Thousand River Lowlands

The Western, Wineloving landscapes where the mountains are all the same height but the valleys and secrets grow ever deeper.

Have you heard the rumors? We know them, you know them. The Authority has been more active than usual, sending troops in. Acting like there's a grung outbreak. Acting like there's something to protect us from? So many airships have come in and not come out! I swear, they are testing secret ships here! Like Rexa's but for the water!   What's a better area than this to build secret shipyards?! And here we are all getting too drunk off our own product to even worry about it!   We can't trust the Authority! Keep your eyes peeled!
— Thousand Eyes Thousand Lies
  On the western coast of the Southern Floodlands at the feet of those far reaches of the Forkmaw Range just too close to the floodwaters to be considered part of the Highlands is the Thousand River Floodlands. While many consider this region to be an area of foothill not unlike the Iwate Foothills, the residents and surveyors disagree vehemently.   And, upon actually visiting the region, it's easy to see why. Even though there is an incline as you approach the Mountains of the Forkmaw Range, the land doesn't really get taller. Instead, the valleys just get deeper and deeper. This has an interesting effect of making the areas rich in life and plants as the valleys fill yearly and act as a natural source of irrigation. The nature of these hills and valleys has made it hard to establish farms that can produce enough yield to be viable outside of family and community complexes, thus, a different group of people have found plants to grow here.   Namely, grapes. The Thousand Rivers are known to have the highest concentration of wines anywhere in Northern Ithungsidan Hunter. With ships constantly carrying crates filled with wine fermented to perfection. The lowlands produce such a wide spectrum of flavors that they have almost completely fueled the creation of Wine Stewards as a career. Sommeliers, in fact, aren't considered to be a true master of wine until they have spent a number of seasons in the Thousand Rivers travelling and learning the unique connotations of the various types of wine.  

Flora and Fauna

A fair number of the valleys of the Thousand Rivers never really dry completely, leading to the promotion of swampy areas filled with frogs and amphibious creatures. This also contributes to the massive amount of insects that linger in the region to the desperation of most creatures.  

Natural Resources

Many Dwarven Surveyors have made their way through the Lowlands in search of riches, however, they consistently find that the sandstone base of the mountains offer little in the way of valuable resources. A number of Lead mines and quarries do make their living in the regions from the large amounts of dolomite and limestone. The vineyards act as a much larger part of the area's identity.

Geography

Some researchers have proposed that the Lowlands are named as a misnomer. As the formation of the area almost seems like the lowlands are remnants of an ancient mountain range that stretched down into and possibly past the Wasat Peninsula and into the Islands of Esplorzeni.   According to the experts of SosIwa, the many surveys and attempts to set up mines in the region have divined that suggest that the mountain range was thoroughly desiccated over a short period of time. Potentially submerged entirely in what must have been an insane flood, even by the standards of the Southern Floodlands, it's thought possible that such origins would have something to do with the legends of the Sinking of the Floodlands potentially giving them a root in reality.
Alternative Name(s)
Wine Islands, The Drunkard's Paradise, Flooded Flankards
Type
Estuary / River delta
Location under
Owning Organization

Where are these quotes from?

  TETL Is a conspiracy magazine based out of the Lowlands that is popular across Forkden and a number of port cities like Aegis. It's usually dismissed as vitriol, but has actually caught a number of real stories before they hit common knowledge.


Cover image: by HelHeim

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