N/Atlas/Watersheds

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Watersheds are the regions in which all rainfall enter a single major river. They are crucial to understanding the demographics of the Midworld because most arable land and population centers are concentrated in certain portions of each watershed. The most important watersheds in Aeternitas are that of the River West, River Arkanros, River Oraganta, and River Netopyrus. Besides these major ones, there are also several minor rivers that flow directly into a sea, and each of these has its own small watershed. However, these do not have significant geographical nor demographic consequence, so for the most part our discussion will be limited to the larger ones. In Geugaw, the sole discovered watershed is that of the (aptly named) River Geugaw. These demonstrate the variety that is possible between various watersheds.

The River West and River Netopyrus both have extremely large watersheds yet have rather small populations due to their distance from traditional habitations and settlements and due to their relative untenability: their climate, political troubles, and land may preclude any settlements from being built on them. The River Arkanros and River Oraganta watersheds are both highly fruitful, and hold the two valleys upon which the two greatest contemporary kingdoms, Arkanros and Karabala, have their population centers. These two rivers run parallel to the southwesterly winds, as do their mountain ranges. As a result, any slight changes in the paths of the southwesterlies influence the amount of rainfall that these rivers receive, and hence they flood arbitrarily, the River Arkanros more so than the River Oraganta. As the productivity of the land depends on the rich silt that the floods deliver, the flood plans of the two rivers are hence the most productive in the land. Finally, that of the River Geugaw is the smallest of the five most important watersheds, and is also not as important as the others in terms of productivity.