A question I was curious about as well, but for different reasons. Honestly I don't see why Sartar has to agree with historic figures for Europe. First off, the geography of Europe and Sartar are vastly different and, more importantly, Glorantha is not the real world.
Donald Wrote:
> The use of magic would also improve productivity.
Thanks for bringing this up, because ultimately this is why I think comparisons with the real world fall apart. But, I must say that I disagree with Donald here.
In Glorantha magic permeates everything. I feel it's a misnoemer to say that "magic will help activity X and Y." Magic doesn't improve agricultural productivity, in Glorantha, ag. productivity IS magic. As far as Heortlings are concerned without magic, they produce nothing. But whether or not you are in this camp, it can be said that there are equally effective and seasonal magics that deter productivity.
Getting back to the point. People will benchmark Glorantha with a real-world equivalent, something they are familiar with. Its natural and effective in many cases. But it doesn't always work, and this is one of those situations where it doesn't.
Heortlings actively particpate in the rebirth of the world every year. The sun actually shines brighter on one tula then another. It can rain on your clan's farm and the next tribe over be suffering a drought. Magic runs the show, there is no real world parallel to this, not within such a small geographic area at least.
Imho opinion, all benchmarks are hooey for this purpose. The figures should make sense within the context of Glorantha, and the "feel" of the various regions. And if they don't make sense with middle aged Estonia - oh well, its Glorantha not Estonia. ;)
Jeff wrote:
> Bonner County, Idaho (snip)
Incidentally, Jeff has a good point here. You can find numerous examples in the Pacific Northwest of extremely rugged and rural regions with 25 folk per square mile.
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