Rhingdar is a kingdom in the cradle of Gezhewaht, the great south arm of the Western Mountains. Within the circle of mountains is the great tidal plain Alal, which wraps around the perennial bay of Bahal. In the winter, Bahal is a small bay and Alal is farmland and sand dunes, and in the summer, Bahal rises, and Rhingdar’s mountain cities, built just above the summertide line upon the sandstone foothills of Gezhewaht, become ports to the outside world.
Khuat
The most significant summerport in Rhingdar is Khuat. It is a vertical city, perched atop a red rock shoulder overlooking Alal. All down the cliffside are wood-slat balconies and scaffolds and houses carved into the sandstone.
In the mild, dry winter, the tide is out, the city is fully exposed, and Alal is fertile farmland for fast-growing wintercrops. Come summer, the water rises, and for 4 or 5 months the cliff is entirely submerged and ships dock upon the height of the city. Some cave houses are designed like diving bells, with airtight rooms higher than the door to store belongings, but most caves flood entirely.
Alal
Those who farm the tidal plain Alal have found a number of crops to fit the strange growing season. Beans, lentils, squash, leafy greens, a garlicky kind of onion they call the Lop, sesame, and dates are all farmed during the short winter window. Adapted to the region, they are salt-loving and drought resistant. Farmers plant in November, in soil still wet from the receding tide, and harvest by April as Bahal takes back the land.
Alal is arid for most of the winter. There is never rain, so the crops get all their irrigation from the seawater left by the tide. In the spring, the bay often surges, flooding and draining the plain once or twice before the tide rises for good. Some crops, like lettuce and onions, are harvested before the first flood, while others, like beans and yellow squash, are irrigated by a surges and harvested wet. Dates are planted in the sandy soil close to the water, and they are not picked at all. Instead, when the tide comes in, the trees are submerged and the ripe dates float up, where they are caught with nets. These are called drowningdates, and they are well known across Yon.
Inspiration
- Ak-Chin, or arroyo mouth, irrigation, simple and more detailed
- Description of short-term drought farming in soil wet from rain