The Blight Sea

The unfathomable waters that lay beneath the world, holding host to primordial aberrations and sunken secrets that none dare ponder. The ambition of Synstasia and Dymkrag has attempted to make the sea their own, but those who dare to embark on maddening voyages into the darkness know that light only invites the horrors from the depths below.

Geography

The Cryocut Coast. All along the northern shores where the Hiemal encroaches, blackened glaciers spew colossal shards of ice into the sea. Ships sailing the coast know to have the utmost of noise discipline, so the crew might listen for the ice-cold cracks of the icefloes, for that is the only hope to detect dangers of the hidden black icebergs. Such is the cold of the Hiemal ice, that the ocean will freeze around the icebergs for weeks as they drift southward.

The Fathomless. Sailing beyond the shores, ships and its passengers enter into blackness unending. The darkness of the open ocean below and open expanse of the cavern above, many have gone mad from their passages through it. Captains and crews pray that the winds from the Osquadingen's swell will not subside lest they be lost to the gloom like so many before.

Osquadingen (Things of the Deep). The southern swell where the Blight Sea meets the Water Divide, a vicious vortex of watery death, that is told to have a fell will of its own. Legend tells that the strange waters are the violent dreams of an eldritch god that slumbers in the deep.

Shambleshores. An outgrowth of the grassy tendrils of the Somberhome, the mind numbing effect dispersed within the water like phosphorescent pollen mingling with the sea foam. Horrors of the deep and the other life of this subterranean sea enter the reefs and never again having the will to leave.

Roads and Landmarks

Usher Masts. Spread throughout the region these fortified structures cling to the cavern ceiling like brilliant ruby beacons the Praetori of Achonus, the Synstasian military order, facilitate the passage of ship bound goods to and from the surface in the Aurous Plains. Points of trade and sentry, massive chained wheels raise and lower the mast fortresses from above to meet the sea the near mile below.

Settlements

Geiswerft. The port beneath the city Geisbaden and passage to Aurous Plains, marked by a grand waterfall fed by the waters of the Ryme that cascades into the sea. Ships by purpose or by coin can be raised to the river or lowered to the sea so as to continue their voyages to waters beyond.

Lochwrath. A storied dwarven kingdom that since the end of the Age of Fire has been unrivaled in its naval power led by the "salt-in-the-blood" dwarves of the Straemael Clan. The port of Lochwrath is wreathed by a miles long sea wall of stone and metal shaped by the dwarves of the kingdom upon its founding, inset with keeps that watch the waters. A single seagate into the port is cordoned by a titanic metallic net threaded with silver to ward off any denizen of the deep or attack by sea the city could ever face, as there has been many in the kingdom's history. The center of vital trade between humans and dwarves, the city has swelled in size to rival even Dymkrag. Hardened against the threats of the Hiemal and the Blight Sea the city is a profound military and naval presence in the Northern Depths.

Rankstone. An armored dwarven port at the eastern shores of the region. The Stone's Reserve, Dymkrag's military force, take all due precaution in protecting the populace against the pacifying effects of the Somberhome. The settlement serves as a vital link for trade to and from the Windward Steppes above.

Scure. A clandestine den of outlaws and pirates on a treacherous strait between the Forged Run and the Blight Sea. Upon the jagged rocks that jut out of the tidal waters are marked the code of outlaws as to guide those acquainted with the underworld.

Tokka'bahotashagg'dbeelee'aknyoake. A grandiose eldritch ruin on the western edge of the Blight Sea where the Arcanahedra Corona of the Chaos Bleed lay beyond. The ruins are cleft by four sea channels that run deep into the city structure. Since the awakening of the eldritch the population have struggled to remain free of the enthralling will of abominations of the sea that would see them once more enslaved. In recent days the ruins have been turned into a free-port and refuge for any that travel the deep.

Ruins and Subterrane

Shalum-Shalthum (Flesh of thy Flesh). Undulating across the whole of the sea, this ruin of writhing towers and rattling arches is said to hold adorning treasures offered up by thralls seeking to please their home. Those travelers who oft sail the sea share the warning to "Surrender what you treasure to Shalum-Shalthum, lest you meet in the flesh your briny doom."