Stygian River

The Stygian River is central to the life and society of Khemit. First and foremost, it waters a large part of the country in its annual floods, which is referred to as the “inundation.” The Stygian also provides easy transportation north and south through Khemit; travel downriver (north) is carried by the current, and travel upriver (south) is powered by the strong winds that blow south from the Sea of Baal. Ships can sail from the sea to the city of Elephantine, but after that point the river experiences the first of its cataracts, where the river channel is dangerously shallow and rocky, and the water runs fast and chaotically. The cataracts are effectively impassable for shipping, though some smaller vessels can be carried via a portage around the rapids.
Cataracts are not just dangerous to ships; they have rocky shores for miles along the river so farming cannot be done in those areas either. On the other hand, places where the banks are high and cut by the river often provide easy access to different types of stone. In addition, temples have been cut into the stone faces along the river at various places to honor several major gods of Khemit. Some of the most ancient rock temples in the far south may originally have been built for other non-Khemitian deities, though their use was converted to the accepted pantheon long ago.
About 200 miles upriver of Elephantine, near the city of Anubis, the river passes through a second cataract, with a third another 100 miles farther south near Suleb. Beyond that is Keruma and the southern border of Upper Khemit. Farther to the south, the Stygian crosses the Nubiar Oversight, past Nampata and around the Mutabar Hills, upriver to the confluence of the Opal and Lapis Rivers. There is the beginning of the Stygian, and the effective limit of the triple kingdom. Farther south are the lands of Meroë and Aethiope.

Type

River