Peloria has a continental climate for the most part. Most of it is quite dry, with warm summers and cold winters. Without humans, most of Peloria would be grasslands and ripurian wetlands, with vast forests below the Rockwoods, and between the Rockwoods and the Sweet Sea.
Winds comes from the west and the north, with cold air blowing from the White Sea and from Fronela. Southern Peloria and the foothills of the Rockwoods receive the most precipitation, the Lunar Heartlands the least. Much of the rainfall actually comes in Fire Season, when evaporation forms into great thunderclouds, when warmer, moist air merges with the cold air coming down from the north. You get terrible thunderstorms and the occasional tornado as well.
What makes Pelorian civilization possible are the rivers. The Oslira, Arcos, and Poralistor systems are fed by the snowfalls in the Rockwoods. Without humans, the result would be vast grasslands and marshes, but humans have tamed the rivers to grow barley, rice, and maize. During the nomad invasions, much of the land returned to grasslands, and herds of horses and cattle ranged across Peloria.
One thing that is not mentioned often is that although the bedrock is mainly sedimentary rocks like limestone, there are intrusions of basalt, caused by Lodril’s manifest presence.
The picture shows grasslands in Sylila (the former lands of the Bison Khans of Sylila) looking towards the Rockwoods.
This is part of the reason humans have tended to congregate together in cities in Peloria. Extend those rivers out into the grasslands. At first it was great for the horse tribes as well – lots of tribute, lots of grain. But then those sneaky farmers allied with the Monster Empire of Dragon Pass, and rebelled against Yelm’s true people!
And of course there is the occasional basalt flood from Lodril. This was something that troubled me – we know Peloria is the center of Lodril’s cult and yet there is an apparent shocking lack of volcanic activity in Peloria. But of course that is not true – we have accounts of the Ervuthan Lava Beds in Vonlath. and there are no doubt others.
While driving across the Snake River Plain, it became obvious – of course there are areas of basalt rock in lowland Peloria, surrounded by grain and rice fields. And these places are of course sacred to Lodril.
