The World, it's structure, Lands, Areas, Cities

Zuca
Southern island, south and east of the Zuca channel. An island raised either by volcanic means, or with the central peak of a crater impact, the edges of this large island-continent are heavily forrested, while the center is dominated by the peak of Zucak, where ores and marble, gold, and heavy metals all are pushed together. The forest communities of Zuca are Ket, Ivtar, Redau (the largest of the Zucan cities), Mevrih, Ekter, K'rer and Q'thar. The mining towns are Jikali, Pokal, Dok, Vol and T'moran. None of these towns and cities are bigger than 50 thousand inhabitants except for Redau. Zuca has three major islands off its southern coast, Phal, Amek and H'lap. All of these are very wet, jungle areas, and are situated close enough to Neres to provide some amount of early warning should the natives begin moving off their own territory.

Unincorporated Population: fewer than 20000. Zuca is not a place to just go camping. The wilds are comparable to those in Stetil, for ferocity of wildlife, so if one isn't prepared, one comes back to the relatives in a box. Most of the people living outside of city zones are on the coastlines, and very very rarely up on the mountain.

Redau: Situated on the cliffside edge of western Zuca, and pressed among the huge forests as well. There are enough trees to go around, and are always replaced and replenished when cut down. From above, Redau is so hard to find it usually takes three or four passes to find the hoverport. There is a fishing community here as well, though a small one and designed only for supplying the locals.
Earthly Equivalent: Rather like the locale of the "Myst" game…
Founded in 2448 Population: 67000
SM: .5 VM: 1 Pronounced "reed-ow"

Ivtar: Now this is a sea port. Ivtar is one of the more major - if sparcely populated - sea cities of the world. With the hook of Ivtar on the southern side providing a huge, beautiful break from the Zuca Channel's fury, the city is more vertical than horizontal, and has layers of housing over processing and canning plants.
Earthly Equivalent: a rather smelly Hong Kong slice near the waterline Founded in 2570 Population: 48500 SM: .7 VM: 1

Q'thar: On the north-east side of Zuca, the close locale to the mainland Laiarta gives this area a nice vacation resorty feel. There are many large mansions, resorts by the ocean, and sedate Breeding areas farther back in the woods. Those woods thin out near the coast, though there are areas which have high rocky cliffs and wind twisted pines.
Earthly Equivalent: a mix of north-east and north-west American coastline Founded in 9190 Population: 45000 SM: 1 VM: 1
Pronounced "cue-thar" the Q sound is distinct due to the '

Pokal: sitting in a rolling valley on the side of the huge Zucan peak, the air is pure and actually quite warm in summer. Snow falls almost constantly during winter, however. Goats and other grazing and milk bearing animals are popular on farmsteads and even among people living in the center of town. In fact, the best cheeses come from Pokal, and they always have.
Earthly Equivalent: you know that place in "Heidi"? this is it.
Founded in 2003 Population: 41000 SM: 1 VM: 1 Pronounced "poke-all"
K'rer: Deep forest and rich hunting zones dominate this zone. The silence of the forest is often quite unnerving to newcomers, the trees are utterly huge with some ranging up into the 600 foot tall range, and thousands of years old.
Earthly Equivalent: old growth Olympic Forest
Founded in 5152 Population: 35000 SM: 1 VM: 1
Pronounced "kuh-rare"

Dok: A great strip mine. No really. Surrounded by sheer white cliffs on both sides, this zone is reached by either air or a long, dangerous trip up the mountainside. There are plans to make an interior road up to the mine, from the bottom of it down to the ground, but that is … dangerous.
Earthly Equivalent: as described
Founded in 4320 Population: 28000 SM: 1 VM: 1

T'moran: A quarry and shipping area, this city often is a stop on trips south, so there is a small but bustling tourist industry. Just don't go about 100 yards out from the main streets…
Earthly Equivalent: Rather like Tijuana but mixed somewhat with Cairo and all covered in dust
Founded in 5867 Population: 21000 SM: 1 VM: 1
Pronounced "tuh-more-ahn"

Jikali: a small but well-shaped skiing community. The Steeding is not bad either, though takes a second place because there are very few places to really keep steeds on hugely sloped hillsides. In the snow. There are also some good metals coming from deeper into the mountain and down the less popular north face.
Earthly Equivalent: oh, you wish there was a place this nice. That north face is a lot like Half Dome in Yosemite.
Founded in 5822 Population: 19000 SM: 1.5 VM: 1
Pronounced "jih-kah-lee"

Ket: a mining town also with a large supply chain and shipyard. The mines are actually quite far off north-east from the city, and the roads leading to the mines are some of the best in the world. Factories and such are popular here, and this city has a disproportionate number of FreeWorkers in it, miners.
Earthly Equivalent: you know those photos of old miners coming home from a long horrible day? Founded in 3209
Population: 16500 SM: 1.5 VM: 1

