Nautilus Ocean

The Nautilus Ocean was the oceanic body surrounding Khyorgan. It bordered the Leviathan Areas on both the east and the west, and Atsalur's Ocean to the north. At its center lay the continents of Lexighor, Obreidhion, Andavronia, and Dhelarushick, and the Varheid and Gomchar seas.
Islands within the Nautilus Ocean include Taivor, the Shai-Shan Archipelago, Mrigae, Atonicka, and The Triangle.
Oceanography
The Nautilus Ocean was deepest far beyond Khyorgan, with a maximum depth of over 18,000 meters. It had a substantial dropoff off of the eastern coast of Khyorgan, but on its eastern side, was more gradual, with an average depth of around 2,500 meters in the areas between Lexighor and Mrigae. In the areas around the Gulf of Segara and the South Nautilus Isles, the ocean similarly rose to a more shallow elevation. Off the East coast and, to a lesser extent, to the western areas beyond Mrigae, the Nautilus Ocean was known to be incredibly rough. This is due to the large, uninterrupted expanses of open water between the shores of Khyorgan and Valordyn. With no barrier islands to break up waves inbetween, the seas can remain very violent even during calm weather.
Various constituent seas also existed within the Nautilus Ocean:
- Suthrek Sea - The sea between Lexighor and Andavronia, known to be calm and shallow, with fewer large and dangerous creatures compared to the open ocean to its south. Seafairing traders had to consider whether to navigate this sea for safety, or cut past it for quicker times.
- Gulf of Segara - A gulf between Polvora and Andavronia. It was the home of the Abyssal Machine.
The Nautilus Ocean was home to a great volume of fauna, such as the Octhokrey (a type of large squid), the Hederellid (a colonial animal similar to coral), the Lagoonite (a hostile and monstrous bipedal species) and innumerable species of fish, shellfish, and other marine creatures. Many came to be relied on as a food source by the intelligent races of Khyorgan. Other uses were found as well, such as the Segaran stonefish, which could be used to produce a reliable antivenom even capable of saving someone from the venom of a Butanaga. Others had the inverse relationship, and viewed seafairers as food sources.
History
See Also: Twin Nautilus Trade
The Nautilus Ocean played an important role in being a barrier dividing the people of Valordyn and the people of Khyorgan, resulting in a great degree of cultural and technological separation between the two. The expansion of native Khyorganese civilizations was controlled and directed by the fierce waves of the ocean. The Valordynese would ultimately become more advanced than the Khyorganese in nautical fields, and were eventually able to cross both the Leviathan Areas and Nautilus Ocean in order to reach a small triage of islands called The Triangle, which served as a waypoint for settler and migrant boats.
Even once the first crossing had been made, the rough seas of the Nautilus Ocean assured many boats never reached their intended destination, and continued to serve as a fearsome obstacle. Civilizations such as the Empire of Shai-shan and Aurum Confederacy used their powerful Magitek advancements in order to protect ships and allow them to undertake voyages that traditional sailing technology was unable to withstand. As Khyorgan entered it's "dark age" after the fall of the Magitek Empires, the infrastructure and technology it produced were lost to even the most advanced civilizations remaining, reestablishing the Nautilus Ocean as an impermeable barrier separating Khyorgan from the rest of the world.
For the rest of the Khyorgan Dark Age, the notion of traveling to Valordyn, or any other region of Erudite, remained a herculean task almost exclusively relegated to historical tales.
However, traditional sailing technology continued to advance across the world. Many peoples of Valordyn, and of Khyorgan, came to see their counterpart lands as mysterious and alluring lost lands. Many nautical inventors and visionaries were inspired by tales from the Magitek Age, and hoped to reestablish the connection between the two practically wholly separate worlds.
From Windseeker Eyrie off the coast of Eidyn came the Palvari Tribe, who crossed the seas successfully, landing in what would become Polvora. Gradually, traveling between Khyorgan and Valordyn would become a feasible possibility for more residents of both regions. Still, the prohibitive cost and associated danger remained, and if at all possible, it was preferable for most to find an alternative to travel.
Even without seeking to sail to the Leviathan Areas, the Nautilus Ocean was an important consideration in much trade between Khyorganese civilizations as well. Large, inhospitable inland deserts like the Desert of Lexighor and Amacata Desert were prohibitive of trade routes for much of Khyorgan's history. As civilizations grew around the borders of these inhospitable regions, they sought various optimized routes to trade with eachother by sea. This lead to the Twin Nautilus Trade, a network of complex trade routes that changed with the tide of geopolitical situations.
As railway networks grew to be a viable alternative to sea trade, and sailing technology continued to move forward, advancements made the Nautilus Ocean much less deadly than it had once been. However, its vast expanses of unexplored depths remained respected and feared by those who dared to brave it.
Continents |
|
Nations, organizations and sects |
TBA |
Inhabitants |
Native Races: Sentinel • Hazraade • Golem • Abomination • Quillen |
Mountain Ranges | |
Bodies of Water |
Nautilus Ocean • Varheid Sea • Dherenghar • Pheghk-Minx • Lirhk-Winorth • Thamkithick |
Islands |
Mrigae • Shai Archipelago • Taivor • South Nautilus Isles (Karang Batu) • Atonicka |