World

Geography

Selen Ard'Ragorn calmly looked at the door when Rahel, her young novice, clumsily stumbled into the small chamber in the library wing of the temple. Slightly amused, she regarded the nervously twitching tail of the young cat, who desperately but unsuccessfully tried to straighten her disheveled robes.

"Come closer, my child", Selen asked. Rahel bashfully neared the decorated table where the abbess sat. As the young cat caught sight of the big parchment spread on the table, she meowed in astonishment. She saw a detailed, neatly drawn map of the whole known world. Information from all lands under the Gold−Eyed Cat's gaze had been collected and sketched in this map by skilled hands. Rahel discerned Andune, the little island almost divided into two, in the middle of the sea. Around Andune she saw the well−known contours of the neighboring islands, embedded as Andune itself in the seemingly endless ocean.

The world of Eressea consists of many islands and continents with entirely different sizes. Islands and oceans are segmented to regions. Inside the regions are the players' units, buildings and ships, as well as peasants and various raw materials.

Rahel was still looking at the secret map in amazement when Selen pointed to one of the islands at the very edge. "Look, Rahel. There's an island that has just been added. Do you recognize how our cartographers work?"

The novice contemplated the map intently. Apparently it was confined to the essential and the discovered districts were only roughly classified. Rahel recognized forests and mountains, many swamps and some woodless plains.

In this example, a swamp is located at (0,0); in its northeast at (0,1) you can find a mountain. Every faction in Eressea has its own coordinate system, which can be shifted with the command ORIGIN in order to adjust it to the one of another faction.

"Well done my child," Selen assured the much younger cat. "These maps are mostly used for navigating our ships. But you notice they contain only little information. Because of that ..." − Selen opened a big, heavy book beside the map − "... our scouts send us detailed reports about the explored regions every week. We gather these reports, because they are important for our decisions."

In the world of Eressea there are various terrain types (mountain, plain, forest, glacier, highland, swamp, desert and volcano) with different characteristics. An explorer who does not shy away from the vast oceans may discover other, exotic region types on his exploratory journeys. One example is the "wall of fire", which represents an insurmountable obstacle. As a rule, walls of fire demarcate the worlds in Eressea. This is to prevent factions of very different ages from easily clashing.

Depending on the type of terrain, different numbers of peasants will find space in the region to earn their weekly wage in the fields. A plain, for example, provides work for significantly more peasants than a swamp. Furthermore, the number of available jobs is reduced by trees. Each peasant takes away one job, each sapling four jobs and each tree eight jobs. Although an almost infinite number of trees can grow in any type of terrain, in a very forested region there will be virtually no jobs. In a glacier, very few trees are enough to take away almost all the jobs, in a plain there can be a few hundred trees and still a few thousand peasants working in the fields. But even a very densely forested region still yields enough fruit, roots or mushrooms for a few peasants to make a living. This means that a small number of peasants always find a job in the region: 10% of the maximum number of jobs in a region, but no more than 200, are therefore never blocked by trees or saplings. For example, if there are 150 trees in a mountain, 100 peasants will still find a job (10% of the maximum number of jobs), even though there are actually no more jobs available due to the large number of trees (150 trees x 8 occupied jobs = 1200 occupied jobs > 1000 maximum available jobs).

The only difference between a plain and a forest is the number of trees and saplings in the region. From a total number of 600 trees and/or saplings, a plain is considered a forest. This means that you can turn a forest into a plain by felling trees or, conversely, turn a plain into a forest by reforesting it.

Terrain	max. workers	min. workers (despite many trees)	Stones for road (per direction)	Herbs
Mountain	1000	100	250	rock weed, gapgrowth, cave lichen
Plain / Forest	10000	200	50	flatroot , tangy temerity, owlsgaze, spider ivy, cobalt fungus, elvendear
Glacier	100	10	250	ice begonia, white hemlock, snowcrystal petal
Highland	4000	200	100	windbag, fjord fungus, mandrake
Swamp	2000	200	75	bugleweed, knotroot, bubblemorel
Desert	500	50	100	waterfinder, peyote, sand reeker
Volcano	500	50	250	-

If the number of available jobs is exceeded, it becomes very difficult for peasants to earn the required weekly wage - peasants also need 10 silver every round to survive, which they earn through work. Larger castles give a small bonus to the silver earned through work in the region, so that the working peasants may be able to provide for some other peasants in the region, but the risk of peasants dying, for example due to a plague, increases enormously if the number of available jobs is small. Furthermore, no more player units can work in this region if all workplaces are occupied.

The terrain type also determines which Herbs can grow in the region. An alchemist will be able to brew helpful potions from different ingredients. Some herbs only thrive in deserts, others need the swampy climate of a bog, so there are herbs for every terrain that can only grow there. However, the herbs that grow there cannot be changed. Even if all herbs have been plucked from the region, only the herb that originally grew there can be replanted. If in doubt, you must try out which herb has originally grown here. Herbs never grow in volcanoes.

