Forochel Bay

Hûb Forochel (S. "Bay of Forochel") is defined by the great, peninsular cape of the same name, which shields its waters from Belegaer, the great western sea, while at the same time shielding both from the measureless expanse of Ekkaia, the Encircling Sea, which bounds the peninsula on the north. The Bay and Cape of Forochel are the result of the destruction of Morgoth's realm in the War of Wrath, which caused the inrushing waters of Belegaer to establish its present shoreline. The deep green waters of Forochel stretch from the shores of Lindon in the south to Tallman Isle in the north. Between these two extremes lie innumerable lesser bays and inlets.

The northern coasts of the bay are wild and rocky. The winter ice gouges and grinds the shoreline, and storms bring the cold sea water pounding like a hammer upon its rocky strands. Even in summer the waters of the bay are deadly cold, and in winter great ice-floes and bergs are a constant hazard to ships. Further inland, the coastal regions become much more habitable and less barren; but the coastline is, for the most part, as forbidding, uninviting, rock and rubble-strewn a shore as anyone could wish to see. However, as the Jäämiehet well know and the Cardolanian whalers eventually discovered, there are occasional sheltered coves, estuaries and fjords where Men might weather a storm.

The sea-life of the bay is richest where the warming currents of Belegaer wash against the Cape of Forochel to form a natural "hot spot" (that is, hot considering the temperature of the surrounding waters—it is still deadly cold to Men). The murky, plankton-rich waters draw a wide assortment of sea-dwelling creatures, especially whales. Cardolanian and independent whalers ply these waters in spring, summer and early fall, taking the great whales for their bone and oil. The Ystävät Talven also hunt the whales, but do so for survival—for food and needful materials, not profit. The two groups seldom come into conflict, in fact, since the Lumimiehet, Jäämiehet and Merimetsästäjät do not venture as far out to sea as the southern whalers and tend to avoid their great ships.

The eastern and southern shores of the bay are less dire and more easily accessible by ship than the northern reaches. Here, whalers often come ashore to make minor repairs, refurbish their ships and trade with the Lumimiehet who people these shores. While the Lumimiehet whale and fish the waters of the bay like their northern brethren, they are less dependent on its bounty, since they also hunt the game herds of the tundra.