THE OLNI RIVER AREA

By Hersius

Introduction

The Olni River area is located north of the Vosk River near both the Thentis and Voltai mountain ranges. This article will present five possibilities for its location.

The Olni River Area

The Olni River itself flows southwest into the Vosk. Three cities - Ti, Port Olni, and Vonda - are located along it, and one city politically aligned with them - Lara - is situated at the confluence of the Olni and Vosk rivers. The four cities form what is known as the Salerian Confederation, named after the Meadow of Salerius located between Port Olni and Vonda. A small Merchant holding known as the Fortress of Saphronicus near Ti is also mentioned. Book 11 Pages 110, 111. Lara is located on the south side of the Olni where the Olni joins the Vosk. This means that it must be situated between the rivers with the Vosk to the south and the Olni to its northwest. Vonda is the next city north of Lara. Port Olni lies to the north of Vonda, and Ti is situated north of Port Olni. Vonda, Port Olni, and Ti are located on the north bank. Port Olni is located such that it could attack Fort Haskins at the northeastern edge of the Thentis Mountains. Ti, the largest of the four cities, is at a more northern latitude than Tharna. Book 14 Pages 171, 172; Book 15 Pages 15, 24.

The cities along the Olni are not spaced far apart and illustrate well the concept that cities tend to cluster in definable groupings in the northern plains. TGV Nov 2003.

The political importance of the region consists in its potential to buffer the expansion of Ar’s influence north of the Vosk.

Rapids exist west of Lara. The flat area of Salerius is called a meadow. The Olni River area may therefore be a somewhat elevated region that descends from the mountains into the near-sea-level elevations of most of the northern plains. As a tributary of the Vosk, the region not only has its own drainage basin but also forms part of the immense Vosk River drainage basin.

Background

These articles divide the Voltai Mountains into the portion above the Tahari and the portion below the Tahari. The portion above the Tahari is estimated to lie between 34 N and 54 N latitude. These articles also place the Thentis Mountains between 55 N and 60 N latitude. TGV Feb 2004. The Vosk River is estimated to flow westward at around 50 N latitude. TGV May 2003.

The Olni flows southwestward to the join the Vosk and joins the Vosk at a point northeast of Ar. This means that it has to originate north of the Vosk, but the origin point is not specified. Five possibilities exist.

One possibility is that it begins in the Barrens and flows between the Thentis and Voltai Mountains into the northern plains. The boundary between the two ranges is not defined in the series. There may be a clear spacing between the ranges, or the ranges may tend to meld into each other. Either way, a river could conceivably flow between the ranges. The series storyline that takes place in the Barrens is confined to the area adjacent to the Thentis Mountains and the Northern Forests. No information is provided as to what happens to the Snake and Kaiila Rivers, nor is any information given as to what geographical features may lie to the south of the story locales. One drawback to this idea is the fact that the Barrens itself would not seem to have enough water to create a waterway as large as the Olni. Stepping back and looking at the picture of the Barrens provided by Norman, the region does not seem a likely candidate for the origin place of the Olni. TGV Mar 2004.

A second possibility, related to the first, is that the Olni River begins between the Thentis and Voltai ranges. This view is favored by the historical note that Port Olni once attacked Fort Haskins. Book 17 Pages 76-77. This view allows the Olni to originate from runoff from both the Thentis and Voltai Mountains, which clearly each have sufficient water resources to create the Olni. Against this view is the lack of reference to the region having to wind its way between the two mountain ranges. The view presented by the series is one of hills and plains, not mountain passes. If one adopts this scenario, then the cities of the Olni are probably located outside of the mountains and on the plains west of and adjacent to the Voltai. Additionally, for Port Olni to have attacked Fort Haskins, the image of the Olni beginning either in the Barrens or between the Thentis and Voltai ranges would favor the idea that forces from Port Olni would have logically traveled upriver, which would imply the unlikely feat of peacefully passing a large military force through territory claimed by Ti prior to the creation of the Salerian Confederation, given that the Olni River cities had been at war with each other in the past. Book 22, Pages 282, 283.

The third possibility is that the Olni begins in the Voltai. In this version, the Olni, like the Verl, would be relatively small in length and would be cramped on a map. If the latitudes of the Vosk and Voltai can be estimated as in these articles, and if the Vosk itself must originate above 50 N in order for the Olni to join with it northeast of Ar, then the Olni must be separated by the Vosk only one or two degrees of latitude and must leave the Voltai in its extreme northern locations. Also arguing against this view is the fact that the Salerian Confederation made certain that river pirates could not escape by river to the Vosk. If the overland distance between the two rivers were so negligible, the Confederation could not have succeeded by river action alone. Also arguing against this view is the idea that the area represents a buffer to Ar. If it is so out of the way geographically, it is difficult to see how it would be a problem for Arian access to northern plains territory north of the Vosk. Ultimately, the only information that best fits this view is the fact that the three upriver cities are said to be on the north bank, and the flatter the angle of the Olni compared with the Vosk, the more the locales can be said to be on the north bank as opposed to being on the northwest bank.

The fourth possibility is that the Olni begins in the Northern Forests. This interpretation allows for the maximum northern latitude for Ti, which accordingly gives the location of Tharna some breathing room. moreover, the Northern Forests provide the origin points for the Snake, Kaiila, and Laurius rivers, so a Northern Forests origin for a major river is not unthinkable. Arguing against this view is the fact that Cabot did not mention crossing the Olni in his tarnflight between Ko-ro-ba and Thentis in Book 1, which in itself is not proof positive that he did not cross it, given the fact that he did not mention crossing the Thassa Cartius between Samnium and Ar in Book 21. Another argument against this view is the fact that the Olni is described as flowing to the southwest, and a Northern Forests origin would result in a more southernly flow.

The fifth possibility is that the Olni begins in the Thentis Mountains. This interpretation allows Port Olni to be at a latitude where it could enter the Barrens overland without passing Ti from between the Thentis and Voltai Mountains, hug the eastern edge of the Thentis mountains, and attack Fort Haskins. This view also, in a sense, completes the picture of the Thentis Mountains. On Earth, snowmelt and rainfall runoff from the Himalayas creates the Indus, Ganges, and Bhramaputra rivers. The Thentis Mountains are probably the Gorean counterpart to the Himalayas. The Thentis range has lower-elevation mountains capable of blackwine tree cultivation, yet it also has snowcapped portions that are far loftier in elevation than the Voltai, probably rising to at least somewhere into the 20,000 - 30,000 pasang tall range, rising high enough to block precipitation that would otherwise fall onto the Barrens. TGV Apr 2003; TGV Mar 2004. The Thentis range by itself, then, should have the combination of snowmelt and rainfall runoff to spawn a mighty river. It would be odd if such an immense water source were not the origin place of an important river. This view also gets the three northern riverine cities clearly out of the mountains and into the plains, forming a region southwest of Thentis and southeast of Ko-ro-ba that would have to be contended with in any northward Arian expansion.