Dragaera

Geography: Candletown

Kenneth Gorelick pulmon at comcast.net
Wed Mar 10 20:00:17 PST 2004

On Mar 10, 2004, at 10:39 PM, Bryan Newell wrote:

>> 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
>
Or maybe Vlad's Candletown was named after the original that was 
destroyed in Adron's disaster...?
>