Viridia
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the whole planet depends on this river, so whatever it is they're trying to do here, we cannot let it happen.
Viridia, often referred to as the Emerald Serpent, the Viridian River or simply the Green River, is a major east-flowing river located on Asteria. It flows from the White Blade mountains down into the Panthalian ocean, passing through the Elder Lakes and several valleys, making it, by far, the largest river on Asteria. At about 8 160 km long, it is also the largest river within the Vestan Federation.
With the help of its multiple tributaries, Viridia is also directly and indirectly irrigating nearly 60% of Asteria's fertile lands, making it essential for the planet's agriculture. As a result, more than half of the planet's population currently resides within 50 km of the river, forming a wide area of urban and agricultural sprawl that greatly contrasts with Hestia's normally arid landscape. This contrast can even be seen from low orbit, earning the river its various monikers in Vestan culture. The river is also used to provide electrical power to the nearby cities, either through the use of hydroelectric dams or through several nuclear power plants.
Name
Viridia was initially discovered in 166 by Vestan explorers. During this time, there was already a significant part of the river being surrounded by greeneries, thanks to the fertile lands it created, although not nearly as much as it would become some two centuries later. This greenery, visible from orbit thanks to the various observation satellites, officially earned the river its name in 167 during a scientific convention. Derived from the Latin word Viridis, loosely translated to 'green', 'fresh' and 'vigorous', the name Viridia quickly became popular enough to warrant some nicknames in the following decades, such as the Emerald Serpent or the Green River.
Geography
Source
Viridia's source is generally regarded to be the McFerney lake nested within the White Blade mountains, collecting rainwater and melted snow throughout the year. It is a location of interest for geologists and biologists alike due to the local ecosystem and soil composition, with the lake itself being a restricted area attached to the McFerney Federal Observatory. The observatory also serves as a monitoring station to analyze the water's quality for health concerns.
Latin ('green', 'fresh', 'vigorous')
Country
Vestan Federation
Regions
White Blade mountain range
Baphang Plateau
Viridian Lowlands
Largest cities
New Calypso (23.4M)
Port Mirage (17.3M)
Amber Hills (8.7M)
Source
McFerney Lake, White Blade mountains
Mouth
Port Mirage, Panthalian Ocean
Length
8 160 km
Discharge
Minimum: 700 m3/s
Average: 3,400 m3/s
Maximum: 11,000 m3/s
High Viridia
From the White Blade mountain range to the edge of the Baphang plateau, Viridia stands at least 1 200m above sea-level, winding south-east between some 1600 kilometers of shallow banks before progressively sinking into the Abyssal Canyon. The canyons end some 968 kilometers away with the Solenia Falls. Due to the volcanic geological composition of the Baphang Plateau, High Viridia is rich in algae and fishes, with the plateau itself also being quite a fertile land. This results in a large presence of agricultural facilities on the river's shallow banks, followed by the city of Amber Hills above the Abyssal Canyon. The city itself it partially built above the canyon, with numerous bridges and artificial platforms spanning the 170m wide precipice. Numerous elevators also lead to some docks and luxury restaurants dug into the rock and onto the water, though they remain sparsely used.
Beyond the city, the land is much less hospitable for farming, and is instead occupied by some mining and refining facilities, with a few towns and villages in between. This continues until the Solenia Falls, which is the largest touristic attraction of the entire planet. With water plunging from an outstanding cumulated 1 253m, these four consecutive waterfalls are surrounded by luxury hotels and attractions, as well as numerous sidewalks whose safety has been an unwarranted but popular concern for the past decades. The nearby cities and towns are highly interconnected with rail and air networks, but do not have their own spaceport due to a lack of suitable ground.
Low Viridia
Stemming from the modest Solenian Lake that forms at the bottom of the waterfalls, Viridia continues east-ward towards the Panthalian Ocean. Flowing at the heart of the Viridian Lowlands for some 5 000km, the river remains relatively shallow at an average depth of 13m and with an average width of 2.6 kilometers, more than fifteen times as much as within the Abyssal Canyon. Within the Lowlands, Viridia is surrounded by greeneries, from dense forests to vast plains and marshes. These greeneries are supplemented by vast agricultural fields that cover more than thirty thousand square kilometers, as well as a multitude of smaller cities and towns. These fields form the backbone of the planet's food production, while also providing a significant portion of the raw materials used in the local bio-industry.
Delta
Viridia splits into three main distributaries some 90km away from the coast of the Panthalian Ocean, most likely due to the ground composition there which is rich in dense metal ores. It is there that the capital city of New Calypso lies, along with its heavily industrialized suburbs and districts. The city extends through all three distributaries, using numerous bridges and tunnels to allow people through. Beyond the city and its industrial suburbs, the delta forms some marshes and wetlands that have been found difficult to convert for agricultural use. These areas generate a large quantity of hydrogen through algae growth, making them exceptionally dangerous. This also makes the region highly unstable due to the gas' high flammability, but some companies have nonetheless set up some harvesting operations in these areas.
