Praxian Chaparral

[Ian Absentia]

4 minutes ago, g33k said:

Prax is a bit mixed.  There's some rocky/sandy areas, some outright deserts; but there's plenty of chaparral, too.
It couldn't support the herds it does, if there were not.

Steppe or shrub-steppe.  Chaparral suggests marine moisture precipitating on mountain slopes.  Looks dry, but it's decidedly lush in comparison with steppe or desert.

Because why not discuss the ecosystems of Prax?

!i!

[g33k]

3 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

Steppe or shrub-steppe.  Chaparral suggests marine moisture precipitating on mountain slopes.  Looks dry, but it's decidedly lush in comparison with steppe or desert.

Because why not discuss the ecosystems of Prax?

!i!

Chaparral is a bit more varied than that.  Some of it is low-rainfall & low humidity, though there's definitely some with more; and such places do run more lush.

But Arizona has over 3M acre of high & dry "interior chaparral."  I think it's (mostly) the arid near-desert end of the spectrum that Chaosium thinks of as Praxian "chaparral."  I'm pretty sure they include tumbleweeds, for example.
 

[Steve]

There are several references in the Guide to Glorantha to Prax containing areas of chaparral. e.g. p.441 "Prax: Beyond the oasis are the Plains of Prax, a chaparral and sagebrush desert."

According to Merriam-Webster online, chaparral is:

Quote

1

: a thicket of dwarf evergreen oaks

broadly : a dense impenetrable thicket of shrubs or dwarf trees

 

2

: an ecological community composed of shrubby plants adapted to dry summers and moist winters that occurs especially in southern California

 

[Brian Duguid]

I drove through a few hundred miles of what I was told was "arid desert" in Australia's Red Centre a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty much impossible to see the desert because there was so much vegetation everwhere, presumably a consequence of a wet summer. Clearly a lesson there for any Praxians intent on a heroquest to revive Genert's Garden, if they can tear themselves away from their forthcoming plan to occupy Dragon Pass for a few moments.

[Jeff]

3 hours ago, Brian Duguid said:

I drove through a few hundred miles of what I was told was "arid desert" in Australia's Red Centre a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty much impossible to see the desert because there was so much vegetation everwhere, presumably a consequence of a wet summer. Clearly a lesson there for any Praxians intent on a heroquest to revive Genert's Garden, if they can tear themselves away from their forthcoming plan to occupy Dragon Pass for a few moments.

Remember that much of Prax IS coastal. It borders the Rozgali Sea. Even the Rockwood Mountains are only about 450 km from the ocean. 

[Joerg]

8 minutes ago, Jeff said:

Remember that much of Prax IS coastal. It borders the Rozgali Sea. Even the Rockwood Mountains are only about 450 km from the ocean. 

So while there may not be that much precipitation, there might be less evaporation due to slightly higher air humidity than in an inland desert?

[Ian Absentia]

4 hours ago, Jeff said:

Remember that much of Prax IS coastal. It borders the Rozgali Sea. Even the Rockwood Mountains are only about 450 km from the ocean. 

I reckon that, as in a world operating on science and not divine influence, Prax is composed of a sequence and patchwork of climate-driven ecosystems.  Chaparral where marine air precipitates moisture on highlands and hills, shrub-steppe as it becomes increasingly arid inland, steppe and desert as it grades into the Wastes.  And, to be fair, there's a wide variety of generic or colloquial terms describing local specifics (plains, grassland, veldt, savannah) that could be employed in describing one part of Prax or another.  The Zola Fel, due to either magic or physics, is a greenbelt for obvious reasons.

!i!

Edited August 26, 2023 by Ian Absentia

[Jeff]

7 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

I reckon that, as in a world operating on science and not divine influence, Prax is composed of a sequence and patchwork of climate-driven ecosystems.  Chaparral where marine air precipitates moisture on highlands and hills, shrub-steppe as it becomes increasingly arid inland, steppe and desert as it grades into the Wastes.  And, to be fair, there's a wide variety of generic or colloquial terms describing local specifics (plains, grassland, veldt, savannah) that could be employed in describing one part of Prax or another.  The Zola Fel, due to either magic or physics, is a greenbelt for obvious reasons.

!i!

Also it is worth keeping in mind that Sonora and even Chihuahua are not that far from sea, and if it is easier, imagine Prax as encompassing Arizona, Sonora, and Chihuahua. They even have bison!

