Wild:PC/Fuelwen/GnalaAndAlgolNun

General Area

On the surface, Fuelwen's home region is equatorial and balmy. In the city of Algol-nun, two hundred meters beneath the surface of the ocean, on the other hand, is warmed not by the equatorial sun, but by a ring of deep sea vents, and further surrounded by [tropical kelp forests]. As most other plant life in the world, kelp grows quickly.

Natural Geography

Surface

The island of Gnala is an inactive stratovolcano. The same geo-thermal hot-spot that once powered the volcano powers a series of hot springs and the deep sea vents that warm Algol-nun. The island is small and roughly circular (15km diameter at the longest). A broad coastal plain turns into steep mountainous terrain four miles in. On the southern side, an upwelling spring fills a sulphrous swamp and pestilential, while on the (inhabited) western side of the island, a series of hot springs break through the volcanic rock and create steaming pools. The northern and eastern sides of the island are given over to wild and nearly untamable jungle, which carries all the way to the 1,100m. peak of Mount Gnalias.

The rocky western side makes it diffcult for the jungle to encroach; coupled with a well sheltered natural bay, it's a natural spot for a maritime outpost.

Undersea

The Algol Trench

Gnala bay is an extension of a natural ravine called the Algol Trench that extends 24km off the coast to a maximum depth of 1km. For most of its length, the ravine is between 3-4km wide, with steep, cliff-like walls. With the hot vents in the ravine, it's a veritable wonderland of exotic aquatic organisms all the way down to its deepest point. Given the length and depth of the trench, its length provides a complete sample of all variety of ocean life.

At the edge of the bay, at the head of the trench, is a coral reef. Well mapped and marked by bouys, it poses little hazard to navigation. It serves as a rich habitat for aquatic life and blocks strong ocean currents from stirring up Gnala bay. It runs up to a spit of land on the southern edge of the bay. The reef extends down for dozens of meters.

The Nun Flats

The neritic zone extends below the reefs, and continues down to about 200m. At that depth, about 4km from the coast of Gnala, the ravine plateaus for 10km. The westernmost edge of this 10km plateau (called the Nun Flats (pronounced "noon")) ends in a sheer 300m cliff. Most undersea habitation and farming happens in the Nun Flats.

Along the flats, the walls of the Algol Trench are riddled with caves, most of which were carved by the same forces that built the island and power the hot vents. Some of the caves have powerful hot vents, and unwary cavers might easily find themselves boiled alive, lost, trapped by cave ins, or eaten by the more mysterious predators that lurk in the caves.