Howl Basin
Howl Basin is a large geographical region consisting of the land within the peninsula demarked between the rest of the Continent and the Howling Herald Mountains, jutting out into the Golden Sea. It is actually a rather large area and a bit of a misnomer as it quite arguably contains several "basins" or "watersheds" in the proper geological sense.
Howl Basin is known for a few things: natural resources, in which it is fairly rich at a time in which economics is just beginning to industrialize and exploit many of them, and for Strange Occurrences that occasionally pepper its wilder areas. It is populated by the Folks, loose social allegiances of otherwise disparate groups. Nominally, Howl Basin is now properly part of the Federation since it was recently annexed through legislation that has made it part of a region known as the Frontier. However, not all who live in the Basin recognize the legitimacy of the Federation and even those who do sometimes question the legality of this move.
Geography
Howling Basin can be thought of as being naturally subdivided into smaller geographical regions, almost along climatic lines, in a manner similar to how more heavily developed areas are subdivided into counties and townships. The major broad strokes of these divisions are:
- The North Shore, a heavily evergreen-forested region prone to heavy rains and virtually immune to sunlight, which extends a few score miles back from the northern shore against the Golden Sea. In this region, riverine travel is almost more important that overland travel and the people who live here are a hearty bunch who know how to deal with getting a little wet. A typical North Shore community can be found in Montgomery, a small town that is practically the stereotype for North Shore settlements.
- The Point, at the western tip of the peninsula, sometimes called the West Shore. Here, the climate is almost oppressively pleasant, and the terrain is good for building. The largest city in the entire basin, San Cucaracha is located here.
- The South Shore, by comparison to the north, is equally wet but much more hot, and is dotted with swampy everglades and inlets. The truly coastal portions of the south aren't much good for building or agriculture, but the fishing is excellent and the territory lends itself to the sorts of small ports called for by industrial fishing. The Bolsters have undertaken a somewhat massive construction project in their leveed city of New Montreal.
- The Castle Badlands are just inland of The Point and are an area of extreme deforestation and hot, arid weather, caused by a peculiar confluence of climactic forces. While not densely populated per-se they do need to frequently be traversed as they contain the shortest approaches from virtually anywhere more inland and San Cucaracha. These two factors combined give the Howling Basin some of the highest crime rates in the region, as bandit clans form to rob law-abiding crossers as well as each other. This region is also especially prone to Strange Occurrences, cementing a central place of the Badlands in the pop mythology of the Howl Basin. The only major settlement in Castle Badlands is Parson's Crossing, though it is increasingly dotted by station towns.
- The Blair Lake Watershed is nestled to the south of, and abutting, the North Shore, hemming up against the Castle Badlands on its west and the Packland Prairies on the east. Its a rather clement and pleasant region to live in and increasingly well settled. Most communities in the Blair Lake Watershed are small and insular, but there is a cosmopolitan city of Blair City along the shores of the lake; the city is something of an inland port, interchanging rail and riverboat traffic.
- The Packland Praries is a flat and central region of small rolling hills and open plains; vital to the economics of the Basin for both agriculture and livestock ranging. Its only major community is the city of Grafton, which is at a landing along the Blair River and is increasingly important as a riverine shipping port.
- The Wolverton Foothills are the foothills of the northern mountains, making them a somewhat dryer version of the North Shore due to the rain shadow effect, full of deciduous trees and relatively well developed compared to the more wide-open regions west of them. In addition to increasingly viable mining operations of all kinds, the area is home to Brokerage Dam, a major city and works created by the Bolsters.
- The Howling Herald Mountains themselves are considered to be a unique biome, home to most of the Eyriefolk settlements, and usually considered to be part of the basin as well. While most Eyriefolk settlements are found in the mountains, Jackson Pass is perhaps the largest and most significant city in the mountains, along the easternmost edge and occupying a key pass for train routes.
- The Proctor Erg, in the "fold" of the mountains, is a large sandy desert in the extreme east of the basin. Much like the Castle Bandlands it is sparsely inhabited, containing almost entirely station towns, the most critical of which is Golden Pass.
Settlement
"Wut in... I'm not entirely sure what you're tryin' to do here, kid."
- Unknown Varki Prospector
This section is a placeholder; the information that goes there is missing or relies on Gameplay Mechanics yet to be developed.
Politics
"Wut in... I'm not entirely sure what you're tryin' to do here, kid."
- Unknown Varki Prospector
This section is a placeholder; the information that goes there is missing or relies on Gameplay Mechanics yet to be developed.
History
"Wut in... I'm not entirely sure what you're tryin' to do here, kid."
- Unknown Varki Prospector
This section is a placeholder; the information that goes there is missing or relies on Gameplay Mechanics yet to be developed.