Every file answers the same questions in the same order, with numbers: where it sits · what relief it has · what climate that produces · what the land gives · what the land forbids · who rules because of it · what changed in each era, and why.
The three physical facts that govern everything
Without these three, none of the files makes sense.
1. The Insular Current
A warm ocean current that rises along the west, washes the Brytonian archipelago and the western continental coast, and curves away westward before reaching the latitude of Königsmark.
| Brithon | Königsburg | |
|---|---|---|
| Latitude | Brithon~55° N | Königsburg~59° N |
| Current | Brithonwarm | Königsburgnone |
| January average | Brithon+4 °C | Königsburg−9 °C |
| Days of frost/year | Brithon~25 | Königsburg~160 |
Second-order consequence: the current is also why Brytonia has permanent fog — warm humid air over colder water near the coast — and therefore the ultimate reason for the smog of Manchaster: the soot does not disperse because the air does not move.
2. The mountain axis
A mountain spine runs north to south, from the Septentrional Massif to the Southern Range. It splits the continent into a humid western slope and a dry eastern one, by rain shadow.
| Band | Annual rainfall |
|---|---|
| BandArchipelago and west coast | Annual rainfall1,100-1,600 mm |
| BandWestern slope of the axis | Annual rainfall800-1,100 mm |
| BandCentral valleys and Sea of the Choir | Annual rainfall650-900 mm |
| BandEastern slope | Annual rainfall400-550 mm |
| BandVychodstep | Annual rainfall300-350 mm, and falling |
This is why the east is a granary and not a garden: dry-farmed grain grows on 400 mm, forest does not. Vykhradia has the best soil on the continent and the worst rainfall of the western half, and lives off that combination.
3. Fissure heat
The seven Seal fissures have emitted permanent geothermal heat since the rupture. Measurable since 1820 (Climate, era by era).
| Effect | Where | Magnitude |
|---|---|---|
| EffectLonger growing season | WhereLimes Orientalis | Magnitude+3 weeks |
| EffectRenewed soil | Whereslopes of the Volkar | Magnitudebest yield per hectare on the continent |
| EffectDrying | WhereVychodstep | Magnitude−20% rainfall in 15 years |
| EffectAmbient temperature | WhereLimbus and Heptarchy | Magnitudewarm, at the temperature of a body |
Master comparison table
| Bloc | Latitude | Dominant altitude | Jan / Jul (°C) | Rain (mm) | Season (days) | The produce that defines it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BlocKönigsmark | Latitude56-63° N | Dominant altitude0-600 m + massif at 2,800 | Jan / Jul (°C)−9 / +15 | Rain (mm)700 | Season (days)115 | The produce that defines itHashmalite (30%), furs, men |
| BlocKantonal | Latitude46-49° N | Dominant altitude800-1,800 m | Jan / Jul (°C)−4 / +16 | Rain (mm)1,200 | Season (days)105 | The produce that defines itdairy, precision, custody of gold |
| BlocBrytonia | Latitude51-58° N | Dominant altitude0-300 m + highlands at 1,200 | Jan / Jul (°C)+4 / +17 | Rain (mm)1,400 | Season (days)210 | The produce that defines itcoal, manufacture, capital |
| BlocVykhradia | Latitude47-53° N | Dominant altitude200-500 m | Jan / Jul (°C)−8 / +22 | Rain (mm)450 | Season (days)175 | The produce that defines itgrain for every army |
| BlocThe Order | Latitude43-51° N | Dominant altitude100-1,400 m | Jan / Jul (°C)0 / +23 | Rain (mm)800 | Season (days)205 | The produce that defines itconsecrated mineral |
| BlocVelinia | Latitude44-45° N | Dominant altitude0-5 m | Jan / Jul (°C)+4 / +24 | Rain (mm)750 | Season (days)230 | The produce that defines itships, freight, credit |
| BlocMeridia | Latitude40-44° N | Dominant altitude0-1,600 m | Jan / Jul (°C)+9 / +27 | Rain (mm)620 | Season (days)250 | The produce that defines itArdentine, wine, oil |
| BlocHeptarchy | Latitude46-54° N | Dominant altitude100-2,400 m | Jan / Jul (°C)−6 / +26 | Rain (mm)330 | Season (days)165 | The produce that defines itBlack Mineral, meat |
The files
| Bloc | File |
|---|---|
| BlocClerical Order | FileFile — Clerical Order |
| BlocKönigsmark | FileFile — Königsmark |
| BlocVykhradia | FileFile — Vykhradia |
| BlocBrytonia | FileFile — Brytonia |
| BlocMeridia | FileFile — Meridia |
| BlocSerenissima Velinia | FileFile — Serenissima Velinia |
| BlocKantonal Confederation | FileFile — Kantonal Confederation |
| BlocHeptarchy and Limbus | FileFile — Pact Heptarchy |