Dynamo River Valley

The Dynamo River Valley is a temperate area located in the extreme southeastern corner of Hyperborea Hoedenheim Territory, nestled between the north slopes of the Jorgmungandr mountains and the Great Hoeden Glacier. Like the rest of the Hoeden territory, there is no central government here.

Geography

The Dynamo River flows northwest-southeast through the hills, muskegs and marshes of its eponymous valley, from where it rises in the foothills of Mount Dynamo at Lake Hrunka to its mouth at Port Fordwidth, near the Drakenfjord.
The local biome is cool, temperate forest with an average annual temperature of 6°C (+25°/-11°C). Summers can be humid, and winters typically blanket areas away from the river in heavy snow.
Mount Dynamo is a supervolcano. Its eruption in ancient times put an effective end to the Thousand Year War between Ostoria and Kayakume by catching both sides unaware and causing massive destruction to both. (for more, see The Thousand Year War (Runelands Version).)
In the intervening centuries, glaciation and volcanism have created a hilly landscape rife with conifers, criss-crossed by an uncountable number of small spring-fed brooks, creeks, streams, and other channels by which rain, spring, and meltwater might seek the lowest point. The trees get shorter and scrubbier and the terrain climbs to a stony shieldland the closer one gets to the Great Glacier.
Local soil profiles are decent for agriculture, and small farms dot the valley. Most of these take advantage of the river's constant temperature for year-round agricultural pursuits.

Local ground cover includes feather reed, various grasses and hardy, frost-resistant perennial flowers, and fruit-bearing bushes like blueberries and raspberries, and grows thinner the closer one draws to the Great Glacier.

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Dynamo River
Freshwater, volcanically-heated River. • Maximum Depth: 22 m • Widest Point: 4.87 km • Navigable: Yes •

The amazing Dynamo River remains open all year, thanks to its constant temperature. Catfish, Smelt, Pickerel, Rainbow Trout, and Salmon are commonly fished out of the Dynamo and the nearby Drakenfjord.

Drakenfjord

Brackish Estuary • Maximum Depth: 137 • Widest Point: 37.7 km. • Navigable: Yes •

Localized Phenomena

Because most of its tributaries are geothermally heated, the Dynamo River maintains a constant temperature of 80°F/26.6°C year-round. This prevents the river from freezing, and provides its eponymous valley with a somewhat-milder climate than the rest of the surrounding area. It also cloaks the areas closest to the river in thick fog which accumulates as ice on structures and trees in the area in the colder months.

History

The Dynamo River Valley is part of the Hoedenheim Territory. It was first explored in IR 779 by the Gearheart Expeditions, sponsored by the Republic of Bael Bradach and led by "Frumious" Jim Gearheart. Conceived as an attempt to discover a trade route through the Great Glacier, Gearheart's basecamp eventually evolved into the settlement at Dynamo Hill.
Since, the Dynamo River Valley has appealed to the sort of people who might enjoy a remote, ungoverned location on the frontier. Local goblin and kobold nations who had used the site of Dynamo Hill as a trading moot continued to do so; a few tussles here and there taught the settlers they'd be welcome if they didn't get pushy.

Maps

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  Dynamo River Valley

  The environs surrounding the Dynamo River, including the hidden Citadel of Ashardalon.

Type

Valley

Location under

Hoedenheim

Included Locations

• Creekvik
• Dynamo Hill