Lore:Sea of Pearls

The Sea of Pearls is a large body of water found west of the continent of Tamriel and its western waters, the Abecean Sea.  It consists of the western-half of the Summerset Isles, the outer reaches of the High Rock sea-complex, but it mostly contains other continents beyond Tamriel's grasp, such as the sunken-islands of Yokuda, the dreaded archipelago of Thras, and the underwater kingdom of Ul'vor Kus. It is part of the greater Eltheric Ocean and it is neighbored by the Abecean Sea to the east, the Azurian Sea in the north, and both the Cape of the Blue Divide and the Southern Sea to the southeast.  The Sea of Pearls acquired its name from the myriad shells that wash up on the shores of its islands,  they tend to have whorls like nautilus shells, which are light-weight and durable.  

 

History
The Summerset Isles and its ancient rivals
thumb|right|Sea Keep (ESO)
In the mid- , the   settled on what is now known as the  , spreading onto the island's western coast, building great cities such as  ,  , and  , even expanding into islands off the coast, on the Sea of Pearls (i.e.,  ,   and  ).  The Summerset Elves eventually became the  , and built large, illustrious kingdoms, while staying to themselves throughout history, as the races of Tamriel evolved. Over time, the High Elves conflicted with their neighbors, the   of  , and the   of  . The latter race are the inhabitants of the Sea of Pearls, residing in an archipelago of  . The Summerset Isles had been in constant conflict with these races, over the control of the eternal isles, so much so that the province's north and west coast is heavily-defended, for the purpose of protecting the island from the Sload and Maormer.   and   were among the many forts made on the Sea of Pearls.  There have been many battles between the High Elves and the Sload, such as the   ( ) and the   (  —  ).  All the while, the Altmer and the Maormer held several skirmishes in the waters between them. In  , High King   conflicted with a small fleet off the coast of Alinor, which brought them to their homeland, the island-kingdom of Pyandonea. The last known appearance of the Maormer was in  , during the  . It was King  's fleet against the Kingdoms of Summerset, and the support of Emperor  ' Imperial Navy. It took the arcane might of the   to defeat the grand fleet. 

The Lost Islands of Yokuda & the Ra Gada
thumb|left|Tu'whacca's Throne (ESO)
In the distant west was the island-continent of  , the ancient homeland of the  s. It was completely surrounded by the Sea of Pearls, and it is the furthest known extent of the body of water.  In the late years of the continent, it was ruled Emperor  , whose attempt to take control over the Yokudan Empire from the common-folk, by persecuting the  , warriors that followed a martial philosophy regarding the mastery of the sword known as the "Way of the Sword." Thus began the  , a critical moment in the Yokudan's history, a battle between Emperor Hira's forces and  's sword-singers. The war came to a climax at the foothills of  , where Hunding's warriors were able to obliterate Hira's rag-tag armies, but at the cost of more than three hundred thousand warriors. Hunding and the sword-singers left Yokuda from the sea-city of  , for new and unknown lands across the Sea of Pearls, which was the eventual province of  . 

The Yokudans remained on their island-continent for several years after Frandar Hunding's departure to Hammerfell. In  , the islands of Yokuda had sunken into the Sea of Pearls, reportedly lost forever. To this day, there have been many theories regarding the cause of its extinction, whether it was natural causes, or caused by its people. One such source was that it was caused by a series of earthquakes that targeted the very foundation of the islands. Another idea was that the renegade group of   ( the highest-ranked sword-singers) known as the  , masters of  , were the cause of the island's destruction, using a forbidden sword technique. It was their way of ruining what they could not rule,  which is further corroborated by an account from the   incarnation of  .  Regardless, the refugees of Yokuda sailed eastward across the Sea of Pearls, in the same direction as Frandar Hunding, to the island of  . From there, the   paved their way through Hammerfell, and re-settled as the  s of Hammerfell. 

The Thrassian Plague & the All-Flags Navy
thumb|right|Syrabane, the Apprentices' God
In  , the Sload of Thras had spread the terrifying disease known in history as the  . The plague caused wide-spread pandemonium across the provinces of western Tamriel, claiming half of the lives of Tamriel, bringing the end of ancient civilizations like the Sixteen Kingdoms of  ,  and powerful kingdoms like  ,  and the nations of the  .  It was reported that the Thrassian Plague decimated the Tamrielic population, bringing it down by half. In retaliation, the   King of  ,   gathered armies across west Tamriel, including Hammerfell, the Summerset Isles,  , and the continent's outer reaches like  ,  for a full-scale invasion against the archipelago of Thras.  

