Home

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Hydrography of the Deepingdale


When speaking in the rivers of the Deepingdale three names arise with great frequency:  the Wineflow, the Deeping Stream and the Glaemril; however, there is much confusion as to which each is and often a flow of water that is recorded on a map as Wineflow or Deeping Stream appears registered in another as Glaemril. This confusion is resolved when you read in Volo's Guide, that "only above the intersection with the Wineflow is the Glaemril the Deeping Stream"[1]. Thus, we can conclude that only after meeting the Wineflow with the Deeping Stream the water flow should be called Glaemril; this information is confirmed when the Volo's Guide (p, 94) states about the "Glaemril and its tributaries (the Deeping Stream and the Wineflow"). According to the Volo's Guide this confusion regarding the names of the rivers is due to the fact that “the Deeping Stream and the Wineflow rise and then disappear into sinkholes many times only to reappear nearby and run for a short space before vanishing again. (This confusing tendency is the reason they appear in so few maps or are mistakenly recorded as Glaemril ...) [2]”.

2.1. The Wineflow

It is not always possible to clearly distinguish the information which refer to the Wineflow of those regarding the Glaemril as a whole, so it is interesting complements them with the information presented about the Glaemril.


Informations:
1 – [The Wineflow] ... rise and the disappear into sinkholes many times only to reappear nearby and run for a short space before vanishing again.” (Volo’s Guide, p. 95).
2 – it is a tributary of the Glaemril. “... the Glaemril and its tributaries ([…] and the Wineflow…[3]. This information is confirmed when one can read that “... the Wineflow, the southern tributary of the Glaemril…”[4].
3 – The Wineflow “Both of them run swift and Strong and have abundant salmon runs that nourish forest creatures…[5].
4 – “The trot down to Deeping Stream that Shandril Shessair used to make is blocked by a city wall now”. (Volo’s Guide, p. 111). New confusion regarding the Wineflow and the Deeping Stream. [Referring to the Rising Moon Inn]
5 – Probably its water are crystal clear. [See info 1 about the Glaemril].
6 – Maybe its headboard (the place where the river begins) “ serves as a spawning ground for a tasty variety of freshwater shrimp[6] but only if the Wineflow was “the westernmost stretch of the Deeping” [Glaemril]). See info 2 about the Glaemril. This possibility seems more consistent than to consider that the spawing ground is the Eredruie Lake.

The Wineflow ford[7]

Also called Glaemril Ford (see footnote) it’s a common ford – located just north of Highmoon – except for its strange magical powers. “From time to time, random folk crossing the ford are cured of all diseases and hurts – and a random wizard spell comes into their minds for them to cast later without incantation or material componentes. This usually befalls nonwizards, and some of them are momentarily beset by yet a third property of the ford: They levitate straight u pinto the air for a few breaths! [8].

2.2. Deeping Stream

It is not always possible to clearly distinguish the information about the Deeping Stream from those regarding the Glaemril because ...the Glaemril, which is often also called the Deeping Stream since that stream [Deeping Stream] flows most directly into it [the Glaemril]” [info 3 below].

Informations:
1 – The Deeping Stream is a tributary of the Glaemril: “Glaemril and its tributaries (the Deeping Stream [...])”[9].
2 – “O Deeping Stram [...] rise and the disappear into sinkholes many times only to reappear nearby and run for a short space before vanishing again[10].
3 – “...the Glaemril, which is often also called the Deeping Stream since that stream [Deeping Stream] flows most directly into it [the Glaemril]”[11].
4 – It’s possible that the information 8 of the Glaemril: the Glaemril “run swift and strong and have abundant salmon runs that nourish forest creatures…”) be valid either to the Deeping Stream since it’s valid to the Wineflow and this doesn’t seems very different from the Deeping Stream.
5 – Possibly it’s waters are crystal clear [see info 1 of the Glaemril].

The headwaters of this stream is the Lake Eredruie (see below) and then the Deeping Stream, with its crystal clear waters [info 5] “run swift and strong” [info 4] appearing and vanishing “into sinkholes many times only to reappear nearby and run for a short space before vanishing again” [info 2]. The reference to “abundant salmons runs” [info 4] evokes the image of salmons jumping over small waterfalls trying to swing upstream, but there’s no confirmation of this scene (even if it matches with the idea of a stream that “run swift and strong”). These caracteristics seems to be the same until junction with the Glaemril [info 1].

