Continent of Arcaan

A cold land with a boiling heart

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At first glance, the Arcaan continent seems to be rather hostile, and stone-cold to its core; therefore often compared to Antarctica in its glory days back on Earth - but to many scientists surprise, this wasn't the case after all. A high tectonic activity across the plane of Arcaan makes it a hotspot for the molten core to rise close to the surface. A forest of geysers lies at the eastern coast and forms the landscape to be rather hard to visit.

I never thought I would say this, as a scientist of heart, but this land truly feels alive. It's hard to describe, but I get that eerie feeling here.
- A renowned scientist on Domus .

The boiling hot water and damp coming from the deep, makes snow and ice on the surface melting and freezing again in an endless cycle, resulting in an extremely deep and compact layer of ice.

Geography

Arcaan has many different types of land, where most of it consists of stone grounds (bedrock) and compressed ice in a deep and thick layer. Because of the placement of Arcaan, 3 different tectonic plates meets in the continent and that makes for quite a lot of activity in the underground. Big mountain chains cut through the land, and volcanoes - both active and inactive - are spread throughout the land.
Where there once was volcanic activity but have been silent for many decades, new life has bloomed from the ashes. Topsoil lies on the ground in these areas and makes it a perfect place for trees and bushes to grow. Over the years, the forest has grown big, and flora now weaves through the landscape.

Wobbling ground

A special event happens at any given minute at the eastern coast. The Icy Go-Around is exactly what you would imagine it would be; just like a merry-go-around, this big slate of ice keeps rotating around itself. One rotation takes around 2 days (Earth days), and it goes with the speed of 4 km/h at the very edge of the plate.
What a wonderful and strange phenomenon. It is said to be caused by all the lava activity going on in the underground, and the water gets warmed up in different places makes it move the big plate with it.

by CatRobi

Active volcanoes

Arcaan is filled with volcanoes, many of whom lied dormant long before humans arrived. Many areas have remnants of old volcanoes, and some areas live a good life because of those that once were.
Feyen forest has formed out of the old ashes and has spread a large amount of flora around the west coast and down further south. The Trees sustain large quantities of ice and snow and can grow even in the most freezing weather (down to -40 degrees Celcius). Bushes and small greenery is also seen further south, and many regions are rather lush.
A large active volcano lies in the middle of Arcaan, and it is still really active, spurting ash, smoke and fiery stones into the atmosphere once a month. Another big volcano, Bestia, lies at the island just north of Arcaan (which is still considered to be a part of the continent due to the land being connected at times with ice.) but it isn't as active as Apoleri.
Many smaller volcanoes are scattered throughout the landscape and many new ones erupt from the ground during a year.

Satans Butt

An obscure name, but definitely fitting for this interesting/weird natural "wonder" (though you wouldn't expect something to be a wonder when it is literally called satans butt.) This is not what you think, and no it is not a stinky pit of rotten things. This magnificent wonder is a natural giant sinkhole filled with crystal clear water. This hole is about 15 km deep and is a sight to be seen. The edge of the lake is crystal clear ice, and the hole itself has a barrier of ice and crystals.
Underneath the surface, volcanic activity is happening, and lava is floating in rivers casting light and shadows through the ice. This is visible at times for observers at the surface, and it looks like an impossible sight: lava, water and ice, all meets and blends together like they are in harmony.

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Human activity on Arcaan

The first humans to arrive at Domus didn't find the hard-to-get-to continent anything worth the effort and decided to watch from a distance, though as time went on Arcaan sparked the scientist's interest. With the record of the coldest place on Domus and the place with the most tectonic and volcanic activity, Arcaan seemed to be the obvious next place to visit.
After arriving, labs and sciences centres were built at places of interest, while ports around the coast were created to make it easier for everyone to visit.

Map of Arcaan

Below is a map of Arcaan; Choose a different layer to see different details about the continent.

Arcaan

Open full size

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by CatRobi

Alternative names

Antarctica 2.0, Ice-plane

Location

Domus

Type

Continent

Role

Most inhabitants are here solely for research purposes.

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The Glass forest

Icicles formed to be very pointy and grows from the ground and up towards the sky. They all tend to lean towards west, as they are created by the strong winds that ravage this area a lot - the easter storms.

by CatRobi

It forms these beautiful, but dangerous, pillars with clear blue water - there are so many of them, it's like a forest (hence the name).

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Weather and climate

Mean temperature

(winter): -20 degrees Celsius
(summer): -5 degrees Celsius

Weather systems

Storms and clouds often form at the east coast, as warm water streams up against the shore and cools down.

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Cities and settlements

• Port Zero
• Fort Sal
• Opal Harbor
• Port Igneus
• Dheleria Research Lab
• Hel Research center
• Elro