A Written Geography of Antarctica

There we go. Finally got around to naming and putting this place in context.

Howard Philips was one of the first Americans in decades to travel freely through the Tsalal lands, and in the 1920's published a series of very popular guidebooks and essays describing the landscape, geography and peoples of the Tsalal realm. 'A Travellers Guide' was his first published manuscript and eschewed many of the more fantastic descriptions of Tsalal life and lifestyle in favour of a comprehensive travelogue of the land and landscapes. The success of the book, rightly or wrongly, inspired him to write with depth and insight on the Tsalal peoples. Sadly, his work was cut short as a result of a tragic accident on the streets of Providence when he was run over by a vehicle piloted by strange and unidentified persons. His body subsequently disappeared from the morgue, though parts were rumoured to have turned up in unspeakable state.

It should be noted that his travelogue is a portrait of the Tsalal in the 1920's, when its nations were an uneasily federation. It obscures the rich history of wars, famines, rapines and genocides which constitute much of Tsalal history, as well as the earlier ranges of ferocious and predatory beasts which roamed freely in far greater numbers.

== A TRAVELERS GUIDE TO THE LANDS OF THE TSALAL, by Howard Philips, Arkham Tourist Press, 1920. == In view of the historic unpleasantnesses, little will be said of the people of Tsalal, if we must insist upon calling them people. It is no conjecture to assert that vast amounts have been written of the Tsalal, their moods and whims, their natures and appetites. While there is much that is fantastic and farcical, it is also the case that far too much is merely unvarnished truth, and in many cases, that truth does not go far enough, for there is that which cannot be put to pen and altogether too much of it.

To describe the Tsalal themselves would be to merely follow in the footsteps of De Toqueville, Pym and Poe, and the inestimable Twain. To do so would surely be to invite comparisons for which the writer would show the poorer.

Accordingly, for the most part, this chronicle shall dwell not on the people, but the lands which they inhabit, with but a few passing notes and observations.

For the land of the Tsalal, located as it is at the south pole, the points of a compass are meaningless. Where is east or west? As easy to say left or right, clockwise or spinward. In the land of the Tsalal, at the south pole, every direction is essentially north.

For convenience however, geographers have divided the lands of the Tsalal into East and West. The greater part, the East is the shape of a crouching Shaghut, prepared to spring upon the world. The lesser part, East, a winding archipelago assumes the shape of a serpent or dragon, jaws agape with venom.

Starting with the west, and in the spot of the map that we may arbitrarily call the ‘Top’ are the poetically named ‘Shining Thunder Mountains’ or the Tuharoghata range These, it is commonly said, are said by locals to be the tallest peaks in Antarctica, a thousand mile range capped by massive glaciers. They may well be the tallest peaks in the East, though on the Western part, the natives of the Island of Tzhorl make a similar claim. In either case, the traveler is well advised to be agreeable, as the local people are not inclined to merry contest.

So formidable are the Shining Thunder peaks that their glaciers have mounted and merged, forming a thousand mile wall of ice facing the ocean. This ice is in constant movement, bolstered and eroded alternately by snow and rain, cold abyssal night and day’s constant sun, so that vast sheets of ice constantly break and fall into the ocean, swept up in the currents and circling this strange land like sentinels.

From the sea, the sight is nothing less than awesome. I myself have witnessed the fall and formation of an iceberg, as they are called, a quarter mile in diameter, which reared a hundred feet above our ship. Navigation in these waters, particularly in the winter, which in this inverted land occupies the months from April to September, is extremely hazardous due to overt and hidden icerbegs, for most of their mass is concealed beneath the waters. Even an apparently small floating chunk no larger than a lifeboat may contain a jagged mass fit to rip a hull beneath the waterline.

But this is not a chronicle of the Antarctic seas, though those strange and tempestuous waters surely deserve their own.

On the other side of the shining thunder mountains are the shadowlands, so called because during a part of the Antarctic day, they reside in the long shadows of the mountains, and so they know the greatest darkness.

Ironically, the lands are well watered, fed by cool fresh streams from the glaciers, and filled with shallow lakes. The vegetation here is grasslands, scrub and brush, with little in the way of forest. Only the fastest growing, or alternately the most patient plant life abides here. Animal life here is quick and savage, the animals are fleet of foot, the land uneven, with deep furrows marking the paths of rivers.

Beyond the shadowlands are the vale of Yag, so named for the people who once lived there, now entirely obliterated. Yag is one of the two great lowland countries which border the sea of Tranquility, Paant’n Lul, a vast sheltered bay whose waters are the most gentle and placid of this strange land. The other country is of course Azul. Between the two is a largely uninhabited highland, occupied only by nomadic herdsmen, which historically proved no barrier to wars between the two nations.

Clockwise from Yag is are the highlands of Ptahr, the home of fierce nomads and highlanders, many of whom live in much the same fashion that they have for centuries. The nomads of Ptahr were enemies of all their neighbors.

Moving clockwise from Ptahr is Wang-Gash, a fractured land of former principalities and kingdoms, impenetrable forests and savage territory. Here roam the last wild herds of the Great Shaghuts, or Oryk, the Shantak birds, and Gnorls with their mothlike appendages curling beneath. Here may be found in profusion the fierce Lihoo, the Silver Carmas, and the steathy Horrink.

