Jungle Island
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| Location | Riven |
|---|---|
Jungle Island was the largest of the five islands of Riven, and the only one that wasn't restricted only to Gehn and his close followers. It is notable for containing the jungle and the Rivenese village.
Geography
Jungle
The jungle once spread across almost all of Riven, but the break up of the islands and the systematic deforestation by Gehn left only a small portion on Jungle Island. The jungle was thick with vegetation, the branches of the trees leaving the jungle floor almost completely in shadow. Glowing pools of water dotted the jungle, joined by large mushrooms, some luminescent and some fruit bearing. Deep in the jungle, the wahrk totem could be found, which guarded the way to the island's firemarble dome. One of the five giant daggers that Catherine wrote into the Age could be found just off the path. A volcanic fissure exposed an underground magma chamber on one end of the jungle, exposing just how fragile and unstable the Age was.
A large swath of clear-cut trees was the result of Gehn's deforestation efforts. Trees were cut down and piled into a logging cart and transported to Book Assembly Island, where they were chipped, pulped, and turned into paper for use in Books.
Lake
The lake was the center of village life for the Rivenese. It was contained in a deep depression surrounded by soaring walls of cliffs. The Rivenese village sat high atop the cliff overlooking the lake. The village was made up of round adobe huts propped up on wooden stilts. Various other buildings surrounded the lake including a schoolhouse, and Gehn's wahrk gallows. Gehn used the Wahrk Gallows to keep the villagers in line. Transgressors would be lowered into a cage containing Gehn's pet Wahrk. Gehn would watch the executions from a throne situated high above the lake. If he was feeling particularly generous, he might close the gallow's iris and spare the person's life. But if not, the accused would be fed to the hungry Wahrk. Prior to their execution, prisoners were held in a small cell in the cliff side. The Moiety had built a secret tunnel behind one of the walls of this cell, and could escape through it back to Tay.
In the center of the lake was a small spit of rock, on which Gehn built a periscope which could swivel 360 degrees. It was connected to a viewing device on Survey Island, from which Gehn could discretely keep a watchful eye on his subjects.
The various locations surrounding the lake could be reached by a small submersible which drove along the lake bed on rails. Heat from an underground magma chamber beneath the lake caused columns of open air to appear throughout the lake. This was a result of the thermophobic properties of Rivenese water. The "stations" for the submersible were located in these air columns, allowing people to access the submersible without getting wet.
Sunner Lagoon
On the shore of Jungle Island, just on the other side of the cliff from the village, was a small lagoon. Sunners would often come to bask on its broad, flat rocks, giving the place its name. A narrow staircase cut through the rock connected the lagoon to the jungle, as well as the maglev station on the far side of the island.
