Hoverboat
Also colloquially called a skimmer or skimmerboat, the hoverboat was invented to navigate large wetlands where the variable water depth could be very shallow in places. The design has evolved over the centuries but remains fundamentally the same: a flat-bottomed boat, the hull of which is equipped with force hover technology. This means the boat "sails" just above the surface of the water rather than actually on or in it, eliminating the risk of getting caught in webweed or damaged on rocks. Hoverboats also have a weaker strength of force hover tech on the front of the boat which gently parts a path through plants that grow above the water, up the the height of the boat itself.
While quite a specific purpose, the hoverboat proved revolutionary in the wetter regions of Naldu and the consequences in the Occrean region proved quite controversial at the time, particularly in the area now known as High Marsh, one of Occrea's western districts.
Prior to the vehicle's invention, the city of Occrea was drastically expanding across the region. However it had been forced to build around the wetlands in the area now known as High Marsh, which was sparsely populated with Tsiiq villages. Wetlands protection laws meant the area could not be drained and, while the technology existed to build on the land without destroying the ecosystem, there was no practical option for short-range travel that would suit city living. The hoverboat solved this problem.
As a result, the wetlands became the district of High Marsh, and this was very unpopular with the village communities, who didn't want their way of life urbanised. Densely-populated residential blocks on elevated platforms were built between villages and the Occrean monorail expanded to link them together. Hoverboats could navigate across the water between the preexisting villages and connect its passengers to the elevated platforms via lifts.
Today, High Marsh is one of the most diverse districts of Occrea, despite its geography making it the sparsest-populated. Tsiiq communities still live in the original ground-level villages, though only one of the villages still contains the original buildings. The northern border of the district is home to "luxury rustic" homes, providing expensive riverside residences that are rare in Occrea. The middle of the wetlands provides the ideal conditions for northflower cultivation, and as a result a thriving agricultural community. The unique landscape is popular with tourists, and the district has one of the highest immigrant populations in Occrea, with some of its earliest residents being the first extraterrestrial refugees granted citizenship on Naldu.
The hoverboat proved crucial in the development of High Marsh into what it is today, whether for better or worse, and the history of the area is still a sensitive one to some. That said, despite what it led to, the Tsiiq people who lived in the area did embrace the benefits the hoverboat itself offered them, especially during times of high water levels when many would have previously be confined to their houses.
Today, looking back, many believe the hoverboat being made available to the villagers at the time was done as a peace offering at best, an outright bribe intended to quieten resistence to the urbanisation at worst. However, the Occrean officials at the time were unfazed by the prospect of opposition because the Tsiiq were a poor and marginalised community with no sway in politics. It was the inventors of the hoverboat who ensured availability and affordability was written into a watertight contract, recognising that the invention would be most useful to those who would otherwise never stand a chance at getting their hands on it. Since they were clearly sympathetic to the Tsiiq perspective, it's likely they underestimated or didn't anticipate at all the impact their invention would end up having on the people they were advocating for.
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