you know the horrid thing? steven may have a map of the whole shootin' match sitting at home on a drafting board gathering dust.. andy > Okay, I spent about 5 hours a night for the last 2 weeks getting to version > .1 of the map. > > I spent my breaks today at work debating how to tackle documenting the > process, and to be honest, I'm not even sure where to start. > > There are really two maps here: > > 1. The map I felt the text supported at its most literal interpretation. > > 2. The map I "saw" in my head after studying the 500 or so text reference I > pulled out of the novels concerning geography. > > These two maps are not as similar as you might think, and the map on my site > is more 1 than 2. > > Philip Hart brought up a couple of good points last night after looking over > the map. He had two main issues: > > 1. The Empire is too narrow east to west. > > 2. The Pepperfields should be closer to Redface. > > Let me address these two issues first, because, really, I agree with him > 100%. It's just that I'm not entirely certain the text does. > > 1. How Wide is the Empire? > > Kana is 1500 miles from Adrilankha (POTD pg 120). So draw a circle around > Adrilankha, and as you move Kana west, you must also move it south. > Northport is a few hundred miles from Kana (I used 200 miles; it felt right) > and the Kanefthali River Valley is to the north (BOA pg 285-286). So as you > move Kana west and south, you move Northport west and south as well. > > Blackbirdriver (Ibronka's home) is approximately 945 miles southwest of Kana > (POTD pg 217). So again, you have to move Blackbirdriver south as you move > Kana to the west. > > Hartre is south of Blackbirdriver (POTD pg 217 again), and 500km west of > Adrilankha (POTD pg 307). As you move Blackbirdriver to the west and south, > the angle between it and Hartre becomes more and more extreme. > > As much as I wanted to move Kana west, it made more sense to put it almost > due north of Adrilankha, even though that doesn't "feel" right. > > > So, if I can't move Kana west, perhaps I can "stretch" out the continent to > the east. > > Redface is described as being East of Dragaera City, and apparently almost > directly east, as Khaavren and crew debate whether they should go north > around Suntra or south around Suntra, which implies that Suntra is > immediately between DC and RF. > > However, Redface is 1500 miles from Dzur Mountain (POTD pg 300). Again, > draw the circle, if I put it east of DC, it has to be WAY east of DC. > > This does widen the continent quite a bit, but Deathgate Falls, in the Ash > Mountains, which are a part of the Eastern Mountains, is almost directly > north of Arylle (LOCB pg 83-84). > > It's entirely possible that the Eastern mountains are shaped like a huge > bow, with the tips far to the west from the Eastmost extermity, but I > couldn't find any text that supported this, and moreover the map in > Brokedown Palace shows the mountains bowing the OPPOSITE direction... > > When Sethra is explaining the journey from Dzur Mountain to Deathgate Falls > (POTD pg 243-245), she points out that the last time they cross the Eastern > River (which has its source at Redface) it is only 20 miles from there to > the foot of the Ash Mountains. Unless the Eastern River runs north for > quite a distance, then curves back and goes south, that puts Redface and > Deathgate Falls on similar latitudes. > > To further back this, Deathgate Falls is 1000 miles from the nearest sea > (BOT pg 161), and North Pinewood Hold (just north of Redface) is also 1000 > miles from the sea (POTD pg 312). Again, if I rotated Redface around the > 1500 miles circle, that would bring the North Pinewood Hold to the south as > well. > > So I kept Deathgate Falls due north, and Redface marginally to the east of > the Falls, which makes Redface northeast (north-northeast, really) of > Dragaera City, and really tightens up the east side of the empire. > > As I pointed out in an earlier email, I violated the "no sea within a 1000 > miles of Deathgate Falls" with my western coast around Kana. It now occurs > to me that perhaps that was the sea Vlad was talking about, and Deathgate > Falls and North Pinewood Hold are both 1000 miles from DIFFERENT bodies of > water. > > But that "score of miles from the eastern river to the Ash Mountains" quote > is still a problem. > > I agree with Phillip so strongly, however, that I am strongly considering > having another go at this, and moving Kana west and Redface east as far as > possible without grossly violating the text. > > > > > 2. How far is Pepperfield from Redface. > > Twice the distance is declared, and both times it is 50 leagues, which works > out to 150 miles, I believe (TPG pg 154/155 and 277). > > However, in the same breathe the distance is measured as "2-days by the > horsepaths" or "1-day by foot". > > Mica thinks he can run the distance in 16 hours, and Garland/Shaltre think > they can make half the distance in 9 hours. > > The World Record for the 100km marathon is a little over 6 hours > (http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/records/gender=M/allrecords/discipline=100K/ > index.html), which works out to 10 miles per hour, which is the same rate > Mica would be travelling. > > Of course, I believe the marathon is over mostly level ground, but then > again, Dragaerans have longer strides than Easterners (no text, but I > believe in "Taltos" Vlad notes that Morrolan limits his strides so that Vlad > can keep up). > > This was one of the most frustrating passages in all the novels. It takes > Piro two weeks to travel only 50 miles more in LOCB (Adrilankha to Dzur > Mountain is about 200 miles). > > I feel very strongly the true distance is more like 50 miles, maybe even > less, but I did not want to challenge the text except as a last resort, so I > left it at 150 miles. > > > > > > Bryan Newell (http://bryann.net) > The sign out front promised me absolutely nothing. Just my kind of place. > >