Besseem Isthmus
Heartland of the Ayorhah Culture and it's peoples.
Geography
This is mostly a broad coastal plain dotted with clusters of hills or outcroppings of rock. The area has many small rivers that are not navigable.
The soil is highly fertile and in areas of wilderness it is a grassland.
This area has been settled for over 5900 years and there are hundreds of settlements, farms and ranches across the land. Having been cultivated there are few forests but they dot the grasslands occasionally.
Ecosystem
The coasts are rocky and home deep natural harbors or tidal flats. barrier islands in the Gulf of Besseem and the Long Sea support many corals reefs. This provides for a wide variety of sea life.
The interior of the country side support large heards of creatures. However there is a density of high intensity farming within 80 miles of all of the cities in the region. There are still plenty of wild spaces and migration paths for all kinds of creatures.
Localized Phenomena
Abandoned facilities. There are hundreds of abandoned complexes, most just rubble and foundations. In most inhabited areas these were torn down and the materials scavenged thousands of years ago. However in the further inland areas where the towns and farms are more sparse there are many remains, some with multi-level basements and sealed areas ripe for exploration. Cyphers and relics could be found in these ruins, and technological traps and monsters as well.
Earthquakes. This area has tremors at least one every few months. There are larger earthquakes and some that have toppled modern cities and walls. The major cities that remain have been rebuilt many times, and all of them carry scars of those events. However some of the most ancient buildings seem to weather the worst of these earthquakes and remain unharmed. It is believed that these structures either have been built using methods that negate the damaging shifting or have mechanisms that protect the building from such quakes. Most quakes happen around Sira, Kadi, and Nekhun.
Tsunami. With the quakes Tsunami are also a possibility. A few coastal cities have been destroyed and abandoned because of particularly strong earthquakes. However a strong quake doesn't always create a wave, there needs to be the right conditions. There is little warning when these happen.
Climate
On the Meridian Sea coasts storms are common and can be strong. There are tropical currents that circulate in the Meridian Sea that cause storms to come from the west and make glancing blows to Kadi and Hatwen, then move inland to the east. These currents keep the area warm all year round, and winters are usually just wet with rare snows.
On the Long Sea coast the winds often flow from south to north bringing cooler air in contact with balmy tropical air from the Meridian Sea. This creates fogs and thunderstorms often in the summers.
This area has typically 2 or 3 growing seasons and the land produces multiple yeilds keeping the residents easily fed and allowing for export of crops and livestock.
Natural Resources
The soil is some of the best in the world, and was chosen as the homeland for the Ayorhah knowing that access to food is the foundation of civiliation over the more technological required resources. The grasslands that originally were her supported deep rooted grasses that could grow more than 8' high. These grasses supported all manner of grazers and ecosystems.
Farming and ranching are the primary resources and industry in this area.
There are mines that exist and they provide iron, copper and other metals, but not in great volumes. Many of the mines have been played out over the thousands of years, and stand abandoned. Most metals are brought in as inports from other cities and civilizations.
Lumber is in short supply, and most cities are made of brick or stone. (or rubble from previous buildings). Most trees are small caliper and twisting so they do not provide good lumber stock. Lumber that is brought in is from areas to the northeast of Besseem or the far west from the jungles.
Food from the sea is an important staple and fishing is a big industry in all of the coastal cities. However, further inland it is a rare delicacy as it is hard to transport.
History
First settled by the Ayorhah in the years 66 - 121 this area was the first place they made landfall. Hatwen maybe the location of the first settlements, followed by countless forgoten ruins along the coast.
Major cities began to form and expand their influence by the year 200. Farms and towns spring up across the region.
In the 520's the cities of the Ayorhah rival that of their neighboring civilizations. There is a strong confederacy between the cities and they work on bigger and bigger projects. The largest endevor are the two great canals Nysisus and Muriel.
In the 700's with the begining of the decline in technology the confederation wanes and each city state vies for it's own survival and to hold on to what it can. In this region the cities do maintain diplomatic ties with each other and maintain institutions to continue services for trade and communications.
In the post technological ages of the 900's and mid 1500's Ayorhah adopt the study of magic and philosophical magic.
Over the next few thousand years the region adopts a steady state with few major wars, most coming from outside invaders. However, Ayorhah are given to uprisings and revolutions so much of the strife is self created as city nobility jockey for power, or other forces rise up.
Tourism
Ruins: All of the major cities are built on or near ancient ruins. old facilities, old complexes, arcologies in ruins. They have been picked over for cyphers and artefacts, but the lure of ancient treasure bring adventurers of all types.
The canals: For numeriamancers these are facinating still fully functional facilities.
Comments