When the Goddesses buried the land of Old Hyrule under the ocean, those that survived formed a new civilization on the mountaintops that had in time begun more to resemble small islands. This civilization was made up of various islands that shared the common culture inherited by their ancient Hyrulian ancestors. The Great Sea, and the islands therein, remained woefully isolated from nearby countries, such as Calatia, because of its distance from the other countries and its reputation as being plagued by malevolent forces. Later on, at the end of the Wind Waker, Link, Aryll, and Tetra's Pirates depart from the Great Sea, and eventually come upon the continent to the north where they would found the land of New Hyrule. From there on out, contact with the Great Sea became limited and the burden of Hyrule's legacy in turn passed from the old land to the new.
