Suto

Suto is the southernmost, and the most seismically active of the three continents, divided by a line of volcanoes. It lacks iron ore, but is well-supplied in sulphur and clay and is noted for its explosive powder. With much of the land taken up by volcanic slopes and basalt floes, the continent also lacks growing land. As a result, settlement is sparse and populations small compared to the other continents, with the cities of Suto clustered in valleys and flood plains made rich by volcanic ash.     Suto gets little morning sun, but the full heat and light as Soraes rides high in the afternoon. The climate is tropical, with cool mornings giving way to sweltering heat from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, when the plunging temperatures result in heavy rainfall save in the aide west. A multitude of rivers run across the continent, the largest - the Conda in the north, the Great Rania in the south; the Aio and its tributaries, the Iss and the Ihn, in the south-east; and the many branches of the Spinetail in the eastern peninsula - all having their headwaters in the towering, volcanic peaks of the Firestone Mountains, also called, for that reason, Rivers' Rise.   The north is occupied by the descendents of refugees from the Ophionic Empire, who founded the autocratic Free Kingdoms and the more republican and poorly named Scale Kingdoms.   In the interior, dense jungle defies occupation by large numbers, although the ruins of Anur-tek. At the very centre of Suto, cloud forest rises on the flanks of the Mountains of the Heart. The interior is divided between the Smoothfolk of Anur-teka, Cirok-jat and the Fire Nests. Lowland rainforest stretches south into the esturine swamps of the sprawling Ranian delta, home of the largest city in the World, Rania-ket, consisting of a network of batteries; dams and platforms supporting districts that span the mighty delta of the River Ranai. Many from more arcitechturally ambitious cultures see the raft-city as primitive, but in fact Rania-ket is a sophisticated construction and home to many individuals and organisations devoted to advanced arcane and scientific study.   In the south east, a basalt wall creates a shelf of upland terraces, sheltered from the heat, where large-scale cultivation is possible. Further east, the peninsula is cooled by ocean breezes and stays more temperate than the mainland, while the northern coast is sheltered by the mountains and likewise less tropical. The coastal wetlands below the terraces are home to the port cities of the Pirate Principalities, and the terrace fields are owneed and worked by coastal dynasties.   The Firestone Mountains are part of a volcanic ridge which extends into the ocean, forming the foundation of Blackrock Reef, where the capital of the southern sea lingdom lies.   In the west lies the arid expanse of Elan nok Vircas - the land where no rivers flow. More commonly known as the Empty Quarter, its local name in the giant language refers to the fact that the rivers which cross the rest of the continent do not flow into the Quarter. It is an arid desert region, without the moisture to generate the daily rainfall of the tropical regions. Instead, the hot evenings raise water vapour from the surrounding ocean, which condenses into thick mist by night and blows inland, where it is collected in the convoluted fibres of local succulents and the spiraling chambers of goliath moisture traps.