The Abethine Coast is a term for the stretch of seaboard along the shores of the Abethine Sea, in the southwestern portion of the continent of Sekhaa.

It lies opposite the Jade Coast on the southern shores of the Sea, to which it has long-standing economic, cultural, and linguistic ties dating back hundreds of cycles. The inhabitants, in fact, prefer to think of their cultural sphere as consisting of both shores of the Sea - though those of the Jade Coast sometimes beg to differ - and tend not to use the term “Abethine Coast”, referring to it simply as the Near Shore and that only in a geographical sense, rather an a political or cultural one. The term is therefore more popular in the old Imperial heartland.

The Abethines are by far the most enthusiastic takma practitioners of marine transport and commerce. While most takmar are content enough to live near the sea, and will even float large rafts or small boats on it for platforms to use while fishing, they consider it highly dangerous to go too far from familiar shores - certainly not out of sight of them, either away from land or along a coast. The Abethines, by contrast, are relatively comfortable with the sea and, while still more timid in this respect than humans, have constructed vessels capable of long-distance and deep-water travel and gained a working knowledge of the currents and winds off the southern shores of Sekhaa.

The bulk of the Empire's shipbuilding was based in the Abethine Coast. While the area's fortunes declined with the Imperial collapse, in recent cycles they have rebounded; the Abethine states, competing intensely with each other, have become fabulously wealthy through the creation of long-distance marine trade routes, on which they have a near monopoly. They have also begun the process of exploring the coasts of Sekhaa, and are gradually extending their range through the establishment of permanent supply depots - at least some of which are evolving into far-flung colonies of their home cities. The Abethines have also become the first to discover a major landmass beyond Sekhaa: the continent of Enarri.

The states of the coast speak mostly Abethine languages, which are named for this area, though some other language families, particularly Imperial, are represented. The local elites are generally at least familiar, and often proficient, with Contemporary Imperial as a language of international communication, though Abethine-based creoles are more frequent as lingua francas considered suitable for traders.

• Ǣdyihòzh: one of the least adventurous, but most wealthy, of the Abethine states, owing to its control of Giants' Gap and ability to control the commerce that passes through it. Also one of the most reviled, due to its relative tolerance for, and employment of, witches.
• Uzhidam: the city from which Ǣdyihòzh was founded, and later a detested rival.