D&D 5E [5e] QL's Al-Qadim Game

[Shayuri]

Nothing that won't lead to hilarious and interesting complications! (^_-)

 

[Matthan]

Sold!

 

[Ancalagon]

Huh. I wonder if Akilah's intervention may do more than cure the water-bearer's neck wound?

 

[Matthan]

He's a divine vampire. He feeds on divine magic instead of blood. He just got a giant meal.

 

[Quickleaf]

Is an oasis considered running water?

 

[tglassy]

Probably not, but I'm not the DM.


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[Ancalagon]

Is an oasis considered running water?

LOL

I'm going to answer seriously though haha - I studied deserts a bit when my campaign rant through the Taklamakan desert (fascinating place btw). Anyway, a number of deserts are closed off from mountains on all sides and form a endorheic basin - a bowl from which water will never flow to the sea - the rare rainwater that flows there is trapped. The water eventually either subsides in the grounds or evaporates, creating salt lakes and salt flats, such as the Lop Nur. Most of the water doesn't come from the desert itself, but often from the surrounding mountains where a bit of rain/snow does fall (but now much due to rain shadow effect). This water brings a tiny bit of minerals, minerals that are left behind when it evaporates, causing the saltiness of the salt lakes/flats.

But an oasis is not just water - it's *drinkable* water. So it can't be standing water because that water would eventually become too salty to drink. It's water, flowing, however slowly, to the bottom of the basin.

Here is a small oasis near an abandoned watchtower the party stopped by while being stalk by a tiger that came down from the hills. You can visit this place yourself if you so wish - I hope I will do so one day

https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Li...1493a4cc!8m2!3d32.2017051!4d115.8131874?hl=en

 

[tglassy]

So...yes?


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[Quickleaf]

Very interesting. I studied a little hydrology in undergrad, and my take away was that everything is part of the water cycle. It's rare to have groundwater stand still, and probably from a hydrological perspective there is NO such thing as stagnant water, since it's always evaporating, condensing, being pulled by hydraulic action in some direction...

Anyhow!

I remember in the original Bram Stoker Dracula that Dracula could cross the sea at low tide (or maybe both low and high tide, can't recall exactly). He was drawing on an older folklore about vampires...and the "can't cross running water" limitation seems to have originally been more complex. After all, an ocean surely counts as running water what with tides and currents.

Would be cool, though, if a vampire was trapped by some Aged Druid in an oasis that sprung up overnight, preventing the vampire from ever leaving...

 

[Thateous]

Here is my take from currently being in a desert. It's anywhere between 115 and 120 degrees here and direct sunlight is painful to my skin. I would not recommend shorts and short sleeves because of this. Note that I'm black, more specific milk chocolate according to my wife, and not any shade of white, peach, or tan. The wind is not a savior to these conditions at all, as it is more akin to a hair dryer combined with a sandblaster. One soldier complains often that a 5 min walk results in swamp a$$. (lovely picture huh?) Anything in the sun should not be handled without gloves or risk 1st degree burns. These aren't complaints, just letting you know the way it is out here if you didn't know. Is it February yet?