Australia

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This article or section contains plot spoilers for The Traction Codex and The Illustrated World of Mortal Engines. Proceed at your own risk.

Australia (or colloquially known as Oztralia, 'Stralia and Danundaland) is a country situated on a large island, or continent (its current status is debated) with a variety of environments.

Description[]

Its center is dominated by a massive desert (on a map, it appears smaller than a satellite view would depict it), its North coast by tropical rain forests (Queensland is now inhabited by cassowaries), and its Southern coast by more temperate woodlands. The Burnt Coast is located on the east coast where present-day Australia was most populated in NSW or VIC; the mobilized Traction Cities that roam Australia have long since left their original sites.

The Lake Eyre in SA is now fed by more permanent rivers, and there are a few on the west coast. The Murray-Darling rivers have mostly kept to their intermittent course, which still greens the area of the Great Artesian Basin. WA now has at least four permanent rivers which irrigate its west coast, and the Top End in NT appears to have a few lakes. Tasmania, TAS - is now connected to the mainland, after the Ice Ages. The map of New Zealand appears to place it much closer to Australia, which may have been the results of tectonic shifts over the Tasman or Coral sea/s.

History[]

Black Centuries & War[]

The Black Centuries and Sixty Minute War seem to have been fairly kind on Australia. Although no major civilizations sprung up yet, it is possible it was the first place to develop a new society. Certain landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House were simply left in place, and cities such as Perth and Melbourne had not yet moved.

The Traction Era[]

During the Traction Era, Australia was dominated by Anti-Tractionists. Sometime after the Third Traction Boom (circa 600 to 800 TE) Australia began to mobilize. It was quite a late comer, but the locals happily took to Municipal Darwinism. The Anti-Traction League had harbors on the North coast which were quickly eaten. One notable Traction City is Alice Springs.

It still had strongholds in the Southern Blue Mountains, inaccessible to traction cities. The Burnt Coast is located on the formerly most populous east coast, where Sydney and Melbourne quickly moved away from, west towards Alice Springs and Perth across the desert.