Real world geology: Greyhawk

[helium3]

And stopped to take a picture of the sign. And noticed a large puddle of rainwater near the sign. With one two inch wide (5 cm) streamlet leading downhill one direction, and another flowing the other direction. If a 5' wide rainwater puddle can flow into two different ocean's, and I observed for myself that it can, than I have no problem with the Nyr Dyv's geography.

There's a huge difference between a lake that has two major rivers that both function as outlets (ie Nyr Dyv) and a puddle that happens to be draining in two different directions at the same time.

Lake Yellowstone itself has two outlets -- the Yellowstone River to the north and the Shoshone River to the east. These meet about 120 miles away, but still, it's a good example that lakes can and do have multiple outlets. If only there was a mountain somewhere along there to turn the Yellowstone River from north to NW instead of NE, Lake Yellowstone would drain into both oceans.

Sorry to be a nit-picker, but while the Shoshone River does originate within Yellowstone National Park from the same mountain range as the Yellowstone River, it does not flow into or drain from Yellowstone Lake. Yellowstone Lake is drained only by the Yellowstone River.

 

[Menexenus]

I take it this comment is in reference to the "Slavers" module that was released in 1998 (or so) for late 2nd edition, which had slave ships moving cargo from the Nyr Dyv to the Woolly Bay via the Selintan. It never occurred to me whether those ships ought to be able to make that trip. Luckily, I never actually ran the adventure (although I enjoyed reading it).

Wasn't there also reference to a naval blockade of Greyhawk in the Falcon series? (Or was that just something that my DM threw in on his own?)

Or has tides or has sharks. Or deep keel ships sailing up the rivers (that's why the Rhennee are on barges not caravels!) Yeah, editing.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I take it this comment is in reference to the "Slavers" module that was released in 1998 (or so) for late 2nd edition, which had slave ships moving cargo from the Nyr Dyv to the Woolly Bay via the Selintan. It never occurred to me whether those ships ought to be able to make that trip. Luckily, I never actually ran the adventure (although I enjoyed reading it).

Not just published Greyhawk post-1983, though it appears there. It was actually in response to many Living Greyhawk adventures played through over the years.

Thing is, of any river, I could see the Selintan being the one that has been dredged by some civil engineering group. It is one of the rare rivers where its course is withing borders of a state (the Domain of Greyhawk) from end to end. With Greyhawk making its livelihood off of trade, being the largest city in the Flanaess gives it the resources, the city easily might be expending resources to keep it dredged for deep keel craft.

I can't imagine any other major river that is large enough to carry trade on it would though. They are almost all borders. Wars get fought over massive engineering projects on a state's borders.

Which is another geographic oddity of fantasy settings. Most major rivers in medieval-type societies are not borders. That is a modern development. Rivers had long functioned as a collector of groups and civilizations, not a divider. Civilizations were established along rivers and pushed out from there. The borders would be established in the hinterlands is some unsurveyable forest or mountain/hill range. In Greyhawk, so many of the borders are rivers. Just like nearly every fantasy setting.

 

[Menexenus]

This is a great point. I had never really thought of it before, but you're quite right. Rivers only become convenient borders as the result of a treaty (like the Rio Grande after the Mexican-American War). Under more natural circumstances, though, peoples would be united by rivers, not divided.

Which is another geographic oddity of fantasy settings. Most major rivers in medieval-type societies are not borders. That is a modern development. Rivers had long functioned as a collector of groups and civilizations, not a divider. Civilizations were established along rivers and pushed out from there. The borders would be established in the hinterlands is some unsurveyable forest or mountain/hill range. In Greyhawk, so many of the borders are rivers. Just like nearly every fantasy setting.

 

[grodog]

Now you're going to make me rethink the borders, Eric---I don't need yet-another unfinished GH task for my web site

 

[Maldin]

Thanks also to Maldin,....

Wow! Thanks Menexenus! Awww... shucks... I try to make it useful and interesting.
You came in on the ground floor! I first uploaded my website (at the old address) in 1998. Keep an eye on it this summer. I hope to get some time to finish a few very interesting projects.

Denis, aka "Maldin"
Maldin's Greyhawk http://melkot.com