N/Atlas/Seas

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Three massive bodies of water lie in the northwest and the southeast portions of the Midworld. The one furthest north has only recently been discovered and due to the fact that the earliest explorers have often become trapped in its frozen maze of icebergs, the sea has come to be named the Frozen Sea. It is the coldest sea so far explored. Moving south, we encounter another sea, known as the Great Sea because explorers have long navigated its waters and have yet to find an end to the great expanse. Indeed, it reaches west seemingly toward infinity, and as far as ships have ever sailed, no other islands beyond the realm have been discovered. The Great Sea is the body of water lying between the mainlands, at least in the northern portion. This Great Sea leads to a zone of darker-colored water known as the Mouth of Lamoth, the path that would be well traveled except for the fact that, as it has been named, the Mouth of Lamoth is the area where lethal creatures dwell. Ships that sail across the Mouth of Lamoth have a very high likelihood of being sunk; therefore, most explorers do their best to avoid that territory. ^[1]

In the southeast lies the Diamond Sea, so called because legend has it that on Unicorn Island lies vast amounts of diamonds, and subsequently countless explorers have died searching for this mysterious land. The other island in the Diamond Sea is Ebue Eguae, a duchy with its capital at Blass. Slightly smaller than the largest of the Galician Islets, the island is the main stopping point for explorers headed for Unicorn Island because of its unique location beyond the Great Gate Way. To the north, the Great Gate Way is another bridge between the mainlands, this time between Geugaw and Netopyrus. Accordingly, this site is of immense strategic importance, and the two kingdoms have established forts on both sides. In between them is a great gate placed into the water, across which none can pass without paying tolls to obtain passports from both kingdoms. This site is hence also a veritable gold mine for both kingdoms, and they have hence come to view each other as reliable friends. Further north, between the Great Gate Way and the Galician Islets, is another body of water known informally as the Pellinor Sea, so called only because of the naming of the nearby islet bridge as the Pellinor. Here the waters are calmest and safest, with the dangerous marine monsters blocked from entry by the Galician Islets to the northwest and the Great Gate Way to the southeast. ^[2]

Unicorn Island is located in the Diamond Sea, many leagues southeast of Karabala and a few leagues off the coast of Netopyrus. The island is inhabited by Unicorns, dazzling creatures that live nowhere else and the objective of several prominent but ill-fated quests. ^[3] In essence, the island is believed to be a dormant volcano formed around a million years prior to the Dawn of Ages in the same cataclysmic eruption which supposedly spread large diamonds throughout the Diamond Sea (but which has yet to be proven). According to demonic lore, the volcano, in its last eruption, ejected pure diamonds from its magma chamber:

"Most of these diamonds remained inside the cone. Time and Nature wore away the rock until the diamond lay exposed in towering spires. The diamonds capture the light of the sun and moon and reflect it far out to sea."^[4]

The Diamond Sea is regarded to be the most beautiful of all seas in the world. It is held to be the part of the Ocean where Nilo enters the waters at the end of each day. It sparkles like diamonds both night and day, has its own ambient glow, and is so pure that, with the exception of The Mouth of Lamoth, one can see right to the bottom, which is covered, almost predictably, by shimmering diamonds.

The Diamond Sea was once the site of a cataclysmic undersea volcanic eruption around a million years before the Dawn of Ages - it was this eruption that formed Unicorn Island and gave the Diamond Sea the many diamonds that are the source of its name.

[edit] Legends

Diamond Sea is supposed to be filled with diamonds. However, each of the several expeditions sent to mine these diamonds have failed. It is said that every piece of metal which is dropped into these waters turns instantly into diamonds. It is also believed that the greedy who seek diamonds for profit will turn into diamond statues when they dive into the waters. In fact, until the discovery of Unicorn Island by the Armidian Navy in 3742 and mining done thereafter, none of the diamonds in the Sea had ever been taken away.

After the fall of the great empires of the world in 6266, the Diamond Sea regained its legendary status, and Unicorn Island once again became uninhabited, besides the Tenders. It was rediscovered in 8465 by Captain Slurmansk of Karabala and re-explored at length in 8472.

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