The West Sea

The West Sea is the central ocean of Chima's planet. Its islands have been colonized by many tribes, and many conflicts have been fought on the sea.

## History

In the two million years before the events of the Roleplay, water rose to the surface of the planet, the largest body of water being the West Sea, as it would later be named by the citizens of the eastern continent. Tall landmasses that were not flooded became islands.

### First Great Illumination

The event of the First Great Illumination in the year 1,000 BR resulted in the creation of chi, a water infused with Illumination energy that allowed the primitive animals who drink it to be evolved into a more humanoid, intelligent form, in the shape of a LEGO minifigure. At least two known chi springs were created outside of the eastern continent: one in the center of a large tropical island, and one on the Western Continent.

### Imperial Era

Being the only species' to drink chi on the western continent, the manta and sting rays multiplied across the landmass; with no opposition yet from other species, they built a technologically advanced and powerful empire over the course of the centuries, spreading out and conquering all islands in their reach. (More to be added here later.)

### Eastern Colonization and Navies

Sometime before 128 BR, the Sabertooth Tigers and Leopards both built fleets of mostly wooden boats on the West Sea. They may have been the first tribes from the eastern continent of Chima to do so. The Sabertooth Navy was cursed and exiled north with the rest of the tribe as a result of the Second Great Illumination, following the Sabertooth Tiger—Lion War. An invisible barrier kept the Sabertooth Fleet trapped in a northeast corner of the sea, next to the Arctic Northern Regions. In 125 BR, the Icebears built a navy of their own, in record time due to the use of an alchemist and inventor's mysterious Icebear Shipbuilding Device. They were the first Chimian tribe to build more advanced, steel-plated ships equipped with chi laser and rocket cannons in addition to the cannonball-launching cannons used by the other tribes. As such, the Icebear Fleet was able to easily destroy the Leopard fleet during the Icebear—Leopard War. However, in 122 BR, the Icebear fleet was magically pushed up north with the rest of the tribe by the wizard Leodus' curse at the end of the war, and the inventor of the Icebear Shipbuilding Device was slain in battle by the leopards, his device liberated; the Icebear fleet was confined to the north in the same way that the Sabertooth Fleet had been, and King Leodus ordered his tribe to destroy the Icebear Shipbuilding Device. However, a former Leopard Admiral of the destroyed fleet hoped to someday rebuild the Leopard navy, so he secretly hid the device on an island a mile from Chima's mainland.

#### Inland and Outland Expansion

Sometime after 122 BR, multiple inland tribes began building modern fleets, including the Gorillas, Lions, Crocodiles, and Bears. The Gorilla Tribe colonized and named Aether Island at some point as well. The Gorilla Fleet bombarded the Eagles' coastal territory during the Gorilla—Eagle War of 31-30 BR, and battles were fought within the divided Gorilla Navy during the Gorilla Civil War of 30-28 BR, after which the White Army took control of much of what remained of the Gorilla Fleet, using it to takeover Aether Island. However, Aether Island was eventually claimed by the Gorilla Republic, and Gibbs and his remaining forces became nomadic pirates. Gibbs later unified the pirate crews of the West Sea, creating the "Pirate Fleet". The pirate fleet was eventually destroyed in the year 1 BR by Lyrix, who attempted to build his own fleet with the Icebear Shipbuilding Device, after finding it on the future Bat Island. However, the device was destroyed by Lycor before such a plan could be carried out. The Lion Fleet peaked in power at the time of the RP, successfully destroying Lyrix's ship, the *Exile*, in battle (though most of the pirates escaped, stealing and naming a new ship, the *Sea Slicer*, from the Bears). The Bat Tribe then colonized and named Bat Island, building the Bat Fleet there. During the Chima Alliance—Crawler Empire War, the Bat Fleet ventured on an expedition into unknown western waters, during which Grand Admiral Balthazar discovered the future New Bat Island. The bats also found and destroyed a scout ship from the Manta Ray Empire, before returning to the east. Over the course of the Crawler—Ice Hunter War, the Bat Fleet completely destroyed both the pirates and the invading Icebear Fleet, but as results of the war, Balthazar was assassinated, Bat Island was frozen, and the Bat Fleet was lessened severely in ship numbers. The Bat Navy, and later, the rest of the Bat Tribe, migrated to New Bat Island, where they built a powerful force to defend the east against a possible Ray invasion. At the same time, a Forgotten spy within the Spider Tribe, Seris Rax, sent Forgotten to the sea to claim the small island south of New Bat Island, which they named Scorden Island. Meanwhile, the Sabertooth Fleet struck key inland locations at the shore of Chima, and are currently anchored in Minor Tribes territory.