May-30-2010, 06:03 PM (UTC)
Thanks Nuytsia!
Comments:
2. I want to point out that I think Aslevjal was always as cold as it is now, or nearly so, because the Elderling city includes rooms that are carved out of the glacier itself. So, although the glacier has expanded since Elderling times, it was always there. (Unfortunately, the presence of rooms carved inside the glacier isn't really possible - glaciers are like ice rivers and are always moving. The only difference between an advancing glacier and a retreating glacier is that an advancing glacier is having more ice added to it at its source than is melting off at the terminus.) So, memory stone or not, I don't think that Aslevjal was ever a suitable place for dragons to spin their cases.
3. I think that perhaps the serpents are a little bit like salmon - they naturally range far to the south to find a good food supply, before eventually returning (many years later) to the Serpent River in order to spin their cocoons. I suspect that over the years since the cataclysm, they came north a number of times, were unable to find the river because the land and seas had changed so much, and then went back south because there isn't enough food in the waters around the cursed shores. I think the interval is probably pretty long - maybe 100 years or more, which explains why serpents were unheard of around Biingtown until shortly before the LST.
4. Rivers, in the event of land subsidence, (which happens quite quickly) get wider and shallower pretty quickly. Think of it like water running down an inclined surface. The water runs fast because gravity is pulling it down. Because it is moving so fast, it forms a tight, narrow stream. However, when you change the incline of the surface so that is is flatter, the water runs much slower, and it spreads out. If you change the plain enough to make it nearly horizontal, it will even form a pool, because gravity isn't pulling it anywhere.
7. I meant that I think the volcano is south and west of the Rain wilds, whereas the Mountains and Kelsingra are north and slightly east. I think that the acidy river probably turns more to the south in its course.
8. Frengong is the buried elderling city near Trehaug. I think Farseer already said that. Here's a question - why are Frengong and the city on aslevjal built like burrows, with all of the buildings interconnected, but Cassarick and Kelsingra are built more like `regular`cities?
10. I see this whole scenario being a combination of arrogance and poor planning. Also, it seems to me that perhaps the volcanic/geologic activity that destroyed the elderling cities near Kelsingra and the Rain Wilds was ongoing - perhaps a series of erruptions that continually prevented anyone from getting anywhere near the nesting beaches.
The other thing about Dragons and presumably elderlings that we should remember is that, compared to humans, they aren't very adaptable. Dragons rely on their ancestral memory for solving problems - new situations are troubling and difficult to them. Take, for example, the dragons in dragon Haven. *spolier for the end of Dragon Haven.* 11. I know that my first point and my last point seem to contradict each other, but I guess what I meant was that the disaster was quick but that the repercussion took a long time to actually come to fruition.
I really ought to reread the books. I can't find my copy of Dragon Keeper, though.
Comments:
2. I want to point out that I think Aslevjal was always as cold as it is now, or nearly so, because the Elderling city includes rooms that are carved out of the glacier itself. So, although the glacier has expanded since Elderling times, it was always there. (Unfortunately, the presence of rooms carved inside the glacier isn't really possible - glaciers are like ice rivers and are always moving. The only difference between an advancing glacier and a retreating glacier is that an advancing glacier is having more ice added to it at its source than is melting off at the terminus.) So, memory stone or not, I don't think that Aslevjal was ever a suitable place for dragons to spin their cases.
3. I think that perhaps the serpents are a little bit like salmon - they naturally range far to the south to find a good food supply, before eventually returning (many years later) to the Serpent River in order to spin their cocoons. I suspect that over the years since the cataclysm, they came north a number of times, were unable to find the river because the land and seas had changed so much, and then went back south because there isn't enough food in the waters around the cursed shores. I think the interval is probably pretty long - maybe 100 years or more, which explains why serpents were unheard of around Biingtown until shortly before the LST.
4. Rivers, in the event of land subsidence, (which happens quite quickly) get wider and shallower pretty quickly. Think of it like water running down an inclined surface. The water runs fast because gravity is pulling it down. Because it is moving so fast, it forms a tight, narrow stream. However, when you change the incline of the surface so that is is flatter, the water runs much slower, and it spreads out. If you change the plain enough to make it nearly horizontal, it will even form a pool, because gravity isn't pulling it anywhere.
7. I meant that I think the volcano is south and west of the Rain wilds, whereas the Mountains and Kelsingra are north and slightly east. I think that the acidy river probably turns more to the south in its course.
8. Frengong is the buried elderling city near Trehaug. I think Farseer already said that. Here's a question - why are Frengong and the city on aslevjal built like burrows, with all of the buildings interconnected, but Cassarick and Kelsingra are built more like `regular`cities?
10. I see this whole scenario being a combination of arrogance and poor planning. Also, it seems to me that perhaps the volcanic/geologic activity that destroyed the elderling cities near Kelsingra and the Rain Wilds was ongoing - perhaps a series of erruptions that continually prevented anyone from getting anywhere near the nesting beaches.
The other thing about Dragons and presumably elderlings that we should remember is that, compared to humans, they aren't very adaptable. Dragons rely on their ancestral memory for solving problems - new situations are troubling and difficult to them. Take, for example, the dragons in dragon Haven. *spolier for the end of Dragon Haven.* 11. I know that my first point and my last point seem to contradict each other, but I guess what I meant was that the disaster was quick but that the repercussion took a long time to actually come to fruition.
![[+]](/images/collapse_collapsed.png "[+]")
SpoilerI really ought to reread the books. I can't find my copy of Dragon Keeper, though.
- Always on Time -
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