Vandarch: Difference between revisions

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 was actually a lake until the completion of the [[Grand Vandarch Canal]] in 1975, having previously been isolated from the [[Kilikas Sea]] by the Pervalian Isthmus. It was also an endorheic basin until this time, as the construction of the [[Carolina Grand Canal]] caused the River Urce to flow ''into'' the lake rather than draw water out. 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.

==Etymology==

Two competing etymologies exist for the Gothic name '''Wandark''', with both agreeing that the ''Wand'' element represents the Gothic word for "wall, barrier".

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.

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.

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[[Category:Levantia]]