odd geography of WoT world...

[Gabriel Jenko]

Not sure if this has been discussed before, but I noticed something odd about the world of the WoT.  Why is it that the Aiel Waste and Shara are some hot when they are at the same longitude as the lands west of the Dragon Wall, yet the heat and dryness are absent everywhere in the west.  I know it's only fantasy series, but unless this world rotates at an odd angle, the Aiel wastes and Shara should have similar temperatures and weather patterns as the west, right?  It should be like Earth, where it gets hotter closer to equator, not simply by going east and running into massive deserts.  Anyways, just my two cents on this observation.

 

[Sabio]

Maybe its sort of like the US where the south western states are dryer and more desert then the southern eastern states.

[Gabriel Jenko]

Yeah, possibly.  But the deserts of the Waste run north/south and not east/west in the southern part of the continent like in the US.  I'm guessing it has something to do with the breaking and screwing up the lands.  This might be nitpicking too much into how RJ planned out his world.  

[Sabio]

I would gues the sheer damage from the breaking screwed thing up.  When Rand was in the waste he noticed what could of been ruins in the mountains. maybe a port.  So my guess is the desert came from the breaking.  I would guess the sheer amount of power used could of affected the weather patterns.  We would need to see a map of what the pre breaking land looked like.

[Occams whiskey bottle]

Maybe the person who drew the map had a concussion...

[mb]

from the Guide's picture (page 152), Shara appears slightly greener than the Waste.

 

the hotter temperatures in the Waste might be due to its former waterlessness.  It gotten a lake at Rhuidean between books 4 & 5; and if I remember correctly, at least one river flowed from it.

 

 

as far as I recall, the books do not tell anything about Shara's temperatures.

 

 

a pre-Breaking map of the world might be included in the upcoming Companion.

[DemandredFO]

Shayol Ghul was an island and Rand sees a harbor in the dragon wall so that gives some idea how the world was screwed up.

[JenniferL]

Actually, the Waste makes a lot of sense if you look at real world climate patterns. The west coast of the United States, for example, is pretty green and (typically) wet. The Pacific Northwest is considered a temperate rainforest. But east of the Rockies is a much dryer climate. The warm, wet ocean air hits the mountains and is forced up. The moisture condenses and falls as precipitation on the western side of the mountains. By the time the air gets over the mountains, it's lost all it's moisture. Thats why Nevada, Utah,etc. are all desert states. The Dragonwall likely has the same effect as the Rockies do, only much more exaggerated, since the mountains are supposed to be higher than any real world range (except perhaps the Himalaya). So there is just no moist air in the Waste. I don't think we know enough about Sharan geography to speculate much about it's climate. Based on the cultural influences though, I suspect the climate is probably similar to sub-saharan Africa. There's a lot of variation in that though. 

[Orderofolde]

Maybe its sort of like the US where the south western states are dryer and more desert then the southern eastern states.

I am sure all the many mountain ranges in Randland which seem to divide the land into the West, the Waste, and Shara have a lot to do with it.  Mountains can make one region nice and damp, and others windy and arid, in addition to temperatures and geographic location to what should be where.  The great Sahara once was forest/jungle from what I've heard.  Weather patterns shifted, so if the land broke and moved, there would be some definite mixing.  There are some WOT POV observations of part of the Waste as having once been ocean with the port city atop the mountains near the pass Rand and Co. leave the Waste by.  Asmodean comments that it could be his birth city for all he knew, that the land had changed so much in the breaking.

[mb]

about the angle which the world rotates, the axis seems to be through north & south.  Guide's picture of the world (page 146) shows icecaps at north & south.

 

most worlds (real or fictional) seem to have icecaps at the farthest areas of their respective sun.

[Cosmic Champion]

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What I want to know is....what the hell is 'Windbiter's Finger' about???

 

When I first opened up tEotw, the first thing that I did was study the map, and the very first thing that caught my attention were those odd formations of islands. During my reading of the series I kept hoping for some part of the story to take place there. But alas, it never did.

So, did Jordan ever explain this odd arraignment of islands???

[Sabio]

My guess they aren't really islands, probably more like rocky peaks sticking out of the water.

[szilard]

 

.

What I want to know is....what the hell is 'Windbiter's Finger' about???

 

When I first opened up tEotw, the first thing that I did was study the map, and the very first thing that caught my attention were those odd formations of islands. During my reading of the series I kept hoping for some part of the story to take place there. But alas, it never did.

So, did Jordan ever explain this odd arraignment of islands???

 

 

1. artificial

2. wind farms

3. it was created in collaboration with over 3000 AS across the world

4. the original function is long forgotten by now, however, the barren remnants (= islands/huuuuge rocks) are still taming down the winds + hey, it looks cool! 

[mb]

my copy of Eye of World contains 3 maps:  Two Rivers; part of Andor & part of its surrounding lands; part of the Borderlands & part of their surrounding lands.

 

or if you are referring to the map that occurs in all of the other books, the Guide does not explain.  There might be an explanation in the upcoming Companion.

 

some chance of some of the things this series tells about being located there.  and some chance of various off screen scenes occurring there.  possibly some chance of Graendal fleeing their after her place was balefired.

[Sabio]

Plenty of questions that could be raised about islands: Cindaking, Qaim, and not sure Aile Dashar is mentioned (but my guess is it's sea folk).  Unnamed islands west of Falme and Tanchico that don't even have names on the maps.  Just too much geography for him to mention.  Windbiter's fingers is basically for show.

 

Though looking in the BWB in the sea folk section it gives the island west of Tarabon as Aile Jafar and the island west of  Toman Head as Aile Somera.

[Cosmic Champion]

.

Yea, I guess that in the end Windbiters Fingers are just for looks; at the most just showing the results of the Breaking.  I had assumed that Jordan had a specific purpose for EVERYTHING that was in his stories.

 

For example: that great seawall all along the coast of Saldea that stretches for hundreds of miles with no break in it till it approaches Badar Eban, in another country.  I had wondered for quite a while just why had Jordan created that monstrous landmark. Was it just a neat unusual mountain formation for his fantasy world with no real purpose? It just seemed real odd that RJ had created a country with such a long shoreline that was basically inaccessible, thereby depriving it of ports for trade. Then it dawned on me a few months back just why Mr Jordan had placed it there!  A Seanchan barrier. It's serves as a plot device so that he could more easily control the Seanchan story line regarding their reclaiming of Hawkwing's lands. It makes it a bit more easier for the Randlanders to anticipate and oppose these invaders by limiting possible invasion sites. Otherwise, Saldea would be the most obvious place for Ever Victorious Army to invade, as it is the furthest from Rand's power base making it difficult for Rand to counter without draining him.

[mb]

Saldaea farthest from Rand's power base?  from Tear, yes; but several predictions seem to promise the Borderlands.  and the Seanchan started their invasion before Rand started conquering.

 

since a number of the coasts on the Seanchan continent have mountains, it probably would not be difficult to conquer Saldaea.

 

Saldaea seems to also be the farthest (of the western countries) from their continent.  easiest to reach (regardless of geographical features)  would probably be the southern countries.