2.2.1. Lake Eredruie
Informations:
1 – “The dark, clam water of Lake Eredruie[12]
2 – The lake is “a large pond at the headwaters of the Glaemril[13].
3 – “Elves who immerse themselves in the lake’s waters can add 3d20 years to their lifespan, although the magic or the waters works only once. A flask of Lake Eredruie water acts as a potion of healing on elves and half-elves only, but loses its potency if mixed with any other liquid or substance[14].
4 – “… at the Treespring of Eredruie, a natural spring that bubbles forth from a hollow in the upper trunk of a hiexel and runs down the side of the tree to feed tho neighboring Lake Eredruie[15].
5 – “… the hauntingly beautiful Lake Eredruie, source of the Glaemril (more of  a small pool than a lake, actually). Bristar, on the southeastern shore, overlooks its dark, calm waters[16].
6 – “Bristar overlooks a wooded lake that is the headwaters of the Glaemril[17].
7 – Maybe the lake (if it is “the westernmost stretch of the Deeping”) “serves as a spawning ground for a tasty variety of freshwater shrimp”. See info 2 of the Glaemril, however, the lake can be considered as a “pool” then this possibility doesn’t make sense.

The Lake Eredruie and consequently also the Deeping Stream and the Glaemril [info 2] begins “… at the Treespring of Eredruie, a natural spring that bubbles forth from a hollow in the upper trunk of a hiexel and runs down the side of the tree to feed tho neighboring Lake Eredruie” [info 4]. The lake itself is “a large pond” [info 2] or “a small pool” [info 5] – anyway both expressions seems to emphasize that this is not a big water body “dark” and “calm” [info 1 e 5] [18].
The Lake has magical properties to elvens and half-elves as can be read in the information 3 so that if drunk this waters acts as a healing potion and for those that immerse themselves the efect is a prolonged life[19].
This lake is sacred to Labelas Enoreth and has the elvish village of Bristar in its “southeastern shore” [info 5] and finally it seem to be surrounded by once it’s “a wooded lake” [info 6].

2.3. Glaemril

The following information appears to refer to the river as a whole (Glaemril and tributaries) or simply is not possible to specify whether it refers to Glaemril or a tributary (or which affluent). Much of the information presented below are derived from Elminster's Ecologies which refers generally to the existence of “a pair of streams in the Southern woods, the Semberflow and the Deeping[20] which suggests that all the statements it makes about the "Deeping" are actually regarding the Glaemril as a whole, including Glaemril itself and its tributaries - the Wineflow and the Deeping Stream - so it is advisable to far as possible, consider the information about the Glaemril (where applicable) as well as valid for its two tributaries.

Informations:
1 – The Deeping Stream has crystal waters teem with bass and catfish in quantities rivaling the Elvenflow. It is an otherwise unremarkable area, drawing too many human tourists for my taste[21].
2 – “The westernmost stretch of the Deeping […] serves as a spawning ground for a tasty variety of freshwater shrimp. The Deeping shrimp, nearly a foot long and brilliant red, can be caught by dragging nets along the river bed […]. the dried shrimp shells emit a soft pink light for up to two days and can be used to mark trails[22].
3 – The “Deeping” and the other streams, “serve as sourcers of fresh water for drinking, bathing, and recreation. The rivers also supply water for irrigation[23].
4 – There is “villages” along of the Deeping Stream – “A few small villages along the Deeping Stream...[24].
5 – “The cobra trout, which lives in the Deeping Stream, is one of the few fresh water fish with a poisonous bite. Extremely territorial, the cobra trout lunges at any creature that comes within a few feet. This fish can exist on dry land for as long as an hour, using tiny fins to haul itself along the ground. Fortunately, its bright silver scales make it easy to recognize and avoid[25].
6 – There is the possibility of that exists “a pair [de amphisbaena] swimming in the Deeping Stream[26].
7 – There is at least one branch of the Deeping Stream – “Salty mineral in an offshoot of the Deeping Stream...[27].
8 – [The Glaemril] “run swift and strong and have abundant salmon runs that nourish forest creatures…”[28].
9 – The Glaemril has as tributaries the Wineflow and the Deeping Stream: “Glaemril and its tributaries (the Deeping Stream and the Wineflow)[29].
10 - “only above the intersection with the Wineflow is the Glaemril the Deeping Stream[30].

