Dragaera

Geography: Candletown

Wed Mar 10 19:39:49 PST 2004

> Not to pick nits, but do we have any idea where Candletown is?

Candletown...  Killertown...  methinks its true name is "Drivemenutstown".
I apologize in advance for sharing this with you:


1. Book of Taltos, pg 126 - teleport me to Candletown, which is along the
seacoast to the east [of Adrilankha]


So good, so far... Candletown is east of Adrilankha.  I remember the halcyon
days of my youth when this was the only reference to Candletown... I was so
happy... so content.. so--err, sorry.


2. The Paths of the Dead, pg  217 - the Grand Canal from Candletown to
Dragaera City.


Mmmm.  The Grand Canal goes from Candletown to Dragaera City...


3. The Paths of the Dead, pages 33 and 35 - [Orlaan was] picking flowers in
a meadow near the banks of the ... Adrilankha River ... nearly three hundred
miles north of [Adrilankha] ... [Orlaan] traced a line from Dragaera City
... to Dzur Mountain [and began her search from the edge of the Lesser Sea
and her search brought her here]


Dzur Mountain is east of Adrilankha (northeast).  So for the line between DC
and DM to cross the Adrilankha River 300 miles north of Adrilankha, DC has
to be west of Adrilankha.

Well, "has to" is such a strong phrase... Perhaps the Adrilankha River
curves east (the meadow being northeast instead of north), which would allow
for DC to be east of Adrilankha, but again... the Canal would still cross
the Adrilankha River...

The only way I could keep Candletown to the east and avoid river/canal
crossing was for the Adrilankha River to curve WEST after the meadow, and go
around DC to the west (like I drew it on the map).

This leaves a thin path between the Adrilankha and Yendi Rivers (I'll get to
the Yendi--that aptly named river!--in a minute) that the Canal could flow
through.


Then again, maybe Vlad is wrong (if you're teleporting everywhere, do you
really know which direction anyplace is?).  Maybe Candletown is west of
Adrilankha.  Paarfi very nearly suggests just such a thing:


4. The Paths of the Dead, pg 306  - establish regular shipping between
[Hartre] and Northport, the latter of which was well located for [Mount
Kana]. His intention was ... for a ship [to be] sent to Candletown [reload]
and to sail from there "around the horn" (as sailors call it) to Northport.


I say suggest, because it _is_ possible that these ships go EAST to
Candletown from Hartre, then go back west PAST Hartre and continue on
"around the horn" to Northport, but "sail from there" seems like an odd way
to express that.


The Yendi River gets it start in the Boiling Mountains, which are east of
Dragaera City:


5. The Phoenix Guards, pg 212 - a measure of time spent riding [toward
Redface, to the east] through the beautiful Ironwood Gap of the Boiling
Mountains ... the diverse mountain springs that rushed ... through the
mountains, anxious to join together to form the northern Yendi River


If Candletown is west of DC, the Adrilankha River has to cross the Canal to
go west around DC.  If the Adrilankha River goes east around DC, it has to
cross the Yendi River...

Surely, we can turn to Paarfi to straighten this whole river-crossing
madness out for us.  Unfortunately, the answer is "No, and quit calling me
Shirley."


6. The Phoenix Guards, pg 247 - From the Gate of Flags our friends had
traveled down the mountain [Boiling Mountains, through the Ironwood Gap] to
the small town of Everdim ... through the Flowering Valley, crossing the
Yendi River at Flatspot ... after which they began the trek through the
pushta ... At last they [crossed] Adrilankha River at Guilrock Crossing and
began to make their way slowly uphill again, as, even here, they were in the
lap, as it were, of the Eastern Mountains.


At this point, I begin having wonderful visions of sailing up and down these
rivers on Paarfi's bloated backside...


Is there _anyway_ to take all 6 quotes and create a layout that doesn't
require any rivers/canals to cross each other?

Consulting my inner Yendi, I believe I can think of a way:

What if the Adrilankha River had its source far to the EAST of DC, but ran
north, then west, then south around DC to the west, then east again until it
was close to due north of Adrilankha, then straight south to Adrilankha
(like a giant, backwards question mark).

That would solve all of the above:

a The Adrilankha River would have a bank 300 miles north of Adrilankha,
directly between DC and DM (right after this bank, the Adrilankha River
would take a rather sharp turn to the west...).

b. Candletown would be east of Adrilankha, and the Grand Canal would run
>from there along the Adrilankha River for a ways, along the Yendi River for
a ways, and then finally arriving at DC.

c. A few miles northeast of DC, the Yendi River would gets its start and run
southeast for the most part.

d. A person going east/northeast from DC would cross the Yendi, then cross
the Adrilankha near its source to the northeast of DC.  Between DC and the
source of the Adrilankha River, such a person could amuse his or her friends
by saying "the Adrilankha River is to the west!  No, to the east!  No, I
jest, it's to the north!  I'm here all week, folks!"

Of course, it would have to run WAY north, because it appears the canal does
not stop at DC, but continues on to the north a bit:


7. The Lord of Castle Black, pages 310-311,314 - The place to which we now
direct our reader is in the county of Merwin, along the Grand Canal--or as
near to the geographical middle of the Empire as anywhere one could name. In
the northwestern corner of this county, actually touching the canal, is a
barony, called Loraan ...

My brain hurts.

Bryan