this sea. Some portions of the Cauldron can only be navigated by ships reinforced by great magic or technology to survive the boiling sea and searing winds.

The Straits of Twelve Relative Island: Highbourne Nestled by the tempest of the Seafury in the north and the Blackwater to the south, this sea can be found. This sea is filled with jagged spires of rock with no accessible land. The spires are the tips of the shattered peaks of the once great Rathe Mountains. The majestic mountain range dropped into the ocean when a massive collapse of the Underfoot occurred beneath it. What land exists is rocky and barren of vegetation. Most spires are too steep to offer level ground to set foot upon. One great danger of this sea is its shallow and jagged basin. Much of the once mountain range sits below the tides and many a ship have had their hulls gutted by unseen daggers of rock stretched towards the surface, but never breaking through. The grandest sight in this sea is the twelve peaks of the Rathe Mountains that jut high above the waves. Their odd and almost lifelike appearance recounts the tales of these twelve mountains actually being titanic beings of earth and rock defeated ages ago by a legendary ogre champion.

The Dead Calm Relative Island: Unknown if any exists The Dead Calm is a waterway no seafarer ventures no matter how brave they may be. But there are those who are foolish and it is from tales of these foolish mariners that we get what little information of this sea. All wind and all tides completely cease when you encounter the boundary of this sea. The foolhardy that trudge onward by oars slowly begin to loose energy and become extremely lethargic. As they row onward, their faces and bodies appear to loose fullness as it appears that the life is being sucked out of them. By the time they realize their mistake to enter this sea, it is impossible to retreat to safe waters. The foolish seafarers become part of the derelict graveyard of ships and floating islands of bones that drift in the sea. No mariner has ever been able to survive in this sea to explore the horizon and discover any isle that may hide at the heart of the Dead Calm. A hint of an island at the center of the sea is sometimes reported.

Credits Edit

EQ2i credits the SOE/DBG Forums for some of the information in this article.