High Seas

TIMELINE

–5293 ar Earthfall. Azlant is destroyed.

The ruins of Azlant remain in the central Arcadian Ocean.

2559 ar Fleeing the Oath Wars, the Red Mantis leaves Rahadoum and settles Mediogalti Island. 4111 ar

Explorers from Cheliax first reach the Shackles.

4137 ar Cheliax gains control of both sides of the Arch of Aroden.

4138 ar Chelish settlers found the port colony of Sargava.

4552 ar Mengkare founds Hermea.

4606 ar The Eye of Abendego forms, wracking Garund’s western coast and drowning the nations of Lirgen and Yamasa. 4643 ar Paid by Baron Grallus, various Free Captains fend off the Chelish fleet, establishing Sargava’s independence.

4674 ar The pirates of the Shackles officially unite under the Hurricane King.

4712 ar The Shackles fends off the Chelish Navy’s most recent invasion attempt. Tessa Fairwind becomes the new Hurricane Queen, taking the title from former Hurricane King Kerdak Bonefist.

4713 ar In the north, the lost Isle of Xin rises from the waters off Varisia’s coast; the resulting tsunami causes damage as far away as Hermea.

4715 ar Indigenous Mwangi

overthrow Sargava’s colonial government and end the nation’s arrangement with the Free Captains. Free Captains begin raiding the formerly allied ports.

4716 ar Emboldened by their defeat of the Chelish Navy in 4712 and by Cheliax’s civil war with Ravounel, pirates from the Shackles plunder the port of Corentyn.

4717 ar Andoren settlers establish the colony of Talmandor’s Bounty on the island of Ancorato in the ruins of Azlant. The seas surrounding Avistan and Garund are rough and lawless places. Controlled by no nation, the Arcadian Ocean teems with pirates and raiders, from the Free Captains of the Shackles to the dragon-headed longships of the Linnorm Kings. Since gaining control of both sides of the Arch of Aroden—the massive ruined bridge across the Hespereth Strait between Avistan and Garund—Cheliax’s navy has limited these brigands’ access to the Inner Sea, yet that by no means makes the seas safe. Okeno’s yellow-sailed slave galleys engage in a perpetual and bloody game of cat-and-mouse with Andoran’s abolitionist Gray Corsairs, and plenty of other homegrown threats hunt the depths. Yet despite the danger, the waterways of the Inner Sea region are crucial to trade. Merchant fleets of all sorts travel its sea lanes, carrying goods and travelers between neighboring nations or setting off for the far side of the globe.

Most nations with a coastline have some sort of navy, but a few stand out as particularly noteworthy. Constantly at each other’s throats, Andoran and Cheliax have the two largest fleets, their warships forever harassing each other but keeping just short of actions that would tip them into outright war. Once an equally formidable power, Taldor’s navy is only recently being built up again after dwindling for several decades, though it still runs a legendary shipyard that can build a warship in a single week. Absalom maintains a significant fleet, aided by gillmen and the unique hippocampus-mounted cavalry called Wave Riders. As the most valuable port in the Inner Sea, Absalom has been forced to call on its navy many times to maintain its independence, yet it follows the lead of most other nations and restricts itself to strictly defensive operations. Fleets on the Arcadian Ocean tend to be much smaller, with the Free Captains dominating the southern waters and Cheliax guarding the northern ones, though nations like Rahadoum and even individual cities like Magnimar and Korvosa need to maintain significant defenses against ocean-going raiders and the plethora of monstrous threats lurking beneath the waves.

Since the demise of Azlant during Earthfall, crossing the Arcadian Ocean has been considered madness by many Inner Sea residents, with Arcadia itself a half-believed legend. Tales of bold adventurers raiding the shattered isles of Azlant for the fantastic treasures lingering in its half-drowned ruins have been staples of storytellers since Aroden first led survivors to the mainland. In recent years, news of state-sponsored overseas colonies have begun capturing popular imagination. Still, for most sailors in the region, the Arcadian Ocean might as well represent the western edge of the world. The vast majority of traders never leave sight of land—and those who do are often persuaded of their folly by merfolk, sea devils, brine dragons, and other predators of the deep ocean.