The Geography of Wraeththu
MOST LIKELY THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
... but nothing too bad or overly revealing. Just a few names dropped to satisfy locational importance.
OOOOOKAY!
Ready. Set. Let's go!
Basically, I was reading back through some of the concrit posts, mostly regarding Thea and nationality and skin color and what not, and I decided it was high time to get off my arse and get this thrown up.
Wraeththu is a novel about Earth in a futuristic, post-appocolyptic setting. So, really, we're dealing with Earth. This land we call home. It's not some far flung planet. It's not just loosely based on earthlike conditions. It is, in fact, Earth - third rock from the sun.
What this means is, that all locations in Wraeththu have an equivilant modern day setting. So say for example, the easiest:
Jaddayoth.
This is Jaddayoth:
My Wraiths book will never be the same. HOWEVER! The sacrifice was well worth it. This is where Panthera's from. This is the land of the 12 tribes. Panthera is from Ferike (specifically Jael) and his hostling is of Kalamah descent.
What does this tell us about his nationality? Well, let me show you another map.
This is "modern" --okay so it's 1911, but not much has changed geographically since then so sush-- Europe:
Now, acknowledging that Wraeththu is set on Earth, we can overlay these two maps and lo, we have the given location of the 12 tribes of Jaddayoth:
...
What? You thought I was joking?
Jaddayoth and it's tribes are centered around the Sea of Shadows also known as the Black Sea. Using this information, we can determine that any Wraeththu tribes that generated from the native populace, will have similar physical characteristics as our modern inhabitants of the area.
So, what about the rest of Wraehthu-dom?
Well, I don't want to map it, but Megalithica refers to the North American continent (or the Americas though the books mainly focus above the divide). Pellaz is from a Mexican community. This is supported by the descriptions of the locale and the proper names: Pellaz, Mima, Dorado, Terez Cevarro who all live in the village surrounding Casa Ricardo. I could probably give a pretty good location of Salt Rock too, but I've been focusing most of my attention on Europe for the moment. I may come back to it.
Other locations we know of: We Dwell in Forever and the Sea of Ghosts and Fulminir. Of them, the easiest is of course, the Sea of Ghosts. That's most likely refering to the Great Lakes.
...
Okay, hopping back across the ocean to Europe where we have more detail about the locations. Here's a map with a group of generalized locations for several of the major sites of the Wraeththu stories highlighted:
Okay, we'll start with the easiest - though it may not be familiar to anyone who has not read any of the second trilogy.
The green circle highlights the most likely location of Freyhella. This is a tribe of blond haired blue eyed Nordic people. They sail in ships similar to the viking vessels, and have customs and traditions that very closely resemble the ancient Norse. Things that we known for certain regarding their location is that Freygard is located near the ocean, and we can safely assume that it was the Atlantic due to the fact that Flick and company were crossing from Megalithica to escape the Gelaming and ended up washed up on their shores.
The second circle is a little more speculative - namely, the location of Ferelithia. Things we know for certain, it is a port city with actual beaches. The people are flamboyant to the point of gaudy, and the atmosphere of the area and people are very relaxed about things. They are also a considerable trading community, thriving on the bustle of imports and exports passing though their town. What we can determine is that the city is most likely located on the Mediteranean based on the conditions of the city and the behavioral patterns of the populace. We do know that Pell was in Ferelithia on his way south to Immanion from whereever Thiede's stronghold in the North was. So realistically, the area of probable location could stretch from north-eastern Spain across to north-western Italy. I placed it on the map, however, in an area where there was river accesses and a more sheltering coastline.
Finally, the orange circle represents the most logical location of Immanion -- Phaonica in particular. This location was again based almost exclusively on speculation, due to a lack of clear defining features of Thiede's city before his acquisition of it. Pellaz often describes the city as feeling old, despite the newness of the construction. We know it is on the ocean with a very sheltered harbor or bay. Other telling factors for my placement of it, is that with Thiede, it becomes a gathering point of all the great and shining stars of Wraeththu-dom. Again, the only other true things that are known of it are that it is located on the water, accessable by ship from Jaddayoth and Freyhella, and south of Ferelithia.
I felt pretty confident of the location based on this evidence alone, until I recalled that following Thiede's demise in the third book of the first trilogy (and second of the second), there were earthquakes and mass destruction of the city, along with repercussions felt around the world - psychically and physically destructive/demonstrative in other locals. It was then that I recalled that Italy and Greece sat on a fault line which brought up the discovery of a map showing the earthquake activity in Europe:
Map goes here due to size
That's when I felt comfortable with my estimation of Immanion's location, owing to the seismic activity and the consistant strength of the activity.
Edit: I added a second orange circle after a bit of consideration and some coffee. Initially, I was hesitant to place it in the Greek Isles due to the extreme proximity to the Jaddayoth tribes, and I still am a little more uneasy about the location, However, it is a second seismic rich zone, and another good possiblity. I still feel pretty confident with my original assessment, but there is the possiblity that it is the other.
Global Seismic Hazard map
Seismic Monitor map
And thus ends my little adventure into Wraeththu geography. Most things here - with the notable exception of Jaddayoth - are just speculation.
...
