Nova Scotia

'Souls takes place across the eastern Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and eastern New Brunswick. Of course, 'Souls version of Eastern Canada bears subtle differences from actuality -- e.g., Cape Breton is an island in reality, where in 'Souls, it is a peninsula.

Geographical Regions

'Souls geographical region spans across two Canadian provinces: Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. These areas, collectively, may be referred to as the Maritime provinces. All three regions share many similarities.

Nova Scotia

This peninsula is the primary setting for 'Souls thus far. The Isthmus of Chignecto connects Nova Scotia the Canadian mainland, New Brunswick. This peninsula is completely surrounded by water: the Northumberland Strait to the north, the Cabot Strait to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Bay of Fundy to the west. Nowhere in Nova Scotia is more than 67 km (42 mi) from the ocean.

Much of Nova Scotia consists of two vast areas set aside as wilderness parks -- the Tobeatic, which spans over The Dampwoods and Arachneas Revenge, and the Kejimkujik, which spans over Ethereal Eclipse and Serena Reserve. Even just next to the most populous city of Halifax, the Chebucto Peninsula was a protected reserve. One thing Nova Scotia is not short on is open wilderness.

Cape Breton

This peninsula, extending north from Nova Scotia, was the original game setting, and was burned in a wildfire in 2008. As such, the land shows significant evidence of fire trauma and recovery . Most of the plants are pioneer plants, dominating and pushing other species out post-wildfire. Invasive English Oak trees as well as native Paper Birch trees are commonplace in the least damaged areas; Roman Wormwood grows rampantly. The northernmost coast, where the fire started, remains primarily barren and lacks treeland. Significant prey populations are located primarily to the south, along Aelcrest Shore.

The Halcyon mountain range separates the area from mainland Nova Scotia. The primary water influences on this peninsula are the Northumberland Strait to the west and the Cabot Strait, a deep-water strait and part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, to the north.

New Brunswick

This area was opened for play at the beginning of 2012. Much of eastern and northern New Brunswick were unpopulous; regions such as the Fundy National Park were set aside for wildlife and recreational pursuits. Over eighty percent of New Brunswick was forested even prior to the apocalypse; human settlement was limited to the coasts and river systems of the province.

New Brunswick's climate is more similar to that of mainland Canada than Nova Scotia, as the region lacks the ocean's moderating influence. Highland areas in the northern parts of the province can resemble alpine conditions, though the province still falls within the Maritime ecozone. The cold Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the north additionally influences this region's climate.

Geography

The Appalachian Mountains have hilly, poor soil; the coastal Maritime areas are well-fed by the rich tides of the bay and the vast number of inland waterways throughout the region. The inner highlands have acidic soils that support expansive forests, but are not suited for human agriculture; the coastal plains have richer soils.

Acadian forests -- temperate, broadleaf and mixed forests -- dominate much of the south of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They consist of four primariy types of forest: alpine communities on the highest mountains, coniferous forests, northern hardwood forests, and wetlands. There are no clear boundaries between the coniferous forests and the hardwood forests; bogs and swampy lowlands are commonplace in areas with heavy riverways and beside lakes. See Acadian forest.

Gulf lowland forest -- also temperate, broadleaf and mixed forests -- cover east-central New Brunswick and vast parts of Nova Scotia: the Overgrowth Sunrise area; Minas Basin around The Waste and Whisper Beach; as well as the Aelcrest Shore and Isthmus of Chignecto regions. Prince Edward Island, although unplayable, is also covered by this ecoregion. See Gulf Lowland forests.

The warmer climate allows more hardwood trees to grow in the Gulf of St Lawrence than in most of this part of northeast North America, although logging has vastly altered the landscape, introducing invasive trees as well as trees from adjacent ecoregions.

