The Conflux
The conflux is the confluence of the clearwater Catageis River and whitewater Inferna River, and the central point of the Aurora Astralis.
Geography
The headwaters of the Catageis River are fed by glacial meltwater streams from the Cataegides glaciers of Tumultus Terram . The purity of this water is second to none, and retains the icy temperatures of its origin to its end at the conflux. Strong surface winds drive iceburgs down its length, making these waters incredibly treacherous to navigate.
Despite this, it is abundant with life, including whales, seals, penguins and sea serpents. The latter are believed to be guardians left behind by the Aericola , creatures able to exist in both sea and air, to protect the Glacianum from threats.
The islands of the archipelago of Petra Terram are the exposed peaks of a great undersea mountain range formed by volcanic activity. Most are active volcanoes, with several persistent lava lakes.
The Inferna River has a high level of nutrient-rich volcanic sediment, giving it its murky colour, and its calm, warm waters create the environment for a high level of biological diversity.
Dragons are said to call the volcanoes of Petra Terram home, and sailors tell stories of seeing them flying over the waters of the Inferna River, protecting the Petricus from invasion or predators.
The Aurora Astralis is a ring of light above the confluence of the Catageis and Inferna Rivers, atmospheric disturbances caused by the meeting of the two bodies of water with considerable difference in temperature and chemistry.
From the lands of Stella Terram, the aurora can be seen as a mild glow at the horizon. Those who live in the mountains or take to the sky can see the lights in varying arcs or rays, depending on their position and the time of year.
Believed to be a gift of the Coelicola and a protection from harm, it is usually referred to as ‘the fire of heavens’ and any flares are considered blessings on those who view them.
History
When the world was formed, when the coelicola danced across the land, the other primordi watched with concern. They hadn’t stayed on a world like this before, they’d simply created and moved on.
But they couldn’t resist the call, and so when their siblings called, they answered. They took form like the coelicola, and created the creatures of land, sea, and sky, and they made themselves homes. Mountains of fire, of ice, mountains that birthed the Rivers Inferna & Catageis.
The aericola and tellicola watched as these rivers embraced the lands they’d made, watched as humans braved the treacherous waters. Those humans found the mountains they called home, and like the coelicola, they came to love these humans, and soon the petricum and glacianum came to be, making their homes in the shadow of volcanoes, in caves carved from ice.
And when the children of the coelicola wanted a home of their own, the children of the dark came together again. Hands joined, they drew together the rivers of fire and ice and called down starfire. At the conflux where they met but never mixed, they raised a landing place, the locus, a place where all of their children could call home.
The stellarum settled here, raising families and honouring the starfire in their souls. They mixed freely with their cousins the petricum and glacianum, and the children of these liaisons were born with gifts from both the stars and storm or lava.
But these children were not like those of a single lineage - they didn’t want to settle, to stay in one place for their time in this world. Like the coelicola, their curiosity overwhelmed them, a burning desire to understand the world and uncover new secrets. For them, colours were brighter, sounds were louder, flavour exploded on their tongue. For some, the biting cold was home, clearing their minds and lending them clarity, while others found peace in the cozy embrace of the hot and damp.
Wherever they went, they asked questions, and shared their knowledge, and disrupted the peaceful lives of those they visited. In some places, this was embraced, and they expanded the understanding of those who viewed the world with a similar wonder. But in others, they were met with fear and hostility, and driven away.
The elders of stellarum and petricum and glacianum came together to discuss the problem of the Mutaturum, the children of multiple lineages. They talked, and determined that like the conflux, where fire and ice and the stars met but never joined, the lineages should never have joined, that these children of chaos were not what the long-departed primordi had intended when they had created the locus.
So it was decreed - the petricum and glacianum would return to their mountains of fire and ice, and no more would they venture down the rivers to mingle with their cousins. The stellarum raised walls made of locus stone, basalt fused with starfire and cooled by glacial streams, and focused their attention inward.
The dark watched, and it grieved.
by Getty Images
Type
River Basin
Included Locations
