The modern Sea of Kiriath developed only recently, in 1319 Avard.  The sea was caused by a combination of factors, including arcane energies.  It cut the supercontinent of Galanath into two parts -- the western part becoming Halganath, and the eastern portion retaining its original continental name.  The shallow sea is considered haunted, and as many as one in six ships that sail its waters never return.  Undead krakens, ghost ships, and the remnants of a slain god have made the sea virtually uninhabitable.  Shallows, bogs, corals, and other natural difficulties make the sea perilous to sail, as well.  At its heart are the slagged remains of the once-indestructible Rhythis Keep, where a number of powerful, evil undead have taken up residence.

 

Rhythis Keep was the site of the original Council of Mages that created the Towers of Gaeleth.  (See Master Plan entry for further details.)  The keep was the home of various tyrants and peoples for over ten millennia, and was the object of several wars.  Indestructible as it and its walls were, it sat roughly in the middle of the supercontinent of Galanath, accumulating a considerable history.  During the Shaping Wars of -4212 to -4160, the keep was rendered virtually uninhabitable several times, by poisonous gases, demon infestation, and even a flood.  Most of civilization moved to the eastern seaboard of Galanath, and the keep became a sort of outpost of civilization.

 

To the west of Rhythis Keep lay a barrier of great mountains, known as the Granite Mountains, within which dwelt the Granite Clan of dwarves.  The Granite Clan was perhaps the longest lasting and most powerful nation on Gaeleth, but they kept mainly to themselves, and cared little for the affairs of men, save for a bit of trade.  The keep stood in the midst of a great plain, and was nourished by a broad and powerful river that wound its way south, towards the Aboriac Sea.

 

In 772 Avard, a blood mage named Refterdardes cast a fireball so great that it made a vast crater lake around the keep, making it an instant island.  The crater lake was immense, with Rhythis Keep being nearly eighty miles from the nearest land.  The lake was named Lake Kiriath, after the city of Kiriath that sprung up on the eastern side of the lake.

 

The city of Kiriath developed a healthy trade, supplying Rhythis Keep with fish, food, transportation, and materials.  The keep became a monastic outpost, dedicated to preserving knowledge, and unassailable because of the lake, and its indestructible walls.

 

Refterdardes, even with the sacrifices of several million of Nabrol's followers, barely had the power to cast the fireball that crafted Lake Kiriath.  Indeed, he not, for his powers were amplified by Vyrboth Liss, the Arch Mage of Gaeleth.  Vyrboth was slain by his son, and those that know the arch mage aided in the creation of the lake, think that Vyrboth was repaid by his son, who slew him with the Godslayer sword.  In actuality, Vyrboth had crafted, with the aid of much of the Church of Agincoth, a massive spell that would require time to draw upon the Towers of Gaeleth, and would need a massive source of initial power.  Refterdardes, and even Nabrol, failed to realize that they were being manipulated into initiating that massive spell.  The initial release of energies was focused onto Rhythis Keep, through the Towers that were linked to it.  Once the spell was in effect, it would be sensitive to other magical energies -- hence the Inquisition, used to 'keep the mages silent', so that the massive spell would continue to grow for five centuries.

 

At the conclusion of the five centuries, the spell was complete -- first blasting the continent of Nabrol with a truly massive fireball spell, and then centering all of the remaining power on Rhythis Keep.  The resultant detonation caused much of the indestructible keep to melt, and imploded portions of the inner mantle (such that a new tectonic plate was made in the earth, and the plate immediately began to sink).  Water from the Beauregard Ocean flooded in from the north, and water from the Aboriac Sea flooded in from the south.  Steam scoured away much of the life around the newly formed sea, and the entire chain of Granite Mountains sank almost out of sight.

 

A necromancer named Demik Coruth had attempted to use the immense power of the 'great spell' to power his resurrection of the Dark God, Nathel, into his service.  Demik Coruth succeeded, but the immediate death of Nathel at the hands of the Chosen of Arpelos re-released the energy into the Towers and Rhythis Keep, allowing the original spell system to go off.  Unfortunately, a byproduct of allowing Nathel's resurrection, and his subsequent slaying, has meant that the energies around Rhythis Keep are tainted with the second death throes of Nathel.  The remains of Rhythis Keep have become a haven for evil and undead, and even spawn undead of considerable power.

 

Rumor has it that, should the Godslayer sword ever be reassembled, the evil of Rhythis Keep might one day be purged.  Until that time, nations that border the Sea of Kiriath must contend with occasional attacks by the undead, and unreliable shipping.  Natural springs, volcanoes along its rim, and other natural phenomena are still occurring as the newly formed tectonic plate settles.

 

Ultimately, the creation of Lake Kiriath was a good thing, for the blast that create it, and wiped out much of Nabrol, helped to free Gaeleth from the confines of a strange spatio-temporal anomaly that would have killed the core of Gaeleth.