The Adriatic Sea resembled the outline of Italy, a waterway that gradually narrowed until its narrowest point, the Strait of Otranto, where the Adriatic Sea flowed through Corfu into the Ionian Sea.
Sediment carried down from the distant Alps by the Po River had formed a spectacular lagoon marsh, causing the Po River Delta to advance into the sea every year. There had once been a port here called Adria, from which the Adriatic Sea took its name, but it was now inland.
Because of its geological structure, the Adriatic Sea's two coastlines were utterly different. Italy's western coast was a curved, low-lying sandy beach. Such terrain could not produce fine harbors, but it offered ideal landing grounds to potential invaders.
Every Ascension Day marked the opening of the sea for Venetians. Around this festival, the Bora winds that raged across the Adriatic Sea gradually subsided, leaving the surface as smooth as silk. People no longer had to watch the wind whip the sea into violent waves that crashed thunderously against the limestone of the Adriatic Sea's eastern shore.
Though the coasts of Dalmatia and Albania were dotted with countless islands, they also contained numerous interlocking sheltered harbors. Their intricate coastline could shelter an entire fleet or provide perfect ambush points. Georgiana's guardian, Bougainville, was currently busy with the French Navy "clearing out pirates" in the region.
After the Romans settled matters with Carthage, they made conquering Greece their next objective. A Roman envoy told the Queen of Illyria that her indulgence had allowed piracy to grow ever more rampant, resulting in the deaths of many Italian merchants. The envoy had come to demand that the queen restrain her subjects and ensure such incidents would not happen again.
Later, that Roman envoy was murdered while setting out on his return