Is Poitain geography wrong????????

[LucaCherstich]

I'm sure there are many people here more expert than me in Conan's matters, therefore I'm possibly wrong...
...however, I recently re-read "Hour of the Dragon" and I found a description of Poitain which does not matches any Mongoose map I've seen thus far.

The 2 quotes here come from Chapter 11 "Swords of the South":

"...even now, when winter was cripsing the leaves BEYOND THE MOUNTAINS, the tall rich grass waved upon the PLAINS where grazed the horses and cattle for which Poitain is famous...."

More important is this:

"...Poitain was surrounded by covetous neighbors and her sons learned hardihood in incessant wars. To the NORTH the land was guarded by the mountains, but to the SOUTH only the Alimane separated the plains of Poitain from teh plains of Zingara and not one but a thousand times had the river run red. To the EAST lay Argos and beyond that Ophir...."

NOW, if we look to both the general map in the Atlantean edition and the more accurate map in Road of the Kings (PAGE 5) it is clear that the Poitanian plains are drawn NORTH of the mountains and the river Alimane is just south of the mountains with no plain in between while in Howard' "Hour of the Dragon" the position of the plains is SOUTH of the mountains.

I think that Mongoose'maps are wrong. What do you think?

 

[Faraer]

Yes, they're wrong.

 

[LucaCherstich]

I hope they noticed it before me and it is alreacy fixed it in the new "Return to the Road of the Kings".
Dear Mongooses, will you do it or is it too late?

 

[Faraer]

It's just one of many definite errors, including the overlarge Aquilonia, several spurious mountain ranges, the locations of Messantia and Zamboula, the course of the Zaporoska, and the entire speculative layout of the South and East, that need to be sorted out before any more pretty new maps are based on faulty geography.

 

[Majestic7]

I've been thinking about the present map as being something made in-game by some scholar in Aquilonia. He has thus naturally made his own country seem larger than it is, diminished Nemedia and just guessed things together from the south. Having all the ancient ruins on the map kind of destroys this illusion, though.

I would kind of like having two maps of the world, though - accurate map for the GM and ingame map to show the players, "this is what your scholar thinks the world is like."

 

[Swordmeister]

Excellent idea. Well, in my play sessions i do something similar, elaborating my own handwritting, based in the offical maps, to reflect the "scholar knowledge" about the world.

regards!!!

 

[Yogah of Yag]

I've been thinking about the present map as being something made in-game by some scholar in Aquilonia. He has thus naturally made his own country seem larger than it is, diminished Nemedia and just guessed things together from the south. Having all the ancient ruins on the map kind of destroys this illusion, though.

I would kind of like having two maps of the world, though - accurate map for the GM and ingame map to show the players, "this is what your scholar thinks the world is like."

...Or you could just tell the players that Hyboria looks like this:



and really give them a shock later!

 

[LucaCherstich]

OK, but what's Mongooseìs policy about such errors?
Will the maps in 2nd edition be more accurate or not?

 

[tarkhan bey]

In a recent thread about the "Return to the road of Kings" there seemed to be a suggestion from Vincent to Darkstorm Dale that he had used some of his material in his sources for writing the new book. Now I dont know if Darkstorm has done an essay on the correct geography of the Hyborian kingdoms but any new map may include his work on the regions south of Stygia and east of the Vilayet.