Glaciation

Glaciation had an overwhelming effect upon the landscape -- much of the terrain is marked by glacial features, including:

• Erratics are pieces of rock "that differ from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests." Glacial ice dragged these pieces of rock (which can range in size from small pebbles to huge boulders) many hundreds of miles.
• Drumlins are elongated whale-shaped hills formed by glacial ice.
• Eskers are long, winding ridges of sand and gravel, typically raised up from the area surrounding it.
• Sandurs are large, flat outwash plains, typically with sediment, silt, and gravel along most of the area.
• Kettle lakes are shallow, sediment-filled bodies of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters, typically formed on sandurs.

Bay of Fundy

The Bay of Fundy sits between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and has a tremendous effect on both provinces. The Bay of Fundy has an extreme range of tide; the highest tidal surge recorded occurred in the Minas Basin, a northeastern part of the bay. The water level rose 21.6 metres (70.9 feet).

The Bay of Fundy produces a tidal bore in its connecting rivers. A tidal bore is a phenomenon in which the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travel up a river or narrow bay against the current. Míkmaq folklore states "that the tides in the Bay of Fundy are caused by a giant whale splashing in the water."

Climate

Proximity to the Atlantic Ocean lends a humid environment with significant precipitation; this is the most active storm region in Canada. The weather consists of skies that are often cloudy or overcast, frequent coastal fog and marked changeability of weather from day to day. Maritime areas tend to be very foggy, with an average of 200 foggy days recorded per year in Nova Scotia. The significant fog found in the Maritime region is due to the interaction of the warm Gulf Stream currents with the much colder Labrador Current; the spring and late summer have more fog than the fall and winter.

Generally, Maritime climate and temperature is more moderate than mainland Canada. The cold winters and warm summers are moderated by ocean influences, though Maritime climates also have a wide but not extreme temperature range. The coastal areas are generally cooler in summer and warmer in winter than the inland regions.

During summer and autumn, coastal Nova Scotia may be struck by tropical storms and hurricanes -- hurricanes strike Nova Scotia roughly once every four years. Most of these storms are rather weak by the time they reach Nova Scotian coast, however. Just twelve hurricane-level storms have hit Nova Scotia since 1871, and most were Category One hurricanes. At least one Category Three¹ struck in 1927.

1. See the Saffir-Simspon Hurricane Scale for information regarding the scale of the storms.

Flora & Fauna

As the in-game area many animals, this section has its own page. Please see Flora & Fauna.

People

Nova Scotia was first inhabited by the Míkmaq people. "The Míkmaq were semi-nomadic. During the summer they spent most of their time on the shores harvesting seafood; during the winter they would move inland to the woods to hunt."

Their pre-contact populations were between 50,000 and 100,000 individuals; during the sixteenth century, as was happening elsewhere, European diseases, wars, and other influences were drastically reducing the Míkmaq's numbers. There was visible evidence of the Míkmaq people prior to humanity's extinction: thirteen communities and reserves -- including one with a population of almost four thousand, the Eskasoni First Nation -- existed on Nova Scotia.

The next largest influence on Nova Scotia was the French. These were among the first European settlers to make their home in Nova Scotia; their influence can be seen in numerous historical sites throughout the region, such as Port Royal in Beast's Grin Peninsula. It was industrialized and modernized along with the rest of Canada as usual, although farming, agricultural, and other natural industries such as logging remained important in numerous areas.

Of course, everything went kaput in 1988, as we all know, and wolves and other canines moved in and took over! :D Approximately sixty percent of the human population resided in the rural areas of the region; the remaining forty percent of that population was clustered directly around the Halifax area in urban, suburban, and rural fashion.

More Information & Sources

1. Nova Scotia Portal - Wikipedia
2. Nova Scotia - Wikipedia
3. Nova Scotia Geography - Wikipedia
4. Nova Scotia Demographics - Wikipedia
5. Atlantic Maritime Ecozone - Wikipedia
6. Atlantic Marine Ecozone - Wikipedia
7. Acadian Forest - Wikipedia
8. Gulf of St. Lawrence Lowland Forests - Wikipedia
9. List of Extreme Temperatures in CA - Wikipedia
10. Significant Weather Events of Canada - The Weather Dr.