South Seas



The South Seas, also known as the South Sea, is a body of water that surrounds the southern regions of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, and the northern coasts of Pandaria. Notable islands like Zandalar, Kezan or Tel'Abim are located here. Since this sea is found in between the continents, it is a portion of the Great Sea.

Major locations

 * Kezan (starting zone)
 * Isle of Giants
 * Isle of Thunder
 * Timeless Isle
 * Zandalar
 * Nazmir
 * Vol'dun
 * Zuldazar

Minor locations

 * Jaguero Isle
 * Janeiro's Point
 * Vile Reef
 * Yojamba Isle
 * South Seas islands
 * Isle of Reckoning
 * Mistveil Sea
 * Windward Isle
 * Time-Lost Waters
 * Westersea
 * Shan'ze Dao
 * Sra'vess' isle
 * Niuzao Temple's isles
 * Backbreaker Bay
 * Greymist Firth
 * Bay of Echoes
 * Whispering Inlet
 * Heyman's Hubris
 * Xibala Shallows
 * Miju's Retreat
 * Bay of Kings
 * Isle of Fangs
 * Tusk Isle
 * Dreadpearl Shallows
 * Atal'gral's underwater ruins
 * Gral's Grotto
 * Sundered Temple
 * Sand Bar
 * Sunken Coast
 * Torga's Tavern
 * Gloomwater Span
 * Heyman's Hideaway
 * Golden Isle
 * Deadwood Cove

Lore locations

 * Plunder Isle
 * Tel'Abim
 * Darkspear Islands (also described to be in the Great Sea)

Regions adjacent to the South Seas

 * Eastern Kingdoms
 * Stranglethorn Vale
 * Northern Stranglethorn
 * Cape of Stranglethorn
 * Kalimdor
 * Tanaris
 * Thousand Needles
 * Uldum
 * Pandaria
 * The Jade Forest
 * Kun-Lai Summit
 * Townlong Steppes
 * The Maelstrom (presumed)

Inhabitants

 * The monstrous, flesh-eating bloodwing bat hails from the misty jungle islands of the South Seas, where it is the undisputed ruler of the night sky.
 * Giant turtles are also known to live in the southern seas.
 * There are also giant squids.

Early development
The South Seas were originally planned to be the setting for World of Warcraft's first expansion. Johnathan Staats describes it as having had a flavor similar to Booty Bay and Stranglethorn Vale and explains that the development team were extremely enthusiastic about pirate themes following the release of the  film. However, technical limitations meant that the servers were getting too overloaded with data in Azeroth and its continents of Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, preventing Blizzard from just adding more zones without either upgrading the server equipment or making the code more efficient. Thus, the team decided not to add more Azeroth content and instead use another realm, Outland, as the setting for the first expansion, later named The Burning Crusade. This is also why the Azuremyst Isles and Quel'Thalas are on the Outland realm instead on their proper continents.

In the RPG
The South Seas supposedly boast action, unique civilizations, and ancient mysteries. On the negative side, most of the action is swashbuckling, most of the unique civilizations are composed of bastards like the naga, and most of the ancient mysteries are dangerous. It is possible to cross the South Seas with a gryphon as that is what Brann Bronzebeard did after purchasing Gryphadin in Steamwheedle Port.

10,000 years ago all the lands in Azeroth were part of the same giant landmass: the primeval Kalimdor. During the War of the Ancients, Queen Azshara summoned the Burning Legion with the Well of Eternity's energy, and at the climax conflict, the well imploded and tore the giant continent asunder, splitting it into the continents as they exist today... and a few islands. It also created a raging magical vortex known as the Maelstrom, which occupies the center of the Great Sea. This vortex forms the northern boundary of the South Seas, and south of it are several tropical islands. Though small, these islands have played pivotal roles in history.

Kezan is the largest and southernmost of the South Seas islands, and, despite the goblin presence, the safest. Bilgewater Port is the port in the South Seas, and the only one worth mentioning that exists between the western and eastern continents. Of the South Seas islands, Plunder Isle is the closest to the mainland, in this case to southern Eastern Kingdoms.

The Bloodsail Buccaneers ply the waters between Azeroth and the South Seas, and occasionally travel west toward Kalimdor.



Geography

 * The Broken Isles
 * Darkspear Islands
 * Hiji
 * Isle of Kezan
 * The Maelstrom
 * The Eye
 * Plunder Isle
 * Tel Abim
 * Zandalar

RPG notes

 * Although the South Seas are not mentioned, the island of Hiji appears in the Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game book. It seemingly takes the place of Plunder Isle as both are located in the same area and roughly have the same form.

Notes and trivia

 * After finding the blades Fate and Fortune and slaughtering a pirate holdout, Admiral Eliza Goreblade and her pirates of the Bloodsail Buccaneers became an unseen, deadly menace on the South Seas.
 * Bounty Hunter Kolark's travel across the seas led him to discover Thorium Headed Arrow.
 * Klaxz Boompowder once found a stash of galleons—an ancient and rare goblin currency—by diving in underwater rock caves somewhere in the South Sea.
 * There is an uncharted island deep in the South Seas from which the rogues of the Uncrowned extracted a rare venom.
 * When the Cataclysm destroyed a natural barrier in Thousand Needles, the South Seas poured into the area, flooding it. Traveler: The Spiral Path says it was the Great Sea, which is still technically correct.
 * The South Seas borders Pandaria, including the southern regions. This shouldn't be lorewise as the South Seas are part of the Great Sea thus the waters south of Pandaria should be a different sea. A possibility could be the Uncharted Sea.