The Never-Ending Grotto

Directly related to the sudden appearance of the Gelgelan Eminence, another locale has materialized on the open oceans.

This was not the only event in recent times, to have struck this area. The second island that appeared may have been purposefully placed off the south-west coast of the new Gelgelan Eminence is of a similarly once-volcanic nature, but much smaller at no more than 225 miles across in any given dimension, plus added islands off of its own coasts by a hundred more.

Named the Never Ending Grotto, this complex island seems quite normal when viewed from above, however at sea level it becomes quite fascinating! Almost every inlet and delta along the coast has openings to the near-hollow interior of the island, and most of the larger ones lead directly into the central caldera lake. The water table of this lake is quite weird, brackish in the areas just below most entries to it, and in the lake itself mostly fresh thanks to rainfall and snow melt. In the grottos between sea and lake, there are clear areas where the water is quite salty, directly beside that which is obviously clear and fresh. Magic and psionics keep the water in this lake cleaner than it could be, but it's always difficult work, so specific folk are placed at the largest entry points, to make sure that any purification spells are done where they'll be of most use.

Tides do affect the bay to a small extent, enough to require high piers and a wide build area for any nearby villages or docks. Since the island itself, like Gelgela now, is situated quite far north, those tides are already fairly significant.

The highest peak of this small island is around 13,000 feet give or take, though the ring around the lake tends to run highest on the west and much lower toward the east. So far, though there are certainly habitations and plenty of things to see and do here, very few of the smaller islands have been named or indeed plotted out particularly well by locals. The temperature range of the island is reasonably stable, it does get cold enough during Winter to snow along most of the caldera ring, though hardly ever ice over the lake. Powerful currents dissuade most trade routes from heading directly through this area, though it's unclear if this is due to the island's arrival, or if they were already difficult. This is as the locals want it, however, for reasons described in another section...