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I'm trying to add some detail to an Alkenstar-based campaign, and I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the topography of the region.
According to "Wardens of the Reborn Forge",
Alkenstar stands atop a massive cliff overlooking the Spellscar Desert, the mighty Ustradi River bisecting the settlement as it flows over the Alken Falls on its way north to Nex.
That's a "500-foot-high" drop.
Logically, that means the area west along the river and around the lake are all at least slightly uphill from Alkenstar. So how large is this elevated region?
Is the entire western end of the Mana Wastes 500 feet or more above the Spellscar Desert?
The "Inner Sea World Guide" says,
All trade upriver from Nex must pass through Cloudreaver Keep.
The guide also says the Bridge of the Gods connects the keep to Alkenstar. However the "Wardens" module says construction on the Bridge was halted at Dongun Hold. So, if there's no bridge to the Keep, is there some sort of steep trail that climbs up 500 feet to reach Alkenstar? Or is airship travel the only practical means to move between the Keep and the city, short of taking a 6-hour long trip up the aptly named "Screw"?
What is the water-source for Lake Ustradi? The maps show no rivers flowing from the Shattered Range.
Were the Hellfallen Cliffs created by some natural phenomenon (erosion, tectonics, glaciation, etc.) or the result of Nex and Geb blasting the crap out of what is now the Spellscar Desert?
In an ancient thread I dug up trying to find answers, Joshua J. Frost says the Mana Wastes were his creation. Is he still around? I'd love to hear his insights about this.
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this interests me
this interests me
+1
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I took my questions to the "Ask James Jacobs all your questions" thread, and got some excellent feedback.