#tiptum

Twin lighthouses, Tôqhaw Lam and Pok, are found at each end of the strait known as Tôlman, "Fog Turn," where ships from the south turn into the Inner Sea. Lôkh i-Mûn, Warning Island is nearly midway between the prongs of Tiptum at the entrance to the Sea. The fog that rolls in at night vanishes by noon without ever touching the ground, leaving the sun with perfect clarity for the rest of the day. Following the glow, ships from the Outside dock safely for the night at Tôlman, have their cargo inspected by Tepat in the morning, and wait for the clarity of afternoon to round the point into the Inner Sea. Such is the whole west coast, south and north of it.

South of the straits is the desert peninsula Pet. Despite the millions of water droplets hanging over it each morning, this is the driest region of Tiptum. Some plants do actually grow here, all of these which are efficiently exploited by the native Heiepe, who inhabited the peninsula before it was colonized by Tepat in its attempt to control shipping through the strait.

The ubiquitous ground cover, in distant patches, is needle grass (Yuktepat: /khut-chut/), which fends off all foragers with stiff, sharp-pointed leaves. Brave humans have nevertheless collected it in order to sew clothes. Other residents include the only slightly more appetizing spiky fatleafs (/ti-yôp-phuk/) and bladeleafs (/ti-yôp-lam/). The fatleafs’ bulbous leaves are covered with short thorns that spiral upward toward the tip of the leaf. Every few years they produce flowers on a single tall stalk. Those patient enough to gather the leaves and cut off the thorns can eat them, or pulp them to make juice or beer. Bladeleafs’ leaves are nested within each other, with edges so sharp the natives have used dried ones as hunting weapons. The Heiepe make bowls out of the clustered plant leaves, which they cover with cloth and set outside at night. The fog condenses in the cloth and the leaves as dew, by which the people obtain a very useful substance known as water.

Tepat

The lifeline of Tepat is the great river valley cutting diagonally through its center. The two major rivers of the north, the Pemet and Phitim, merge in the center of the country at Xhangtyel, the 'Meeting of Waters,' to form the Yot Klun, 'Wide River.' The /Klun/ is also Tyel Kyet or Yot Kyet, possibly meaning 'Braided River' and referring to the fact that the waters of the two rivers are ‘twisted’ together here - or that the lower reaches of the river, winding and surrounded by oxbow lakes, resemble braided hair.

Different regions of Tepat have different seasonal patterns of precipitation. The eastern part, with a humid subtropical climate, gets precipitation mainly in the summer in the form of thunderstorms, with less in winter. The western regions with more Mediterranean climates have dry summers with rain in the winter. Where the two climate zones transition, there is a zone with two annual peaks in precipitation, in the summer, and the winter. By coincidence, this area corresponds largely to the drainage basin of the Klun River. The availability of so much water year-round made it ideal for agriculture and transport, however, floods were also a risk. The eastern branch of the upper part of the Phitim River, through which most of the country’s thunderstorms and tornadoes pass, was known as the Winds’ Road, or Khat i-Xyul.

Hanam: Southern Tepat

The southern part of Tiptum is known Hanam. The Klun River exits here in a vast delta, with a family of small muddy lakes around it. This is the muggiest part of Tepat. The Lenuk people who lived here in ancient times lived primarily in boats, traveling the labyrinth of lakes and rivers.

Western Tepat

Tiptum

The Eastern Mountains and the Waist

Near the center of Tiptum is the "Waist," and the three "mountain countries," Notoq, Wasak, and Muqali.