It was in Wang-Gash, passing the time, I found myself listening to the boisterous argument among old men as to the best way to butcher a pregnant woman, and whether her flesh was tastier if butchered alive or dead. There is a rumour that the Tsalal do not laugh, but I can say that this is false. The Tsalal do laugh among themselves, but it is laughter no sane man should ever wish to hear.

At the inland juncture of Wang-Gash, Ptahr, Yag and Azul is the great freshwater lake of Vos, the lake at the roof of the world. Around Vos live communities of fishermen, tolerable and humane as the Tsalal go. From Vos drain the two mighty rivers, Yth and Ng which feed the fertile plains of the Yag and Azul heartland.

Returning to our clockwize journey, from Wang-Gash we come to our second great sea. The Sea of Frost, Zhudan Lul a great bay rich in fish and penguins, studded with Islands, whose coasts and shores are home to penguin mongers and seal harvesters. The shores of the sea of Frost contain the best timber to be found in the Tsalal lands.

Past the Sea of Frost is the Storm Coast, and the forbidding land beyond, Tsalmothua, legendary homelands of the Tsalal race. Densely populated, with many cities, the land is barren and forbidding, humming with industry. Throughout are the ruins of cities, abandoned by time, or destroyed in war.

Mention must be given to the great glacier which sits at the center of the continent, waxing and waning over the centures. The Tsalal have no name for this feature, and never approach it. A hunted man can live safely with its sight. It sits as a barrier between the lands of Tsalmothua on one side and the domain of Azul on the other. The Tsalal who travel between the two countries give it a wide berth on either side.

Moving clockwise once again, we come to the Sea of Discord, Tsaotuhgua Lul, tempestuous and storm ridden, full of islands and small nations. Including the great peninsula and island chains which separate the Sea of Discord from the terrifying tumultuous passage which is the Khihrui Lul, or the polar channel, that divides the lands of the Tsalal into East and West, and whose passage was so vividly described by Arthur Gordon Pym.

Turning now to the lands of the West, we find the form of a dragon composed of a series of great islands, each of which is the home to a nation of its own, with particular histories and traditions. The head of the dragon is called Zhoole. The neck is known as Yhyqt, the great body of the dragon is the vast island of Tzohrl. Separated by distance is the hip, Qsanche, and finally the tail, Aaihxiurai.

The oceanward side of several of the islands, notably Zhoole, Yhqt and Tzhorl are home to immense glaciers which join the Shining Thunder Mountains in discharging vast icebergs into the sea. So extensive are the glaciers of Tzhorl that this large land is far less habitable than its size would suggest, and is actually quite cold and forbidding. The inhabitants and creatures of Tzhorl are judge the most rugged of the Tsalal.

Past the dragon are two large islands, discovered late in the Tsalal’s own history. Oddly, their existence was predicted by Tsalal philosphers who theorized that all the land in the world must be contained within their antarctic circle. Finding an expanse of apparently empty sea within their divine circle they theorized that there must be further lands undiscovered.

What they found were the, Xyhubor or Great Cold Island and Iytkabor lesser cold island. Two barren and desolate wastelands empty of all but the most primitive life. The Tsalal, their history records, fought savage wars over possession of these islands and strove mightily to make them habitable. All for naught, the cold Islands were eventually reduced to prison colonies, by stages abandoned by the nations that founded them.

The people who evolved there remained thinly populated in comparison with the main lands of the Tsalal, and were grown strange and frightening even by the standards of the Tsalal themselves. They are not welcoming of visitors and many bizarre tales circulate. As is the best custom with the Tsalal, it is wisest to give only those rumours which are most disturbing and consider that they do not go far enough. All I can say of the islanders is that even the Tsalal fear and despize their ways.

And yet, these Islands for centuries proved the salvation of mankind. For the Tsalal, convinced of their theories, concluded from their experience here that should any other land of significance exist elsewhere in the world, it must be equally barren and desolate. Thus they did not stir from their Antarctic refuge.

Not until the tragic and maligned James Cook opened their eyes....

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DValdron, nice description of Green Antarctica's geography there, the names give it a nice flavour. I just want to point out though that you've got East and West Antarctica the wrong way round. East Antarctica (or Greater Antarctica) is the larger, 'mainland' bit while West Antarctica (or Lesser Antarctica) is the smaller 'Dragon Archipelago'. Also the Transantarctic Mountains (your Tzhorl island) are the highest mountains in Antarctica rather than the East Antarctica Ranges (your Shining Thunder Mountains). chipelago'. Also the Transantarctic Mountains (your Tzhorl island) are the highest mountains in Antarctica rather than the East Antarctica Ranges (your Shining Thunder Mountains).

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Dyslexia kills. And it appears that Howard Philips was misinformed by his local guides. Thanks for setting the record straight.

I've gone and made the adjustments.

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A map of Green Antarctica, using the place names DValdron described earlier. There are two narrow channels completing the Polar Channel (Khihrul Lul) and linking it to the Sea of Discord (Tsaotuhgua Lul).