^_^;;
I should not be allowed to think sometimes.
... but nothing too bad or overly revealing. Just a few names dropped to satisfy locational importance.
OOOOOKAY!
Ready. Set. Let's go!
Basically, I was reading back through some of the concrit posts, mostly regarding Thea and nationality and skin color and what not, and I decided it was high time to get off my arse and get this thrown up.
Wraeththu is a novel about Earth in a futuristic, post-appocolyptic setting. So, really, we're dealing with Earth. This land we call home. It's not some far flung planet. It's not just loosely based on earthlike conditions. It is, in fact, Earth - third rock from the sun.
What this means is, that all locations in Wraeththu have an equivilant modern day setting. So say for example, the easiest:
Jaddayoth.
This is Jaddayoth:
My Wraiths book will never be the same. HOWEVER! The sacrifice was well worth it. This is where Panthera's from. This is the land of the 12 tribes. Panthera is from Ferike (specifically Jael) and his hostling is of Kalamah descent.
What does this tell us about his nationality? Well, let me show you another map.
This is "modern" --okay so it's 1911, but not much has changed geographically since then so sush-- Europe:
Now, acknowledging that Wraeththu is set on Earth, we can overlay these two maps and lo, we have the given location of the 12 tribes of Jaddayoth:
...
What? You thought I was joking?
Jaddayoth and it's tribes are centered around the Sea of Shadows also known as the Black Sea. Using this information, we can determine that any Wraeththu tribes that generated from the native populace, will have similar physical characteristics as our modern inhabitants of the area.
So, what about the rest of Wraehthu-dom?
Well, I don't want to map it, but Megalithica refers to the North American continent (or the Americas though the books mainly focus above the divide). Pellaz is from a Mexican community. This is supported by the descriptions of the locale and the proper names: Pellaz, Mima, Dorado, Terez Cevarro who all live in the village surrounding Casa Ricardo. I could probably give a pretty good location of Salt Rock too, but I've been focusing most of my attention on Europe for the moment. I may come back to it.
Other locations we know of: We Dwell in Forever and the Sea of Ghosts and Fulminir. Of them, the easiest is of course, the Sea of Ghosts. That's most likely refering to the Great Lakes.
...
Okay, hopping back across the ocean to Europe where we have more detail about the locations. Here's a map with a group of generalized locations for several of the major sites of the Wraeththu stories highlighted:
Okay, we'll start with the easiest - though it may not be familiar to anyone who has not read any of the second trilogy.
The green circle highlights the most likely location of Freyhella. This is a tribe of blond haired blue eyed Nordic people. They sail in ships similar to the viking vessels, and have customs and traditions that very closely resemble the ancient Norse. Things that we known for certain regarding their location is that Freygard is located near the ocean, and we can safely assume that it was the Atlantic due to the fact that Flick and company were crossing from Megalithica to escape the Gelaming and ended up washed up on their shores.
The second circle is a little more speculative - namely, the location of Ferelithia. Things we know for certain, it is a port city with actual beaches. The people are flamboyant to the point of gaudy, and the atmosphere of the area and people are very relaxed about things. They are also a considerable trading community, thriving on the bustle of imports and exports passing though their town. What we can determine is that the city is most likely located on the Mediteranean based on the conditions of the city and the behavioral patterns of the populace. We do know that Pell was in Ferelithia on his way south to Immanion from whereever Thiede's stronghold in the North was. So realistically, the area of probable location could stretch from north-eastern Spain across to north-western Italy. I placed it on the map, however, in an area where there was river accesses and a more sheltering coastline.
Finally, the orange circle represents the most logical location of Immanion -- Phaonica in particular. This location was again based almost exclusively on speculation, due to a lack of clear defining features of Thiede's city before his acquisition of it. Pellaz often describes the city as feeling old, despite the newness of the construction. We know it is on the ocean with a very sheltered harbor or bay. Other telling factors for my placement of it, is that with Thiede, it becomes a gathering point of all the great and shining stars of Wraeththu-dom. Again, the only other true things that are known of it are that it is located on the water, accessable by ship from Jaddayoth and Freyhella, and south of Ferelithia.
I felt pretty confident of the location based on this evidence alone, until I recalled that following Thiede's demise in the third book of the first trilogy (and second of the second), there were earthquakes and mass destruction of the city, along with repercussions felt around the world - psychically and physically destructive/demonstrative in other locals. It was then that I recalled that Italy and Greece sat on a fault line which brought up the discovery of a map showing the earthquake activity in Europe:
Map goes here due to size
That's when I felt comfortable with my estimation of Immanion's location, owing to the seismic activity and the consistant strength of the activity.
Edit: I added a second orange circle after a bit of consideration and some coffee. Initially, I was hesitant to place it in the Greek Isles due to the extreme proximity to the Jaddayoth tribes, and I still am a little more uneasy about the location, However, it is a second seismic rich zone, and another good possiblity. I still feel pretty confident with my original assessment, but there is the possiblity that it is the other.
Global Seismic Hazard map
Seismic Monitor map
And thus ends my little adventure into Wraeththu geography. Most things here - with the notable exception of Jaddayoth - are just speculation.
...
^_^;;
I should not be allowed to think sometimes.