Rivers are powerful in both history and modern-day. Today, I’d like to talk about the two rivers that shape my stories so far: The Mississippi River in The Prism Files and the Vistula (or Wisła in Polish) River in my upcoming fantasy series.
The Mississippi is the most famous river in the US for obvious reasons, and its power is just as significant in how it splits the Twin Cities. In Ivan’s story, the river divides not only St. Paul from the People’s Front’s capital of Minneapolis but also both cities from the Enclave. These splits are both physical and sociological, dividing the colors with only a few bridges acting as chokepoints between the cities. The three areas that the river’s bend creates were part of the reason I chose the Twin Cities. Even the country’s name comes from it: Northern Mississippi.
Half a world away, the Wisła splits modern-day Poland and its banks were the home of the 4th century early Slavic Venedi (Wenedowie) tribes. Where it meets the Narew River, Wacław calls the settlement of Dwie Rzeki home. This fictional village (because there’s no records from back then) is the heart of the Wenedowie as early trade routes meet at this key confluence. The early Slavs worshipped deities of their rivers, and they believed that they carried souls to Nav, the underworld, which lay beneath the cracks in the ground. Lastly, the Wisła protects the Wenedowie from their rivals to the west, a divide that could be the only thing that keeps them alive.