Elveklifjord
| Elveklifjord | |
|---|---|
 | |
 A map of Elveklifjord on Entropan. | |
| Location | Rockrsea, Entropan Uryha, Entropan |
| Type | fjord |
| Ocean/sea sources | Vernier Ocean |
| Managing agency | Agency of the Environment, Water, and Tourism of the Elveklifjord |
| Max. length | 122 km (76 mi) |
| Max. width | 62 km (39 mi) |
| Surface area | 5,132 km (3,189 mi) |
| Average depth | 107 m (351 ft) |
| Max. depth | 406 m (1,332 ft) |
| Islands | Brvyek Rock |
| Settlements | Vekli, Altan, Bjerkviken, Leiren |
| Website | turismaelveklifjord.en |
The Elveklifjord (Esperanto: Fjordo de Elveklo, Absi: Elveklifjorden, Uryha: Vuotna Elveklo) is an inlet in the north-east of Entropan, stretching from an imaginary line between the Seageærder and Gerderska lighthouses and down to Leiren in the south to Vekli in the north. It meets the Vernier Sea with Trafomøn and Randres on the south and Økske and Bønvrø on the north.
Name
Elveklo, a word consisting of Old Absi names for Vekli, the town that meets the head of the Elveklifjord (Elko) and Leiran, the town that meets the mouth of the Elveklifjord (Velø). The resultant compound word, Elveklo, has been used as a coloquial name for the region surrounding the Elveklifjord since the 12th century. After unification of Entropan, the body of water the Elveklo surrounded was named the Elveklifjord, mainly for ease among those who already inhabited the region.
Geography
Geologically, the Elveklifjord is a fjord, which was formed by the Uryha glacier in the last glacial period. Given how long the inlet is, its drainage basin covers a wide geographic area, including places as far from the shore as Bøfra, and the very edge of the Frevyan Park.
Many towns and villages line the shores of the Elveklifjord, such as Vekli, Altan, Leiran, and Bjerkviken, as well as the last remaining Entropanian petrochemical complexes at Bjerkviken, a naval base at Eiprasmmo, commercial docks at Altan, along with numerous fishing docks along the Rockr half of the Elveklifjord.
The fjord is bridged in three places. The Skiena Bridge cross it at Leiran, while further inward, the Elveklo Bridge and the Agder Bridge cross from Vekli to Altan.
The inner section, located between the Skiena and Elveklo bridges, has lost about half of its former intertidal area as a result of land reclamation, partly for agriculture, but mainly for industry and the large ash lagoons built to deposit spoil from the (now closed) coal-fired Vestevelo Power Station near Bjerkviken. Historic villages line the shoreline; Narviken, Risevkør and Gvyør, established in the 6th century, part of the formerly independent state of Sadnor, proclaimed in 1821 and absorbed into the newly formed Second Republic of Entropan in 1854.
The fjord is important for nature conservation in Entropan, and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, as proclaimed by the National Council's Agency for the Natural Sciences. The Elveklo Islands SPA (Special Protection Area) is home to more than 90,000 breeding seabirds every year. There is a bird observatory on the nearby Holmm Isle. A series of sand and gravel banks in the approaches to the firth have since 2014 been designated as a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area under the name Firth of Forth Banks Complex.
History
The first people came to the Elveklo region around 8,000 years ago, with most evidence pointing to them being proto-Reykani people from Vesturhérað (Western Reykanes), who emigrated via boat after the end of the Last Glacial Period caused a series of volcanic eruptions on the island, killing most of the early inhabitants of the island. These emigrants are known as the Fidra, and they used stone-tipped spears to hunt the fauna of the Elveklo, mainly roe deer, along modern-day Leiran and Bjerkvik. They fished, hunted, mined copper for tools and weapons, used bows and arrows, paddled dugout canoes, and, eventually, established trading networks with nearby proto-Uryha and proto-Rockr peoples.
Around 50CE, the discovery of major iron deposits around the head of the Elveklifjord caused a rush for iron between the Uryha Republic, the Kingdom of Rockrsea, and the Fidra peoples. This caused major conflict within the region, with Uryha, Fidra, and Rockr settlements emerging along the areas with large iron deposits, and, following conflict over who was allowed to mine an iron deposit in the main settlement (which was Fidra), called Elko, led to the breakdown of relations between the three forces, and to the War of Elko, the first documented war in Entropanian history, with, eventually, a victory for the Uryha Republic, which seized Elko, pushed back the Rockr armies, and continued to fight against the Fidra people in the Uryha-Fidra wars, until the eventual takeover of Velø, the main settlement and major fishing post of the Fidra people, in the Siege of Velø.
Until the War of the Three Kingdoms in 1203, the north Elveklo region was held by the Uryha Republic, which led the Republic to being more successful than the rest of Entropan, because of iron deposits and trade between the Uryha Republic and the Kingdom of Reykanes. This led to conflict between Uryha and Rockrsea, culminating in several skirmishes along the Elveklo, the most deadly being the Siege of Altan in 1103, where the Uryha Republic managed to take over Altan, a town which functioned as a major fishing port of the Kingdom of Rockrsea. Additionally, small conflict emerged in regards to the conquered Fidra settlements, where Fidra people resisted Uryha cultural assimilation, eventually leading to the Fidra Republic, a short-lived breakaway state that existed from its founding in 1143 until Uryha forces sieged it in 1147.
