First, a quick aside question: The "Bubble of Lolth" over Istivin, that was first introduced with the GDQ supermodule, correct? I don't recall it being part of the original storyline from the G series, but its been a long time...
My main question is about the climate around Sterich. I'm not a climatologist and I've not lived anywhere geographically similar to Sterich. My understanding is that it is about on the 30 degrees North latitude line, has plentiful river water, is pretty far inland, and surrounded by highlands (including some very high cold mountains).
Casting about for real world comparables, it seems to me that it would be most similar to northern India, say around Punjab. The latitude is roughly the same, the rivers, the mountains, the inland nature, etc all seem to match. Even have the steppes/desert to the west down correctly.
Does this seem reasonable to folks? If not, do folks have suggestions for other places on which to base the climate/flora before adding the fantasy elements?
I don't remember there being any referece to the bubble around Istivin in the original modules G1, G2, G3- in fact there was very little information that extended beyond the actual sites (stedding, ice caves, and lava palace). I can't pesonally vouch for the GDQ supermodule, but there was a really bad Rose Estes novel that covered it marginally "the Eyes Have It". Though frankly, I don't find this source to be very accurate (like most Estes novels)
One big potential difference is the fact that there's no canon evidence for anything similar to the Monsoon in Sterich. Also - I'm not sure how the Crystalmists fare against the Himalaya and the mass of the Tibetan Plateau beyond. These features dominate the climate of S. Asia as the most air from the Indian Ocean, carried north in summer by the Monsoon winds rams straight into the mountains and can go no further. It then proceeds to rain yardstaves for about three to four months across most of north and west India.
That said, Sterich will enjoy a lot of rainfall for similar reasons, though perhaps not to the same degree as in N. India/Nepal. Any moist air blowing in off the Azure that runs into the Crystalmists is going to rise, cool and drop its load of moisture on the eastern side of the mountains - Geoff, Sterich, Yeomanry and the Hold. High in the mountains, it's likely to fall as snow, which can compact and form glaciers, which act as long term resevoirs of water for rivers such as the Javan.
One thing that has to be taken into account is the effect of the Jotens along Sterich's southern flank. Depending on how high they are, they're likely to have some rain shadow effect on the southern part of the country. That might make Nepal's Kathmandu Valley a better model. It has high mountains to the north and the (relatively) lower Mahabharat mountains/hills to the south. Here's the climate charts for Kathmandu (27° 42' N): http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/city_guides/city.shtml?tt=TT002640
You can see the big spike in rainfall for the Monsoon rains.
Given its distance from the sea, the climate in the heartlands of Sterich is likely to be continental - hot summer, cool to cold winter. Obviously, the higher up you get, the summers become cooler and the winters become harsher.
Spring and Autumn are likely to bring increased rainfall as the prevailing winds across the Flanaess switch to and from the southerly and south-easterly directions that they adopt in summer. Winters will be cold and fairly dry, though snow storms are not unlikely. Hard to say whether snow would settle much in the lowlands (I think it'd be rare, though frosty nights would be fairly common), but it would certainly get very cold in the high country.
Yes, thanks. I knew I'd be adjusting for the monsoons, but I was hoping for something to use as a baseline for the 'whole climate', rather than just temperature numbers (which various attempts at GH weather progs could provide.
I don't think the Crystalmists are quite the same impact as the Himalayas in terms of their size., but they are high and cold. Plus there is the supernatural effects that maintain the Dry Steppes beyond them, so I figured they'd have a similar overwhelming rain trap because of that.
I was leery of Nepal because of elevation concerns. I don't consider Sterich to be 'highlands' (though there is nothing that really says one way or the other. Is the Kathmandu valley at a "normal" elevation or is it pretty high up there? Actually, I suppose I'll get that info when I look into to more.
Kathmandu sits at about 1336m (4400 ft), which is pretty high alright. Istivin, say, would probably sit lower - so you can adjust the temperatures up a tad across the board. That would certainly rule out snow settling in the lowlands, but would make summers fairly sultry and hot.
There's a strong possibility (monsters notwithstanding) that there might be some transhumance in Sterich, where herds are driven up onto cooler mountain pastures in summer. Certainly I can see some of Sterich's (wealthier) nobility seeking the cool refuge of "hill stations" in summertime.
Woesinger: “Well culturally, it's a Keoish colony gone seriously feudal. So whatever you concieve the Keoish to be, but fragmented into vast numbers of petty nobility.”
Woesinger: “There's a strong possibility (monsters notwithstanding) that there might be some transhumance in Sterich, where herds are driven up onto cooler mountain pastures in summer. Certainly I can see some of Sterich's (wealthier) nobility seeking the cool refuge of "hill stations" in summertime.”
Oh, the potential administrative nightmare!
A good public road system or a legal system allowing compelling easements would help. Having lowland and highland holdings would help. Another big problem might be getting enough nobles to cooperate to achieve economies of scale.
I guess the easiest way to do this is to have a strong market in herd animals so different people own them when they are in the lowland and highland.
Transhumance normally doesn't involve exchange of the stock being herded.
If individual fiefs aren't big enough to have both upland and lowland pastures, then there's plenty of incentives for trade: "you graze your cattle with mine in summer, I graze mine with yours in winter". Also - I'm sure a lot of Sterich's myriad nobles are interelated or are in fief to other nobles, so such arrangments can be purely commercial, or related to ties of blood or fealty.
I'm also sure that the Sterish legal system before the Giant Troubles was robust enough to cut out noble cattle rustling. Hanging is always good deterrent. :)
Lolth's bubble of love over Istivin was indeed introduced in the GDQ supermodule, and the statement that it did not appear in the individual G series modules prior to that is correct.
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