Tangara Naji
The Tangara Naji is the great Inland Sea of the Eastern Plains, a vast body of water which is over 150 miles across at its widest point. The sea is home to a huge variety of fish including the sturgeon and waterfowl of all kinds which provide a bounty for those living around its shore. With so many advantages as a place to live the sea attracted first the Eastern Elves to live on its shores and then human tribes from east and west who intermingled to form the unique Kenzin culture. The sea although it has its dangers also provides the easiest means of transport for goods (particularly in winter) and many ships make the full 500 mile trip round its edges trading at the various ports on its shores. Goods traded round the shores include wines, grapes, olive oil, shellfish, dyes and copper mined from the western hills.
Many who have never visited the Sea assume that it must be easy to navigate even as the Blue Sea is easier to navigate than the Great Ocean. This is far from the case, however, as typical shores on the west are rocky and dangerous while on the east they tend to merge into swamp. Winds always seem to blow across the waters making the seas normally choppy and these can quickly escalate to cause dangerous storms.
The centre of the Sea is something of an enigma and not just because the winds tend to be stronger and less predictable in that area. It remains a fact that no ship has ever made a direct crossing of the Sea (including famously a fleet sent by the Great Khan) and no wreckage or survivors have been found from such attempted crossings. Everyone agrees that there are islands in the Sea but finding them can be a challenge for even a skilled navigator and a popular theory is that they move around. With many Wind Singers making their living on vessels that navigate the Sea this would seem to be most strange but it is said that their spells tend to misfire as they enter the waters near the centre. Many explanations have been thought of by the local Bards including great Dragons or even Gods who make their home in the Sea and value their privacy. Others believe that somehow time or distance are distorted there or that the area is a giant portal to other realms.A clue to the mystery of the centre is that every two or three hundred years a period of intense lightning storms and fiery bursts from the centre of the Sea is followed by a plague of monstrous attacks on shipping and coastal villages by sea serpents and other aquatic predators. Such an event is now overdue according to the local doom mongers.