Dragaera

Geography: A Note on Measurements of Distance

Sun Feb 22 17:57:48 PST 2004

And here's the second article, which explains my reasoning on unit
conversion (miles to leagues) and what it means to be "north" of something.

At the ends of certain lines you'll see a number.  On my website, this is a
footnote that will popup the relevant text.

Also, there is a diagram that I cannot reproduce here; its location is
indicated with [image] below.


Bryan Newell (http://bryann.net)
The sign out front promised me absolutely nothing. Just my kind of place.


--begin document--

A Note on Measurements of Distance

Paarfi has a lot to say about measurements of distance. He mainly uses four
units:

  1. Miles

  2. Leagues

  3. Kilometers

  4. Days


I. How Long is a League?

There were apparently two different lengths for a league in use. 80

Moreover, Dragaerans and Easterners measure leagues differently. 75

There are only two places I could find where Paarfi stated both the miles
and leagues, and in both cases the ratio appears to be approximately 3 miles
= 1 league, which is how we compare statue miles and leagues.

The first is Pel, stating that he traveled more than 1500 miles, and more
than 500 leagues. 158 Note, however, that Pel qualifies his comparison by
referring to how the leagues were measured.

The second is the distance from the county of Bellows to a crashed floating
castle. The distance from Bellows to the Castle is 60 or 70 miles. Morrolan
travels 15 leagues to Nacine. 201 And from Nacine, the ruins are only 15
miles away. 213

15 leagues + 15 miles = 60 or 70 miles, so 15 leagues = 45 or 55 miles,
which again works out to about 3 miles per league. And the second text also
says that 15 miles = 3 or 4 leagues + some maneuvering.

Accordingly, I will use a ratio of 3 miles = 1 league for converting miles
to leagues, unless the text specifically indicates otherwise.


II. How Far Can You Travel in a Day?

Take a look at these two sites:

Jo Beverly's collection of English Facts

Jean Ross Ewing, The Horse in Romance, handout one-side two

(My apologies for the Romance-theme above, it's what I found on Google)

The only major marches on foot that I recall are by Morrolan and his witches
in The Paths of the Dead, and Sethra's army in Dragon.

Almost all the other major trips are made by horseback or carriage.

These can be broken into two categories:

1. Using the same horse the whole journey

Khaavren goes between 15 and 20 miles a day over moderate terrain on
horseback. 198

Zerika and company start out at 5 leagues a day, then go to 10 leagues a day
on their LONG journey to Deathgate Falls on horseback. 295

I'm going to assume 20 miles per day for this mode of travel, when the text
does not specify.

2. Swapping tired horses for fresh ones at the posts.

Switching horses every twenty miles, under ideal conditions, with the right
sort of horse, eating in the saddle or not at all, and not sleeping, it is
possible to travel 500 miles in a 30 hour period...that is, it is possible
to average more than 16mph. - Steven Brust

I think Brust is describing the absolute max here.

Pel travels 1500 miles in 6 days using the post. 158

Which works out to be half that, 250 miles per day.

I'm going to assume 250 miles per day for this mode of travel, when the text
does not specify.


III. As the Jhereg Flies

One major problem facing us in translating the text into an actual map is
the question of how the distances are being measured.

1. In a straight line

2. Following the least line of resistance (existing roads, or around rough
terrain).

There is only one text reference I found that refers to this. When Ibronka
and Roannac are planning their travel from Hartre to Adrilankha, they
mention that it is 500km, and even longer if they follow the coast. 190

I will assume straight line measurements, when the text does not specify.


IV. Directions

Another thing worth considering is what a direction means. What all is
encompassed by "north", or "northeast", in other words.

At one extreme, you can say that "north" means "not south". That is, a 180
degree arc centered around the specified direction.

On the other, you can say that "north" means "more north than northeast or
northwest". That is, a 45 degree arc centered around the specified
direction.

In the middle, you can say that "north" means "more north than west or
east". That is, a 90 degree arc centered around the specified direction.

[image]

In this case, I'm going to use the moderate range, unless the text indicates
otherwise.