Bays

Bays

ELEMENT

Bays are recessed bodies of water connected to a larger body of water such as an ocean or lake. Large bays are typically referred to as gulfs, seas, or sounds while smaller bays are often called inlets or coves. Fjords are a type of elongated bay. Fictional bays are often sites of ports, fishing towns, and shipwrecks. As they provide shelter from the larger body of water, they are often places of calmer water where ships can moor during heavy storms.

Synonyms: inlets, coves, gulfs, sounds
Example Mythonyms: Salt Iron Bay, Bay of Belarii, Gulf of New Ishita

Designing Fictional Bays

Archetypes

Foundations

Overview

Historically, bays played important roles in human settlements. They were ideal locations for fishing towns and cities along trade routes as they offered access to oceans and ocean resources like fish while also being sheltered by the protection of the bay itself. If they are not inhabited, fictional bays, like most coastal areas, are frequently sites where shipwrecks are found.

The mouths of fictional bays are often the sites of lighthouses and giant statues.

Cartography

Types of Bays
Open: the mouth of the bay is the widest section of the bay
Enclosed: the mouth of the bay is more narrow than the bay itself
Semi-Enclosed: islands form narrow channels into the bay.

Depending on the region and local terrain, bays can have highly varied characteristics. While coastal cliffs may be present in fjords or areas of hills or mountains, sandy beaches may ring the bays of tropical archipelagos.

Coastal Terrain

Coastal Places

Reference Image Gallery