A guide to the world of Codename Alpha, and the planet Valdera, home to a bunch of bipedal bears, dogs, cats, and hyenas. The little you do, and the lots you don't, need to know about their solar system, history, and more. My favorite part is the In...
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Worldmap circa 360. A higher resolution image can again be found on my server - with lots of named cities and countries!
Mount Höyryä Catastrophe
Mount Höyryä was a dormant stratovolcano located within the Nāvirsotne Mountains, a mountain range running along the border of northern Modaw and southern Suitsumaa. Beginning early in 339, the volcano began to show signs of reawakening, with the strongest earthquake of the decade striking the city of Pesäke, located nearby. Within three weeks, the volcano awoke after thousands of years of dormancy. Early in the summer of that year, the feared climactic eruption finally took place. The effects of the eruption were immediately catastrophic, killing thousands despite evacuation efforts in the surrounding areas.
Within a week, almost all of the Vitovan continent was covered in thick layers of volcanic ash. Significant ashfall was also recorded across Posad. Immense amounts of ash entered the atmosphere, necessitating a global shutdown of all air travel. Similarly to the catastrophe three centuries prior, the ash blocked sunlight, and triggered a period of global cooling.
By the fall, global temperatures had already dropped a concerning amount, and were continuing to decline. When the fall harvest failed due to abnormally cold temperatures, flooding, and other natural disasters, the IOC convened to declare the eruption and imminent volcanic winter a planetary crisis. While the IOC did have measures to deal with disasters and mass casualty events, the sheer scale of Mount Höyryä rendered the organization entirely unprepared.
By the end of the year, fear had firmly gripped the planet as the grave realities of the situation began to set in. Global, and even local, supply chains were being disrupted by severe weather and the effects it had. Due to the harvest failure and the breakdown of international logistics, food prices had begun to sharply rise. Analytical models predicted that the period of global cooling would likely persist for several years, meaning these shortages would only be getting worse for the foreseeable future.
Instability in the global economy was worsened by the eruption and, in 339, these instabilities would come to a head with Black Druga, a massive stock market crash. The initial effects of the market crash left many nations struggling to cope with the damage from the eruptions.
The Long Winter, 340-344
The first year of the Long Winter is broadly considered to be the worst. The climatic aberrations had the greatest effect in northern Kirril, most of central and western Vitova, and parts of southern Posad. Volcanic ash was distributed further into the atmosphere, leading to globalized freak weather phenomenon, commonly being storms with torrential rainfall and powerful winds. Blizzards of snow colored red and brown due to the ash in the atmosphere were also common, even before winter began.
The Magnetic Storm, or "Magstorm," was a new anomalous weather phenomenon discovered in 340. Most common near the magnetic poles, these were intense storms which would cause poorly understood electromagnetic disturbances. It is unknown if these storms were caused by exotic materials released by the volcano, or if it intensified a previously undiscovered phenomenon.