[Ian Absentia]

I've shared this before, but my vision of the Zola Fel and environs is the inland shrub-steppe of the Columbia River Basin.  Look!  The rise to Vulture Country!

And, look-- the Zola Fel!  Maybe even Weis Cut.

!i!

[Ian Absentia]

Looking at the photos that both Jeff and I posted, the real take-away is that no matter what you call it, there's green to be found in Prax.  It's relative, though, and you need to know where to look.  Which is what being a member of the Praxian cults is all about.  Not just a religious cult to ally with a god or spirit who'll magically do the work for you, but a cultural framework that has taught you how to live.  Waha and Eiritha & Co. may not be the optimal cult choices in terms of game mechanics, but in Prax they provide where outsider cults see nothing but "desert" and wasteland.

I don't doubt that the nomads have a wealth of idiomatic terms for microclimates and ecosystems that "chaparral" and "steppe" and "desert" only scratch the surface.  Names and traditions for spirits that hold sway in a given place and explain how to live there or grant passage.  Names that are lost on most residents of Pavis, and certainly lost on their Sartarite neighbors or Lunar interlopers.

!i!

Edited August 27, 2023 by Ian Absentia

[Squaredeal Sten]

Having grown up in El Paso, which is at the north end of the Chihuahua desert and on the Rio Grande valley, Prax seems pretty homelike.  But the Prax rainfall is actually higher than we got.  Would you consider most of West Texas to be equivalent to The Wastes? Of course the Journada del Muerto in New Mexico is The Wastes.  

Anyway, the published Praxian rainfall is more seasonal but not bad as an annual total.  I would suggest that if Prax and the Wastes had not had their fertility  magically damaged, they would be comfortable and more agriculturally productive.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Squaredeal Sten
Spelling / typing

[Jeff]

1 minute ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

Having grown up in El Pado, which is at the north end of the Chihuahua desert and on the Rio Grande valley, Prax seems pretty homelike.  But the Prax rainfall is actually higher than we got.  Would you consider most of West Texas to be equivalent to The Wastes? Of course the Journadadel Muerto in New Mexico is The Wastes.  

Anyway, the published Praxian rainfall is were seasonal but not bad as an annual total.  I would suggest that if Prac and the Wastes has not had their fertility  magically damaged, they would be comfortable and more agriculturally productive.

Prax once was very comfortable and agriculturally productive. But because its soil has lost its fertility (the soils tend to be sandy or gravelly, layers of sticky clay, or even hard rock), it is not suitable for agriculture. And when it gets water, the water just flows away.

[Malin]

10 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

I've shared this before, but my vision of the Zola Fel and environs is the inland shrub-steppe of the Columbia River Basin

As someone who took a trip there this summer, I have to agree. I had to keep pointing stuff out to my fellow player in the car. It's really amazing terrain.

[g33k]

5 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

...

I don't doubt that the nomads have a wealth of idiomatic terms for microclimates and ecosystems that "chaparral" and "steppe" and "desert" only scratch the surface.  Names and traditions for spirits that hold sway in a given place and explain how to live there or grant passage.  Names that are lost on most residents of Pavis, and certainly lost on their Sartarite neighbors or Lunar interlopers.

!i!

Also times X places.
I recall seeing that some locations are only visited every 5 years... others every 7 years... etc.

Because that was how long it took for the wild fodder to regenerate.

[French Desperate WindChild]

these pictures change a lot what I imagined of Prax... Then, what is the difference between Pent and Prax (except temperature). I imagined Pent was like the picture, and by difference Prax more arid ? Or maybe the pictures are for Prax in Sea Season ?

[Squaredeal Sten]

On 8/26/2023 at 4:34 AM, Steve said:

There are several references in the Guide to Glorantha to Prax containing areas of chaparral. e.g. p.441 "Prax: Beyond the oasis are the Plains of Prax, a chaparral and sagebrush desert."

According to Merriam-Webster online, chaparral is:

 

You ought not to take too seriously or strictly that description of the vegetation as "scrub oaks".  i would gamble that the person who edited that dictionary did not have a close acquaintance with most of the terrain that people call 'chaparral=.

Besides tumbleweeds, another plant I would recommend for portions of your Prax and Wastes - it is certainly in mine - is mesquite.

