The Pelorian bowl is a steppe-land, about 640 km from Saird to the Thunder Delta, and about 800 km from the Sweet Sea to the Redlands frontier, where it merges into the Pent steppes. For point of comparison it is a little bigger than the High Plains of the United States or nearly three times the size of the Pannonian Basin in Europe (Austria, Hungary, Romania, etc.). Without humans, the Pelorian bowl is a mixed temperate grassland, with wetlands and wooded areas (primarily in the hills). Native animals include bison, wild cattle, lions, black bears, sabre-tooth cats, the occasional dinosaur, and lots of birds.
- Furthest is the wettest city of the Pelorian valley, at 85 cm.
- Mirin’s Cross is 71 cm. Mirin’s Cross gets most of its precipitation in Storm Season.
- Alkoth is 61 cm (Kiev – the area of the Pripet Marshes). Alkoth is in a convergence zone that gets precipitation both in Fire Season and in Storm Season.
- Glamour is 41 cm (Spokane). The presence of the Crater moderates the Northerly winds, but also means Glamour is in a rain shadow.
- Raibanth is 36 cm.
The presence of the Yelm cult definitely increases the number of cloudless days. Almost all of the precipitation falls in Fire Season, when the Pelorians worship Entekos the Rain Goddess and Dendara the Good Wife.
- Yuthuppa is 46 cm. Almost all of the precipitation falls in Fire Season.
- Elz Ast is 56 cm. Elz Ast is on the White Sea. Elz Ast is an awful place – the Pelorian version of Quebec City. Cold and miserable in winter even with the Kalikos Expedition.
- Further west in Talastar and Brolia, you get more rain (maybe as much as 102 cm in Hazard Fort and Dorastor), because of the Rockwoods.
- Further east it gets drier. The Arcos valley likely gets around 40 to 50 cm or so, and the Pentan grasslands get even less (probably around 30 to 35 cm)
So when you think of much of the Lunar Heartlands, think this:
This was the homeland of the various horse-riding cultures of the Dawn – the Pure Horse People (aka Hyalorings) and the chariot-using and cattle (or even reindeer) herding folk descended from the Starlight Ancestors. Now those nomadic and semi-nomadic people were forced out some 1400 years ago, and play as much direct a role in Pelorian life as Sarmatians did during the later Palaiologos Dynasty in Constantinople.But just as Constantinople was threatened by different nomadic confederations (various Turkic groups – Seljuks, Ottomans, Golden Horde, etc.), Peloria has long been worried about the nomadic confederations beony the Arcos River. Several times in history, the grasslands along the Arcos have been ruled by horse nomads. And of course for nearly a hundred years, a powerful confederation led by Sheng Seleris conquered much of the Pelorian Heartland, returning it to grasslands.
The indigenous flora was likely mixed grass prairie, with plenty of riparian trees like cottonwoods, willows, maples, elm, oak, ash, etc. Much of the Pelorian plain is now deforested, but a thousand years ago, much of the northern and western plains were covered in woodlands.
Another note – reindeer herding has been practiced in Eol, Ashrill, and even in Karasal since before the Dawn. And goat herding is common in the western plains. But pigs are the main meat animal in most of the Pelorian heartlands.
Now this all has some impact on “Lunar” attire. Rather than looking like the cast of Rome, basic dress consists of a skirt, tunic, jacket, cloak or sleeved robe, and headdress. Commoners have few pieces of clothing and often are restricted to specific colors. The skirts of half-citizens cannot extend below the knees and usually must be shorter, while nobles and priestess wear long robes and skirts that drag on the floor.Now that might envision images of Byzantine noble clothing, but it could just as easily be the winter attire of the Iroquois, the Volga Bulgars, the Chuvash, or the Cucuteni-Trypillia Culture:
Prior to the Kalikos Expeditions, the Oslira River used to freeze over every winter. I think the Arcos and the Poralistor still do.