Kot Petaszi

Kot Petaszi is a large island across the Southeast Gap. It is a collapsed magma chamber, a basin surrounded by a nearly continuous ring of mountains. The interior of the island is a desert, while rainforest covers the north and eastern coasts. An exploration fleet encountered Kot Petaszi and mapped its circumference; a speculation fleet later made several landings to tabulate its resources. On a foray into the desert interior, the team found the szageki, the first mutually documented encounter of two intelligent species, although this was not understood at the time by either side. The list of exploitable resources was determined insufficient to offset the expense of making repeated journeys, so the island remained nameless. After the Unity's dissolution, the Allied Isles' Dancinglight  made a voyage to meet with the szageki, on the strength of the recordings of their vocalizations that indicated they had a complex language and possibly hydrotropism. The name for the island comes from the szageki term for tribal home territory.

Geography

Kot Petaszi is slightly elliptical, widest along its northeast-southwest axis. The surrounding mountains block precipitation from the interior no matter which direction the prevailing winds come from. The sole gap in the ring is at the southern end, and was once an inlet for the ocean when the sea level was higher. The primary moisture-carrying winds support rain forests on the north and east sides, and seasonal forest on the west. Inside the mountain ring, the terrain is primarily erosional rock formations in the northeast, giving way to sand dunes in the middle and to scrub and grasslands near the mountain gap.

Fauna & Flora

As an island of volcanic origin, there are no truly native inhabitants of Kot Petaszi. The szageki are descended from a species of lizard that floated to the island on debris mats, and still thrive in the moist coastal climate. Szageki hunt snakes, cultivate a few succulent plants for water, and supplement their diet with insects.

Alternative Name(s)

Home Rocks

Type

Island

Included Locations

• Neszekotalo Basin

Related Ethnicities

• Tribe Szageki

Inhabiting Species

• hive lizard
• szageki