> The hills are not impassable mountains, but simply rough desert
>country. None of the mountains are high enough to even be snowcapped.
>Some of the bigger peaks might qualify as "mountains" in England, I
>suppose.
A mountain is everything which rises significantly over the rest of the country. Where I live, loamy hills of 150 metre above sea level (which usually is visible from the "mountain") are called "-Berg" (German for "mountain"). Where I lived in Norway, an 800 metre high mountain surrounded by a fjord on all sides simply was reckoned an island...
If you look closely at the boardgame map, there are some parts shown as mountains as per DP/NG rules - the horn tips, and a crest running along the shoulder, also featuring the ruins of Old. If you want a pass road with really strange things, travel from Horngate to Biggle Stone via Old.
> b) If you're new to the area, a good guide is useful to get
>through them, but this is just because the broken ground can be
>confusing. Remember that a Praxian is used to very flat countryside, and
>inability to see 50 miles in every direction can be disconcerting to
>them.
Come on - even in generally flat country you cannot see 50 miles around all the time (horizon problems nonwithstanding). If there are dunes or hillocks which rise about 5 to 10 metres above the lower parts around, your effective horizon will be 10 km even if you "climb" those five metres.
Peter Metcalfe
>>My geography isn't that good - but isn't the reson we have rolling hills
>>due to the fact that they're grassy, and the grass sort of binds them
>>together?
>I think the hills would be fertile if Eiritha is buried underneath there.
Well, most of them counts as Winter Fertile (i.e. chaparral in Summer, lush in wet season), except the Fertile Ground in a circle around the Paps. I'm not familiar with steppe or savannah climate from first hand, but doesn't the lush greenery in wet season imply that the rootwork remains even if the parts above ground wither and welt away?
Plus, dunes are fairly round and rolling, too. Especially where long, dried out grass too tough (or sharp) to graze upon remains standing.
Peter on Scritha Valley:
>The Native Farmers of the Scritha are your average ignorant peasants
>and are described in RoC p23.
>Even Brolian savages would feel more
>sophisticated compared to them.
So would Balazaring pig farmers from Dykene... Even if the Indagos lands are inhabited by Oasis people they had been exposed to Pavic culture (in addition to nomad oppression) for quite a while, and aren't necessarily as featureless as their more isolated brethren at the western oases. And even those may be able to surprise you with hidden left-overs from former times. Compare the Dorasta Shrine people.
If we extrapolate from Nomad God/Dieux Nomads counters, the various units of the Tada-Shi may just be summoned demi-heroes. They might be reincarnated Golden Age people relying on their descendants, though...
>Far End is a fort and as such would be occupied by Lunar troops.
Sounds like a post worse than Corflu. Wasn't there a "Carry On" movie featuring an understrength detachment of Foreign Legion (a parody on a overly romanticized other flick I only saw in dubbed version, long ago)? A brutal, often drunk sergeant, the noble legionnaire, two or three comical relief grunts, and various inept personnel (cook, medic)...
>I estimate the population of the scritha valley to contain two
>or three thousand people. The main produce would be food which
>would be sold at Pavis.
What little there is in excess to the valley's needs. If the Indagos lords are prudent, they'll also reckon with bad years (draught, nomad activity) and have stores hidden away to help them through.
>>2. I also need information on the Indagos family: where are their
>>dwellings in the Big Rubble? Are they in the Real City?
>I don't think they have any.
I suppose that of old they were entitled to some in the city (similar to Raus' manor in New Pavis). One or two of the buildings may be "type two" ruins or even better, probably inhabited and kept in shape by (would-be?) retainers of the family.
>Their influence lies in the fact
>they hold land outside Pavis and so the description of them as
>a 'Pavis Rubble family' looks like a mistake.
Maybe a branch of the family?
Sergio;
>>Is the
>>Daughter of Pavis Bendrath connected with the Indagos family?
Peter:
>If he needs to be for campaign purposes, yes.
Good reply.
(People of Pavis character hat on: "Bendrath? Should have become a Wind Lord rather than a Daughter of Pavis!" Cyrilius Harmonius, Daughter of Pavis responsible for overseeing the Zebra Fort rebuilding, shortly before his alleged disappearance on his honeymoon barge with Tala Errio)
Bendrath is said to have been born in the Rubble. Now the Sartarites generally lived outside the Rubble at least until the Dragonewts Dream, probably longer, in Thieves Town (since around 1490). If the Pavisite Orlanthi aren't totally urbanized (which I doubt they are), there will have been clan feuds etc. forcing the losers into bad territory, e.g. troll-ridden Rubble. The Real City would collect such influx, over time.
Contrary to common conception, the Pavis Survivors don't regard themselves as Orlanthi - they don't care that much whether the Red Goddess is a foe of Orlanth, but they care whether she's a foe of Waha, or especially Jaldon. It takes an exceptional Sartarite heir to gain lasting support from some of the Pavisites. In some sources Argrath's "Pavis Royal Guard" are zebra-mounted missile cavalry, quite obviously less Lunar-friendly denizens of Zebra Fort (in other sources they are said to be Impala-riders, a suggestion I tend to doubt). Another such company - the Zebra Tribe - appears as unaligned Independent tribe in NG. While identical in stats, the need not be the same units. (I wonder how Joraz Kyrem's Golden Bow worship carried over to the Zebra People? They seem to outclass the average impala clan.)
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #525
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