Olympian geography ================== Olympia's map is a large grid of locations called provinces. Groups of provinces form continents, islands and oceans. These collections are called regions, and are usually named. A province's description will include a list of the directions in which a character may travel: Plain [ae48], plain, in region Tollus Routes leaving Plain [ae48]: North, to Plain [ad48], 7 days East, to Plain [ae49], 7 days South, to Ocean [af48], Tymaerian Sea, 1 day West, to Ocean [ae47], Tymaerian Sea, 1 day This is a non-descript province in the Tollus region (Tollus is a small continent in the northeast corner of the map.) From this province, a character may travel north or east on foot or by horse, or may sail by ship to the south or west. MOVE north -or- MOVE n -or- MOVE ad48 MOVE east -or- MOVE e -or- MOVE ae49 SAIL south -or- SAIL e -or- SAIL af48 SAIL west -or- SAIL w -or- SAIL ae47 Land movement will automatically use the fastest available mode. For example, if a character has enough horses for all of the members in the party to ride, then the travelers will go on horseback. Ocean movement requires that the character be in a ship. Route distances are rated for the number of days it normally takes to traverse them. Land distances are rated for a lightly loaded character walking, and ocean distances are given for an ordinary ship traveling in normal weather. Actual travel times may differ from times given in the route listing. Land distances depend on the surrounding terrain and the modes of transport available. For example, horses often speed up movement, but over especially rough or treacherous terrain, they may actually slow travel because they must be led and managed. A stiff wind may speed ocean vessels, while lack of wind may slow their progress. Inner Locations --------------- A province may contain sub-locations within its borders. Sub-locations may usually only be entered from the surrounding province. They will be listed separately in the location description: Inner locations: Carim [em28], city, 1 day The city Carim may be entered with the MOVE em28 order. Travel into a city requires one day. (MOVE IN may be used to enter a sub-location, although this order may be ambiguous if the location contains more than one sub-location. In such a case, the first sub-location in the "Inner locations" list will be entered. Using MOVE IN is not recommended if the entity number of the sub-location is known.) Characters in a sub-location will receive a report for the surrounding province. However, characters in the outer province will not normally be able to see into an inner location without entering it. Inside a City ------------- Carim [em28], city, in province Plain [ae48] Routes leaving Carim [em28]: Out, to Plain [ae48], 1 day Inner locations: Hooting Own Inn [ep76], inn Characters in the city Carim may MOVE OUT (or MOVE ae48) to the surrounding province. They may also attempt to enter the inn, which is a sub-location of the city. Notice that no travel time rating is listed for the inn; entering it takes no time (zero days). MOVE OUT -or- MOVE ae48 MOVE ep76 A character in Carim will receive a location report both for the city as well as the surrounding province Plain [ae48]. Characters in the Hooting Own Inn will receive a location report for the inn and one for Carim, but will not get a report for Plain [ae48]. A character in the city may not see inside the inn without entering. Characters in a sub-location receive a report for the immediate surrounding location. Characters are not able to see into inner locations without going into them. Who else is here? ----------------- Characters spotted will be listed in the location report: Seen here: Fighters of Pelenth [2019], "carrying a gold banner" Osswid the Constructor [5499] All characters listed as being seen in the location may interact without requiring any travel. Thus, the Fighters of Pelenth and Osswid are considered to be in essentially the same place. This is true whether the characters are in a province, a city, a ship, an inn, or some other sub-location. However, a character in a sub-location may not interact with characters in the surrounding area. A noble in the city must first enter the inn before he may interact with those inside. More about geography -------------------- Olympian provinces are arranged in a square grid. Travel is possible in the four main compass points. Thus, to move diagonally, two MOVE orders are required. To move northwest, for instance, one would first need to MOVE N, then MOVE W. The map coordinates for a province may be read from the province's entity number. The row is represented by the leading two letters, the column by the two digits. The northwest corner is [aa00], with rows increasing to the south, and columns increasing to the east. 00 01 02 ... 