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Sekhaa
Sekhaa [sɛˈxɑː, sɛˈkʰɑː, θɪˈxʔɑː] is the accepted term, in the Imperial language, for the largest continent on Avishraa and the one to which all three known sophont species are native.
Etymology
The word Sekhaa ultimately derived from an Ancient or pre-Ancient Imperial term [t͡sɯˈkhɑjɑtʰ] that referred to the civilized world, having a certain amount of similarity to the original sense of the Earthly term oikumene. The term was used to contrast with lands that were not inhabited - or, to be more precise, not inhabited by those who could be considered people, who were the only ones who counted. Since this definition generally excluded any takmar who were too unfriendly, too technologically backward, or too foreign, as well as anyone of any other intelligent species, [t͡sɯˈkhɑjɑtʰ] referred in practice to settled or settlement-centered areas in what is now called the Heartlands, though the precise extent depended on who was speaking. The sense of the word expanded in scope during the Imperial period, as more and more territory came to be considered “civilized”, until it began to be applied to the entire landmass.
Sekhaa is nowadays a proper noun, used only to refer to the mainland continent and the islands immediately adjacent to it. Regardless, some measure of its original meaning remains in that its use is considered more technical the further away from takma-inhabited lands it is applied; that is to say, the entire landmass is Sekhaa, but when a takma might make blanket statements about Sekhaa, they usually refer only to those parts of it that their species lives in.
Size and arrangement
Sekhaa is a large continent, spanning from 75°N to 20°S in latitude, and 60°W to 66°E in longitude; it runs approximately 8250 km from north to south and 8500 km from east to west, and can be roughly compared in land area to Asia. The continent makes up most of the landmass to exist on the side of Avishraa that faces Kastun, the gas giant of which Avishraa is a natural satellite; Kastun's phase and position in the sky are, therefore, important for navigation.
It is bounded on the east by the Dawn Sea, which separates it from the recently-discovered continents of Enarri to the southeast and Talmat to the east. To the south, it is bounded by Uvuun's Reach, an ocean which covers most of the southern hemisphere of the moon; aside from scattered islands it extends uninterrupted to the pole. To the west, it is bounded by another ocean that does not yet have a consensus name in Imperial, as it lies beyond the areas extensively linked by sea; beyond it lies a somewhat fragmented continent that has not yet been discovered. To the north of Sekhaa lies the north polar ocean.
Geography and climate
Sekhaa is, very approximately, in the shape of a serif upper-case Z.
Southern Sekhaa
The lower limb of the Z, in southern Sekhaa, for the most part runs approximately east-west, parallel to and just south of the equator. Its connection to the rest of Sekhaa, at the western end, is crossed and mostly obstructed by the Spine of Sirdanth, one of Avishraa's highest mountain ranges. Uvuun's Reach lies to the south and the Dawn Sea to the east, while the to the north is the Windward Sea, surrounded by Southern Sekhaa and its “serif” on the south and east and the remainder of the Z to its west.
The Sahvarr and its many tributaries run generally southward from the Spine and its foothills into the estuary, and from there into Uvuun's Reach, while the smaller Oresh watershed empties northward into the Windward Sea. These are separated by hills from extensive lowlands further east, the core of the Cerulean Tangle: so named for its extensive wetlands and rainforests and its winding, silty rivers.
East of the Tangle lie the Intaal Mountains, which run north to south across the middle of Southern Sekhaa. A relatively modest range, while it serves as the natural barrier between the cultures of the Tangle and those further east, they provide a fairly porous obstacle to land travel. Beyond them, further east, lies the larger watershed of the freshwater Kebel Sea and a region of hilly terrain and small watersheds that extends to the easternmost end of the peninsula.
The “serif” of this limb of the Z - called Karrod in the Heartlands - projects northward across the equator, consisting of two compact landmasses connected to each other by a narrow isthmus (with another isthmus connecting one to the rest of the mainland). Both portions of the serif have relatively rugged terrain and tiny watersheds, especially at the northern end. The difficulty of land travel in this region isolated it from the rest of Sekhaa in the days before the use of long-range ships became common, which was a factor in the development of such vessels by the civilizations of the Abethine Sea and the Jade Gulf that lie in this region.
Southern Sekhaa lies almost entirely within the belt of high temperatures and precipitation that sits over the equator of Avishraa, and is dominated by rainforests, wetlands, cloud forests at certain elevations and, along large sections of the coast, mangrove forests. Some areas on the downwind sides of mountains or other elevated areas may receive more moderate rainfall - almost all of which consist of stretches of the Windward Sea coast - but the strongest climatic variations come from altitude itself, with higher elevations tending toward warm steppes or grassland. Particularly high elevations - rarely in the Intaals but much more prevalent in the Spine of Sirdanth - may shade into tundra and polar conditions, with dry forests on lower upwind slopes.
Southwestern Sekhaa
Central Sekhaa
Northern Sekhaa
Northwestern Sekhaa
Northeastern Sekhaa
Features
Landmarks
Geographical features or areas that are notable enough to be named but have too small an extent to be considered regions.
Regions
Roughly defined areas of land, independent of geopolitical allegiance. This includes mountain ranges (as opposed to individual mountains).
Islands and island chains
Islands associated with Sekhaa, while being separated from it by water.
Mountains
Individual mountains, hills, peaks, and prominent heights.
Rivers and streams
Permanent or intermittent but long-term bodies of flowing water.
Water bodies
Inland bodies of standing water. Lakes, inland seas.
Marine bodies
Areas of saltwater that are part of and directly connected to the ocean, but which are substantially defined by the land they border. Bays, gulfs, fjords.