Overview
The Kana Peninsula is a peninsula located on the east coast of The Couvalon Kingdom in
Suriima. It is a wide, finger-like extension on that side of the continent. It is a notable shape due to the matching recess on the west coast of Thrabad, indicating those continents, at least, may have been whole once upon a time. The peninsula itself is predominantly high elevation, with rolling hills and flat-top mesas alike. It is also home to its namesake city of Kana, which whilst close to the coast, is not strictly a port due to the fact it has high cliffs on all sides. There are paths down to the water but those are not suitable for heavy transport, but this does mean that although large trade is not viable, passenger vessels can use Kana as a stop-off. Like all of Suriima, it exists in a tropical climate. Due to the exposed nature of the peninsula, it is particularly susceptible to violent hurricanes and monsoons.
A Stormy Place
The unique topography and location of the Kana Peninsula means that it takes the brunt of the tropical storms during the warmer months. The very fertile soils make settling and farming here worth the risk, though. The residents of Kana and the surrounding area, therefore, have to prepare for the inevitable yearly danger that comes with living and farming there.
The city of Kana has adapted to this struggle, with gutters built into the sides of their streets to help funnel the rainwater away more efficiently. The city's building are almost always build with redundancy space into their foundations, meaning their true ground floor levels are elevated to prevent flooding. Farm houses out in the countryside, similarly, are typically built on stilts for this same reason.
Aside from the general adaptations, the people of Kana have dedicated countermeasures. Stormwatch Observatory, which doubles as a lighthouse, exists at the most easterly point of the peninsula. Its primary job is to study the weather and to predict and warn of incoming major storms. It is one of Kana's oldest buildings, built in response to the first especially devastating hurricane that devasted the early settlers in the Age of Discovery. This early warning system allows the citizens of Kana crucial hours to prepare, and the Storm Sages to get into place to use their magic to deflect the worst of the assaults. Some scholars believe the mythical artefact
The Cape of the Four Winds may have originated with the Storm Sages of the Shrine of Tempests.
During the Cataclysm War
Kana suffered during
The Cataclysm War, but not due to the storms. Whilst the settlement is positioned well in terms of defending an invading force (similar to
Irallien in Aldenia), the downside to this meant it was particularly vulnerable to the aerial threat of Emirdon, the Green Dragon that terrorised the region. Emirdon laid waste to the exposed farms of Kana Peninsula before he was vanquished, which left the region with a tough rebuilding effort once the war ended.
Notable Locales
The only major settlement in the region is Kana itself. A city of roughly 50,000 inhabitants, mostly human rests about a day's ride, minimum, from any cliffside at the end of the peninsula. The lifeblood of the region though, are the farms and mines of the region located to the west of Kana. Due to the early warning system of the Stormwatch Observatory, most years the storm season passes without major damage, and the region therefore can move from strength to strength and build its infrastructure, year-on-year, now that the area is back to full strength again.
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