THE ARCHIPELAGO
Stretching between the vast continent of Kadael and the southern island of Vaqili is a line of thousands of jagged rocks jutting straight up out of the sea that form an almost impenetrable wall. Some of these rocks stretch miles above the water and are home to enormous sea birds seen nowhere else on Aerth. Scribes and cartographers call these archipelago "The Sea Wall," as it does actually provide a barrier from north to south that no ship has ever been known to cross. There are however many who sail the nearby seas that refer to it as "Aethra's Teeth." This similarity to a Grimwhite legend could suggest that superstitious sailors have carried the tale far and wide, or it could lend credence to the notion that people from one land once migrated to the other. There are also a few who whisper that it could suggest that the World Serpent is far more than a mere legend.
South of the Sea Wall are a few much larger islands, and a number of smaller ones. They are sparsely populated, because even though the Sea Wall shelters them from the worst storms of the Sea of Fire, it also shelters them from a great deal of warmth for most of the year. As a result the ones that are too close to the archipelago are cold and desolate, and those farthest away are bare, windswept rocks subject to the storms of the endless southern ocean. The few islands that sit between those extremes are home to a number of smaller settlements.
South of the Sea Wall are a few much larger islands, and a number of smaller ones. They are sparsely populated, because even though the Sea Wall shelters them from the worst storms of the Sea of Fire, it also shelters them from a great deal of warmth for most of the year. As a result the ones that are too close to the archipelago are cold and desolate, and those farthest away are bare, windswept rocks subject to the storms of the endless southern ocean. The few islands that sit between those extremes are home to a number of smaller settlements.