The Barren Lands

phillies wrote:If there is a large lake, not an ocean inlet, there are considerable rains. If there were no rains, the lake would evaporate. If the water is fresh, the lake has an outlet to the ocean, a river. If there were no outlet, it would be like the dead sea...salty.

Unless the lake is fed by an aquafir.... (shrug..) That leads into the question, "what feeds the aquafir??"

Don

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n7axw wrote:

phillies wrote:If there is a large lake, not an ocean inlet, there are considerable rains. If there were no rains, the lake would evaporate. If the water is fresh, the lake has an outlet to the ocean, a river. If there were no outlet, it would be like the dead sea...salty.

Unless the lake is fed by an aquafir.... (shrug..) That leads into the question, "what feeds the aquafir??"

Don

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It's a really big lake, though. When you look at the map, it looks like the biggest lake on Safehold. Combined with 'Barren Lands' ...

... and we know there were more Rakuri strikes than just Armageddon Reef, because we know one destroyed the Sisters of St Khody's monastery.

Hmmm. Yes, it could be a plot point in reserve. Is 'Barren 'Lands short for 'Nothing to see here, Safeholdians, move along please' Lands?

So many possibilities...

We know from textev:
- The "rebels" had a base / presence in the Desolation Mountains in what is now northern Harchong.
- Silverlode island was given its name by Shan Wei as part of her quirky sense of terraforming humor.

Personally, I don't think that the enclosed bodies of water in the Barren Lands were caused by Rakurai strikes only because the energy release required to do it would have done significant dame to the entire planet.

But in my mind, everything hinges on WHEN the Barren Lands got their name, and WHO gave them their name. Was the name given by native Safeholdians? If so, then IMHO it was probably just to the actual desolation that they found when they put ashore there.

BUT...

If the name was given by Shan Wei, then it could be another (and potentially much more massive) misdirection on Shan Wei's part. Who knows, there could be an entire hidden base there, safely ensconced in the continental interior like the base in the Desolation Mountains was. If so, and if there's a hidden technology base buried deeply in what appear to be the interior mountains (I'm guessing that's what the colors on the global Safehold map mean), then a whole bunch of new fractals open...

But it's all guesswork, speculation, and "what-if" because Himself hasn't told us. Maybe that's the fun of it!

WeberFan wrote:So many possibilities...

We know from textev:
- The "rebels" had a base / presence in the Desolation Mountains in what is now northern Harchong.
- Silverlode island was given its name by Shan Wei as part of her quirky sense of terraforming humor.

Personally, I don't think that the enclosed bodies of water in the Barren Lands were caused by Rakurai strikes only because the energy release required to do it would have done significant dame to the entire planet.

But in my mind, everything hinges on WHEN the Barren Lands got their name, and WHO gave them their name. Was the name given by native Safeholdians? If so, then IMHO it was probably just to the actual desolation that they found when they put ashore there.

BUT...

If the name was given by Shan Wei, then it could be another (and potentially much more massive) misdirection on Shan Wei's part. Who knows, there could be an entire hidden base there, safely ensconced in the continental interior like the base in the Desolation Mountains was. If so, and if there's a hidden technology base buried deeply in what appear to be the interior mountains (I'm guessing that's what the colors on the global Safehold map mean), then a whole bunch of new fractals open...

But it's all guesswork, speculation, and "what-if" because Himself hasn't told us. Maybe that's the fun of it!

Perhaps this is irrelevent, but why are only Silverlode's and The Barren Lands' interiors colored with that brownish-green? Does it denote something about those interior mountains? Sure this is blind speculation, what is there to do until his celereyness finishes the next book?

PeterZ wrote:Perhaps this is irrelevent, but why are only Silverlode's and The Barren Lands' interiors colored with that brownish-green? Does it denote something about those interior mountains? Sure this is blind speculation, what is there to do until his celereyness finishes the next book?

Possibly denoting "unsanctified" territory? I know that Silverlode is largely "unsanctified" -- aka native wilderness -- but I don't recall how many other areas are largely wilderness.

Weird Harold wrote:

PeterZ wrote:Perhaps this is irrelevent, but why are only Silverlode's and The Barren Lands' interiors colored with that brownish-green? Does it denote something about those interior mountains? Sure this is blind speculation, what is there to do until his celereyness finishes the next book?

Possibly denoting "unsanctified" territory? I know that Silverlode is largely "unsanctified" -- aka native wilderness -- but I don't recall how many other areas are largely wilderness.