Previously, in Geography: Tiptum (general) - Tepat - The Inner Sea - Northern Tiptum - The Straits and the Southwest Corner - Qom Homeland  

Forests generally bordering the mountains in their lower, more level reaches. These are often mixed forests; the broadleaves tend to drop off as one climbs up, the steeper ridges being mostly the aforementioned airy pines (also spruce, fir, pine, larch, hemlock, and yew), and the summits generally bald and snowy. The mountains are also home to mountain goats and bears, as well as the boss cat. As these mountains run along the only major tectonic fault line in Tiptum, they are subject to occasional earthquakes, leading to occasional avalanches and landslides, and have limited volcanic activity. It is believed that Tepat’s legendary Hyum’s Cauldron, a lake of fire, may have been a reference to some formerly active volcano in this mountain chain. There are a number of volcanoes, hot springs, and caldera lakes here and there.

Notoq

Notoq is the original homeland of Tepat - Tepatic people spread from here over the rest of the Plain of Tepat and Land of the Three Rivers. Unified under the kingdom of the Nyow dynasty, founded by Womuq, Tepat was divided during the age of the Shattered Land, and Notoq has been independent since then.

Notoq is situated on a plateau, part of the mountain chain running north and south through the continent. The border between Tepat and Notoq is defined by the Xhop River. The watershed boundary of the Cordillera separates Notoq from Kutsu. Nottep Pass, or the Diamond Pass, the aorta of international transport and commerce in Tepat, marks a four-way boundary among Tepat, Notoq, Kutsu, and Pahs. Meanwhile, the AAA hills (a low mountain range, compared to the plateau) separates Notoq from Muqali.

The majority of Notoq is a plateau, somewhat lower than Muqali’s, composed of hard volcanic rock overlain on softer deposits. Like part of the Muqali plateau, Notoq was probably deposited over aeons by floods of molten rock, perhaps embedded in long-lost and distorted memory reflected in myths of a Great Flood of Fire. Where this stony layer ends, often abruptly, a series of falls are produced, such as those at Ninil and Xhatim. Ninil originally had a pine forest surrounding it, and two especially old and large pines grew on either side of the fall. They were torn down during the Shattered Land, but the name and memory remains. Xhatim is named for two fang-like projections of rock, between which the stream jets out. One of the other main features is Thak i-Tsak, the "Tears of the Rock," which features twin falls springing directly from a rock face. Southeastern regions of Notoq are home to partially assimilated minority peoples who speak lesser Tepatic and Muqalic languages. They were used as a pretext by Muqali for invading Notoq to annex the land, followed by the “liberation” of the minorities and a program of forced de-Notoqification. This ushered in the Age of the Iron Fists, in which several authoritarian regimes emerged around Tiptum.

Wasak

By contrast, much of Wasak is sedimentary rock, and eroded by water into deep-cut canyons. The various Wasak people - speaking languages distantly related to Yuk Tepat - formed villages growing crops in these valleys. Close to but outside the realm of Tepat, the coastal strip was a destination for people from Tepat fleeing the chaos of the Shattered Land. After Wasak tried to kick them out, this invited the Conciliarity to intervene and occupy Wasak, bringing it into the Tepatic sphere.

Above: Qatlak P'awu, the highest mountain in Tiptum and one of the geographically most prominent ones.

Muqali

The Yuk Sôl or Inner Sea is a very large salt-water body situated just north of the equator and enclosed almost entirely by the continent of Tiptum. As part of the continental plate of Tiptum, it is much shallower than the open ocean, and has its own circulation patterns. Nourished by the heavy discharge of Tiptum’s rivers, and tropical rain, it is less salty than the open ocean. It is also home to many unique species of fish, and the coastal areas are rimmed by vast undersea sponge forests. The lack of exchange with the ocean traps heat, making the Sea the warmest one in the world. Numerous hurricanes spawn in or near the Yuk Sôl, but because they follow westerly paths out of the sea, they rarely threaten areas of Tiptum itself.

Amtom

Amtom refers to the eastern coast, particularly of the northern half of the continent. Unlike the open areas to the west, in the east, the mountains abut very closely to the sea, and the shoreline is much more irregular than other parts of the continent. Compared to Tepat, Amtom streams are typically swift, deep, and narrow. Unlike broad, flat Tepat, the topography has worked to keep the region divided into small states, which specialize in seabourne trading.

