Imperial Study on The Dead Sea (Joseph d'Azor)

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IMPERIAL STUDY ON THE DEAD SEA

21st of Harren's Folly 1846

A sketch of one of The Dead Sea shipwrecks strewn across the desert floor.

 

Whilst many may not pay the geographical terrain of our continent much mind considering the graver causes for concern faced on a daily basis by the people of the realm, one must still always seek and strive to understand the deeper meaning behind what came before us and how Almaris existed before our ancestors arrived by boat some half century ago. The way the continent has been shaped and formed allows us to peer into the past as a window to see how those before us lived, how they functioned, how they were as a society. To do this requires a deep look and thus, I have decided over the course of many years, to complete my look and publish it. 

 

I found myself personally drawn to the dead sea when I was but a boy a of ten, travelling there with an Imperial expedition we had stopped near one of the shipwrecks and I searched inside, surprised to find a smashed crate in the dust and sand filled to the brim with shining gemstones, as a jeweler this excited me and I pocketed many to take home and study. This trip spurred in me the desire to understand the secrets of this area of the world and has brought me back time and time again over the years. 

 

The Terrain of The Dead Sea

 

The terrain of the dead sea features steep sandy slopes within the Southern Desert, a large bed of silt, dust and salt spread across the floor of the dried up sea. Numerous coral pillars, raised seafloor sandbars, and otherwise oceanlike features one would certainly not find within a place that was not once a sea, scattered about the floor of The Dead Sea as well features numerous shipwrecks that were deposited there millennia ago when the sea was full.

 

The coral samples taken by myself reveal a strong semblance to similar coral structures found off the coast of Freeport in the Kahaen Sea, certainly a regional similarity given the locations closeness to one another. 

 

Within the close center of The Dead sea exists a large rock formation or undersea mountain that is covered within coral and features a massive sandstone construction at its top leading down, initial exploration reveals it connected to some sort of underground ruin that leads me to believe some sort of island trading post or stopover once existed there millennia ago. 

 

To the south of The Dead Sea one finds only more desert and vast open unexplored plains that remain outside of our realm of speculation, to the north, the Kahaen sea and various other gulfs and inlets of water. To the west exists the Fak’hr Oasis and the people that inhabit and to the east lays a truly massive volcano that still contains an active caldera. 

 

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A topographical sketch map has been included within the work

 

The Shipwrecks

 

What has certainly been deemed unusual by myself as well as many scholars that I speak to in my search for more information about this area of the world is the unusual disparity of shipwrecks here compared to the other waterways of Almaris, Usually such can be relegated to one of two factors, extraordinary circumstances, such as anomalies and acts of GOD, or a high level of shipping present in the past. 

 

Due to the lack of any further anomalies experienced nor any evidence for massive storms and other acts of GOD I find the clear answer being that The Dead Sea was once a body of water frequented by a great many deal of ships within its past which explains the large amount of shipwrecks compared to the other waterways of Almaris that were not as frequented within the past. 

 

As for the shipwrecks themselves, each one explored by myself revealed that they had once carried a cargo of either gold, silver, gemstones or other fine goods. Through either direct examination of crates and other cargo containers, or in the instance of numerous gemstones found around the shipwrecks. Numerous gemstones of these have been taken by me in the past to study or otherwise put to use, though a notable gem I keep on display is that of an Aquamarine that has clearly been sitting within the sands and dusts for centuries. 

 

[!] A sketch is included of an Aquamarine Gemstone

 

Through the large amount of shipwrecks and the nature of the cargo I have struggled to come to the conclusion upon why these shipwrecks featured such a large amount of valuables, the prevailing theory for myself is that the large amount of ships that once transited the sea, carried their goods from some great southern city to be traded throughout the land long before we ever arrived within the continent, a trade empire of sorts originating from beyond our explorational capacity to the South. 

 

While certainly one can never be fully sure of such, the capacity for coming to this conclusion is provided numerous times over with the amount of evidence and signs we can view in our present day. 

 

[!] A sketch has been included of  one of the typical Dead Sea shipwreck

 

Theories Upon Its Fate

 

Ultimately despite the amount of wealth these waters once carried in our distant past, some change in terrain or the world altered The Dead Sea’s connection to the greater waterways and the Kahaen sea to the north, thus leading to its eventual draining and drying over the millennia. Upon observation the only things that could cause such a large diversion of water, would be massive man made dams or terrain shifts. The latter of which seems to be the most prevalent of theories judging upon the instability of the continent in its past, the large chains of mountains and volcanic activity that are prevalent in the northern half of the continent. 

 

One must only look to the east of The Dead Sea to see the likeliest of causes, the massive volcano that utterly dwarfs anything seen of similarity within our noted history was certainly not always there in the past and the active caldera at its top proves It was certainly formed recently within the past few millennia rather than before. 

 

It is my personal conclusion that the formation of this volcano and its eruption in the past, lifted the terrain from where it once sat and in turn cut off water flow to The Dead sea sentencing it to dry out over the following years, the topographical map measured and taken shows that the most likely path for connection to the Kahaen Sea from The Dead Sea exists just next to the Volcano and its size and terrain lift, certainly make the case for that being the long closed waterway that once granted access to this inland sea. 

 

Conclusion

 

Ultimately even with my best efforts in this study, the notes taken over the years, books studied and those I have interviewed we can only draw conclusions and present well backed answers instead of a definite cause, but such is the nature of historical study and survey. We look into the past as though it is a window, but the glass always contains some hint of fogging, no matter how clear it might seem. 

 

I certainly do not consider my own personal interest in this geographical location to drain, nor my desire to explore it further, but I can confidently say through my work that its mysteries and its past have been mostly unlocked, now for the greater public to read, appreciate and too join me at the window to study who came before us in Almaris, their fate and how we can learn more. 

 

TH Lord Joseph Ledicort d’Azor

 

[kujo_ 2510]

A being cloaked in layers of tattered cloth had watched Joseph in the sands, forming a study of their own. They did not stay long, and departed for the journey home with much to tell a friend.

[greygre 259]

Dilvyn Deveral, archaeologist and Vice-President of the NGS, reads over the study with great interest.  "What an exemplary work!"  The Adunian scholar would quickly pen a letter to the Lord, excited to discuss the subject further.