THE
KANAPAN
PENINSULA |
The Kanapan Peninsula is named for the people who have lived there for thousands of years, the Kanapans. It is located in Northern Sarvonia and enjoys a relatively warm climate for the area. This area is also home to the densest population of humans in all of Northern Sarvonia.
|
|
![]() |
Description. The
peninsula drastically changed during the time known as the Year of Darkness.
Land sunk into the ocean and mountains were created. Much of the peninsula is
surrounded by cliffs, and mountains due to fault lines and violent earthquake
activity during that time (see Myth/Lore). Much of the
interior of the peninsula is flat grasslands, however, with the only hills being
man made at one time or another. Two forests in the Southern-central area rise
up out of these gentle hills and grasslands, the Wounds of Sylvan and the
Forests of Cahm. One solitary peak, known as the Simildian Crest, rises from the
seas of grass in the north-west, where the town Simildis is located - this is
due to a sudden breaking in a fault line causing a dramatic up thrust of an
immense amount of land. To the northeast at the base of the Vindel Mountains is
a swamp that is fed by the moisture of the area, the Chapel Fjord, and several
small, broken canals. This is known as the Aldrige Swamp, famed for its large
feylien beetles, which are very useful to
healers (see Fauna).
Location. The Kanapan
Peninsula hangs off of the Eastern coast of
Northern Sarvonia,
north of the Isles of Quios. The exact borders
of this peninsula are very well defined due to the geography of the area. Much
of the southern and western borders are deliniated by ocean; to the south and
the southwest is the Aelyvian Sea. There is a long strip of land called the
Peninsula of Glandor that reaches out from the eastern area, bordered by the
Haven of Sky, and the Gulf of Glandor. The edge of the city limits of Carbrand
mark the northern boundary line by the pass named Maiden’s Threshold. That is
the only way besides sea that this peninsula can be reached. The northwestern
boundary is defined by the Vindel Montains, while to the west lie the Chapel
Fjord and the Cliffs of Isthrius.
People. The
human people from whom the peninsula derives
its name are called the
Kanapans.
This group of people have been there from time immemorial. In their heyday, they
did great works and altered the land. Where there were rivers, they were
widened, or lined for more consistent use. Where there were none, they built
canals to connect the rivers and seas for trade. Along these canals they placed
forts, but now many of their works seem like natural rivers surrounded by hills.
Climate. The weather
on this peninsula is quite different from all of the lands that surround it.
While the lands adjoining the peninsula are cold and dry, this place is
temperate and moist. This unusual circumstance is due to the mountains and
cliffs that surround the whole of the northern and western sections. There are
two weather fronts that are in this general region. There is an east-west Cold
Front, and a north-south Warm Front. They collide in this region and are held
there by the northern mountains and cliffs. The fronts will often actually run
into each other in the north and north-eastern areas of the peninsula, causing
warmer weather along with more precipitation in the area. This is what allows
the grasslands of the north and the swamps of the northeast to survive.
|
|
|
Flora. Plant life
flourishes in the peninsula. There are several types of fruit and seed bearing
plants harvested by the Kanapan for
food or medicinal purposes, Among these are the
guiro, an unusual fruit that grows on
an underground vine, the jukl'lan,
onn plants, the waterberry, the redberry,
the maid's ease (Santharian raspberry),
tuberfruits, the
mutliweed, and the northern
lýth’bél. The Kanapan
people also plant and harvest bredden grain,
both for themselves as as fodder for their cattle
and horses.
In the grasslands, alth'ho and
peat grasses are the two main species.
Here the rare tansia bush grows,
which is a valued export for the Kanapan
people. The lotann flower is also
prevalent, and the Kanapan make a
kind of sweet wine from its blossoms. The y'rom
shrub, the poeritt, and the
kragghi grow in this area, though
not as prolifically as the other plants. Water
plants abound in the marshes, such as the aomár,
the krakenweed, the
lémertía, the
lifereed, and the
yealm reed.
In the Wounds of Sylvan and the forest of Cahm, one may find the
arne'pherán tree, the
maple tree, white and black
oak, wolf
willow, ashwude,
baych, mithril and white
birch, and the majestic
mahood euwen tree.
Lythien,
rockmoss and
squirm moss all grow on the foothills
of the Vindel Mountains.
Fauna. Interestingly
enough, the only really large wild animal within this area is a semi-feral
variety of cattle, which the Kanapan
use for milk, meat and fur and is connected to their religious beliefs (see
furno bull). There are no large
natural predators, beside humans. There are
quite a few smaller creatures that reside in the region, though. This includes
many small mammals throughout the peninsula -
leverets,
mimsies,
field mice,
greycats,
kuatu, rats, and
tarepi - all these frequent the plains areas
and provide food for the two main non-human
predators of this region, the raoshir (which the
Kanapan call the mithrilfox) and the
common ferret. In the Vindel
Mountains, to the north, minchen and
bats can be found.
The birds of this area include the ash falcon (near the peat fields) northern
corbies, eagles,
mathmoors,
nightbirds, and
nue'mon. Green and bronze
grass snakes are in the plains and the
Aldrige Swamp by the Chapel Fjord to the north-west and also the marshy areas
just south-east of the grasslands, where four rivers join.
Swamp kaimun have been seen in these areas
as well, though their populations are not high. The
Kanapan hunt them for meat and the
durable hide.
Many insects are found here too. Of particular note is the useful
feylien, of which the Aldrige Swamp
variety is most prized and valued by healers as a method of drawing out infected
blood from a poisoned wound. Other insects include the
dergimar fly, the
lín’már’jóh, the scarlet and purple
see'an beetles,
blackbeetles, the
aek'oriot (known in the south as the
dalor, or sparker) the lovely
lu'an moth and
red diamond butterfly and of
course the ever prevalent malise,
myrmex, and
orms. The woolly cob is also known
here, though not higly prevalent.
Resources. The
Kanapan lands have several very
important resources which they trade with the
Kuglimz and also with the Southern
Sarvonian traders, who arrive by sea several times a
year. As mentioned before, their feylien
beetles are valuable to healers for their size and longer larval stages (see
feylien entry). The seeds of the
tansia bush, used by priests to make
a special holy oil for the nobility,
are also much in demand. Juk'lan
leaves, lotannwine and cheese and
hides from their furno cattle
are almost always among trade items. All these things are brought to Kurstir,
the major
Kanapan port for Southern traders,
except for the healer's ships, which come up through the Chapel Fjord to collect
their feylien larvae and
juk'lan leaves. The
Kanapan trade these things for good
quality steel knives and other implements, some southern fruits such as the
lymmon (kithrauhre,
which they use in making their
lotannwine), and bolts of cloth.
Myth/Lore. Not much
is known about the history of the
Kanapan, though tales are told of
their early civilization being immensely powerful, with mighty mage-priests that
changed the earth and rearranged the lands
to suit themselves. In the Time of Darkness, the legends say, the
magic was lost and many died, especially in the
massive earthquakes, which the people believe were caused by the leviathan,
trying to bring about the destruction of the world, before
Lorfurno stopped him (for more details
see the Lorfurno entry).
Due to the isolation of the
Kanapan people, they have not
experienced many wars or been influenced much by other societies or cultures in
the last few hundred years, but this is beginning to change as trade with the
southern part of the continent becomes more prevalent.
Information
provided by
Drogo
|