Submitted by Jeff on Sun, 22/04/2012 – 14:58
This was asked on another forum, but I will answer it here because I have finished the Ralios section of the Guide to Glorantha.
I’m still trying to get a mental picture of what it looks like. What is the best terrestrial analogue? The Baltic? Black Sea? The Great Lakes? or maybe the Mediterranean?
None of the above. There’s really no inland sea in the Real World as fertile and as supportive of human cultivation as Lake Felster. Here’s a brief description from the forthcoming Guide:
Felster Lake: The rich and wide Felster Lake was once an ocean, and contains shades of its former greatness in its richness and variety. The lake is approximately 170 miles long and 30 miles wide. The lake has more than a score of islands, the largest being 15 miles long and 6 miles wide. It is a very deep lake, and was carved out of the earth when Humat warred against the Serpent-Beasts of Hykim and scattered them with lightning and thunder. Felster is the home of green-skirted Safa, a goddess of beauty, youth, lakes, and rain.
Commerce glides across it in boats of all sizes, and several significantly large naval engagements have been waged upon its serene surface. Most large cities contain a shrine to Safa the goddess of the lake. Several small settlements are actually on the lake itself: small floating islands made out of reeds.
Nearly 3 million people live within 90 miles of the lake shore and it is one of the most densely urbanized areas of Glorantha. The rich and fertile plains around Felster Lake support intensive agriculture. The primary crops are wheat, rice, grapes, beans, fruits (particularly apples and peaches), and kafl leaf. An ox-driven scratch plow is used by most farmers. Cattle are raised mainly for dairy; sheep for wool and meat. Slavery is common, primarily as agricultural workers, but also as domestics and temple servants.