How wide and deep?

From: bethexton_at_...
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 15:59:51 -0000

I've lived most of my life on the edge of the "Canadian Shield," where rivers tend to be substantial things. Fords are things I've only read about in books for the most part--the rivers I'm used to are seldom fordable (maybe some of the teriary ones, in late summer, when the current in the rapids _might_ be low enough, if you had a very long rope strung across to hold onto....but certainly not as a matter of routine), and which you generally have enough room to tack small (or even not so small in some cases) sail boats back and forth to sail against the wind.

So when I think "river" that is what I think of, a wide, deep, overwhelming flow of water that is a substantial barrier, best crossed by boat (or waiting for winter to freeze it over, and choosing a spot where the current isn't too strong).

Up until now, I just assumed that in Kerofinnela, what with the abundant rain fall and plentiful vertical, that rivers were all like that. The River, Creek, and Stream being things big enough that the far bank could not be made out in detail, their main tributaries being more the size of the Seine or the Rhine.

Then it occured to me, for some reason, yesterday that Glorantha was developed by someone living in California, and most of the source material comes from places like England or Ancient Greece. Rivers in these places are largely (Thames aside) less burly.

"The" River (Engizi) is obviously big, it is the outflow of the massive SkyFall. But what about the Creek and the Stream. Are they as puny as their size would suggest? Or are they more abundant? What about the smaller, often un-named rivers shown on the maps? Obviously it will vary by river, but I guess the question is "To show up on teh DP:LOT map, how substantial does a river have to be? (Yah, this might have been a good question to have asked before contributing to the gazeteer on a couple of said flows of water....)

Anyone have any thoughts?

--Bryan