Echo Flats

Just north of Camp Thrifty stretches one of the largest salt flats on the Uferbrech archipelago. At its centre, the Echo Flats stretch beyond the horizon in all directions. During the low tides, the flats are a near featureless plain of white salt that reflects the low glare of the sun. Almost nothing can survive in this environment, moisture is sapped away in moments and plants cannot survive. But once every 3 months, when the two moons synchronise overhead, the tides reach a height that is just enough to spill onto the plain and cover it with an inch of water. At these times the expanse becomes a shimmering mirror of the sky above, and a wonder for many to behold. The name 'Echo Flats' is a rough translation from the Motu name for this transormation, where the flats 'echo' the sky. This event also marks the regular feeding frenzy of the Zikiti Crabs, and the strange locals know as Saltseers who harvest the mucus found within their carapaces for its hallucinogenic properties. Denisons from Camp Thrifty often make treks to Echo Flats during the Moontide trials - either to escape the general chaos of the trials, or to prepare themselves spiritually for them.

Ecosystem

At most times during the cycle of the two Moons, Echo Flats seems devoid of life. At the edges, there can be found low salt-bushes, and even tendrils of mangrove swamps at the lower levels towards the coast. In the centre, there is just salt upon salt, which kills most living things. During the tidal intrusion every 3 months however, Echo Flats transforms. The incoming waters bring with them much nutrients, incuding coral polyps from the shallow seas of Uferbrech. This event awakens the normally dormant Zikiti Crabs who erupt in their thousands to feed and be fed upon in return by the many birds that fly in from the mountains of Tokaru. The sound of the thosands of Zikity Crabs clicking in their frenzy can be heard for many miles, and when on the flats themselves, is deafeningly painful.

Type

Lake, Dry

Location under

Tokaru

Related Ethnicities