This week we’re checking out the Quiet Sea, which is in a lot of ways the right-hand side of the map for the Speaking Lands. A lot goes on in the Quiet Sea, from trade to piracy to ogre infestations, and it is by far the more active ocean of the two.
So let’s take a closer look:
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This placid ocean stretches across the eastern edge of Ipeiros. It possesses a number of islands, including the extensive Kelompok archipelago, and is comparatively shallow; these factors result in fewer and weaker storms, which give the ocean its name.
The northern half of the Quiet Sea is defined by Mergather Gulf, a large inlet that strikes deep into Ipeiros, and is criss-crossed with trade routes between the Canton, Caer Larionad, Kelompok, and Xansillispe. By contrast, the southern reaches of the Quiet Sea host little maritime traffic. The economic network of neighboring Verdas follows the Webiga River, which flows westward to the Webiga Delta. A handful of Verdas states face the Quiet sea, perched on the coastal slopes of the Jolliballum mountains, but they are uniformly small and have difficulty accessing the interior. Most are little more than quiet fishing communities.
While the maritime culture of the Quiet Sea is largely cosmopolitain, many of the islands of the Quiet Sea are inhabited by goblins, kobolds, and renardi. A handful of islands at the southern terminus of the Jollibalum host ancient kappa villages. There is almost no political organization between islands; each exists as an independent state with loose ties of gifts and marriage alliances to neighboring islands.
A handful of islands, especially the smallest, have fallen to ogres. While ogrification cannot affect or transmit through sealife, it is perfectly capable of spreading to every single animal and person on an island. Since ogres cannot reproduce, these infected islands experience broad-scale extinction of all animal species in a matter of months. Resettling an ogre island is a dangerous but potentially lucrative endeavor.
Despite (or perhaps because of) the dangers of pirates and ogres, the Quiet Sea possesses a certain romantic reputation of exotic locales and swashbuckling heroics. Even the industraza sung on the fishing boats here have spread deep inland, popularized by bards and sung to audiences who hardly understand half the technical terms in the lyrics.
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As for next week, we’ve got three tantalizing options:
