Introduction: Geography

Physical Geography

The inhabited territory of the Bay consists of several jutting peninsulas separated by narrow fjord-like inlets. One of these peninsulas has been cut off from the mainland and now exists as a large island in the centre of the bay called Perry Island. A few smaller islands surround Perry, including Sholner, Usk, Doal, and the Mardons.

A large peninsula forms the northern flank of the 5 mile wide mouth of the Bay which opens up onto the sea. On this northern peninsula rest a few small mountains which close off the sea coast from the land on the Bay side. Mountains also mark the southern and north-western bounds of inhabited land; the south as gently rising hills, while the northwest is marked by a dramatic cliff face.

Quite a number of rivers flow into the Bay. Three rivers fall over the north-western cliff; the Cliffside, the Lipping, and finally the Torrent, which features a massive waterfall that crashes directly into the waters of the Bay at Tallfalls. In the west the Fairdon and Coney rivers mark the north and south bounds of the Ringwood, a forest around the town of the same name. The Silver River flows out of the southern hills, while the River Gar comes out of the north. The Canal flows to the Bay through an ancient obsidian faced canal from the Riddelmere which is filled by the mysterious Skarie River that flows up to the lake from the sea. Finally, the Wellwash is fed by an ancient pump that calls water from the depths of the earth.

Much of the land in the Bay has long since been converted to farmland, but other terrain also exists. In terms of forests there is the Ringwood in the west, the Roscoe forest in the southern hills, the Garwood in the north, as well as the Wachoer forest near the sea. When the Freeze began, Perry Island was a mix of farmland and scattered woods, but has since been forested with bamboo spawned from a small stand on Usk Island. Another bamboo wood has more recently been planted around Omstead. Some of the mountains near the ocean are simply too rocky to accommodate much plant life, as is some of the land near the cliff , and the sea coast. Finally, the Riddelmere Lake rests on a plateau that slopes into a wooded valley that reaches the coast, but this valley and the plateau are heavily occupied by varkers and so are not counted as part of the Bay.

Social Geography

The territory of the Bay is subdivided into five nations, each inhabited by one of the principal races of the Bay.

In the eastern mountains near the coast, the hodekin make their home. Their capitol is the town of Audlem, where the great pump gives birth to the Wellwash. Their territory extends south through the Omstead bamboo forest and Wachoer woods to Alshap, and north past the Canal to the mine at Torlich.

Elben territory lies primarily on the north shore of the northern fork of the Bay. It begins at the Canal and extends through the Garwood to the cliff and Tallfalls. The elben nation also includes a small section on the south shore of the north fork which is primarily farmland. Their capitol is Garstang.

On the south shore of that same fork is the uruk nation. Their land is bounded by the cliff-face on most sides, leaving them little hope of expansion. The northern half of their land is rocky, while the southern half is made up of farmland, which includes their capitol of Rackholl.

Moving south from the uruks, we reach the alfar nation. The largest part of their territory lies on the western mainland, from the Cliffside River and the uruk nation, through the Ringwood, and down to the Silver River and the humans. The alfar also occupy the western half of Perry Island, all of Usk, Doal, and Sholner Islands, and a section of farmland on the eastern coast of the Bay adjacent to the hodekin. Their capitol is Benshaw on Perry Island.

The human nation is just as fragmented as the alfar. Their largest territory is on the southern mainland, from the Silver River to Butterwatch on the coast, with the town of Mondegreen centred in that stretch. In the north they control a section of the farmland next to the elben and uruk nations, and in the east a small section next to the hodekin and alfar lands. While Mondegreen is their capitol, Dunstable is their most populous town and the most populous in the Bay. Dunstable is located in the human territory that comprises the eastern half of Perry Island.

Friday: Recent Events