Belial Lyka @TimeBust
Heya, Ed. What kinds of flora and (non-monster) fauna might one encounter travelling the Northern Means and then Ten Trail from Luskan to Ten Towns? If seasonality has bearing on it, the period would be Tarsakh going into Mirtul, though elsewhen'd be…— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
..be interesting, too. 1)
In a typical year, this would be the beginnings of snowmelt, with frequent ground-fogs at dawn and dusk, but with the ground still hard-frozen (little to no mud), below freezing at nights, and with frequent storms that are…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
2)
…either sleet or light swirling snow, not rain. All of this dampness keeps the stinging insects down that at other times of year will make this leg of the journey very unpleasant.
The first leg of the journey (along the 3)
…Northern Means) will be through frozen reeds and grasses, and bushes denuded of all berries and leaves by hungry beasts, many stands of leafless trees (the big “forest giants” all logged off years ago, so mainly old…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
4)
…gnarl-trees and saplings), and rolling hills with rock outcrops (festooned here and there with edible lichens; an upcoming AMARUNE’S ALMANAC will have more to say about them and other cold-land plants). Every creature that… 5)
…doesn’t hibernate or go into torpor will be hungry and therefore out on the land in desperation, from rabbits, hares, and voles to deer and the packs of wolves looking to dine on them all. Bears aren’t yet emerging from their…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
6)
…dens (they won’t be seen until late Mirtul in these areas). Hunting out of Luskan and Fireshear and the topography will make rothé rare sights, though they may be well back off the road in some of the most open areas; you’d 7)
…see more of them had you been heading inland from Luskan, east. The birds that relocate south for winter will still be well south of here, so the land will be quiet of birdsong except the night hooting of owls (in between… #Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
8)
…hunts).
Your route avoids muskeg (“saragh” in the Realms, “bogs” to many real-worlders) if you keep to the wagon-road. Live and standing dead timber is available in profusion for cook-fire cutting, though you’ll find that… 9)
…heavy cutting by wayfarers over the years has pushed the treeline back a good twenty paces from the road-ditches—and that wild raspberries and bracken have colonized this cleared area, often growing so thick and tangled that…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
10)
…a path must be hewn just to move through. The land is very well-watered, with many tiny rills and brooks running down to fill the ditches (and run along them until the next bridge or culvert in the road lets a larger… 11)
…watercourse through; there tends to be at least a culvert between every rise of land the road curves around, and those rises tend to be at most half a mile apart).
This land has been glaciated, so drumlins (humplike hills, …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
12)
…all running in the same general NNE to SSW direction) and eskers (gravel ridges) are everywhere, all overgrown with trees and bushes because the glaciers receded long, long ago.
There are frequent campgrounds (cleared 13)
…solid-ground areas, with a stream nearby) along the trade-road, and even refuse like broken wagon-wheels strewn along the ditches, but everything will be useless-rotten; anything still usable will have already been salvaged…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
14)
…by someone else.
And bands of hobgoblins, orcs, goblins, and gnolls are just as hungry as everyone else at this time of year, and may be bold enough to skulk along game-trails that overlook the wagon-road, waiting to pounce…#Realmslore 15)
…on lone peddlers with pack-mules or other weak-looking travelers (which is why these roads are traveled by almost everyone in caravans, with weapons out and visible, and sentinels are posted during the dark hours, when…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
16)
…prudent folk camp just off the road rather than pressing on through the night). If you DO hear bird calls, take them for signals between raiders stealing up on you![2nd half of reply to follow tonight, thanks to power cut & Twitter’s tweet-string limits]#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) March 2, 2020
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