Although often confused with Deeping Stream, the Glaemril only has it  name after the meeting of the Deeping Stream with the Wineflow [info 10], the latter two being its tributaries. Anyway the Glaemril is a river of “crystal waters” [info 1] that “run swift and strong” [info 8], being “otherwise unremarkable” but that drowns too many people [info 1]. Its waters “serve as sourcers of fresh water for drinking, bathing, and recreation” and also supply water for irrigation” [info 3] to “a few small villages along” [info 4] of its banks.





In the river lives a lot of bass and catfish [info 1] and serves as a migration route to “abundant salmon” that “that nourish forest creatures” [info 8] in addition to the “Deeping shrimp, nearly a foot long and brilliant red, can be caught by dragging nets along the river bed [which] the dried shrimp shells emit a soft pink light for up to two days and can be used to mark trails” [info 2]. In its waters lives also “the cobra trout, which lives in the Deeping Stream, is one of the few fresh water fish with a poisonous bite. Extremely territorial, the cobra trout lunges at any creature that comes within a few feet. This fish can exist on dry land for as long as an hour, using tiny fins to haul itself along the ground. Fortunately, its bright silver scales make it easy to recognize and avoid” [info 5] besides the rumor about “a pair [de amphisbaena] swimming” in the river’s waters.

2.4. Others Features
Informations:
1 – The Deepingdale is a “... valley where [...] pools are common...”[31].
2 – “A deep pool rests midway along” [the Hunter’s Down].[32]




[1] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 95.
[2] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 95.
[3] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 94.
[4] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 94.
[5] Forgotten Realms 3ed, p. 128. “Both of them run swift and Strong and have abundant salmon runs that nourish forest creatures…”. A quick search of pictures of “salmon runs” shows many small waterfalls over which the salmons leap upstream.
[6] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 40
[7] The reference to this ford in the Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands (p. 101), in the label of the Highmoon map shows the ford as “Glaemril ford” and then clarify that it’s in truth the “ford of the Wineflow, tributary of the Glaemril”.
[8] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 103.
[9] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 94.
[10] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 95.
[11] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 95.
[12] Demihuman Deities, p. 151.
[13] Demihuman Deities, p. 151.
[14] Deminhuman Deities, p. 151.
[15] Deminhuman Deities, p. 151.
[16] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 97.
[17] The Dalelands, p. 27.
[18] It seems to be a difference between “pond” and “pool” that can implicate in diferent looks for this water body. http://references-definitions.blurtit.com/62656/what-is-the-difference-between-pond-and-pool
[19]Os frascos com a água do lago funcionam como poções de curar ferimentos leves, mas afetam somente elfos ou meio-elfos. Depois de água ser retirada da fonte, o efeito continua ativo durante um dia, mas nenhum indivíduo é capaz de se beneficiar mais de três vezes da poção na mesma dezena – as doses extras não surtem efeito”. “Elfos que emergem nas águas do lago podem acrescentar 3d20 anos ao seu tempo de vida, apesar de a magia ou água funcionar apenas uma vez. Um frasco da água do Lago Eredruie funciona como uma porção de cura apenas sobre elfos e meio-elfos, mas perde sua potência se misturada com quaisquer outros líquidos ou substâncias”.
[20] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 40.
[21] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 40.
[22] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 40
[23] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 260
[24] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 269
[25] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 272
[26] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 274
[27] Elminster’s Ecologies, p. 260
[28] Forgotten Realms 3ed, p. 128.
[29] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 94.
[30]... apenas acima da intersecção com o Corrente Vinho é o Glaemril o Corrente Profunda” (tradução livre e duvidosa). Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 95.
[31] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 95.
[32] Volo’s Guide to the Dalelands, p. 115.

No comments:

Post a Comment