I had always assumed the Veng River runs from Whyestil Lake to the Nyr Dyv under the general principal that all waters drain into the open sea. In looking at the maps, however, this looks like it may not be the case.
For water to drain from Whyestil to the Nyr Dyv, Whyestil would have to be higher in elevation. Further, the Veng is a fast flowing river, which would indicate a fairly significant elevation difference. The headwaters of the Dulsi and Opicm Rivers must be higher in elevation than Whyestil to drain into it. But, in looking at the Dulsi River, it is only about 100 miles from Blackmoor Bay, and that bay must be at sea level. Thus, there must be a significant increase in elevation from Blackmoor Bay to the headwaters of the Dulsi for the Whyestil to drain into the Nyr Dyv. The Cold Marshes do not appear to support such a significant raise in elevation, what with no hills or anything.
However, it could be that the Veng River flows from the Nyr Dyv into Whyestil Lake. Whyestil could therefore be near or even below sea level. The headwaters of the Dulsi and Opicm Rivers would not need nearly as much of a raise in elevation, and would more appropriately fit the map.
Thus, does the Veng flow from the Nyr Dyv into the Whyestil making it a landlocked lake?
Whyestil Lake is in fact higher in elevation than both Nyr Dyv and Blackmoor Bay. It is fed from beneath by tectonic pressure forcing water from a vast subterranean reservoir up into the lake. The water then flows downhill to the Nyr Dyv to the south, and into the marshes to the north. The small range of hills between the Nyr Dyv and Blackmoor Bay once interrupted the northward flow when some prehistoric geological cataclysm heaved them up, but the water soon found its way through the massive cracks caused by that same upheaval, resulting in the river's current course. So while the lands to the north do slope upward from Whyestil lake and then down again before reaching the coast, the riverbed maintains its downhill run. Earth's Colorado River exhibits the same geological dynamics. The Grand Canyon's rim is higher than surrounding land, but the Colorado's bed slopes ever downward from its source farther north. Incidentally, this geological fact belies the commonly held misconception that the Grand Canyon was carved by the river. It was, in fact, heaved up in a fashion similar to the hills north of Whyestil.
I really like that explanation for it, bubbagump. Is there a source for it or your own musings?
It certainly gives a source for the Cold Marshes and fits the overall geography pretty well. I suppose not only do the Dulsi and Opicm flow into the Cold Marshes, but presumably the Blackwater and Cutbank as well.
GotF (p33) and the '83 Guide (46) both list the Veng as an inlet of the Nyr Dyv. ToEE has a somewhat unrelated but interesting note regarding the Velverdyva "One of its sources is in the far northern Burneal Forest, in the land of Blackmoor itself! And where the water flows, creatures follow" (6).
It is strange that the Dulsi flows into the Howling Hills rather than through the low-lying Cold Marshes to the bay.
When a geologist/surveyor friend re-acquainted himself with the GH maps while I was living in CA, we worked through the rivers of the north, and figured there must be a large (unmarked) plateau that allowed the rivers to drain north to Blackmoor and the Icy Sea, and south to the Nyr Dyv.
I haven't sat down to map it out in detail (since I'm not playing on the shores of the Whyestil ATM), but I'm glad to hear that our ideas align with your own! _________________ Allan Grohe (grodog@gmail.com)
http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/greyhawk.html
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Canonfire! is a production of the Thursday Group in assocation with GREYtalk and Canonfire! Enterprises