Mesquite is hardy, prolific,quick growing,  thorny, grows nourishing seed pods, produces nicely grained wood when it is allowed to grow to tree size.  Leave it alone for a few years and you get a hedge that is a barrier to movement and covers acres. 

https://texnat.tamu.edu/library/symposia/brush-sculptors-innovations-for-tailoring-brushy-rangelands-to-enhance-wildlife-habitat-and-recreational-value/mesquite-ecology/

It spreads to open ground if not controlled.  Ask me how I know.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Squaredeal Sten
Spelling / typing

[Jeff]

11 minutes ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

You ought not to take to seriously or strictly that description of the vegetation as "scrub oaks".  i would gamble that the person who edited that dictionary did not have a close acquaintance with most of the terrain that people call 'chaparral=.

Besides tumbleweeds, another plant I would recommend for portions of your Prax and Wastes - it is certainly in mine - is mesquite.

Mesquite is hardy, prolific,quick growing,  thorny, grows nourishing seed pods, produces nicely grained wood when it is allowed to grow to tree size.  Leave it alone for a few years and you get a hedge that is a barrier to movement and covers acres. 

https://texnat.tamu.edu/library/symposia/brush-sculptors-innovations-for-tailoring-brushy-rangelands-to-enhance-wildlife-habitat-and-recreational-value/mesquite-ecology/

It spreads to open ground if not controlled.  Ask me how I know.

Mesquite, creosote (which is commonly called "chaparral" in many areas), and the like. 

[Ian Absentia]

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

Then, what is the difference between Pent and Prax (except temperature). I imagined Pent was like the picture, and by difference Prax more arid ? Or maybe the pictures are for Prax in Sea Season ?

At the risk of falling into the old real-world equivalencies, I've envisioned Pent as looking like the Mongolian or Russian steppe, or perhaps even the central prairie of North America.  Wide expanses of low, rolling terrain, low hills and tall grasses, rimmed in the distance by tall mountains.

With LOTS of room for variation.  As for seasonal differences between Prax and Pent, the verdant green is definitely a telltale of Sea Season.  Come Fire Season grasses will have turned brown and you'll see a preponderance of dull, grey-green in the "evergreen" plants that survive all seasons, like in the first photo of the Columbia Ridge/Vulture Country I posted above.

!i!

Edited August 27, 2023 by Ian Absentia

[Jeff]

And here's that biome in late summer.

[Nick Brooke]

I’ve found the fynbos and Karoo regions of South Africa’s Cape Province another useful inspiration, esp. if you want to understand why agriculture just stops dead at the edge of Prax. Check them out!

[mfbrandi]

9 hours ago, Nick Brooke said:

I’ve found the fynbos and Karoo regions of South Africa’s Cape Province another useful inspiration

Sudden the desert changes,
The raw glare softens and clings,
Till the aching Oudtshoorn ranges
Stand up like the thrones of Kings — 

Ramparts of slaughter and peril —
Blazing, amazing, aglow —
’Twixt the sky-line’s belting beryl
And the wine-dark flats below. 

Royal the pageant closes,
Lit by the last of the sun —
Opal and ash-of-roses,
Cinnamon, umber, and dun.

— Kipling, Bridge-Guard in the Karroo

———————————————————

He may have been … problematic, but there must be a scenario in it. A quiet one, perhaps.

[Squaredeal Sten]

There has got to be some Bestiary or story material in tumbleweeds.  Plants that break free and move with the wind  on terrain where there are no forests to break the wind - that looks ghostly right there.  Surely with an animist worldview it is obvious that tumbleweeds have spirits and both the movement and plant runes.  

[Ian Absentia]

1 hour ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

There has got to be some Bestiary or story material in tumbleweeds.  Plants that break free and move with the wind  on terrain where there are no forests to break the wind - that looks ghostly right there.  Surely with an animist worldview it is obvious that tumbleweeds have spirits and both the movement and plant runes.  

A-hem...

!i!

[jajagappa]

2 hours ago, Ian Absentia said:

A-hem...

Having driven north through central New Mexico amidst a barrage of blowing tumbleweeds, I can attest to them getting stuck under the car (but thankfully not the rest of it!) 🙂 

[Brian Duguid]

12 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

There has got to be some Bestiary or story material in tumbleweeds.  Plants that break free and move with the wind  on terrain where there are no forests to break the wind - that looks ghostly right there.  Surely with an animist worldview it is obvious that tumbleweeds have spirits and both the movement and plant runes.

There is a Praxian Tumbleweed encounter in The Lifethief, by Beer With Teeth.