Inner Sea

An inland sea in the east, filled with many small islands (III/map). The islands of the Inner Sea ‘…lie like emerald jewels in a flat plain of aquamarine’. They are well populated; the people fish and trade olive oil, strong red wine and murex shells (the source of a purple dye). The salt sea is so clear that Avenger notes ‘…shoals of silver and red fishes trailing in the wake (of a boat), until they are chased away by the porpoises which leap clear of the water for the sheer joy of living.’ On the shores of the sea, sleepy fishing villages of simple huts bask peacefully on sandy beaches in the sun. The peasants here are poor, their clothes tattered and greasy. They are forced to pay tribute to the Isle of Thieves (IV/2, IV/79). The lands of the Inner Sea provide mercenaries to fight in foreign wars (DM3/0). The mercenaries are described as ‘dark-haired people with sallow skin’. The mercenaries wear green cuirboilly armour and are armed with crossbows (DM3/21).