Off the coast lies a subduction zone, which is capable of producing massive earthquakes, at least one per century. The East Coast is thus sometimes threatened by tsunami, although mitigated by the aptly-named Barrier Islands (not yet on the map). The giant waves, rising from the trench, wash over the (less-populated) eastern shores of the Barrier Islands, but dissipate before passing through the straits toward the main Amtomic coast.

During the winter, warm dry winds roll over the mountain slopes, keeping the coast warm and largely free of ice and snow, although they also increase the risk of fires. During the summer, rain is provided mostly in the form of afternoon thunderstorms (though milder than in Tepat), and less frequently, but more dramatically, in the form of typhoons blown in from the equatorial waters to the east. Again, here, the Barrier Islands prove their usefulness.

Western Tepat is the heartland of Qom, one of the Tepatic Nyow successor kingdoms, and the one that ultimately reunited the realm. Although Qom itself is extinct, the region remains colloquially known as Qom. It may be divided roughly into coastal, highland, and interior regions. The interior region, to the east of the mountains, fades into the general Tepatic plain and the land of the Three Rivers.

Coast - The seaward west coast is dry and hot during the summer, when almost no rain falls. It receives almost all its precipitation during the winter months. The mountains just inland force the winter clouds to drop almost all their rain, leading to sporadic torrential rains in the foothills, which the sandy soil struggles to absorb, with sometimes disastrous consequences. Thin capillaries of rivers completely overflow, and sleeping riverbeds suddenly awaken, usually very rapidly, leading to flooding.

Because of the hot dry summers, the main growing season is over winter. Qom’s massive public works focused on preventing winter flooding through creating artificial lakes. As a bonus, these stored enough water to irrigate some places during the dry periods, making summer agriculture possible, and increasing the region's food base (for awhile at least, before environmental degradation happened).

On rarer occasions, the region may be struck by unusual hurricanes, like the Desert. Hurricanes usually travel west, and veer away from Tiptum, but sometimes they may be blown northeast, most commonly striking the Heiepe region.

The Mountains - actually, a mixture of hills and valleys - tend to be drier, although small rivers make agriculture possible in the valleys. The old Qom capital, Ngemyam, was located in one such valley near one of the major passes over the mountain. Mountains on the western side tend to be wetter, and are often covered with shrubby woodland. The mountainous terrain itself tends to be fairly rounded and not steep or jagged, such that they are not particularly difficult mountains to cross, or to live amongst. A fair amount of hunting, for rabbits, deer, and other game animals, is possible in this region. In some places, snow is possible on mountaintops in the depths of winter.

The North

Nowek

Fog fills the cliffs and fjords to the latitude of the Conciliarity’s northern border, and further. At that point, the clouds are nigh continuous, such that the sky over the forests is just gray on green - faint gray above, dark green below. Prior to Tepatic colonists, most of the inhabitants were Taknic, suggested by the lack of labial sounds other than [w] in placenames.

The Northern Interior

The fog stops when it hits the mountains. Past them, clear, cold, and dry skies observe the progression of airy pines to burly shrubs and finally mere bristles of grass. By that time though, it has reached the Eastern Range and Tumpen, and pines reclaim their rank. Cold desert appears on the slops of the Tumpen mountains as they approach the steppes. Further north, in the Lake-and-River region, dense forest predominates, criss-cut by ziggy rivers with paths so turning that they themselves barely know which way they drain. This area is centered on one huge lake, Lake Súli, the largest lake in Tiptum and one of the largest in the world. Most of the Lake and rivers are edged by wetlands. Not exactly great for human settlements, but they host many migrating birds, which people depend on to hunt seasonally. The far north is mostly tundra, with humans turning to the sea for sustenance. The large northern peninsula known as the ‘Far Handle’ (Lepthel) is barren, and some areas are almost continuously covered with ice. Impossible though it may seem, Taknic hunters occasionally venture even here.