Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Jan 29, 2006 6:26:47	I just studied Night Howlers well for the first time, and noticed the passage over the mountains to the town(Graez) there. What about other passages over the mountains of Glantri? Fausseflammes-Egorn and Castelbianco-Touraine specifically. The path from Ylourgne to Sablestone that actually leaves the nation`s boundaries for some miles makes the first one almost necessary to me...I never figured how Sablestone could exist like this, making it necessary to enter other "countries" to get to it? The passage over to Graez is not mapped out on the bigger maps..but the Skullhorn Pass over the Colossus Mountains is. Why is this? Any thoughts? Edit: Could the change that Ylourgne undertook, from being a fort(theoretically patrolling 48 miles in every direction to a barony(patrolling out 12 miles in every direction) have reduced the actual boundaries of Glantri?
#2 Cthulhudrew Jan 29, 2006 20:11:40	What about other passages over the mountains of Glantri? Fausseflammes-Egorn and Castelbianco-Touraine specifically. I'd say there is almost certainly some sort of mountain pass between Fausseflammes and Egorn- though it is likely not something that is suitable for mass traffic. They are still part of the Glantrian Alps, near as I can tell, which makes them pretty tall and difficult to maneuver in. The same would hold true (even moreso, actually) for a route between Touraine and Castelbianco. That route would be even more treacherous and unlikely to be suitable for travel. PC4 also notes a route northwards from Morlay into the Barony of Adlerturm, via a mountainous path and a hilly valley. In contrast, I'd expect that there would be several routes between Sablestone and Sind to the south- probably a lot of valleys and things in the Kurish Massif that have yet to be depicted on a map. Gaz3 mentions specifically that there are lots of passes and canyons in those mountains, and at least one Sindhi province (Gunjab) is wholly mountainous. There are probably some large valleys that would show up on an 8 mile map (if we were to create one of Sind/Glantri), and many more that would show up on smaller scale maps. The path from Ylourgne to Sablestone that actually leaves the nation`s boundaries for some miles makes the first one almost necessary to me...I never figured how Sablestone could exist like this, making it necessary to enter other "countries" to get to it? There isn't actually another country to the west of Glantri there by the Plateau- it seems to just be unclaimed territory (though it is curious that Glantri hasn't just decided to expand their borders to cover it.) Sablestone is probably fairly new territory, as far as Glantrian history goes. Certainly, from the descriptions, it doesn't seem to be very fertile and desirable territory, and its remoteness is probably directly related to issues of rulership they have over there. The passage over to Graez is not mapped out on the bigger maps..but the Skullhorn Pass over the Colossus Mountains is. Why is this? I suspect because no one thought to put one there until the (much later) publication of PC4 and the 1 mile hex map of the region that they made. A possible in-game explanation could be that, since the pass is only traversible during summer months (according to PC4), it is not depicted on most cartographers' maps- only routes that are accessible throughout the year are. Edit: Could the change that Ylourgne undertook, from being a fort(theoretically patrolling 48 miles in every direction to a barony(patrolling out 12 miles in every direction) have reduced the actual boundaries of Glantri? Ylourgne was not yet a barony on the PC4 or Gaz3 maps, and the only post-Ylourgne barony map that exists (from Glantri: Kingdom of Magic) shows the boundaries of Glantri as the same as earlier maps (even though it doesn't show the interior boundaries of individual dominions).
#3 zombiegleemax Jan 30, 2006 19:34:14	To my mind, these passes that aren't all depicted on all the maps could be one of two things; either only accessible during parts of the year, or, very dangerous and rarely travelled routes. Glantrian Alps are filled with all sorts of monsters and have natural hazards, such as the storms of small stones that occur from time to time (all described in the Gaz). These may also merely be natural passes which do not feature proper trails, but have been crossed by a few daring mountaineers from time to time. Some may even be secret routes known only to the lycanthropes which would account for their appearance only in Night Howlers. Skullhorn Pass may be noted on most maps simply because the military maintains a fortress and keeps the pass guarded and open, and is probably maintained with stairways, bridges, tunnels etc wherever necessary or desirable, so it is relatively safe to traverse.