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Does the Inner Sea region even HAVE potatoes? I don't think they've had an equivalent of the Columbian Exchange. Yes, Arcadia's been visited, but it seems like there hasn't been much of the cross-pollination of goods, ideas and people that would allow potatoes to be grown in Pathfinder's "Europe analogue" for lack of a better term.
Anyone that tried would face the wrath of the gnomish turnip cartel anyway. They'd hire Red mantis assassins to take out anyone trying to horn in on their tuber monopoly.
I put "boiled tubers" in chapter 4 of "The Prodigal Sons," the Kingmaker AP fiction. These are likely potatoes but were left enigmatic in case the discovery of potatoes will be done elsewhere.
Agreed that Avistan isn't entirely a Europe analogue. If maple syrup can exist in Avistan, then so can potatoes.
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Anyone that tried would face the wrath of the gnomish turnip cartel anyway. They'd hire Red mantis assassins to take out anyone trying to horn in on their tuber monopoly.
Oh please, my good friend Don Gnomeleone is a simple importer-exporter and family man, not the head of a "cartel."
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It is really not a European Analogue.
Middle Earth had potatoes, so I don't see why not.
Yeah, but Tolkien deliberately revised things when he noticed anachronistic things in The Hobbit. During the party the dwarves initially asked for tomatoes and stuff, but when he realized tomatoes didn't exist in Europe until after the Colombian Exchange, so he changed it to cold chicken and pickles.
Also, where in the books is maple syrup listed?
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Does it matter? The inner sea region has so many nations that aren't even close to medieval europe - and there are a lot of animals, plants and minerals that do not have earthly equivalents at all - I think it is pretty save to say the inner sea region is not a european analogue at all - and if we get to learn more about arcadia I am pretty sure that it will not be 'the north america of golarion', either.
Oh, and for that matter, no, as far as I know maple syrup is not listed in the books, but carrots, cale, leech and turnips aren't, either - and neither are Europe or North America.
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The farmers of Thornkeep grow potatoes, among other staple crops. We've mentioned other River Kingdoms also growing potatoes, such as Tymon.
Several of the taverns in Sandpoint serve potato dishes, namely the Rusty Dragon and Risa's Place.
Hill giants enjoy eating potatoes, but most are too stupid to grow them.
There are other mentions of potatoes in Golarion, but pointing all such instances out would be superfluous. Long answer short, yeah, there are potatoes all over the Inner Sea region. :]
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From all of the comments I've seen from the developers regarding the latitude of certain locations in the Inner Sea Region, the climate of Avistan and Garund actually seems to resemble that of the Americas more than that of Europe. There doesn't appear to be any equivalent to the North Atlantic Current, and the geography of the Arcadian Ocean seems relatively similar to that of the Pacific in general. Since the climate is similar, I suppose it wouldn't be surprising to find plants analogous to new world crops in the Inner Sea Region.
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To me, the point is less "potatoes" or "no potatoes," it's Are there things that only exist in certain parts of the world, or has everything become totally homogenized? I like the idea that Acadians have certain staple foods that Avistani don't. It would bother me if Avistani explorers traveled across the Western Ocean and found the Acadian natives using gold pieces and buying and eating the same ubiquitous foods they'd eaten back home. If everything is the same, what's the point of exploring?
The OP is not the first to bring this issue up.
If he (I think) is having a problem with the idea, there is some good advice that I was given on the supbject.
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Also, it's worth noting that there has been contact between Arcadia and Avistan for more than a thousand years, if I recall correctly. The primary exports of the current Arcadian colonies seem to be gold, slaves, a unique kind of red-veined black marble prized in Cheliax, and lumber (presumably darkwood or some other kind of rare and valueable wood), but other plants may have been introduced to the Inner Sea Region from Arcadia centuries ago and since become staples in the region.
Also, it's worth noting that there has been contact between Arcadia and Avistan for more than a thousand years, if I recall correctly. The primary exports of the current Arcadian colonies seem to be gold, slaves, a unique kind of red-veined black marble prized in Cheliax, and lumber (presumably darkwood or some other kind of rare and valueable wood), but other plants may have been introduced to the Inner Sea Region from Arcadia centuries ago and since become staples in the region.
FIVE thousand years. The Linnorm Kingdoms and Andoran both have at least one colony there.
So there are potatoes. Where are racoons? As a North America only critter, I want to know! Really, though-where would racoons be in Golarion?
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I really like the racoon as a familiar for a witch with the Trickery patron, I just can't make it work for RP reasons. I guess if I make one, I can make sure that she/he is a spud-eater, too!
I really like the racoon as a familiar for a witch with the Trickery patron, I just can't make it work for RP reasons. I guess if I make one, I can make sure that she/he is a spud-eater, too!
If I remember correctly, there are rattlesnakes and cougars (or at least versions of them) in Varisia, so why not a racoon. I seem to recall seeing a pic of a rattlesnake in CotCT.
Since Alkenstar especially is done with an old west feel, I'd be surprised if there weren't rattlesnakes and cougars there. Similarly, no one has commented on the fact that Katapesh has nopal cacti all over the place, despite that being a new world plant as well.
The easiest solution to all of this is "The Azlanti did it." If there were a huge continent in the middle of the ocean, there would have been a lot more trade, and it would be a lot easier for various species to make their way across, especially ones that are useful as familiars.
If you wanted racoons somewhere in the Inner Sea, just have them raised by a rare pet dealer or maybe unpetrified from some pre-starfall basilisk's nest found wherever you want to put an exotic beastie.