Upper Basin

The Upper Basin is the large protected valley region in the north of Canaan that houses the Zilaphelian Kingdom. It is defined by its natural fortification: the Itumue Mountains curve westward in the north to form its eastern and southern walls, creating an enclosed valley system with its own climate, ecology, and sense of geographic identity. This natural protection has allowed the Zilaphelian Kingdom to develop in relative security, making the Upper Basin the most prosperous and orderly region of the continent.

The Upper Basin is distinguished from the Mediata Savannah to the south by its geography, climate, and culture. Where the Savannah is an open expanse of grassland shaped by rivers and trade roads, the Upper Basin is a contained valley with restricted land access. No pass leads south through the mountains below Zilaphela; the only overland route is the long western road through the rolling hills around Middale, so much of the Kingdom's traffic with the rest of Canaan still goes by sea. The Basin is also at a higher elevation and has a cooler, more moderate climate than the warm plains of the south.

Geography

The valley system

The Upper Basin is a large valley system enclosed by the Itumue Mountains on its eastern and southern sides and by the Zilaphelian Mountain Range along the north. The western edge opens onto the coast of the Cobalt Oceanfront and, to the south-west, onto rolling hills that run down towards the Enchanted Forests. Within the valley, the terrain is varied: fertile farmland covers much of the agricultural zone; the Zilaphela River snakes through the basin feeding from the mountains; an oasis in the north-east of the basin is fed by river water; and soft sand and vegetative desert lie in the western reaches between the capital and the coast.

The north of the basin is the Northern Expanse, a stretch of sand dunes running up to a long escarpment beneath the mountains, and between the dunes and the farmland stands an eternally dead forest.

The Zilaphela River

The Zilaphela River is the major river of the Upper Basin. It gathers in the lakes of the basin's south-eastern corner and runs west along the foot of the southern mountains past Kaxia, before turning south-west into the Enchanted Forests, where it joins the broader river network of central Canaan as the Enchanted Rivers. On the lakes at the river's eastern end lies Llyn, a poor town far from the capital.

Ports

Two main ports, Stonerane on the western coast and Partama Port on the northern sea, are managed in cooperation with Arakcadia and serve as the primary maritime connections between the Zilaphelian Kingdom and the rest of Canaan. With no pass through the southern mountains and only one long road to the south, these ports are indispensable to the Kingdom's economy and its political relationship with the south.

Northern extent: the dead forest and oasis

The eternally dead forest on the southern edge of the Northern Expanse is a forest that does not grow and does not recover, standing as a permanent barrier between the basin interior and the sand dunes beyond.

The oasis in the north-east of the basin, a cluster of lakes around the city of Zherora, provides a water source in an otherwise drier corner of the valley.

Western terrain

Soft sand and vegetative deserts lie between Zilaphela and the western coastal areas, creating a zone of arid geography between the fertile farmland of the basin interior and the sea routes of the north and west.

Glacier Falls

Glacier Falls is a waterfall fed by glacial meltwater on the eastern side of the Upper Basin, near where the mountains transition toward the Itumue Mountains range.

Climate

The Upper Basin has a distinctive climate moderated by the surrounding mountains and the northern sea access. It is cooler than the Mediata Savannah, with frost in the winter season (Waring) and milder summers than the exposed plains of the south. The mountains protect the basin from the worst of continental storms, including the diminished tail of the Qxi Librąven global storm, which reaches the Upper Basin in a severely weakened state.

Settlements

Zilaphela — the capital of the Zilaphelian Kingdom, the principal city of the Upper Basin, and the seat of King Kaelen Rashir III's monarchy.

Zherora — a city among the lakes of the north-east.

Geddegestein — a town in the west of the basin, where the Fallen's Pride Road from the capital meets the Jamasera Byway.

Kaxia — a town on a lake in the south of the basin, beneath the mountains.

Dölfeeni — a town on the Northern End Road, east of the capital.

Llyn — a poor town on the lakes of the south-eastern corner, at the end of the Northern End Road.

Stonerane — a port on the western coast.

Partama Port — a port on the northern sea, in the far north-east.

Middale — a town in the rolling hills of the south-west on the Jamasera Byway, the Kingdom's overland gateway to the south.

See also

• Zilaphelian Kingdom
• Itumue Mountains
• Enchanted Forests
• Mediata Savannah
• Qxi Librąven