Hochstadt Canyon

The Hochstadt Canyon is a canyon... for some reason. It was constructed by former Sensei Jacques Hochstadt, his brother Dako, and former Sensei Gung Hao during an epic fight.

History
The Hochstadt Canyon was created in 1075, when the current Sensei of that time was Gung Hao - The Father of the Hochstadt and Unki Families. Gung Hao had two sons, Jacques and Dako. Jacques was going to be next Sensei, so he trained hard to be one, and was already training Ninjas in 1075. On the other hand, Dako took up a different path by becoming a Puffle Round-Upper. Jacques always teased him about this, against Gung Hao's wishes. Thus, Jacques wanted to attack Dako one day, so Jacques and his Ninja Followers Came Across Dako and his puffles in the Southwest corner of Modern-day Freezeland. Both sons learned the Sensei State, (even though Dako didn't become sensei, his father thought it may be useful) and it was the first time Jacques had ever tried to attack his own brother with it. Jacques bended a huge boulder and threw it at Dako and his Puffles. Dako was a loyal Puffle round-upper, so he blasted the large boulder with fire. Then, Jacques started to use more boulders, and soon a crater began to form. Jacques began using more rocks, and even bend the ground deeper into the Earth to make Dako Lose his balance. Over time, after using Fire, Water, Ice, and more Earth, The Canyon formed. Halfway trough, Gung Hao saw the commotion and tried to stop the dispute. Still, constant Earthquakes, Fireblasts, and Floods caused by the brothers swept the area. After one week, Gung Hao was able to settle the dispute by freezing both Brothers in Ice Capsules. The Capsules melted an hour later, and Jacques No longer bothered to attack Dako, and left. However, Dako stayed in the Canyon. He was amazed at what He and his brother had created in the Sensei State. Thus, Dako decided to live in the Canyon. He named the Canyon "Hochstadt" after his brother who created the canyon, and a creek he named "Unki", after himself, who created the creek.

Dako's Rule
Dako had decided to live in the Hochstadt Canyon because it was a perfect place to herd his puffles, and it was far away from Jacques. He Built his house deep on the Canyon floor, that looked a lot like the Dojo because of his heritage. His House also included a beautiful garden. The Canyon was so deep, it was very close to the Earth's Mantle, that the base of the Canyon was warm enough to support Plants. This didn't even bother Dako a bit. In fact, he enjoyed it. He began breeding Puffle O'berry bushes, and soon had an orchard of them. The Canyon allowed Dako's Puffles to have more space and have more offspring. This Business made Dako rich, and he also allowed penguins to come into the canyon for tours. He soon got married and had a chick. He and his family continued to live there happily until Dako and his wife died. They were Buried in their Garden Near their house. However, the offspring of Dako did not want to continue Dako's business, so Dako's House, Puffles, and Puffle O'Berry Orchard were abandoned. When this happened, the O'Berry bushes began to spread around the Canyon, and so did the Puffles and Plants from Dako's Garden - which became the habitat of the Canyon.

Secret High Penguin Colony
The Hochstadt Canyon stayed untouched by penguins for centuries after Dako's Death. Most Penguins Found it to be a Thing in the way rather than a national park. Penguins had built wooden bridges in the 1700's and 1800's over it to get across, but they still didn't bother to explore the canyon. Then, the HPC suddenly fell in 1913 to Khanzem. Many High Penguins tried to escape Khanzem by hiding in other houses or immigrating to other countries. Thus, there was one group of High Penguins that came across the Hochstadt Canyon. They went down to the canyon floor and built a city out of the sides of the Stone Canyon Walls. They Named their town PWNtra, after thier success of evading the Naughtzees. As a bonus, they destroyed all the bridges that ran across the canyon so that no one would discover thier city. However, the city of PWNtra was isolated from society....and it wasn't until 1959 until it was rediscovered.