The   has been described as the largest allied naval force in Tamriel's history. Among them were many historical figures, the most well-known was  , the Altmeri God-Ancestor of Magic, who used the power of his   to save many people from the plague.  From the island of  , the All Flags Navy had set forth across the Sea of Pearls,  to besiege and slaughter the Sload to extinction. With unknown magic spewing from the  , the islands were sunken into the ocean for many years until it eventually resurfaced.  While people such as Bendu Olo were able to return from the Sea of Pearls,  half of the fleet was sunken into the sea by the otherworldly magic that came from the Coral Tower, into the depths of  .  The maelstrom swallowed the battlefield into Coldharbour, where it became  . 

Summerset Isles
thumb|left|Lillandril (ESO)
The Sea of Pearls laden the   from the north and west coast. The cities of   and   overlook the waters atop of the mountain foothills. The islands of  ,  , and   are found. The Sea of Pearls empties into the sound of Summerset, where the docks of Alinor are located, the hills surrounding   and   descend to the beaches, and a river coming down from   empties into the water. The coast between the Alinor docks and its parent city is known as the  . In the area surrounding Lillandril are the lowlands known as the  , which give way to the oceans.  This is exemplified in the sunken city now known as the  . The rest of the city had been swallowed by a sinkhole, resting in large gaping caves where the city's people reportedly continue to live.  Because of the Sload's constant interjections into Summerset, they have left several landmarks across the main island's coast, such as  s, which are powered by their   and one of their  s, archaic items that attract the hidden monsters of the Sea of Pearls.  It is because of the Sload's invasions, the island's coast is heavily-fortified, as seen through   and Sea Keep.  Throughout the coast is riddled with silk white coral, which is often festering with  . Other creatures found on Summerset's coastlines are the  , the  , and the  s. 

Yokuda
thumb|right|Pillar of the Singing Sun (ESO)
The islands of Yokuda were once the home of the Redguards, but it eventually sank into the Sea of Pearls, supposedly lost forever. While it is widely believed that the continent is no longer inhabitable, there are reports that trade existed between Tamriel and Yokuda as far as the late-  in  .  The political geography of the continent is largely unknown, but what is certain is that Yokuda consisted of four large-islands. The biggest one is  , with the distinct duality, both gentle and brutal. It has been described as moody and many-sided and ruler and rebel. The capital of the empire and Akos Kasaz was the city of  . The second-largest is the island of  , found south of Akos Kasaz. It was rugged and arid, but magnificent nonetheless. The island was once the home of what is now the  , the exiled-nomads of the  .  It hosted a settlement known as  . Next was the island of  , described as volcanic and tall, with highlands engulfed by the ravaging heat. The settlement of   was active on the island. The next island was  , consisting of lush, lowlands that bore the sweetest fruit and many natural harborages.  The rest are much smaller islands that surround the much bigger ones. These include,  ,  ,  ,  , and  .  There are several other landmarks, whose locations in these islands are unknown. The provinces of   and   are found in Yokuda, as well as   and the great port-city of  , found in these provinces respectively. 

Thras, Ul'vor Kus & Other Islands
thumb|left|Nalonga and Ravan (Redguard)
The island territories between Tamriel and Yokuda have little information to them, save for the best-known island of them all, the dreaded archipelago of  , located southwest of  ,  is found deep in the Sea of Pearls.  The islands are constantly changing. The earliest maps of the archipelago depict sixteen islands that surround each other like a coral atoll, but throughout the eras and centuries, maps of Thras were varied and inconsistent. By the waning years of the Third Era, in  , the largest island of Thras was known as  , and it is one of the most consistent parts of the map, albeit changing sizes. A black lagoon is found in the center of Thras, where intricate coral reefs and large shipwrecks are found.  

The atoll of Thras is the home of the land Sload, whereas the   lived in the underwater kingdom of  , found somewhere in the Sea of Pearls. There are more mysterious and elusive than their land brethren, believed to have disappeared centuries before the mid-  by the   of Summerset Isle. Instead of forming kingdoms like in Thras, the Sea Sload consist of cabals, groups of them that seek to achieve a specific goal.  The   was active in   and sought to take the Isle of Summerset into the ocean through sinkholes and the abyssal geysers that dot the coastlines. The Sea Sload,   was able to infiltrate the island of   and manipulate the Ritemaster of the Psijic Order,  . , but their efforts were in vain. South of Yokuda is a series of islands with no information regarding them. The largest island of this archipelago was  , which hosted the settlement of  , and southeast of that is  . The two smaller islands are called   and  . 

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