Vandarch

The Vandarch is an inland sea which constitutes the dominant geographical feature of northwestern Levantia. Bounded by many nations and fed by many rivers, the sea has played a key role in the cultures of its coastal peoples from antiquity to the present day. The sea is hydrologically a lake, as until the completion of the Grand Vandarch Canal in 1975 it was isolated from the Kilikas Sea by the largely-impassable marshes of the Ereglasian Isthmus. It was not however an endorheic basin until this time, as the Ereglasian marshes do drain the Vandarch into the Kilikas. As the construction of the Carolina Grand Canal caused the River Urce to flow into the lake rather than draw water out, much of southern Levantia also falls within the Vandarch's catchment area. Despite its historic isolation from the world's oceans and its relatively fresh water even after the completion of the Grand Vandarch Canal, the Vandarch was (and is) generally considered a sea by its inhabitants due to its sheer size.

Gothic
Two competing etymologies exist for the Gothic name Wandark (Wandák in modern Hendalarskisch orthography), with both agreeing that the Wand element represents the Gothic word for "wall, barrier".

The first, chiefly propounded by Yonderian linguists, sees the -ark suffix as stemming from an East Gothic word with the meaning "surrounding/encompassing". Although not found in other Gothic languages, this particle is well-attested in the recorded history of East Gothic. In this theory, the complete name "Wandark" can be understood as meaning either "the encompassing wall" or "that [sea] which the wall encompasses", both in reference to the Vandarch being totally surrounded by land until the 20th century.

The second, favoured in Hendalarsk, treats the -ark suffix as an evolution of the Old Central Gothic word rak, meaning "straight" (itself from Proto-Gothic rakkjan, "to straighten"). Evidence for this can be found in the Werdacher name for the sea, Vandrakk, which apparently preserves the older form of the word. In this account, "Wandark" therefore means something akin to "the straight, walled [sea]", referring both to the sea's geological status as a lake for most of its history and the sea's relatively straight northwest-southeast orientation.

Both theories converge on the idea of the sea as enclosed by land rather than opening up into a wider ocean, a notion which implies a high level of seafaring knowledge among the Gothic peoples of the southern Vandarch coast well into the ancient past.

Gaelic
In the Fhainnin Gaelic mythos, the Vandarch is the result of the fall of an ancient god, though the name associated with this belief (English: Godsgrave; Fhasen: Déithaigh) has in part given way to a Fhasen reinterpretation of the Gothic name 'The Barrier' (Fhasen: Tá Bacain) following the Christianization of the Ninerivers region. The term 'Mar Déithaigh' has made a resurgence in recent decades under Faneria's government's cultural conservation programs.

Formation
Prior to the last Ice Age, the Vandarch formed a large bay of the Kilikas Sea known as the Urvandarch Gulf and was much saltier than it is in the present day. It also shrank dramatically during the Ice Age, in line with global sea levels in that period, as Levantia to its north was trapped under an enormous ice sheet - as was the Kupferberg to its south - formed from previously liquid fresh water. Much of its current surface area, along with much of what is now Hendalarsk, Eldmora-Regulus and Yonderre, remained ice-free but was reduced to barren tundra by the combination of extreme cold and lack of moisture, forming the erstwhile Vandarch Desert (Hendalarskisch: Wandáschwöste).

As the ice began to recede, two related processes took place. The influx of enormous quantities of fresh water into the shrunken Vandarch dramatically lowered its salt concentration relative to the global oceanic norm (even before the Ice Age, water circulation into and out of the Gulf was much lower than elsewhere in the world-ocean), while the post-glacial rebound caused by the sudden removal of the enormous weight of ice from northern Levantia caused the Ereglasian Isthmus to rise to sea-level. The Vandarch remains much less brackish in its southern extremes than its northern parts to this day, as circulation of water within the lake is relatively low and many of the rivers which drain into it are located in more southerly areas, while the influence of backlow through the Ereglasian Isthmus is, despite the construction of the Grand Vandarch Canal, relatively limited. This difference in hydrological conditions in different areas of the Vandarch has resulted in noteworthy ecological differences across the length of the sea.

Coastal Countries and Settlements
Historically, the Vandarch has been the principal water body associated with the Gaelic principalities that came to form the Kingdom of Fhainnlannachaeran and its successor state, as well as the sole body of water adjacent to Yonderre, Hendalarsk and its constituent free cities, and Eldmora-Regulus. The Kingdom of Culriocha additionally spanned between the straights to the Kilikas Sea and the Vandarch until its annexation by Faneria.

The Ninerivers, the geopolitical core of Faneria, sits along the northern coast of the Vandarch, and is littered with cities and smaller settlements along its entire breadth. The largest of these are the major cities of Sethsport, Leighlinbridge, and Comhgallport, as well as a number of smaller cities such as Caileansdún, Fionnport, and Lar Dún.

Islands
The Vandarch contains many tens of thousands of small islands along its coastline, which have long presented a major challenge for shipping. By far the most important island cluster in the sea is however the Kestrel Isles, which are politically divided between Hendalarsk, Faneria and Yonderre. Composed of eleven larger islands and over 120 smaller ones, the archipelago separates the larger northwestern portion of the Vandarch (almost entirely under the control of Hendalarsk and Faneria) from the southeastern sector and represents a substantial barrier to navigation without the assistance of an experienced pilot. This challenging geography played a major role in the rise of the Pentapolis and the wider Great Trade League of the Vandarch, since merchants overseeing the flow of goods to and from northwestern Levantia had to either find a way through the Kestrels or else risk much longer, much slower and even more dangerous overland journeys. Beyond the trading communities of the League, pirates based in the Vandarch's many bays and inlets were also not slow to recognize the opportunities for plunder and slaving posed by the Kestrels' straits.

