Embaral Ocean

The Embaral Ocean, with Casmaron to its west and Tian Xia to its east.

The Embaral Ocean is the second-smallest ocean on the planet of Golarion.

Geography

The Embaral Ocean lies between the continents of Casmaron on the west, Tian Xia on the east, and Sarusan to the south. The Embaral meets the Obari Ocean in the southwest at the tip of the Vudran peninsula, the Valashmai Sea to the southeast between Tian Xia and Sarusan, and the Ivory Sea to the north approaching the Crown of the World.

The city-state of Goka, a major world economic power, is located on the Embaral's eastern shore and is the only major port on Tian Xia's western coast. A canal flows from the Embaral Ocean into the Undermarket, the notorious area located under Goka, affording smuggling of goods into the city from the ocean. Most of the continent's west coast is blocked by the nigh-impassible Wall of Heaven, whose western slopes are almost impossible to scale.

The nation of Kaladay in Casmaron, founded by settlers from Tian Xia, presumably lies along the Embaral's western shore. The eastern cost of Vudra is bordered by the Embaral.

It is believed that the Darklands expand beneath the Embaral's sea floor. Scholars speculate that the nagas of Nagajor migrated there from Vudra through caverns beneath the ocean.

A portal to either the Plane of Water or Nirvana is speculated to exist somewhere in the southern Embaral Ocean due to the relatively common appearances of the benevolent bishop agathions along the coasts of Tian Xia and Casmaron.

Ecology

Most of the Embaral's expanse is a "marine desert", a vast expanse of doldrums devoid of currents or trade winds. Swift currents flow north and south along Casmaron and Tian Xia's coastlines, but those wishing for a shorter trip directly across the Embaral must wait for the two seasonal current shifts, one in spring and one in autumn, when great trade winds open the ocean's interior to easy east-west travel. During these windows of opportunity, huge merchant fleets travel back and forth between the continents.

Despite its size and lack of currents, the Embaral Ocean still has a vibrant ecosystem, including a great many whales. Most whaling takes place in the northern Embaral, since most of the equatorial waters are protected by a great dragon turtle named Calan who attacks whalers. The ocean is also home to smaller cetaceans such as porpoises and dolphins, which are likewise pursued by whaling vessels. The exception to this is a species of gray dolphins with bluish-pink sides, which sailors believe to be sacred to Hei Feng and thus avoid killing.

Inhabitants

The cecaelias claim to have once ruled an aquatic empire in the northern Embaral Ocean. The historical veracity of this claim is dubious, but if true, their ruins may still lie on the seafloor. The center of their civilization was said to be a "nautiloid city" named Sihuw.

Other sentient inhabitants of the Embaral Ocean include grindylows, tritons, sedacthys, adaros, devilfish, merrows, iku-tursos, siyokoys, and krakens.

Alohmab, a legendary trade city for aquatic races, is built into the very shell of Belimehu the Blind Mother, an unbelievably enormous snail that slowly travels the Embaral Ocean's floor.

References

Paizo published a major article on the Embaral Ocean in Aquatic Adventures.

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.