The one in New Swamp and Southern Ergoth I take as due to Sable's and Frosts's Skull Totems. But there are no Dragon Overlords in the Plains of Dust, nor am I aware of any Skull Totem there.
Similarly, now that Skie is dead, it seems that northern Solamnia has reverted to its pre-Dragon Purge state, i.e. grassy plains.
Since Beryl is similarly demised, why is there still an enchanted forest covering the extent of her former domain? If it is due to a still-functioning Skull Totem, why then is there no listed supernatural weather effect on the climate map on p. 150?
btw, this also irked me. the plains of dust are tundra, not desert.
Originally posted by talinthas
keep reading. the plains of dust part explains alot. so does the age of mortals book.
btw, this also irked me. the plains of dust are tundra, not desert.
Perhaps I'll find a more satisfactory answer in AoM, but the Plains of Dust entry still doesn't explain why the desert climate of the Plains of Dust is a supernatural weather effect. If the cessation of the Maelstrom affected climate over Ansalon and the Plains of Dust's climate in particular, why would the absence of the arguably supernatural Maelstrom create a supernatural weather effect in the Plains of Dust? Wouldn't the absence of the supernatural Maelstrom mean that climate would return to a "normal" state, since now there is no perpetual whirlpool storm? Maybe it's just a typo.
Since Beryl is similarly demised, why is there still an enchanted forest covering the extent of her former domain? If it is due to a still-functioning Skull Totem, why then is there no listed supernatural weather effect on the climate map on p. 150?
From AoM, it looks like Mina grabbed beryl's, skie's and Malys' skull totems. I'd say that going from Desert to grassy might be a bit "easier" than going from Mountainous/volcanic to forest for the desolation. Likewise, jungle forest to qualinesti forest would be just as difficult, given that trees don't immediately vanish. The supernatural weather effect is gone, but the trees remain.
Granak Red-Silver
Since Beryl is similarly demised, why is there still an enchanted forest covering the extent of her former domain? If it is due to a still-functioning Skull Totem, why then is there no listed supernatural weather effect on the climate map on p. 150?
I don't know about the weather effect, but her totem is gone. Despite that the effects of a transformation of this magnitude do not disappear over night. It could take decades for the magic to finally revert back to its former state. The forests near Tarsis will probably be there for another 20 years, but will begin eroding slowly eventually moving away from the city. There are already “small” signs of the changes, like no new trees and perpetually green grasses turning brown, but this change will not happen on a grand scale with trees just uprooting themselves or vanishing. The magic has seeped into the earth and it will take time for that to erode away.
Originally posted by Kipper Snifferdoo
I don't know about the weather effect, but her totem is gone. Despite that the effects of a transformation of this magnitude do not disappear over night.
I do believe that I saw that most entries said with the skull totems gone, the Overlord realms are reverting back to their natural state, slowly, but surely.
All, that is, except for the Desolation. For some reason, it's showing no signs of changing.
Perhaps due to "the Ruins?"
Originally posted by Granakrs
Well, in my opinion, having the AoM, DLCS and City of the Lost, the unnaturally hot weather in the plains of dust is due to Thunder, the sub-major overlord in that area. Admittingly, the skull totem didn't last long.
That's just the thing, he never completed the skull totem. He was building one, yes, but he lacked certain skulls to complete it and thus activate it. It makes more and more sense to me that the listed supernatural weather effect for the Plains of Dust is a typo. That little star (signifying a supernatural weather effect) in the climate map centered in the Plains of Dust is what's leaving me confused. Without that star, I can buy the explanation that the desert conditions are a natural result of the cessation of the Maelstrom in the Blood Sea.
From AoM, it looks like Mina grabbed beryl's, skie's and Malys' skull totems. I'd say that going from Desert to grassy might be a bit "easier" than going from Mountainous/volcanic to forest for the desolation. Likewise, jungle forest to qualinesti forest would be just as difficult, given that trees don't immediately vanish. The supernatural weather effect is gone, but the trees remain.
Granak Red-Silver
Concerning the desolation, most of it appears to be desert, and it hasn't reverted. Of course the book seems to point to the Ruins as a possible reason for this. Yeah, I suppose 6 months is too short a time to see the expanded forest recede, but you have to figure that it'll be helped along by humans and others logging it. I guess we'll have to wait and see what the future brings.