Vol: This tiny town is actually the site of what may become a large tourist industry. The place is dinky right now, but it sits on the south face of Zuca where the sands are brilliant pink and the mines to the north produce the sweetly rose-shaded "pink shell" marble so popular among artists nowadays.
Earthly Equivalent: if a shopping mall developer ever had to design a slice of raw wilderness… this is what they'd make…
Founded in 7537 Population: 13000 SM: 1.5 VM: 1

Mevrih: Nestled in the deep woods on the north-west coast of Zuca, utterly nothing comes out of Mevrih than high quality woods and paper products. All of its facilities are right there on the woodland valley, with the same extraordinary reseed project as other Zucan forest sites.
Earthly Equivalent: Canada, eh?
Founded in 3500 Population: 9800 SM: 1.5 VM: 1
Pronounced "meh-vree"

Ekter: If Mevrih is the crown jewel of paper production, Ekter is the mine where the crown was made. Everything in Ekter is more raw and natural than nearly anywhere in Zuca. Some of the homesteads are quite modern, yet made from the local woods and stone in keeping with the theme around them. There is very little to be called a city here, though there is a lot of FreeWorker activity with their trucking and logging.
Earthly Equivalent: Just South of Canada, Eh?
Founded in 4768 Population: 5400 SM: 1.5 VM: 1

H'lap Island: Mostly grassland and some wetlands thrown in, this large island is an excellent Steeding area, however its proximity to Neres makes many people balk at living there. The waters are warm and crystal green all year, and this place is just about the nicest sub-tropical vacation land you could want.
Earthly Equivalent: a less mountainous Jamaica.
Founded in 3015 Population: 15000 SM: 1 VM: 1
Pronounced "hah-lap"

Amek Island: Though named and one of the larger islands that have Holdings on them on Zekira, Amek is largely ignored. Its huge marshes and wetlands do provide some of the best pet fish, as well as some of those big-ass dinosaur crocs that people like to hunt.
Earthly Equivalent: as described
Founded in 2716 Population: 2000 SM: 1 VM: 1

Phal Island: This large comma-shaped island is more than half wetland, while the northern areas are soft grasslands with some unique wildlife, particularly the big basketball-sized beetles. There is one largish city zone on the northern edge, where tourism flourishes and the land is a little more varied. Though this was one of the earliest colonized spots in the world, it has never become heavily populated due to its… uh, being surrounded by water.
Earthly Equivalent: only in the land of the Lost… Pronounced "pal" with a voiced "h", not "fall", this ph is a soft p sound
Founded in 129 Population: 6500 SM: 1 VM: 1

CrossWater Island Off Phal/Zuca/Zerin Population 670 (from a dream 9/11/97)
Largish for a tiny island. Located about 300 miles north-west of Phal. Area approximately 430 sq miles. Terrain is varied and considered to be one of the most beautiful when viewed from the air. Hills dominate the north half of the island, the vegitation there is a rich brown color echoing the ground itself. The highest peak on CrossWater, Zjy, is around 4000 feet high, there are waterfalls and two wide rivers coming from both the west and east halves of the island. They form a rough cross at the south end of the isle, and the hills emerge again beyond them. Between, and at the cross itself, there is marshland which is habited by stilt-villages. The waterfall of the west peaks, Zjyia River, is more narrow and tumbles more roughly over difficult rapids than its counterpart in the east. The wide but relatively low-set Ymin peaks have a series of flat, broad streams which collect into one wide waterfall called YminSrah. The southern part of YminSrah cuts a narrow groove into the land but since that land is soft and laden with silt it is also a marshland.
Exports from CrossWater include sugar, vegitation such as ground cover and bushes (for those horticulturists and who can afford to decorate their Homesteads with exotic plants), and exotic fish (both for pets and food -- they come in two varieties here, tiny and huge, one is good to eat the other is good to watch in tanks, guess which?). There is a single hoverport, on the north-eastern side of the island, owned and operated by their single High Holder and his entourage. This island has one Healer (Breeding Degree 1) and one Breeder (Degree 4). CrossWater is beginning to find itself visited more and more often, and having people fly overhead even moreso: they could become a resort island within ten years. It is difficult to get the whole populace to agree on any course of action for this matter, however. Most of the FreeWorkers and Land Holders are intent on their jobs but they are fiercely devoted to their way of life: wouldn't tourism cut into their land and their time? It would possibly also Incorporate them into Zuca, eventually. There is little in the way of Steed work here, in fact there are about 10 Steeds on the island and they are all owned by the High Holder for show.