The Old Cold Canal
The Old Cold Canal is a 1417 km route between the small bases of Hawside and Splinter on the archetype of Talviridin. The canal provides a convenient "short cut" between two fixed inter-dimensional gateways at either terminus, offering very valuable access to important realms in the wider Discontinuum. From Hawside in the west, an agent can travel to (or from) Noctaliya, whilst the Splinter gateway in the east is a backdoor into the Island Realms and is by far the most reliable way of reaching them these days.
The Stability Council sends agents along this route on a fairly frequent basis, travelling in both directions and has established a fleet of four canal boats to perform the long crossing over the silent and deserted planet. Two of these are shown in the accompanying illustrations, but the pride of the fleet is the Golden Lantern described in more detail in the article linked at the bottom of this page.
Talviridin has a simple ecosystem and the lands that the canal passes through are all similar, consisting of cold temperate forest covered in ice and snow. A few species of small mammals, like mice and voles can sometimes be seen from the canal boats and there are also birds which occasionally flock in the dark skies. Nothing much larger than a cat has been clearly observed but there may be bigger things lurking in the shadows. Travellers are reluctant to venture far from the cosy safety of the boats and with good reason. Although Talviridin is not considered a dangerous archetype it has a haunted tragic beauty which deters investigations.
Purpose / Function
The Old Cold Canal was built by the lost civilization of Talviridin, but the realm is now one of the Ghost Worlds and part of the geometry of the Twilight Realms as well. There is no intelligent life here anymore, except for the visiting travellers who glide down the mirror smooth waters of this eerie canal. No one knows what happened to the builders and no one really knows what their original reason was for digging the canal. Oddly, the Ruins of Quandark, about half way down the canal, are the only site of interest it seems to pass. Everything else is given over to trees and snow.
Currently, however, the Stability Council has moved in to take "control" over the canal since it is so useful for their operations. Control is something of an exaggeration here but they have found that they can operate on the canal in reasonable safety.
It takes five standard days to traverse the dark waters between Hawside and Splinter, but in the timeless twilight of Talviridin this can seem a lot longer or shorter.
Architecture
The canal is mostly straight, running more or less along the same line of lattitude through twilight snowy forests, both deciduous and coniferous for the entire length between Hawside and Splinter. The nature of the countryside seldom changes and the most significant intermediate landmark is the Ruins of Quandark, which can be found around the half way mark.
There are three tunnels along the canal, the longest being the one called black maw which is more than a kilometer in length. A total of fourteen lock gates need to be negotiated to allow for minor rises and falls in the landscape, remarkably few perhaps considering the length of the route. Whatever emptied Talviridin of sentient life left the machinery of the canal in working order and the locks still function. Periodically, the Stability Council sends an engineer out to look at them.
Old Cold Canal - Bale Step Lock by DMFW with Leonardo AI
Founding Date
Unknown but ancient
Type
Canal
Parent Location
Owning Organization
The Old Cold Canal (01) by DMFW with Leonardo AI
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