I often play around with putting different maps together in order to get a better feel for how Glorantha works. This is one of my favorite composite maps – it nicely shows the Lunar Heartlands in relation to Dragon Pass, the Holy Country, Maniria, and Prax, and helps give a good feel for things.
A few observations:
- The Lunar Heartlands are smaller than some people think. They are bigger than the Holy Country, but all that much bigger (if you count the Mirrorsea as part of the Holy Country, which I do). But they have a LOT more people than the Holy Country – about twice as many!
- Glamour and the Silver Shadow really are the core of the Lunar Heartlands. And they are a long way from Dragon Pass. The Redlands, West Reaches, and the Blue Moon Plateau are closer.
- Maniria is not all that big either, and is obviously very strongly influenced by Esrolia. And by Safelester as well. You can almost see the trade caravans in this map.
- Prax is about the size of Dragon Pass and the Holy Country together. You can see where Pavis is on this map and how it is far but not that far from Dragon Pass.
- Furthest is basically halfway between Mirin’s Cross and Boldhome. Which explains a lot. You can imagine after the Dragonrise, Furthest is left largely on its own from 1625-1628. Meanwhile Glamour is dealing with peasant rebellions in Karasal and Rinliddi, and Pentan invasions in Oraya and Rinliddi. Glamour made the right decision I think!
- Talastar, Anadikki, Brolia, Baloris, and Charg are Orlanthi lands. Let that settle in.
- Another observation – the Sweet Sea is actually bigger than the Mirrorsea Bay.
This highlights the importance of waterways in moving goods (and troops), and at the same time shows the importance of Sartar’s roads. There just is no good river that crosses Dragon Pass.
The map also makes it visually easy to see why Glamour is a LOT colder in winter than Nochet or Karse! Those cold winds coming down from Valind’s Glacier (to the north of the top of the map) must be brutal – and winter cold snaps like what North America is experiencing in mid-January 2024 are pretty common in Peloria.
At least they were pretty common until the Kalikos Expeditions contested with Valind. Winter might still get cold, but nowhere near as bad as it was just a generation ago.
I imagine Spol is just a pretty unpleasant place in winter. Worse even than Elz Ast or Joranit.
Also look how close Ramalia is. It certainly is going to be on the radar screen of any sailing ship between the Seven Isles (Handra) and Nochet. And if you want to go on to Seshnela, you really need to make sure you don’t accidentally make landfall there!