Drinker River

Geography

The drinker originates as an ice melt river from the Bad Step's snowy peaks which made for the cleanest drinking water for those down stream. It acts as the dividing border between the Mytenii and Hajjinis Short Steps and cuts through the Birac forest in the Bad Slopes, to bounce between the mounds under the garden cities, before naturally emptying into Mixed Lake.

Ecosystem

Dams, dikes and diverting ditches were a natural staple to the river's path for thousands of years. They continue to feed the fields, water the gardeners and defend settlements.
It was a unifying project initially meant to counter the Popotla Fields across the border. But an advantageous military application was later realize in that releasing certain locks would alter the downstream landscape so quickly as to make sang maps useless.

Localized Phenomena

Bidirectional Flow

The drinker is (or was) holy to Youalahuan.
With the final surrender of the glass chiefs, a series of ingenious water systems artificially reversed the river's course away from the direction of Ocumtit so as to carry waste from the island city into the Covered Fields inland.

Certainly by design, contaminated water backflowed into the lower lying ground in our territory and poisoned some the garden cities. It was meant to break us, finally.

From upstream, the waters continued to flow naturally, and meet and mix with the dirtied water. Necessitating the need for further reservoirs and spill flows.

Fauna & Flora

Pond Weed: A family of mostly freshwater plants of various height strongly influenced by environmental conditions, particularly water depth. Generally, the deeper the depth, the shorter the pond-weed's distinctive stem. The flowers, which are often overlooked, are greenish-brown and are composed of four rounded segments borne in a spike. They are 2-4 anthers that turn outward on the bulb resting atop its stem. The fruits are spheroidal and turn green to brown, with a noticeable 'beak'.

History

Sacred River

Youalahuan is the Night Drinker god of work and labour to the ocumtitians. He is described as a being of shards of red glass resembling red smoke in observance to their glass crafting culture and the fact that pieces of unrefined glass shone through the crystal clear water.

— Otoerm

In ages past, the river's drinkers would consume the waters to to treat illnesses. They believed it was a parting gift from their ancestors, but is now lost to memory.
However, given the rediscovery of the medicinal properties of certain growths up in the mountain. It is sensibly concluded that the river water, from where it originates, mixed with various substances as it flowed down to the valley.
This phenomenon likely ended when step folk started controlling their water sources upstream.

Alternative Name(s)

The Drinker

Type

River

Location under

Dragonsgrave

Owning Organization

Otoerm Coil

Contested By

• Triple Alignment