Rau
From Almeopedia
| RAU |
The Rau [raw] is the longest river on Almea, at over 6000 km. Its origins are in the Irtéllinor Range which forms the eastern border of Téllinor; it crosses north of the Míddigur Desert, and then meanders across the vast tropical Rau Jungle, bounded on the north by the Sim-Ran-Don and on the south by the Irenja, the savanna bordering the Elkarin mountains. Finally it flows into the Mišicama ocean not far north of Eretald.
Its human inhabitants are almost entirely Telise. The upper reaches of the river are inhabited by speakers of Interior Vipodoȟ languages, notably ʔTütürna. The middle and lower reaches are populated by Western speakers, called Rafsanî by Verdurians. (The people of the Mišicama coast, though linguistically Western, have a good deal of Monkhayic blood.) Farther from the river there are colonies of icëlani. As many outside traders have noted, however, the dominant species of the jungle seems to be the mosquito.
The characteristic mode of sustenance for untold millennia was hunting/gathering. These have long been supplemented by opportunistic agriculture, using of course Ereláean tropical crops. In the last millenium or so, this has developed along the major rivers into garden agriculture: a tribe will clear a small patch of land, grow crops for two or three years, then abandon the plot (as its fertility declines) and move on.
More recently traders from Eretald and Nan have explored the jungle, mostly seeking wood, spices, minerals, and furs. The Rau is easily navigable up to Nouaseuae, which therefore became a trading point, and in the last decades a kingdom, Leru Leru.
