Jewel of the Creek-Stream River! (Or not.)
I've been looking into the history of this glorious city. There's a bit of confusion surrounding it and its relationship with Stone Nest. I'm not entirely sure as to what's going on. Which is not surprising, as I'm not convinced that Greg is, either.
Let's have a gander.
(Behave.)
OFFICIAL/ORIGINAL SAUCES:
On this map, Tarkalor's road to Wilmskirk actually stops half-a-dozen miles east of [b.]; the final distance is covered by a track. There is no path marked to [a.] at all. This map seems to have been used by subsequent map-drawers, which creates a few issues.
5. Greg also drew a 'Sartar and Neighbors' population map (which Jeff helpfully placed online here: http://moondesignpublications.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Sartar-Population-Figures.jpg). On this map, the settlement marked `Duck Point' is clearly inland, in a position similar to what is marked on other maps ([4.] in part; [6.], [7.] and [8.]) as `Stone Nest'.
6. Phil Anderson's map in Tales of the Reaching Moon #19 (pp. 34–35), shows a similar geography to [4.]. Duck Point is at the confluence of the Creek-Stream River; the 'inland' settlement is named Stone Nest (and on this map is marked as a ruin). Tarkalor's road runs to Stone Nest. There is no way of any form to Duck Point, but a track runs from Stone Nest to Duck Ferry. This map is reprinted in Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes (Moon Design, 2009) on p. 321, which is why I list it here.
7. Wesley Quadros' map in Dragon Pass: A Gazetteer of Kerofinela (Issaries, 2003) also looks to be based on [4.]. Tarkalor's 'Road' stops a few miles short of Stone Nest; 'Trails' run to Duck Ferry and (also, in this map) Duck Point. Stone Nest is listed as a Small City (1,000–5,000 inhabitants); Duck Point and Duck Ferry are both listead as Villages (<500 inhabitants).
8. Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes (Moon Design, 2009) revises this. In the map on p. 237, Duck Point is a port at the confluence of the Creek-Stream River and is restored to its earlier magnitude: it is now a Small City (1,000–3,000 inhabitants) and is once again the terminus of Tarkalor's road. Stone Nest, inland, is a Village/Town (<1,000 inhabitants); Tarkalor's road passes through it (p. 285).
OTHER SAUCES: 9. Jon Quaife's map in Tales of the Reaching Moon #5 (p. 3) has several similarities with [4.]. Duck Point is placed at the confluence of the Creek-Stream River, unconnected by any road or trail. The terminus of Tarkalor's road is an inland feature named `Stone Nest Ruins'. A short trail runs from `Stone Nest Ruins' to a settlement named `Harvest Home'; the latter is seemingly marked as being a larger settlement than the nearby ruins and Duck Point.
(TotRM #19, p. 35, describes Harvest Home as the "only ramparted fort remaining in the Duck Valley. It sits at the end of the Boldhome road.")
Jon's map carries the following note: "With the exception of the Lismelder detail, this map is based on an original by Greg Stafford." I don't recall seeing this map of Greg's—I don't believe it to be [4.], based on the level of detail—and I'd be interested to see the degree to which duckish elements might count as `Lismelder detail'.
He notes that "most of the foundations are of ancient stone and have been in place for hundreds if not thousands of years. The town is laid out in a random manner and does not seem to make much sense to humans. There are no discernible districts like the ones that characterize Sartarite cities."
The Wilmskirk–Duck Point road does not connect to, or pass through Stone Nest; rather it marks its east–west passage to Duck Point a little way to the south (pp. 10, 33). John makes no mention of Harvest Home.
Furthermore, Stone Nest was apparently an ancient, wereduck-constructed city. In describing the `Wyrmish Ruins' elsewhere, John wrote (p. 11): "These ruins are markedly different from Stone Nest. While the previous were ancient Duck ruins, this is the remnants of a bizarre structure from the Empire of Wyrm's Friends."
Powered by hypermail