Exploration and Geography:

The first people to arrive in the Castine Bay were sailors from Gaolund sailing down from the The Gaolund Arm, and arriving in the northern portions of the bay. These seasonal fishermen started making trips down into the bay during the colder winter months that made the coast line around The Gaolund Arm harder to work in. As the fishermen spent more and more time down in the bay, exploration teams started to search the coast line for suitable locations to set up bases of operations, fishing villages or even a proper harbor for a future seaport. The waters of the Castine Bay were calm and easy to navigate, however, the coast line was very swampy and almost entirely covered in mangrove forests. Explorations inland were hard to organize from the water until later on when shallow draft Gundalow boats were developed. Also, despite the bay itself being mostly devoid of any dangerous aquatic creatures, the swamps themselves have many dangerous creatures that further hampered exploration of the area for the first few generations. Eventually a natural harbor was discovered that would eventually become the city of Tarvovesta. Once Tarvovesta was established, both local fishing communities and the Gaolund Navy were able to start using the Castine Bay for more commercial and explorational purposes. Shortly after the founding of the city, Tarvovesta grew quickly into one of the nation’s most important seaports and the Castine Coastal Region was properly explored and mapped. The Bay itself is shallower than most portions of the Thamasan Ocean and weather patterns in the area mostly keep larger storms out of the bay. The Bay doesn’t have any major islands in it, but there are dangerous coral reefs and sandbars that make portions of the Bay impassible by larger, ocean going ships. Eventually, the construction of a lighthouse system made the bay easier to navigate for those not familiar with the region. The Gaolund navy maintains the lighthouses throughout the Gaolund bay, many of which are extremely remote and only accessible by boat.

Flora and Fauna:

The climate around the Castine bay for the most part is a humid subtropical climate that is categorized by its hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. The region gets regular rain, but does not have a monsoon season nor is it prone to severe storms such as hurricanes. These ideal conditions have made the Castine Bay one of the most prolific fisheries in the Thamasan Ocean. The shallow waters of the bay make fishing in the region easier for smaller vessels and have led to smaller scale but more successful fishing operations and has given rise to an expansive fishing culture among the citizens of the bay. The coral reefs and sandbars provide proper habitat for exotic and tropical fish species that are generally rare with many species being endemic to the bay itself. The bay is most known for its large population of Manta Rays and the Manta Ray has become a popular symbol of the region, using in iconography and art work done by the people who live in the area. The renown flora of the region typically consists of the coral reefs, various species of seaweed that is harvestable and suited for human consumption and the miles and miles of coastal mangrove forests. So much of the coast of the Castine bay is Mangrove forests, that it’s often hard for ships to drop off people or supplies anywhere besides the few fishing villages or at the harbor at Tarvovesta. The Mangrove forest grow surprisingly fast, so even when sections of the coast are cleared by the local citizenry, areas left unattended for just a few seasons will find that the forest has already started to regrow.

Folklore and Mythology:

Much of daily life for the people of the region revolves around the Castine Bay itself and the local citizenry has taken to respecting and honoring the bay for what it provides the people of the area. In smaller fishing villages, fish bones of all kinds are used as decorations on all manor of buildings, boats and it's often incorporated into clothing and tools as well. Fish scales are considered to be lucky in general, and buildings and ships are often covered in fish scales as a paint-like lacquer. Although this gives many ships and fishing villages a very pungent smell, the locals have grown accustomed to the stench and can usually spot an outsider by their complaints. There are many stories centered on the Manta Rays that live in the bay and they are considered by most in the region to be sacred animals that are not to be hunted. The most famous story about the Manta Ray involves the story of the Silver Streamer, a famous whaling vessel that had been damaged out in the Thamasan Ocean, and needed to navigate the dangerous coral reefs and sandbars of the Castine Bay to return to safe harbor at Tarvovesta. The sailors were able to follow a pod of Manta Rays through the bay and returned home safely to Tarvovesta. People all throughout the Castine Coastal Region do not eat Manta Ray unless it’s entirely necessary. The expression “Eating Manta Ray” means “Falling on hard times” or “Making hard choices” to the people of the region. For the most part, Spirit Fog is not common out on the water of the Castine Bay, however small fog banks of Spirit Fog have been reported by the Gaolund Navy and a very small aquatic based unit of the Honorable Order of Misthunters is at the ready in Tarvovesta to respond to Spirit Fog related emergencies. The only real incident involving Spirit Fog in the area was referred to as the Coral Castle Lighthouse Incident where three lighthouse keepers suddenly vanished one night when a bank of Spirit Fog rolled past the lighthouse.

Related articles:

Thamasan Ocean - One of the largest bodies of water in the known world.

The Gaolund Arm - A large region of Gaolund and a center of Ihlanathian shipping

Castine Coastal Region - A thickly settled region between the Thamasan Oceann and theDoribatt Mountains in the nation of Gaolund

Silver Streamer - A famous story about a whaling ship’s adventure

Tarvovesta - The largest city in the Castine Coastal Region.

Spirit Fog - A strange supernatural weather condition

Honorable Order of Misthunters - A mercenary company dedicated to the hunting of monsters

Coral Castle Lighthouse Incident - A famous incident that involved Spirit Fog

Real world inspiration:

The Gulf of Mexico - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mexico

Gundalows - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gundalow

The Essex - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_(whaleship)

The Flannan Isles Lighthouse incident - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flannan_Isles_Lighthouse