National Park
The Hochstadt Canyon finally became under some penguins interest, especially for two penguins who lived in a village near the Canyon in 1959. (What is today the Viking Empire) They were Kirk Ickermaas and Jo Vinsky, who were both 15 year olds who lived in the same village (now known as the Hochstadt Canyon Village). They decided to explore the canyon because many of the villagers thought the canyon had no one living there, and that it was harmless. It took them a whole day for them to reach the canyon floor. They were facinated to see such greenery and beauty in such a place, and they wondered why no one had ever cared about coming down here. Then, during that night, they heard a faint sound of a group of penguins chanting. Kirk and Jo were frightened, but they went toward the sound. They soon came across the Isolated High Penguin city of PWNtra. The High Penguin elders were facinated to see foreign penguins from a different place, and Kirk and Jo had told the city about what had happened to Khanzem. Everyone cheered, and it was agreed that the High Penguins would go back to civilization. They left their city behind, and they decided to live Frostborough. Kirk and Jo became Heroes, and the Canyon became a National Park in 1960. Today, The Hochstadt Canyon National Park is well maintained. The Park is maintained with several hundred Park Rangers from both the Viking Empire and Trans-Antarctica. The Park Rangers have done their best to help preserve the wildlife left in Antarctica's most unique habitat.

Tours
Tours into the Canyon are held everyday, with a reasonable fare of 30 coins per penguin. The Tour Guide will take you around all the historical and significant spots of the canyon as you learn more about the canyon's creation, inhabitation, and habitat. However, you could also tour the canyon around yourself... as long as you follow the trails. There are Four Trail Entrances into the canyon, two of them are on the Viking Empire side (called the Jo and Kirk Trails) and the other two are on the Trans-Antarctica side. (called the Gung Hao and Jacques Trails). There is no entrance fee for the canyon, so by self-touring, you will not have to pay a price. There is also the option of taking a helicopter flight across the canyon for 200 coins per pax.

Places
Here are some of the few places inside the canyon that one can come across there:

Near the Canyon

 * The Hochstadt Canyon Museum - a small museum that overlooks the canyon. It houses some information on the history and wildlife of the canyon. (located on the Viking Empire Side)


 * Park Rangers Station North - The Park Ranger Station that is on the Viking Empire Side. It is near the the Museum.


 * Park Rangers Station South - The Park Ranger Station on the Trans-Antarctica Side.


 * Unki Suspension Bridge - The Only Remaining bridge that connects the Viking Empire to Trans-Antarctica.


 * Hochstadt Canyon Village - See below.

On the Canyon Floor

 * The PWNtra "Ghost Town" - See the Deatailed buildings carved out of the side of the canyon that High Penguins had lived in many years ago. The City looks like it was when it was abandoned. Artifacts found in the Town is on display at the museum.


 * Dako Unki Memorial - The Home of Dako Unki was refurbished and was declared a memorial. You can explore his Garden, but tourists are restricted to enter the house. Some of the things Dako had in his house is also at the museum.


 * Gung Hao Swamp - A Portion of the Canyon where the creek flows into a swamp...where there are lots of trees, vines, and Kudzu. It is only accessible with a boat. At the end of the swamp, the creek forms back again. (The Creek is big enough to hold a boat.)


 * Flower Fields - There are some places of the canyon that are dotted with large fields of unique flowers that come in several different colors: Red, Yellow, Orange, White, Purple, and Blue.

Flora and Fauna
Like as said before, Dako Unki brought most of the Plants and animals to the canyon. The Puffles he had tended grew in tremendous numbers and spread across the canyon. Plants like the Puffle O'Berry Bushes, Grass, pine trees, various flower types also rapidly spread across the canyon. Dako also had a Koi fish pond.... and it was said that a flood occured five years after his house was abandoned, and the koi fish and pond plants moved into the creek. Today, wild Puffles still roam the canyons, plenty of Koi fish still swim in the creek, O'berry bushes and pine trees dot the canyon, vines and trees cluster in the Gung Hao Swamp, and vast fields of flowers spread about the canyon floors. The duty of the Park Rangers are to protect this unique wildlife from abuse. Although the canyon is not yet in any danger, conservationists do thier best to stress the importance of the canyon.

Hochstadt Canyon Village
The Hochstadt Canyon Village is a small village 5 Miles away from the Hochstadt Canyon. It is home to many shops and hotels that promote the theme of the canyon. The Hochstadt Canyon Village was first founded by Vikings in 1825, then known as "Stavelton Village". This Village had no real significance until 1959, when two boys (Kirk and Jo) from the village discovered the High Penguin city of PWNtra in the Hochstadt Canyon. The next year, the Hochstadt Canyon became a National Park, and Stavelton was happy to sponsor it. Stavelton then was renamed to Hochstadt Canyon Village in 1961, and began to build hotels and shops to lure tourists to the Canyon. Today, the Hochstadt Canyon village remains as a haven for travelers to the Hochstadt Canyon.