In each region, roads can be built. The costs vary depending on the terrain. In addition, roads can be built in glaciers, swamps and deserts only if there are special buildings.

In addition, the type of terrain determines which resources can be found in the region and with what chance. For example, in mountains and glaciers where no resources have been mined so far, iron and stone can always be found at mining level 1. However, mountains always have significantly more resources than a glacier. In a volcano, a quarryman has a 50% chance of finding stone at level 1, and a miner only has a 50% chance of finding iron at level 1. A volcano can therefore provide stone and iron in a similar way to a mountain, or only one of the two resources or, with bad luck, none at all. However, mining in a volcano is of course much more dangerous because it can erupt from time to time and then cause considerable damage to the people who are in the region. To summarize, however, you can remember that you will always find stone and / or iron at level 1 in these three region types (mountains, glaciers and volcanoes) - if they exist in the region at all.

However, other region types (plain / forest, swamp, desert, highland) can also provide iron and / or stone with a certain probability. In these regions, however, the geologist may need to be a little more experienced, as the deposit does not necessarily have to be at mining level 1. For example, iron may start anywhere from mining level 1 to 7, while stone can be found at mining level 1 to 4 - provided the region has this resource. It is useful to know that a geologist always sees mining layers twice as deep as their skill value. For example, a level 3 miner can see any iron up to a maximum mining depth of layer 6.

Conversely, you can also say that if a level 4 miner sees no iron in a plain (where no iron has been mined so far), then there is no iron there at all and the miner can try their luck in another region.

In addition to iron and stone, there is also the much rarer metal laen. If a mountain, glacier or volcano is home to laen, then it can be found from mining depth 7. In other region types you can also find laen with luck, but then possibly only at mining level 7 to 10. You therefore need a miner with mining 5 to be able to rule out laen in every land region. However, if you are very lucky and have found a region with laen, you will need a mine to gain it.

Selen looked at the young cat Rahel, who was obviously trying to memorise all the numbers and dates. "Rahel, my child, you don't have to memorise all these numbers. Instead, remember that you can look them up here in the library at any time." The young novice tried to look composed, but Magistra Selen noticed her relief at not having to memorise all the information immediately. Selen then continued "You don't just learn in the academies and libraries, but also in the taverns. Because that's where you occasionally meet miners over a mead who tell each other stories about an even rarer metal than Laen. They call it adamantium. It is said to be even rarer than Laen and only the most experienced miners have ever found it. But the best smiths can make the best weapons and armour in all of Eressea from this metal."

The information for the following region is explained in detail:

Vîpot (3,-4), desert, 0/1 trees, 22 stones/3, 190 peasants, 5765 silver, 36 horses.

The region is called "Vîpot" and has the coordinates (3,-4) as seen from the ORIGIN of the faction. Another player - with a different ORIGIN - knows the same region under the same name but with different coordinates. The region type is desert. There is a maximum of 500 free jobs in a desert. There are currently 190 peasants living in Vîpot. Each peasant takes up one job. In addition, a sapling grows here and there are currently no trees. The sapling currently takes up 4 jobs. This means that there are currently 306 vacant jobs in the region.

There are 36 wild horses living in the region. Horses have no influence on the number of jobs available. With the skill taming you can capture the horses and use them for transport of goods, for example, or equip fighters with them, who can then receive the horse bonus in battle if they have at least riding 2.

There are also stones in Vîpot, which does not apply to every desert, but it does occur from time to time. There are currently 22 stones at quarrying level 3. To discover this stone deposit, a quarryman with at least quarrying level 2 is required (note: with quarrying level 2, you can see stone deposits up to a maximum of quarrying level 4). However, to actually extract stones, the unit must have quarrying level 3.

In principle, you can build Roads in any land region to increase your traveling speed over land. For the Vîpot desert, you need 100 stones to build a road in one of the 6 cardinal directions (W, NW, NE, E, SE, SW). In addition, there must also be a developed road in the neighboring region in the direction of Vîpot so that there is a closed road connection. However, since Vîpot is a desert, you also need a fully developed caravanserai. A desert is therefore not necessarily the first choice for building a road network, but can be a worthwhile investment depending on the geography of the island.

The line also contains the current level of regional silver. This amount is important to be able to estimate how the peasants are being supplied and how much silver player units can earn here through entertainment or tax collection income.

The Regions of Eressea

Selen pointed to the open page. "Take a look at this and tell me what you see." Rahel looked at the text intently before she began.

The report lists all regions in which you have a unit, through which you have traveled, or ocean regions that you have seen from a lighthouse:

Tetos (−1,0), plain, 1042 peasants, 73/5 trees, 10953 silver, 132 horses. To the northwest lies the the forest of Faldorn (−2,1), to the northeast the plain of Litforuvys (−1,1), to the east the plain of Tumyvesfod (0,0), to the southeast the swamps of Titymovut (0,−1), to the southwest the plain of Livedfir (−1,−1) an to the west the mountains of Nipevan (−2,0).