99 +---------------------- aa| ab| ab02 ac| ac01 ac02 ac99 . . dv| dv02 Entity numbers for sub-locations do not correspond to any coordinate system. The map wraps at the east and west edges. Traveling west from ac00 will lead to ac99, for instance. Holes in the Map ---------------- The map has some "holes", representing impassable provinces. Routes into some provinces may also be hidden. Plain [cd21], plain, in region Tollus Routes leaving Plain [cd21]: North, to Plain [cc21], 7 days East, to Plain [cd22], 7 days West, to Plain [cd20], 7 days Notice the lack of a southern exit. This means that there is no known southern route from Plain [cd21], into what should be Plain [ce21]. Exploration may find a southern route, but it is possible that none may ever be found, and the terrain to the south is completely impassable. Hidden routes ------------- If exploration finds a hidden route, any noble in the player's faction will be able to use it. > explore A hidden route has been found! South, to Plain [ce21], 7 days The location description for this place will now include the hidden route: Plain [cd21], plain, in region Tollus Routes leaving Plain [cd21]: North, to Plain [cc21], 7 days South, to Plain [ce21], 7 days, hidden East, to Plain [cd22], 7 days West, to Plain [cd20], 7 days However, units from other factions, even if they know that the hidden route's entity number is [ce21], will not be able to travel across it. All factions with units in a stack traveling across a hidden route, with the exception of units being held prisoner, will learn of its existence. Nobles from factions wanting to learn how to use the hidden route can stack with a noble about to move across the route. Ocean ports ----------- A ship in an ocean province may sail into an adjoining land province. Ocean [cw12], ocean, in South Sea Routes leaving Ocean [cw12]: North, to Ocean [cv12], Atnos Sea, 4 days East, to Mountain [cw13], West Camaris, impassable South, to Plain [cx12], West Camaris, 1 day West, to Ocean [cw11], 4 days Inner locations: Island [eb97], island, 1 day A ship sailing in this ocean province may dock by sailing to Plain [cx12] or Island [eb97]. Ships may not dock in mountain provinces, as the rocky cliffs are too dangerous to approach. Routes between ocean and mountain provinces are marked "impassable." Port Cities ----------- A city in a province adjoining an ocean will have been founded on the best spot for an ocean port. The ocean will only be accessible through the port city in this case, and not through the surrounding region. Plain [ae48], plain, in region Tollus Routes leaving Plain [ae48]: ... West, to Ocean [ae47], Tymaerian Sea, impassable Inner locations: Carim [em28], port city, 1 day Note that from the province surrounding the port city, access to the ocean is not possible. Carim [em28], port city, in province Plain [ae48] Routes leaving Carim [em28]: West, to Ocean [ae47], Tymaerian Sea, 1 day Out, to Plain [ae48], 1 day However, ships may sail into and out of the port city itself. From the Tymaerian Sea, this looks like: Ocean [af48], ocean, in Tymaerian Sea Routes leaving Ocean [af48]: North, city, to Carim [em28], Tollus, 1 day South, to Ocean [ag48], 3 days ... An example city description --------------------------- Drassa [ew66], port city, in province Forest [cu26], safe haven Routes leaving Drassa [ew66]: East, to Ocean [cu27], Atnos Sea, 1 day South, to Ocean [cv26], Atnos Sea, 1 day Out, to Forest [cu26], 1 day Skills taught here: Shipcraft [120] Combat [121] Construction [125] Seen here: Kosar the Indefectible [2022], with six peasants, one archer, two soldiers, accompanied by: Dr. Pangloss [3682] Law Netexus [2020], prisoner Alion Krysaka [2785], prisoner Ships docked at port: HMS Pinafore [ib18], galley, owner: Captain McCook [2019], with five workers Market report: No goods offered for trade. Wilderness and civilization --------------------------- Every province has a civilization level. Provinces with no civilization (a level of zero) are considered wilderness. Civilization levels for provinces are shown in the turn report: The civilization level is shown for every province appearing in the turn report: Mountain [cq24], mountain, in Lesser Atnos, civ-1 Forest [ac35], forest, in Torba Bacor, wilderness The civilization level of a province is determined by the presence of cities and buildings, or half of the maximum civilization level of its surrounding provinces, whichever is higher. feature contribution ------- ------------ safe haven 2 castle 1.5 city 1 tower 1 temple 1 inn 0.5 mine 0.5 Any fractional remainder is dropped after the contributions are summed. Examples: A province with no cities or buildings adjacent to a civ-2 province would have a level of civ-1. A city and a castle would result in a level of civ-2 (the .5 is truncated). A safe haven city, and inn, and a mine would yield a level of civ-3. A province with a safe haven city surrounded by provinces with no cities or buildings would have a level of civ-2. The surrounding provinces would then rise to civ-1. A province containing a castle would have a level of civ-1. However, if a neighbor had a level of civ-5, then the province's level would rise to civ-2.