I recall text suggesting that parts of Delfarahk that Merlin used to rescue Irys and Daivyn were unsanctified wilderness with first growth safeholdian trees. The same was said about Kyplynger Forest.

So while it may be just as you say, it might well mean something more.

PeterZ wrote:

WeberFan wrote:So many possibilities...

We know from textev:
- The "rebels" had a base / presence in the Desolation Mountains in what is now northern Harchong.
- Silverlode island was given its name by Shan Wei as part of her quirky sense of terraforming humor.

Personally, I don't think that the enclosed bodies of water in the Barren Lands were caused by Rakurai strikes only because the energy release required to do it would have done significant dame to the entire planet.

But in my mind, everything hinges on WHEN the Barren Lands got their name, and WHO gave them their name. Was the name given by native Safeholdians? If so, then IMHO it was probably just to the actual desolation that they found when they put ashore there.

BUT...

If the name was given by Shan Wei, then it could be another (and potentially much more massive) misdirection on Shan Wei's part. Who knows, there could be an entire hidden base there, safely ensconced in the continental interior like the base in the Desolation Mountains was. If so, and if there's a hidden technology base buried deeply in what appear to be the interior mountains (I'm guessing that's what the colors on the global Safehold map mean), then a whole bunch of new fractals open...

But it's all guesswork, speculation, and "what-if" because Himself hasn't told us. Maybe that's the fun of it!

Perhaps this is irrelevent, but why are only Silverlode's and The Barren Lands' interiors colored with that brownish-green? Does it denote something about those interior mountains? Sure this is blind speculation, what is there to do until his celereyness finishes the next book?

Hmmm...

On the Safehold map I'm looking at, there are lots of places that have multiple shades of land texture. Barren Lands and Silverlode for sure, but also in Raven's Land, North Harchong, Desnair, and other places. I know that MWW used an application called Fractal Mapper to create Safehold, and my guess is that he only used the actual mountain stencil when it was important to the storyline. Nothing going on in Trellheim, so why take the time to make that part of the map look pretty...

Only Silverlode and The Barren Lands have three shades of green/brown.

PeterZ wrote:

WeberFan wrote:So many possibilities...

We know from textev:
- The "rebels" had a base / presence in the Desolation Mountains in what is now northern Harchong.
- Silverlode island was given its name by Shan Wei as part of her quirky sense of terraforming humor.

Personally, I don't think that the enclosed bodies of water in the Barren Lands were caused by Rakurai strikes only because the energy release required to do it would have done significant dame to the entire planet.

But in my mind, everything hinges on WHEN the Barren Lands got their name, and WHO gave them their name. Was the name given by native Safeholdians? If so, then IMHO it was probably just to the actual desolation that they found when they put ashore there.

BUT...

If the name was given by Shan Wei, then it could be another (and potentially much more massive) misdirection on Shan Wei's part. Who knows, there could be an entire hidden base there, safely ensconced in the continental interior like the base in the Desolation Mountains was. If so, and if there's a hidden technology base buried deeply in what appear to be the interior mountains (I'm guessing that's what the colors on the global Safehold map mean), then a whole bunch of new fractals open...

But it's all guesswork, speculation, and "what-if" because Himself hasn't told us. Maybe that's the fun of it!

Perhaps this is irrelevent, but why are only Silverlode's and The Barren Lands' interiors colored with that brownish-green? Does it denote something about those interior mountains? Sure this is blind speculation, what is there to do until his celereyness finishes the next book?

I think on most maps, brownish green imples a semi arid climate without being completely dry like a desert. South Dakota has a lot of terrain like that as does much of the eastern slope of the Rockies west of the Missouri.

Don

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One of my first thoughts was where have we seen before the combination of desert/semi-arid + massive natural resources. Oh yeah, parts of the Dakotas, Texas, the Middle East... Aka, the Barren Lands are actually extremely "Barren" when it comes to what a pre-industrial society needs. Only, when it comes to what an industrial/pre space-faring society needs (petroleum) it is the "motherload."

Thus, Charis will take it and claim it for the Crowm, administered by the Corisandian Prince/Princess (with some revenue going to Corisand). Initially Charis will just build a couple naval stations in less than traditionally ideal locations and small towns (e.g., a few thousand people focused on supporting the naval stations and some minor industry/agriculture/etc). In due time Safehold will come to begin heavy usage of petroleum on an industrial scale and prospectors will just happen to locate the first major strike, turning one of the (now perfectly positioned) naval stations/towns into a booming city based on extraction, manufacturing, and export.

For those outside the IC, it's yet another sign the ArchAngels smile upon the Church of Charis!