Yarroland

Yarroland (Yarro: ߞߐߛߌߡߛ ߜߋߙ, kosims ger) is a region in western Aresra. The only permanent sentient inhabitants are the Yarro, an obscure non-Chilovakian species. The region is often thought of by Oecumenians as a country or nation, but no formal government exists in Yarroland, with the Yarro living in tribal societies. Yarroland is nearly synonymous and coterminous with the Ger Valley (indeed the words are related and no separate words exist to distinguish the two in the Yarro language).  

Geology

Climate

Yarroland and the Ger Valley are surrounded by the high Calinga Mountains. At the centre of the valley is the Dead Firth, where the toxic Ger River meets the southern Tumanian Ocean.   The Ger Valley is one of the driest places on Geshkara. Parts frequently will go more than a year without rainfall. The extreme dry conditions are caused by the Calinga Mountains. The mountains are extremely tall and sharp, with significant glaciation, which causes dry, cold katabatic winds to descend into the valley over them. The temperature swings are more extreme the further inland up the firth, with lowland areas near the end of the valley experiencing the mildest (though relatively cold) temperatures.   The Ger River is anoxic and highly acidic until its course reaches the Foam (ߝߌߝߊߙ, vivar), a stretch where the river courses through a limestone region which reacts violently with the sulphuric acid in the water. Historically, the Foam has been the limit of Yarro habitation. Past the Foam, the river is still anoxic, and still mildly acidic, with large amounts of dissolved carbon dioxide which exists in aqueous equilibrium with carbonic acid. Until the middle of the Dead Firth, the only life in the river are anaerobic bacteria and algae. Even up to the end of the firth, macroorganisms are still uncommon. The high concentrations of toxic heavy metals in the river (particularly lead and chromium) ensure that even though water is abundantly available at the riverbed, only a handful hardy, unique, and specially adapted species of grasses, mosses, lichens, and succulents grow along it, and animals know not to drink from it. Historically, the Yarro have boiled or evaporated the Ger’s water into collection vessels to purify it. Those who drink too much of the unpurified river water typically succumb to lead poisoning, which the Yarro refer to as *hnavivis*.   Due to these extreme conditions, there are only three mammal species (besides the Yarro) native to the Ger Valley: the eastern and western waranga (a.k.a the Ger camel shrew) and Chevigné’s opossum, making the Yarro the only native placental mammals in the region. All three of these are small burrowing marsupials. The closely related warangas are both insectivorous with elongated snouts and scaly tails. Both are small, weighing less than 500 grams, but the western waranga tends to be slightly larger than the eastern. They both have large fat stores on their backs, giving them a humped appearance and hence the nickname “camel shrew”. Chevigné’s opossum is larger than both waranga species and lives only along the coast of the Dead Firth, feeding mostly on the Ger ice plant.