Glass Beach

Mum? Can I take a pebble home?

— Happy child

The glass beach is a large coastal area made completely out of small pebbles of glass. It is found in the south of Mirikith, and is a popular sight for tourists.
Little to no wildlife lives here, as plants can't grow and don't attract animals. This meant that it was safer to build the beach into a tourist area.

Geography

The entire beach is made of a sand that has been heated so much, that it has turned into small glass pebbles. These pebbles are usually from 1mm to 2cm in diameter. From the sea, the beach stretches a few hundred metres.

Forests

Farthest back from the coastline is a long stretch of forest of various types. Towards the west of Glass Beach is a more mangrove forest, verging on the South Mirikith Delta that just cuts into Glass Beach. Round the rest of Glass Beach is a large temperate forest, partly mushroom forest and orangewood forest.

History

Mythical Origin

The glass beach's origin is described in a sacred text from Ancient Mirikith. Apparently, the God of the Suns, Neoyar, set alight this beach with a fire that was hotter than the hottest sun, after getting drunk on alcoholic anti-matter. This led to the sand being heated so much they almost instantly turned into tiny glass pieces. Neoyar couldn't find a way to reverse what he had done while drunk, so he had no choice to leave it as it was.

1827 - First business to set their eyes on Glass Beach

Surprisingly, it took many years for the first tourist business to set up services at Glass Beach. The business, Mirikith Luxuries, has several grand hotels across the country, at beautiful locations famous for the sceneries. Spending half a billion corral on a single hotel, Mirikith Luxuries opened the hotel as a resort desination on Jaxartibar 33rd, 1834, after seven years of construction that began in 1827. A large portion of the beach was closed off for those years as the hotel was being built, which negatively affected tourist income. This lack of tourist income then affected the locals who earnt money from tourists, dampening Mirikith Luxuries' reputation.

1940 - Ikroth's construction of a second resort

In 1940, another large resort chain decided to open a hotel and resort on Glass Beach. This time it was by Ikroth, a famous international company that has several resort locations worldwide. After 9 years of construction, the large resort was opened, much to the local's disappointment. Locals were more interested in keeping the natural beauty of the beach, since that brought in lots of tourists and money. With the resorts, they could earn less money as tourists focused on resorts instead of the nearby villages.

Tourism

The glass beach attracts many tourists, through Mirikith Luxuries; a hotel chain that builds near many different unusual locations, making lots of money from the natural wilderness.
Tourists are free to wander the beach as they please, and it is common to collect some pebbles as souvenirs. Be wary of the summer, as the pebbles heat up more than regular beaches do and can hurt your feet.

Type

Coast / Shore