Chris Wrote:
> In any case, the
> Wastes are not balanced.
I disagree. I get the sense that they are balanced. If not
balanced, then the biotic communities would be changing rapidly. The
gist I get from the literature is that the nomads thought the place
to be crappy grazelands long before the Dorasings or anyone else
showed up. And now they still consider them to be the worst of the
worst. Seems like things are staying pretty consistent out there.
> From precipitation, you have
> to assume that most areas of the waste experience 90%
> run-off, so really get 4 inches of useful
> precipitation. (This may be a huge source of
> difference compared to the real world. The Serpents
> that form in the run-off are jealous -- they do not
> soak into the ground.)
I guess thats my problem with accepting this. I can't think of a
real-world example that sheds 90% of its precipitation.
Thunderstorms in hard-packed deserts do, but then you are talking
about the entire 3" annual rainfall dropping in a single event. My
training as a biologist/ecologistis causing me trouble seeing the
better part of 4' of water flowing off the landscape. I don't see
the areas beyond the river valley recieving that much rain without
supporting some large ephemeral streams well into Fire Season. If
that's the case, they would be major landmarks on the map, and Prax
wouldn't be such a harsh landscape.
> Right. It is one long flood. It just comes on
> sudddenly.
Agreed
> All of it falls within a few weeks during the winter.
River of Cradles has the rain falling in every season except Fire.
> Think about how unpleasantly useless it would be to
> get 2 inches of rain every day for three weeks, then
> nothing for the rest of the year. That would not be
> uncommon as I see it.
This is how I imagined it as well, but I live in California, a place
that experiences nearly that.
> The wastes are not like the Sahara.
I've lived in deserts for the better portion of my life. The Sahara
is not at all what I was imagining.
> The wastes are a mix of grasslands like the
> American great plains or the Russian steppe, broad
> areas of rocky waste like the deserts in New Mexico,
> but most of all, great stretches of unpleasant scrub
> where little but thorn bushes grow.
This is what I was imagining. The real world needs less than 5" of
rain to support sage brush communities. 10" to 40" to support grass
prairies. The lower end being shortgrass prairies, and the higher
end being tall grass prairies. One would assume that the
Wastes/Vulture County being crappy grazing would have short grass
prairies at best. (See below)
> IIRC, River of Cradles and Drastic Prax (both OOP)
> have rainfall numbers, but I think they are consistent
> with what you cited originally.
Indeed, River of Cradles has about 40" of rain, falling mostly in
Storm Season, but with some rainfall in every season besides Fire.
> Fertile? By what standard? Pavis County is only
> fertile by comparison to the wastes. Sartarites would
> consider it scratching out one of the the toughest
> livings ever. They only go there to escape death and
> worse.
I have to disagree. At the risk of literature thumping, River of
Cradles states "The soil is rich.." referring to the lands bordering
the Zola Fel. This makes sense to me. You have a fairly major river
depositing alluvium over the course of about 2 millenia. Granted it
usually takes 5-10k to develop deep soils in the real world. In any
case, flood plain alluvium is generally considered to be the best
arable land. Secondly, from an ecological standpoint, the
establishment of savannah/grasslands tends to indicate the presence
of deep soils.
Wrapping it up: I had imagined the Zola Fel as a fertile crescent parallel: an arid, harsh environment, with a large, reliable, and fertile river flowing through the middle. Naturally, cultures gather about the river, the lifeblood of the region. The Wastes are a Utah desert-esque landscape with scrub communities and the occasional short grass savannah. Prax I had imagined more like a low desert, Sonora or Chihuahua desert parallel, but I can accept scratchy short grass prairie. All of these plant communities require very small amounts of rain to persist, and not usable rainfall after runoff, but actual water falling from the sky. Thus, Pavis County/Zola Fel seemed like it was habitable and lush (i.e. tall grass prairie) because of the river's local influence. Because this entire region is relatively small (compared to western US landscapes), It didn't seem likely that Pavis County somehow recieves considerably more rain than areas directly adjacent.
Water is the single most important commodity in Prax/Pavis. With it you and your herds can grow fat, without it you die. So understanding the water of the region is what allows me to convincingly portray the vistas and the life to my players. It also makes great scenario hooks ranging from petty water rights squabbles between neighboring farmers to far-reaching plots hatched by the Pavis priesthood to ensure the security of the Rockwoods winter snowpack which feeds the river.
Cheers,
Mitch
Powered by hypermail