Finally, the delta reaches the coast, where Port Mirage stands as the largest port city of the planet. Built along the entirety of the delta's coast as a 20km-wide strip of urbanized land, Port Mirage is home to the largest fishing community in the entire world, as well as the largest military naval base of the Federation. It also has a significant industrial landscape deeper inland, partly due to the hydrogen refining facilities used by the harvesters.
History
Early colonization
As one of the first planetary features discovered by the various exploration vessels of the Federation, Viridia was naturally selected as an ideal location to setup the first colonies. Early geological surveys led to the first colony being setup at the very beginning of the river's delta, due to the nearby arable land and the abundance of construction materials such as ores and other minerals. As the first colony grew, the second city of Port Mirage was quickly established to provide a home base for the eager fishermen and marine biologists. The two cities grew quickly, trading between each other food and raw resources, while other cities started to appear further inland near the river. After fifty years, most of the population was located within 50km of Viridia, with a few smaller towns and cities established in similar locations near the Panthalian Ocean and minor rivers.
During the Interstellar War, this concentration around bodies of water was used against Ceryx Group, as the consortium did not anticipate the rogue colony to establish military facilities beyond these areas. With these shipyards secretly built away from populated areas, some of these facilities would remain intact even two centuries later. Most were eventually left abandoned or dismantled, as their use had faded away in favor of the orbital shipyards built in the 350s. After the war, the river became contaminated with radioactive dust particles, and the nuclear winter that followed killed most of its ecosystem. As the surface water froze, however, some of its fauna and flora survived, mutating over time as the radiation slowly decayed, and posing a known risk for the local population, even to this day.
Recent history
The Asterian Restoration Initiative of the 270s have since then cleansed the river of most of its radioactive particles, with the few left being as harmless as the background solar radiation. Most of the mutated ecosystem was exterminated and replaced with artificially bred specimens, produced thanks to samples preserved from decades prior, although some of those mutated specimens remain and have since mingled with the newly introduced ecosystem. The health risks caused by this are not yet fully understood and are carefully monitored by the Ministry of Health and a fair number of non-governmental organizations.
Ever since it was reclaimed by the Federation in the end of the 3rd century, Viridia remains an invaluable strategic asset for the planet and is heavily defended by the Vestan Maritime Defense Force, with the port city of Port Mirage serving as its planetary headquarters. The river itself is permanently patrolled by elements of the 1st Independent Support Flotilla, also known as the Vidirian River Guard. This dedicated unit fields specialized flat-bottomed vessels to sail through most of the river, working in conjunction with elements of the Vestan Ground Defense Force to safeguard the river and its assets.
Features
There are a multitude of lakes along the Viridian river, ranging from the largest Derkach lake of the Viridian Lowlands, visible from orbit, to the more humble Elder Lakes of the Baphang plateau. As they are often good fishing locations, most of these lakes have cities settled nearby. Resorts and vacation cottages are also commonly found on their shores.
Despite its large width, many bridges connect the river's two banks. Most of these bridges are within the cities established along the river, but some, especially rail bridges, are also established away from human settlements. These are generally used to ferry goods and electrical power across the river, and are rarely used by travelers.
Viridia serves as the main water supply for four nuclear power plants. All but one of these are located in the Viridian Lowlands, with the High Amber power plant located on the Baphang plateau, 65km away from Amber Hills. These four power plants provide nearly 86% of the planet's electricity, complemented with hydroelectric dams and local solar and wind power plants.
As one of the most hospitable location of Asteria, the Viridian river hosts a multitude of cities on its banks, such as the capital city of New Calypso, the canyon city of Amber Hills and the port city of Port Mirage, to name a few. These cities are interconnected by rail, road and naval networks that follow the river's course, creating what is referred to as the "Viridian Freeway". This has recently become a popular tourist attraction as well as a major trade route.
Several hydroelectric dams have been built on High Viridia, most notably within the White Blade mountains. These dams serve both as a power source for the relatively small and remote nearby settlements, but also as regulators against floods.
To assist with ship navigation and traffic, several canals have also been built within Low Viridia, relieving some load from the road and rail networks. A canal has also been built to link High Viridia and Low Viridia, allowing ships to sail through the entirety of the river. This canal forms a deviation away from the Solenia Falls and is partially dug into the plateau itself, with numerous water locks allowing the ships to eventually reach the level of the Abyssal Canyon.
Great article. Easy to read layout and lots of info about the various aspects of the river. Pretty nice how hotels have sprung up near the falls, that seems like great place for tourism indeed.