Lawnmower Boy

Under the spoiler JUST in case...
 
 

Good Point.  Ok, so it is the clearing house for any trade coming down river, which it then ships by boat to Aerelios.  This actually makes sense as you can just go with the river's flow to the Gefting Sea, hug the coast, head up the Kulana River a bit and you're in Aerelios.  
 
I keep forgetting that overland travel is very much a modern (ie 1850's +) idea.  Also as a North American (Canadian) we tend to see long distances as common place.  I am reminded of a conversation with a Scotsman visiting Canada.  I asked him what he thought. "Its so bloody HUGE.  You talk about going to Calgary from Edmonton as like a small day trip.  Its four bleedin hours mate!  Back home that gets me onto the Continent!  For us anything more that 100 kms is overnighting!"

Although we often assume that "nomadic" peoples moving from water hole to water hole are the natural and immemorial mode of desert life, before there were "water holes" there were "wetlands," (cienfuegas in the American West) which supported relatively immobile populations. "Nomads" with large herds emerged in the Sahara along with the trans-Saharan caravan trade in the late Medieval period. Well, actually, it is a bit more complicated than that, as this mode of life emerged in the Fezzan at the beginning of the Iron Age, linked with Egypt's trade with the Sudan and the Maghreb, and only spread to Algeria and Morocco after the 1200s. Most of the actual trade was infra-Saharan, and was linked to the transformation of the wetlands by focussed, oasis agriculture, a highly capital and labour-intensive practice. 
 
Caravan trade can be seen as an extension of transhumant livestock management. The "tribes" would winter in the central Saharan uplands, then travel in the spring through the oasis country to the Maghrebi pre-Sahara, or alternatively south to the Lake Chad Basin and the Senegal, with a tribally-controlled winter market to exchange northern and southern goods. I think --I'm honestly not an expert, and historians don't pay nearly enough attention to the economic and social side of Saharan history. 

"
Koy is a smaller city located 160 km north and east of Aerelios on the banks of the Lost River.  Its actual location is actually about 300 km inland up river.  The reason for this placement is that it is right next to one of the passes that lead into Kerq through the Shattered Hills.  Both the river and the hills start north in the Wyrmian Mountains.  As such it makes an ideal spot to get items from the mountains and the hills as well as trade goods from Kerq.  
 
Most of its items are shipped overland (200 km) to Aerelios for refinement and distribution. "
 
This is far too great a distance for an economical point-to-point trade with medieval technology. It is perfectly practical, but implies the transhumant herding of livestock, usually sheep. This further implies a textile industry, a seasonality of pasture, and an order of political organisation to make these transhumant movements safe and stable. (That is, no-one squats your pastures while you're on the other end of your range. It isn't much consolation that you can kick them out when you return if the grass is already gone.) I'm having difficulty visualising the geography, but transhumant movements often link uplands with lowlands subject to seasonal flooding. The mountain pastures are green in the summer, while the flooding has to recede in the winter. 

My son is struggling at his new school, and I have precisely no idea what the Hell to do about it. It's like he's become a different kid in 3rd grade. I don't know how to talk to him any more.
 
When people ask me what my greatest fear is, I'll usually respond with "needles" or "heights". But in reality, my greatest fear is that my kids aren't progressing as much as they could be because I've missed something or left something undone. My greatest fear is that I'm failing my kids. Having a daughter with developmental disabilities has been rough, but I've learned to adjust; having my precocious son struggle has really shaken my confidence as a parent.
 
I wish I could talk to my Mom. I'm sure she'd have something helpful to say.

I had thought it imodest to mention Loezen, but I see LL has done it for me.
 
The last story arc in my second Supermage playtest campaign had the PCs trying to save that world. (Not entirely altruistic: Some Loezenians were escaping to Earth and behaving like, well, D&D PCs.) This involved a visit to an oracle to find how to do this, a treasure hunt to acquire the three elements they needed, and various side-quests to deal with problems along the way. There was time travel (including at least one predestination paradox), allies recruited, enemies fought, and a terrible price paid, but ultimate success.
 
Among the problems the PCs faced were other Loezeniens with their own ideas how to save the world, or at least to save their own skins. In addition to the Loezenians invading Earth, the mage Naktorial had enslaved a whole country and numerous lesser sorcerers to build a Last Redoubt arcology that could survive the sun's death, while Norom Barcaldine, the Prince Who Never Was, sought to trap Loezen in a Groundhog Day time loop: The world would never end, but it wouldn't continue, either.
 
Dean Shomshak

"After the day's work"
Steel engraving by Eugene Decisy (1866-1936) after the painting by Joseph Bail (1862-1921). Published in "Magazine of Art" London, 1895

That's a different Snarf. I was talking about Larry Elmore's comic book hero.
 

Extra Dimensional Movement Usable Against Others-Only vs. Galactus. 😁

...and where there are Broccoli Men, Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. can't be far behind!

Why would anyone think that when everything sucks? I grant that not all you people are cool enough to have noticed that, but I can explain at some length on request. 

I just finished watching Werewolf By Night. It is a lovely homage to those old Universal monster movies and big fun in its own right.  👍👍

Don't worry.  It'll get named after some dead white guy.