Post by yezdigerd on Feb 21, 2018 7:49:44 GMT -5
I’ve recently purchased the new Conan RPG by Modiphius after looking at the free QuickStart. The adventure contained therein is set in the Westermark and I notice that, as usual, the town of Velitrium is placed on the eastern bank of the Thunder River.
It recently crossed my mind that the evidence(although entirely circumstantial) actually points to it being on the western bank.
At no point during ‘Beyond the Black River’ is there any mention of a river crossing of the Thunder River. There is no mention of Balthus crossing it on his journey from Velitrium to Fort Tuscelan. More importantly,when the settlers are fleeing from the Picts, there is no mention of the river as an obstacle to their refuge in Velitrium.
Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but I believe that REH would have recognised the potential for drama in such an obstacle and included it in the tale.
Upon reviewing the tale I found that all references to Velitrium still make perfect sense with it located on the western bank, even if I am going against the pastiches.
Even the reference to Thunder River as new border in the final chapter can be explained away as follows.
We know from the ‘Wolves beyond the Border’ fragment that Conajohara was abandoned and it’s folk scattered to the other provinces. Perhaps the conversation between Conan and the lone survivor of Fort Tuscelan might be understood as happening just before the abandonment of both the province and the now unsustainable town?
Perhaps in the aftermath of ‘Beyond the Black River’ and while Conan is crossing the Wilderness in ‘The Black Stranger’, Velitrium simply ceases to exist.
As a final note, we are made aware that the Picts who attacked Velitrium were those who simply couldn’t wait for Fort Tuscelan to fall and rampaged off up the road towards the Thunder River.
The very name of the river implies to me the presence of fast flowing water, possibly waterfalls and rapids. How would these Picts have crossed the river? I don’t imagine that they brought their canoes with them in their haste to murder and scalp the settlers.
Food for thought?
It recently crossed my mind that the evidence(although entirely circumstantial) actually points to it being on the western bank.
At no point during ‘Beyond the Black River’ is there any mention of a river crossing of the Thunder River. There is no mention of Balthus crossing it on his journey from Velitrium to Fort Tuscelan. More importantly,when the settlers are fleeing from the Picts, there is no mention of the river as an obstacle to their refuge in Velitrium.
Perhaps I am reading too much into this, but I believe that REH would have recognised the potential for drama in such an obstacle and included it in the tale.
Upon reviewing the tale I found that all references to Velitrium still make perfect sense with it located on the western bank, even if I am going against the pastiches.
Even the reference to Thunder River as new border in the final chapter can be explained away as follows.
We know from the ‘Wolves beyond the Border’ fragment that Conajohara was abandoned and it’s folk scattered to the other provinces. Perhaps the conversation between Conan and the lone survivor of Fort Tuscelan might be understood as happening just before the abandonment of both the province and the now unsustainable town?
Perhaps in the aftermath of ‘Beyond the Black River’ and while Conan is crossing the Wilderness in ‘The Black Stranger’, Velitrium simply ceases to exist.
As a final note, we are made aware that the Picts who attacked Velitrium were those who simply couldn’t wait for Fort Tuscelan to fall and rampaged off up the road towards the Thunder River.
The very name of the river implies to me the presence of fast flowing water, possibly waterfalls and rapids. How would these Picts have crossed the river? I don’t imagine that they brought their canoes with them in their haste to murder and scalp the settlers.
Food for thought?