Many other islands in the sea have long histories of habitation. Hendalarskara Christianity has a strong monastic tradition, and the Vandarch's windswept islands are natural retreats for spiritual communities and even hermits. Among the most notable is the community of Ísenhav, which despite repeated raids by pirates and slavers in centuries past has been continuously inhabited by monks for almost 1,000 years, and the nunnery of Delkeisch, whose mussels (farmed by the nuns) are a byword for quality in Hendalarsk.

Topology, Geology, and Tectonics
The Vandarch is a particularly shallow sea, with a maximum recorded depth of 2,165 feet (660 m). The majority of the Sea is above 1,100 feet in depth (335 m), with the majority of the sea consisting of punctuated by undersea valleys. The shallowness of the sea is largely attributed to its postion on top of a continental plate, rather than being an oceanic body with a continental slope to an oceanic floor. The Vandarch is not tectonically active and its lowest points do not reach the depth necessary to support marked geothermal ecosystems, leading to a plethora of deep-sea coral growth and a scavenger ecosystem on the seabed based around feeding off descending carcasses or crustacean grounds.

Ecology
The Vandarch is the native home of several breeds of fish genetically distinct from oceanic counterparts, with some historic periods of wetlands around the Ereglasian Isthmus allowing for aquatic species to pass between the Vandarch and the Kilikas with some difficulty due to the fresh nature of the Vandarch's waters. The Sea is also host to a number of species of crustaceans and mollusks, but features no native shrimp. The Whitegill Eel, Vandarch Squash Lobster, Northern Blue Eel, Brigandine Fish, Capjaw Salmon, and the Freshwater Sliverfish are among the most well-known endemic species of fauna.

The flora of the Vandarch are similar to those in the Kilikas, but with a much greater concentration of seagrasses and kelp due to the warmer waters. Coral reefs exist in limited quantities, primarily in the eastern and southern regions of the seabed, and the sea has two species of algae mat that grow rapidly in the spring and historically have been used as food sources and fuel by coastal peoples. These algae mats are the basis of some salads in modernity, though they are generally considered a nuisance for private boatowners.

Hazards
Several dozen of the hundreds of species in the Vandarch, such as the Whitegill Eel, are considered poisonous, but almost none other than the Whitegill and some types of conch are venomous. The Vandarch has few large predators, with the generally placid Kestrel Shark being the largest at nine feet fully-grown. Swimmers are attacked on occasion by Capjaw salmon during breeding season, but such attacks are rarely fatal. The most lethal species in the Vandarch per attack are the Whitegill Eel, both from bites and improper preparation, the George's Grenadier Conch, and the Ereglasian Seanettle, a type of jellyfish which anchors itself to coral similarly to a tubeworm.

Far more destructive are the seasonal floods in the Vandarch basin, as well as less common but still occasionally destructive storms which occasionally break on the western coast of Faneria and fail to dissipate entirely while passing over land into the Vandarch Sea. While rarely anywhere near as devastating as direct impacts from the Kilikas Storm Belt, these events lead to erosion and property damage on a yearly basis, as well as shaking up communities inland on the rare occasions that a storm veers along the narrow path needed to break on the Isthmus. The Vandarch commonly has thunderstorms, mostly in Autumn, but these do not reach the same intensity as oceanic storms.

Fishing and Biodiversity
The Vandarch is a plentiful fishing zone with hundreds of native species and several dozen imported freshwater ones, with coastal fishing being a key part of ancient diets among coastal Gallic and Gothic peoples. In the modern age, overfishing has become a concern, but is largely considered managed after the formation of the Vandarch Sea Trade Zone Organization.

Shipping
The Vandarch has had seaborne trade since antiquity, with Gaelic and Gothic traders adopting copies of Great Levantine galleys alongside traditional longboats. Latin colonies along the coast of the Ninerivers brought goods from the south, and the Vandarch became a conduit for rapid coastal trade as well as trade crossing between southern and northern states.

After the opening of the Grand Vandarch Canal, the Vandarch became a major shipping hub, forming the terminal point for trade routes passing near and through the Kilikas Sea. This had a major effect on the economies of Yonderre, Hendalarsk, Eldmora-Regulus, and Hollona and Diorisia, allowing many Vandarch-bound states access to the world oceans. It additionally had a smaller positive impact on Faneria's economy, helping to alleviate mid-20th century economic depression after the Second Great War and preventing urban decay in the growing city of Sethsport.

Tourism
The Vandarch is a common destination for boating sports, such as snorkeling, diving, waterskiing, and boating. Communities across national borders, especially in the Kestrel Isles, share a robust sailboating community and frequently challenge Burgundine visitors and other tourists from seafaring countries abroad to participate in races and other events. While not as vibrant as a tropical sea, the Vandarch has its own natural beauty, often being depicted as serene and safer than other aquatic destinations. The Sea also has a great number of historic towns and forts along its coast which serve as attractions, and the sea's generally shallow nature makes it popular among international organizations training crews on seabed scanning, cable-laying, and other business-related technologies.