During the War of the Three Kingdoms in 1203, the Elveklo was a location for major battles, mainly between the Uryha Republic and the Kingdom of Rockrsea. At the beginning of the war, Uryha forces pushed back Rockr forces, and in the Battle of Bjerkviken they managed to claim full control of the Elveklo. The Elveklo remained mainly peaceful in the coming years during the war, but sieges by Leintan armies in southern Uryho caused the Uryha armies to focus mainly on fighting the Kingdom of Leinta, causing the Kingdom of Rockrsea to take back control of Bjerkvik, and, in 1213, in a bloody siege, Elko. This, the Battle of Elko, is heralded by most historians as a decisive turning point in the war, with Uryha forces capitulating to negotiations headed by Rockrsea, causing Unification, and therefore the Kingdom of Entropan.
After the Unification, the Elveklo was divided between the Regions of Uryho and Rockrsea, with the Region of Uryho controlling the northern side, and the Region of Rockrsea controlling the southern side.
Over the next couple hundred years, the Elveklo was mainly peaceful, being developed into major ports, with villages such as Narviken, Risevkør and Gvyør, which remained unaffected by the War of the Three Kingdoms, being built into agricultural villages, becoming some hotbeds of Entropanian agricultural production. The Elveklo remained peaceful until the Entropanian Civil War, wherein the settlements of Altan and then-renamed Vekli becoming strongholds of monarchist support, opposed to urban developments in Sáefi, Maledonia, and Rockrsea, which were increasingly becoming bastions of the New Parliamentarians, a radical group in Entropan which advocated for the abolition of the Monarchy, and the devolution of power formerly held by the monarchy to elected Members of Parliament. After the breakout of the Entropanian Civil War, Vekli and Altan became hubs of the Monarchist Army, with Parliamentarian forces (along with their New Army allies) fighting against Monarchists in numerous battles in the civil war, including the Battle of Altan, and the Battle of Vekli, the latter of which led to attempts of peace negotiations with Monarchists and Parliamentarians in the Tower of Vekli. These peace negotiations quickly soured as Parliamentarian general Nikolai Jepsen shot the Monarchist general Edvard Tobiassen three times in the head in the Tower of Vekli, causing Parliamentarian forces to siege the city. This proved to be a decisive turning point in the civil war, with the Monarchists being pushed back north of the Elveklo, causing them to be cornered in western Uryho.
Under the Unitary Republic of Entropan, the Elveklo saw a monarchist surge, with the inhabitants of the region remaining unaffected by the Civil War in their unwavering support to Hans II, and, after his death, Hans III, who resided in Vekli for the majority of the 17th century. This caused friction between the Elveklo and the new Parliamentary Republican government, who eventually responded against the monarchists by the military sieging the city of Vekli in the infamous Siege of Vekli, killing Hans III, his entire family, burning down the city, and establishing a naval base in the town along the Elveklifjord, which would serve as a method of tracking monarchist movements.
Despite being relatively unaffected by the Second Entropanian Civil War, as most of the fighting was in the most heavily populated urban areas, the Collapse of the Entropanian Republic heavily affected Elveklo. Seizing on the opportunity, three new breakaway states formed in the area: the Elveklan Kingdom, an absolute monarchy that was infamous for being one of the most authoritarian states in Collapsed Entropan, with its monarch outlawing all dissent and "unloyal activity", turning most of the population into, in his words, "effective slaves to the King", which was sieged by Entropanian armies in 1855 for integration into the Second Republic of Entropan, the New Republic of Fidra, an Uryha seperatist group believing itself to be the direct descendents of the Fidra people, who worked with a relatively functional democracy until voting to be dissolved into the Second Republic of Entropan in 1853, and the Starry Democratic Federation of Sadnor, a bizarre theocracy formed around the teachings of an esoteric cult, the Star People, centred around its leader Tor Kjos, which preached that Sadnor would soon be the only survivor of a worldwide disaster (named the Becoming), and that, if outward armies (the Armies of Hell, as the cult put it) tried to invade Sadnor, they would not have failed, but have "seen the second option of God's choice for us", and would commit mass suicide, with the hopes that they would be offered entry into Heaven when they die. This led to the Sadnor Massacre, where over 1,000 people were found dead after drowning themselves in the Elveklifjord, the deadliest mass suicide in Terraconservan history.
The Elveklo was relatively peaceful during the Second Republic of Entropan, settling down and becoming a major trading port with nearby Reykanes, industrialising and becoming a major industrial hub in the 19th century and becoming a major manufacturing centre within the next century.
Climate
The Elveklifjord has low temperatures the year round, with the average temperature being just under 5.6 degrees Celsius. February is the coldest month in the fjord with -4.2 degrees Celsius, while July normally has around 15.3 degrees Celsius. The relatively low temperatures in the Elveklifjord mean that flora has a tougher time surviving in it rather than in other bodies of water in Entropan, such as the Maledonia River, but this has enabled some unique fauna to arise in the relatively harsh temperatures.
Hydroelectricity
The Vardøleand River, a major source of outflow from the Elveklifjord, is home to the Slitten Power Plant, a hydroelectric pumped storage plant generating 5,428MW from 11 turbines. The Power Plant was opened in 2003, after increased demand for renewable sources of electricity caused a rennaisance in renewable electricities in Entropan, and used cheap off-peak electricity generated at night to pump water to the higher reservoir, which can then be released during the day to provide power as necessary. It temporarily stores energy at times of lower demand, and releases it at times of high demand, when electricity prices are higher, reducing the maximum power that must be provided by other electricity sources, and also provides a majority of the electricity generation for the nearby towns of Vekli and Altan, with the rest coming from wind technologies just 1.3km to the east of Vekli.
The powerhouse is 216 m (709 ft) long, 19 m (62 ft), and located 1.1 km (0.68 mi) underground. The two tailrace tunnels are 1.9 km (1.2 mi) long, and the net head is 312.42 m (1,025.0 ft). This makes it one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in Entropan, with the other largest hydroelectric power plants being the Nored Power Station in Rockrsea, and the Jepsen Generating Plant along the Maledonia River.