"Well, first, there is the region's name as known by its inhabitants and its position, followed by its type. We can also see how many peasants live there and how much silver they have. Finally, the scout has reported the amount of trees and horses they have found in this region. Stones and iron have not yet been discovered there."

The peasants living in the region can be recruited to your faction with the command RECRUIT, the trees can be cut down and horses tamed with the command MAKE.

"Very good, Rahel. And what is written in the lines below?"

The local market offers incense at a price of 4 silver. Traders can sell balm for 12 silver, spice for 10 silver, gems for 21 silver, myrrh for 15 silver, oil for 12 silver and silk for 30 silver.

Statistics for Tetos (-1,0):

entertainment: max. 547 silver
worker salary: 11 silver
recruits: 26 peasants
luxury goods at this price: 10
people: 20
horses: 4 wood: 13
silver: 821
swords: 2


The young novice beamed proudly at her obviously satisfied teacher. "This, Magistra, is further information that our scouts have discovered. Firstly, they seem to have looked around the market and noted the prices. The section below notes how much silver the inhabitants of the region are willing to spend on showmen and musicians, how much you can get for simple labor, how many peasants are willing to join a faction, and how many goods are sold at the market for the price listed above. The last lines then state how many of our people are there and what they are carrying."

Under luxuries you can see the amount of goods bought or sold by the peasants for the listed price (see also trade). Trading more goods may change the price permanently! For further information, read the section ontrade.

"Excellent, my child. This is a complete report. Sometimes we only get less extensive ones, especially when our scout only passed through a region on their horse. We only get detailed reports like this when members of our people stay there."

Selen pointed at a chair at the other side of the table. "You may sit down now, child." Rahel took place, purring briefly, a little bit satisfied she had not disappointed her teacher, but also wondering what would come next. The ordained member of the Clan of the Golden-Eyed Cats leaned back in her chair and watched her. "These are just numbers, useful and worth preserving, yes. But exploring the laws they are based on, is very important, too."

Standing up, Selen took out another parchment from the bag she had placed beneath the table and spread it above the map. Rahel tried to understand the chaotic drawing of almost horizontal lines, but she couldn't make head or tail of it. "Explain it to me, please."

"This, my child, is an attempt to track down the natural laws. Every week, the amount of peasants, trees, and horses are changing in the regions. They die, are born or emigrate. I tried to find out why they do so, without ever asking them." A silent smile appeared on Selens face. "It seems that most depends on the space peasants and trees must share." The young novice pointed at a second little drawing scribbled at the edge of the parchment. "And what does this mean? It looks similar to the big one." - "In the big drawing, I sketched in the figures of a plain near the ocean with fertile soil. The little one describes the development of an inhospitable swamp. You can see that the trends are similar, but the swamp has less of everything."

The Eressean Calendar

Selen Ard'Ragorn rose from her chair. Rahel also stood up and admired how supple the old abbess still moved. She already knew what would follow. At the end of every instruction, they were taking a walk through the spacious garden of the temple during which she would receive more lessons.

Together they walked through a little grove, when Selen said: "Do you notice the descending sun? So early... Soon, it will be winter. Anon, the "storm moon" will turn into "hearth fire". A time of deprivation for most of us. Very hard on the insects, who can't breed in winter." - "Yes, mistress. But at least our sailors are relieved that the time of destructive autumn storms has gone and the sea turns safer again." - "You are right, Rahel. So there is something positive to be found in everything."

Until late in the evenening, the guardians of the temple could see the two cats strolling through the garden, illuminated by magic...

Eressea's year is divided into nine months with three weeks in each:

Month	In German	Season	Storm Frequency
harvest moon	Feldsegen	summer	0.5%
impenetrable fog	Nebeltage	autumn	3%
storm moon	Sturmmond	autumn	4%
hearth fire	Herdfeuer	winter	2.5%
icewind	Eiswind	winter	1.5%
snowbane	Schneebann	w	3%
flowerrain	Blütenregen	spring	3%
mild winds	Mond der milden Winde	spring	0.5%
sunfire	Sonnenfeuer	summer	3%

Every turn of the game corresponds to one week in Eressea's world. Many things can be done in one week. But there are some actions lasting almost the whole week. You can only do one of these so called long orders per turn (see also the chapter about orders).

Although the influence of the seasons is generally not particularly pronounced, there are some areas or events that are definitely influenced significantly. Here is a brief overview:

• Peoples of the insect race can hardly recruit in winter
• Storms at sea are much more common in autumn
• The individual phases of forest growth are linked to seasonal cycle
• In winter the growth of the herbs comes to a standstill

See also

• money
• RECRUIT
• ENTERTAIN

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