[Region 1][Map 15] - Jaiyat Highlands

[Gamerprinter]

Hello, Octopod. I'm the "people" for all of Qashya Mal. Just PM me for whatever your needs are. I preconceived the idea of rich spice empires to the south and east, well beyond Region 1 of the larger continental mass. Both the Silk Road and Spice Route give purpose to the vast Steppe that dominates the north central regions. Section 10, and both blocks east and west of it comprise the Khanate of Qashya Mal.

Calishem may be the largest city in the world, at least the largest in Region 1, with a population over 96,000 people. It is the western terminus of both the Spice Route and the Silk Road.

One thing to consider is neither the Silk Road, nor the Spice Route is actually a single road, rather within a 50 to 100 mile north-south swathe crossing the entire steppe from origins beyond Region 1, this is the general path traveled for the their respective commodities trading.

Like the Hochimen Trail wasn't a single trail through the jungle, rather hundreds of roads and pathways that ran parallel down Cambodia bringing supplies from China/North Viet Nam to South Viet Nam during the Viet Nam War. This is the same as what the Spice Route really is.

However certain isolated towns are found along the Spice Route have become resupply stations, thus many of the paths converge at these locations.

I would think that few if any paths do not end at Calishem. Thus regions like yours, Octopod, trade with merchants in Calishem, not off the Spice Route directly.

Within the confines of the Steppe, both the Silk Road and the Spice Route are jealously controlled by the cavalry horde of the Topaz Khan, forcing all western bound trade traffic to his western capital at Calishem.

I've placed a Slavic race of humans in the mountains and vales in the northern portions of Qashya Mal, no doubt their cultural range extends into your block. Also, no big deal, the Slavs here have named the mountain range that border our two squares as the Vahlvoska Mountains. There are many instances where major geographic locations have been given different names by different nearby cultures. Eventually one culture dominates and its name sticks...

GP

[octopod]

Thanks. PM'd you.
Edit: No I didn't. My PM abilities have been mysteriously curtailed -- not sure what's going on there -- so I'll put the discussion in this thread instead.

OK, so. Silk Road and Spice Route. Are these two trade routes operating by roughly the same route (getting to the Central Sea by way of the large river in map 28), or does the Silk Road go through 27 instead?

There seem to be two obvious mountain passes crossing the Vahlvoska/Kulukh Mountains. (Perhaps we can use the name "Vahlvoska" for the side of that mountain range to the west of the Jaiyat ridge, and "Kulukh" for that to the east? If not, your solution works too, or I could simply transfer the name "Kulukh" to the southern mountains in my map. Nothing's been inked yet.) Although, as you mentioned, the Spice Route is not a single road, I figured that the trade route to Calishem would tend to predominantly pass through the larger one to the west. So I situated a house of worship for the goddess of commerce there, tentatively called the Opulent Monastery, on the basis that her clerics might choose to run a sort of way-station to facilitate the mountain crossing. Past that point, I have the route heading relatively straight for a reasonably large tributary of the big river in 28 and thence, presumably, to the Central Sea. Is this OK?

[Gamerprinter]

Perhaps its due to the recent SPAM attack (I was a recepient of SPAM here, yesterday) I did not receive your PM. Wait a day or two and submit the PM again, until the system is SPAM free again. PMing might be disabled for now.

GP

[octopod]

Oh, got it re: the PM thing. I was wondering if I'd accidentally stepped on a mod's toes or something...

[Gamerprinter]

Up to the time of the East Groam Plague, the Spice Route is north of that river, while the Silk Road is south of that river. Due to the plague, the Silk Road is temporarily (?) following the same route as the Spice route north of that river, south of Calishem.

When the route reaches the Qashya Mal Central Steppe, the routes diverge. The Silk Road starts heading southeast here, while the Spice Route continues east into my yet to be mapped Eastern Steppe of Qashya Mal and may fork as Spice Routes from different regions both south east and east enter that block.

GP

PS: I'll have to look at the surrounding regions to get a better idea how to answer the rest of your question...

[octopod]

I thought I might be able to confine the plague to the Tawaren Basin simply because the Jai hillfolk are not susceptible to it. (explained here) Do you think that is reasonable?

[Midgardsormr]

Run that by Delgondahntelius, probably. I'm not sure how much influence he's planned for the plague to have on Khossus