Since I'm the one who Terra argues against:
IMO the Kahar Sea is generally covered by a thick fog reaching higher than the top masts of either Haragalan Tallships or Kralori Warbarges or trade junks.
I don't think that Kahar is about to invade the adjacent coasts - nothing in his history hints at him repeating the faults of the sea gods he conquered. However, nothing will prevent parts of his fog body to be torn away by the stronger storms which occur in these parts. If I recall correctly, the Orlanth typhoons rage southwards, with Veldru pushing against it northwards.
The Kahar Fog is nothing but sea level clouds, probably anchored within the water below by Kahar's mastery of stillness. These may be pushed into swirling currents, thinned up or compressed, but I don't think that short of extremely powerful magic the fog can be taken away from the sea. Beaten to the floor, maybe - it might behave like seaweeds or grass under a storm, beaten low, but not pushed away unless uprooted. Thus the storms can go right through this fog without pushing it away.
At the coasts, the fog may thin out into a light mist, or there may be a threatening grey wall impenetrable to sight right where the effects of the Closing sets in. IMO the fishermen of the eastern Kralorelan shore have learned to sail no farther than the fog begins, and run like hell to the shore whenever it moves shorewards.
The photic zone of the Kahar Sea can't be very deep. This makes fish and other water creatures usually associated with deep water regions live fairly close to the surface, and in turn makes the fishermen's catch along the coast fairly monstrous. Dragons of the Sea indeed. We know, however, that the Zabdamar are able to swim the fog as if it was the sea. How about fog-borne plankton to feed the sea-life below, pushing the photic zone of the Kahar Sea up into the atmosphere? This might make for interesting creature encounters, such as fish combing the fog above the waves for this plankton.
Now let's have a look at the Kethaelan expedition to the east.
They had traveled along the Rozgali coast supported by the merfolk almost all the way to Teshnos. At Dosakayo they established a base of operations. The merchants among them set up trade relations with the Melibans and Teshnans, while the explorers probably scouted for their way onwards in smaller groups.
Whatever underwater diplomats they had with them found the comparatively sparse local Ludoch population (compared to Mirrorsea/Mournsea populations) fairly reticent, and probably outrageous in their demands for tribute. They learned of even stranger merfolk beyond Fanzai. They learned about the unyielding wall of fog behind the waters where crazed women warriors tried to swarm their ships. (Luckily, the Kethaelans had less trouble dealing with female warriors than most natives, given the proximity of their homes to Esrolia with its horrible axe maidens (if they weren't even recruited from the Esrolian port cities).) And they found the peaceful, picturesque strait through the Fethlon jungle, with reasonably friendly human hunters and an elf population which was far friendlier than the amazons.
IMO the logical course to the (well-known) riches of Kralorela would have been through Dragon Strait.
>But is actually Sea of Fog always in the mouth of
>Suam Chow?
I don't think so. There are numerous small islands along the Kralorelan east coast, and probably along the northern Fanzai coast as well. The more recently (than Abzered) drowned lands of Kralorela possibly extended somewhat further to the east.
>Though there is no description of climate in Genertela Book as
>Missing Lands, I think the boundary of Sea of Fog moving throughout year.
Quite likely, yes. Further south, the Sofali islands east of Trowjang may have sunny and foggy seasons, too, depending on the ebbing and flooding of the warm Sshorg currents.
Greg:
> Yes, so do I. The boundaries of the sea vary from season to season,and
> even form day to day. There are empty patches of clear air amidst the
> fogs.
How large would these non-fog banks be? The size of fog-banks elsewhere? If viewed from above, would the Kahar Fog appear like arctic pack ice, mostly closed, with straits of free water opening and closing?
Climate: I picture the Kahar sea as a fairly cold body of water (as eastern Seas go), unlike the Sshorg current. It reaches far north to Koromondol, and might be fed by some current diverted south from Sramak's River. Probably comparable to Neliomi temperatures in the northwest, Solkathi temperatures at the mouth of the (much warmer) Suam Chow. (Which gives a natural explanation for there being fog all the time, too...)
I think that the Hinter Isles will be almost within the grip of the Kahar Fog. The water coming in from Sramak's River will be warmer here than in northern Kralorela, balancing the cold air rushing south from Valind's Wastes northeast of Pent. Vormain will have no south sea climate, unlike the Eastern Isles further south.
Overall, I think the climatic similarities with the Chinese Sea could be arrived at with the warm sea currents pushing north and the cold continental air pushing south, and Kahar's Sea as a temperate buffer in between.
Joerg
--__--__--
Powered by hypermail