Sea of Baku

The Sea of Baku joins the Erythraen Sea by way of the strait separating Turan from Jambu. On its western side lie Scythia and Turan, with Jambu on the east, while a curve formed by Hyperborea and Zemlazelan cuts its northern part off from the frozen North Sea. The whole stretch from Bathsheba up to empty Zemlazelan is shallow, especially near shore. Tides raise and drown hundreds of tiny islands that always sit within a few feet of the waterline; constantly swapping between sea and air, they support neither marine nor land life and remain bare rock. The permanent islands are the Isles of Zora.

Worse than the shallows is the phenomenon behind its more dramatic name, the Sea of Fire. The middle of the sea is a ceaseless churn of flame and choking smoke, fed by springs of oil and natural gas on the shallow bottom. No one knows how the fire began, though some religions mention it, or how long it will burn, and some say its end will signal a worldwide cataclysm.

Besides inspiring storytellers, the Fires of Baku effectively block travel between north and south. Even the ever-present Sheban seafarers keep to the southern sea and rarely go past the Fires; only Hyperborean amber tempts a few of the boldest, and most judge Hyperborean hostility and the dangers of the return trip to outweigh the profit. Some sailors say the Fires can be avoided by hugging the coast through the Strait of Wolves on Scythia's Neurian coast or the Samara Straits on the Molodo shore, but these are so shallow that a large ship can pass only at high tide, and even then at serious risk. The sea's other features include the Bay of Samara, the Gulf of Zahran and the deep Eridan Straits with the Well of Awatan.