Bay of Strife

The Bay of Strife is a body of water on the southern coast of the continent of Dachaga on the world of Curcalen. It gets its name from the fact that, due to its position paralleling and directly under the orbit of the smaller of Curcalen's two suns, it has extreme tides; the difference between high tide and low tide is a matter of between twenty and thirty meters. Naturally, this raises issues with navigation of the bay as well as with building on its shores; a structure that is right on the shoreline during high tide may be hundreds of meters away from it at low tide. The bay's extreme tides also give rise to strong tidal bores in the rivers that flow into the Bay of Strife.

Aside from the high tides, the geography of the Bay of Strife also gives rise to very high individual waves in parts of the bay (though not, as some people mistakenly believe, throughout all of it). This, of course, further adds to navigational difficulties on those parts of the bay subject to the high wave heights, as well as limiting shoreline building and activities—though there are those that take advantage of the waves for certain recreational purposes. Where the waves are highest—at the Demons' Sound—they can regularly reach almost fifteen meters from crest to trough.

The Bay's extreme tides and waves have been harnessed for useful purposes. Some communities along the coastline make extensive use of waterwheels and similar devices to produce energy from the motion of the water, the city of Aqanta being particularly notable for its proliferation of such mechanisms. Certain mages have also learned to tap into the large quantity of élan motif represented by the Bay's towering waves.

The difference in the bay's tides gives the Bay of Strife a particularly large intertidal zone, which stretches for nearly a kilometer in places and is home to some organisms unique to the area. Most of these creatures are small and inoffensive, but some of them can be dangerous, including the enormous tideworm and the venomous pool spider.