Seven Named Seas & Maritime Navigation
The sea is the world's only highway. The Maw of the Abyss sits dead centre of the ocean, radiating corruption, madness, and monsters. Ships that attempt open-ocean crossings don't return. So all trade follows the coastlines of the three continents like blood through veins — threading through predictable corridors where pirates know exactly where to wait and navies know exactly where to patrol.
Coastal cities have disproportionate power. A city with a good harbour can rival inland kingdoms ten times its size. Control a strait, control the world's wealth.
The busiest maritime corridor, connecting Morgath and Terathia. Dotted with rocky islands and hidden reefs. The Coastal Confederacy patrols these waters with 40+ war galleons, but pirates still find gaps.
The warm waters south of Fort Valiance, surrounding the island of Thalassia. Trade hub and spiritual centre — the Cathedral of Radiance extends its influence across these lanes. Dawnguard escorts protect church vessels.
Waters surrounding the Druid Isle. Leave an offering at the Flamekeepers' shrines and receive safe harbour. Raiders find only spears and curses. Genuine sanctuary in dangerous waters.
The outer approach to the Maw of the Abyss. Ships that cut through save a third of transit time but risk Maw-adjacent madness. Compasses spin. Stars appear wrong. Time becomes unreliable.
Connecting Terathia and Eshara — the most pirate-infested waters in the world. Rich merchant traffic, no reliable naval authority, and Scuttle-Cove providing safe harbour and fencing for stolen goods.
Waters above submerged Nagarin ruins off the Esharan coast. Salvage operations retrieve artefacts of immense value and danger. The Library's depths remain largely unexplored, guarded by creatures of unknown origin.
Connecting Morgath and Eshara — the least travelled corridor. Eerie magnetic anomalies disrupt navigation. The waters take on a reddish hue at certain depths. Few merchants risk this route; those who do command premium rates.
| Route | Duration | Path |
|---|---|---|
| The Golden Run | 60–90 days | Fort Valiance ↔ Scuttle-Cove ↔ Sunken Library |
| The Coastal Crescent | 20–40 days | Fort Valiance ↔ coastal settlements (cabotage) |
| The Southern Crossroads | 45–70 days | Fort Valiance → Éirleach → Thalassia → Eshara |
| The Outer Circuit | 180–240 days | Full continental circumnavigation |
| The Pirate's Path | 30–45 days | Scuttle-Cove → eastern Terathia → Scuttle-Cove |
| The Maw's Edge | 45–60 days | Confederacy cities → outer Tempest Reach |
Timber, ore, furs, Fort Valiance weapons and alchemicals
Grain, wine, finished luxury goods, magical research (Sorcerous Spires)
Spices, silks, enchanted artefacts, Sunken Library salvage
Fine steel (Kagemura swords), exotic materials, ancient artefacts
Rare underwater goods via the Aquaris Trading Company (restricted)
Largest legitimate naval force. Admiral Thrace Ironwell commands 40+ war galleons patrolling the Shattered Coast. The Piranha Gulf is largely beyond practical control.
Sir Garreth Saltwind, Minister of Naval Defence. Primarily defensive — protecting the Bay of Resolute Tides and Thalassian Sea approaches.
Dawnguard escorts and Solaran church ships. Currently weakened by the Radiant Schism and the Black Fleet's devastation of Thalassian maritime commerce.
Island archipelago producing the finest steel in the known world. Kagemura swords and exotic materials flow outward; ancient artefacts surface from ruins older than recorded history.
Navigation is a skilled profession — master pilots train for decades and command enormous rates. Rune-carved charts, expensive generational heirlooms, help in treacherous regions. Near the Maw: compasses spin, stars appear wrong, time becomes unreliable.
Ships have several options: safe routes (hug the coast, travel in convoys, pay for Confederacy escort — slower but you arrive), fast routes through dangerous water (cut through outer Tempest Reach, save a third of transit time, risk madness), or the Pirate's Path (fastest route for illicit goods, highest risk).
A salvage crew has located a sealed Nagarin vault beneath the waves. Multiple factions — academic, military, and cultist — converge on the site. The vault's guardian may not be dormant.
Ships traversing the Crimson Vastness report their hulls turning red and compasses pointing toward the ocean floor. Something beneath the surface is generating a magnetic field of impossible strength.
Three Confederacy warships vanish simultaneously on routine patrol. Weeks later, they reappear crewed by the dead — sailing in perfect formation toward a populated port.
A dispute between two naval powers threatens to close a critical trade strait. Merchant guilds hire adventurers to negotiate — or to break the blockade by less diplomatic means.
Fishermen report something vast moving beneath the Thalassian Sea — larger than any whale, leaving a wake of dead fish and corrupted water. The thing is heading toward a major shipping lane.
A dying cartographer bequeaths a chart showing a safe route through the Maw's outer ring — a route she claims to have sailed. If authentic, it would revolutionise trade. If a trap, it would consume anyone who follows it.
Mining town
Dwarven forgehold
Lakeside village
Trading post
Frontier outpost
Coastal watchtower
Monastery village
Highland shepherds
Naval garrison
Border outpost
Blighted village
Elvish settlement