Valware - 1. Place

Pronunciation table

Latin	a	e	f	h	i	k	l	m	n	ń	o	r	s	t	u	v	w	y
IPA	/a/	/e/	/φ/	/h/	/i/	/k/	/l/	/m/	/n/	/ŋ/	/o/	/ɾ/	/s/	/t/	/u/	/β/	/w/	/j/

Geography

• The surface of Litoria consists of one large continent (composed of four tectonic plates). This continent covers about 60% of the surface. The remaining 40% is covered by a salt-water ocean (yula), with a few scattered volcanic islands (vali), which stretches from pole to pole.
• Plate tectonics has pushed the four continental plates together so that very high mountain ranges have risen on each side of the continent. These ranges are far enough inland so that there are a coastal plain and a piedmont region on both coasts. This habitable region extends from about two to four miles wide at the ice caps to several hundred at the equator.
• There are ice (vitu) caps at each of the poles.
• There are the usual terrestrial biomes, from tundra in the north and south, through grasslands and woodlands, to rain forest along the equator.
• The seaward slopes of the mountain ranges are covered with various deciduous and coniferous forests (fulu).
• The mountains are high enough that a rain shadow is formed. As a result an arid desert (tolasa) covers the interior, with the occasional oasis (tolasa fuńa). In the northern summer meltwater from the northern ice cap produces a seasonal river. In the southern summer similarly a seasonal river is produced. The gradual slope of the land from the mountains to the center of the desert and the alternating flow of these two rivers result in a lake (yana) in the center of the desert whose average size does not diminish due to evaporation in the desert heat. And because of the semiannual inflow of fresh water from the poles, the lake's salinity remains low. Unfortunately, the difficulty in crossing the mountains and the great distance across the desert to the lake make living around the lake impossible for the Litorians. It is, however, a major habitable region for wildlife.
• Several rivers (nayu) flow down the seaward slopes of the mountains to the ocean. Lakes and ponds dot the lowlands, the piedmont and the mountains.

Climate

• Climate is much as it is on planet Earth, with polar, moderate, continental and tropical zones. Given that the habitable biomes only exist in the small coastal regions between the ocean and the mountains, these zones are relatively small in area.
• The largest zone is the interior intramontane desert the covers almost half of the planet's surface.

Natural disasters

• The typical terrestrial disasters occur: flooding, blizzards, hurricanes. The planet is relatively quiet, at present, tectonically, with only the occasional earthquake (huni lote) in the desert.
• At present there is no volcanic activity on the continent, but there are active volcanos on some of the mid-ocean islands.
• Snow is common in the winter in the northern and southern latitudes and snow can be seen on the summits of the taller mountains on the islands.
• In a year of low precipitation there is the possibility of steppe wildfires (wara rune yi).
• When the spring temperature is unusually high, the quick thawing of snow (ńuha) and glacier (vitu nayu) may cause flooding in some of the watercourses.

Communes

• The Nuńwu build their villages (wiye) beside watercourses so that there is always a supply of fresh water. These villages may be on one side only or on both sides of a stream (muwu).
• The Nuńwu build one-room houses (yavi) with a branch or bamboo frame and thatched with palm leaves. The houses are windowless.

Valware - 2. Time