The Good Canal

From: Keith <keith.nellist_at_Zg_zo2ahayWuCR_jbr55VDEEFju-EEN9_IiLLLw130u8vXk4YQh345mM7VI26X>
Date: Tue, 01 Jun 2010 01:55:38 -0000


The Good Canal.

I've been pondering the Good Canal recently and wonder if anyone has actually visited this magnificent barbarian construction. I am a mere cartographer locked in a library in Holay so can only rely upon the accounts of others, and draw conclusions from the maps and verbal descriptions that I have collected. I shall describe how I imagine it and then see what others think of my assumptions and conclusions.

Firstly, I imagine it being dug from the Devil/Block end to the Sounders River end. I cannot quite picture how it finishes. I imagine the Block sitting on the ground with the Devils Hill pushed up on one side and the depression that is to fill up and become the swamp on the other. I guess it would have been a waterfall cascading down the side of the Block when it was originally built but that this is now levelled off with stagnant water against the edge of the Block.

The canal would have been dug using some giant tool, perhaps Seolinthurs Rudder, perhaps a giant digging stick. Once Sounders River was reached there woud have been the moment that the dam was broken and water would have started flowing into the channel. Then I am guessing that the Sounders River down stream of the Canal would have been dammed up. I cannot think that the bottom would be flat - I can only imagine a V shape, like a groove, dug into the earth.

Physically, I think the canal must be deep but quite narrow (I'm going to suggest that it is only about 4metres wide) although I have very few references to the actual width. The nomads cannot jump it without magical powers, except at certain points where the cliffs are closer together at the top than at the bottom. It is made up of sections cut deep into the rock with awesome high cliffs on either side. The water in the canal would be deep, and slow moving - I imagine it is fairly flat - not much gradient between the top and bottom of the canal, but the water never dries up in the canal, unlike other serpents in Prax. The sides are sheer - it is difficult to get herd animals in and out of the water even when the land on either side is close to level with the water. However, we know from Nomad Gods that the Canal does not make an impassable barrier to herd beasts so I suspect that there may be some tunnelled sections, some bridges, or even some parts specifically designed as fords for moving herd beasts, although I have not got any references to fords. An astonishing and notable feature would be the absolute straightness of the canal, leading up to the Block looming in the distance. I do not believe that there are any aqueduct sections. Although Ronance brought irrigation to Generts Garden I believe that this art was lost before Waha! was able to use more advanced building techniques.

There is no towpath along the canal or locks, as it was not made for moving goods. However, there are ledges and cracks and other areas in the cliffs on either side that make the canal a suitable place for bandits, monsters and others to make their lair. Toward the Block end of the Canal the water begins to become tainted by the flesh of the Devil. Walktapi, Gorp, Stomach, Gas, and Dragonsnail all occasionally make their way up-canal. I believe they are driven back by spirits of Law, or watery servants of Waha! bound to fight the chaos from the Devil, and brought downstream by the slow but always present current.

I believe the Canal is occasionally used for transport but it is dangerous - their are the bandits, the chaos from the Marsh, there is no escape from the Canal once you are floating down stream while enemies on the cliffs above can throw rocks and other missiles down upon you. The dark tunnelled sections must be particularly terrifying for those who cannot see in the dark. However, this is Prax, a land full of dangerous and hungry nomads, dangerous and hungry monsters, and generally is a hostile environment. The Canal offers some advantages to those with water powers, those unafraid of the dark, those with good reason to visit the Block and those who do not mind having rocks thrown at their heads if they are spotted. Perhaps those fiendish durulz hide their plotting their evil plans.

Although the presence of water makes this a useful spot for nomads and their beasts, the water is often difficult to access for the beasts. The crossing points above tunnels, might have strategic value in a battle but they have never been mentioned in the military histories of the area so I conclude that they are either not important or not utilised.

All in all, I would love to navigate the Good Canal, and make measurements and calculations to please the Gods of Wisdom, to float down the straighest of rivers toward the largest Block of Truestone, and brave the tunnels and chasms of this wonder of Prax.            

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