Bes Island Chain
The Bes Island Chain is a long chain of islands located in the dead center of the second largest ocean on the planet of Kivria. It is the home of the Bes Astris peoples and the nation of Bes. Although the Bes Astris are known far and wide because of their mastery of (and contested ownership of) the seas, scant few people have ever visited their homeland. This is primarily due to the island chain's extreme isolation from nearby continents and even other islands.
Due to the Bes Island Chain's isolation as well as rough weather, the island chain was largely left uninhabited until approximately 30,000 years ago. At that time, a marine species of Feral Sophont called Nereids discovered and began to live in the Bes Island Chain's shores. Here, they adapted to the unique conditions of the island chain in relative peace from the chaotic and sometimes violent sophont world above.
Much later, the first refugees from the Astris Genocide landed on the shores of the main island in the chain, today simply named Bes Island. These first peoples spent the first few years of their isolation struggling to survive, entirely unaware that the chain was already inhabited beneath the waves. Even once they became aware, the two civilizations remained steadfastly, oftentimes superstitiously, apart. The arrival of the Bes Astris had also heralded the Energy Barrier which interrupted the Oceanid's hunting grounds, but thankfully only irritated rather than harm them.
Nature would eventually force the Bes Astris and Bes Nereids to work together. The Bes Island Chain is plagued by tropical storms and hurricanes. It is not unheard of for entire islands in the chain to go entirely underwater after severe storms, usually only for a short while. After this particular season, however, some of the islands still have never been seen above land again. The land and sea were an absolute mess, and only through the combined efforts of both communities were they able to recover without significant injury.
Once the two civilizations intertwined with one another, the inhabitants were better able to engineer ways to adapt to these seasonally harsh conditions. The Bes peoples began to build at higher elevations when possible, created storm and surge barriers, and developed a national guard of master water manipulators on standby to protect the lives and property of its citizens above and below the sea.
Type
Island
Owning Organization
