The climate of Ulthuan

[wolfie65Participant 1250xp 0]

Having just finished Gav Thorpe’s The Sundering series, I’m wondering why it gets as cold in the Elven realms as he says it does.

If we assume that the Warhammer world is a rough approximation of ours, the Old World more or less Europe, Naggaroth more or less North America and so on, Ulthuan would be situated approximately where Atlantis was (suppposed to have been), in the middle of the Atlantic, on about the same latitude as Mexico and North Africa. which would make for a pretty balmy climate throughout.

Yet in the books, the north of the island continent is described as being easily as cold as Scandinavia and even the more southerly portions get their fair share of freezes. Does the gulf stream not work the same way in the Warhammer world, does the fact that they have 2 moons have a detrimental effect on weather or what else could be the problem ?

[onlyonepinman 18076xp 0]

Well, given that the gulfstream is a feature unique to planet earth and that planet earth doesn’t have a realm of chaos at the north pole, it stands to reason that no, the Gulfstream doesn’t work the same.  I always envisaged it having a climate similar to Iceland or Greenland, even though based on proximity to the Equator it would more than likely have a climate more akin to somewhere like Madiera.

• This reply was modified 3 months, 4 weeks ago by  onlyonepinman.

[grantinvanman 2476xp 0]

How’s the weather, Ollie?

[moonunitParticipant 4511xp 1]

I’m going to go with the gulf stream theory too, and the winds of magic. Plus, I thought Ulthuan was quite large, so parts are as far north as Iceland, with the South being nearer the equator. A more real world answer would be that fantasy geography in books and other media often conforms to the ideas and experiences of the reader. The North is cold to us, so it is in fantasy books. Fantasy readers and writers in the Southern hemisphere may have a different notion.

[wolfie65Participant 1250xp 0]

Ulthuan is quite large, but on all the maps I’ve ever seen, the very northern part would be on the same latitude as Morocco in our world, not Iceland….

[onlyonepinman 18076xp 0]

Using real world geographical and climate rules, the climate for Ulthuan is almost certainly incorrect for its geographical location.  Obviously that makes the assumption that climate works the same in the Warhammer World as it does in ours, which may or may not be true.  The northern most tip is roughly level with the Iberian peninsula and the southern tip level leveĺ with the Sahara Desert on pretty much every map you will find.

So we probably have to just chalk this one up to “it’s fantasy and that’s what the writers wanted”

[limburger 21910xp 1]

My vote is for : the writers don’t understand geography, distances, scale and weather…..

In other words : it’s freezing because the authors wanted it to freeze.

I do wonder if it is possible to simulate potential weather patterns for a fictional world (ignoring magic/chaos for obvious reasons). I doubt the average SciFi/Fantasy author does the research for features like this.

 

[grantinvanman 2476xp 0]

How’s the weather in the north, Ollie?

[stubbybrushParticipant 925xp 1]

The Sc-Fi author Brian Aldiss did exactly this for a couple of his novels….memory is going so can’t say which ones

[moonunitParticipant 4511xp 1]

Maybe it’s just cold if you are an Elf.

[onlyonepinman 18076xp 0]

@limburger given how Warhammer was brought into being and when, I suspect it just wasn’t something that the team necessarily paid too much attention to.  Nor did I until the question was asked.  But I can quite easily accept that the climate of Warhammer works differently,  not least because of the Chaos Wastes

[limburger 21910xp 0]

@onlyonepinman I think weather patterns in general are rarely considered in entertainment, unless it makes for an interesting adventure/plot point.

As long as the writers are consistent that need not be a problem. And yeah, Chaos wastes are an easy wild card for fixes.
Altough I find that a bit lame as an excuse.

[wolfie65Participant 1250xp 0]

Speaking of weather patterns, Chaos wastes and such: The Druchii now live in a place even colder than Gav Thorpe’s version of Ulthuan (Naggaroth ~ Canada ?), yet ride reptiles into combat. Reptiles don’t do much in temperatures below 65-70°F…..

The general attire of most Dark Elf miniatures also doesn’t look very suitable for cold weather. Especially the Witch Elves must be on a LOT of stimulants…..

[grantinvanman 2476xp 0]

Can confirm. There are zero alligators in Canada, in the wild. No crocodiles either.

 

[moonunitParticipant 4511xp 1]

Whatever the answer, I’m just glad there are people in the world who can sustain a conversation about weather in a fictional continent.

[Author]

Posts