They're beyond the Dales, in Orlais's far, far south. Since the equator is north and the Arbor Wilds seem to be about the same lattitude as the Korcari Wilds, I'd expect them to look less tropical, but they have parrots and tropical plants. They're very pretty, of course, but it's weird traveling south from snow-covered Sahrnia to what looks like a jungle.
I know. Shutupandplaythegame.
Guest_Mlady_*
Elven magic? Like why Skyhold remains eternally Fall without any snow? Lol I'm just guessing.
Elven magic? Like why Skyhold remains eternally Fall without any snow? Lol I'm just guessing.
Heh. Somebody else noticed. My pet theory is that the Wilds, which are very linear and corridorlike, and which lead to you- know- who's place, was originally intended as a location in warmer climes in northern Thedas. I did read sometime ago on the German BSN that Gaider admitted you-know-who's place was originally intended to be part of the cancelled DA2 expansion. It may be the case that 'The Arbor Wilds' were originally - under another name of course - a location in, say, the region called Arlathan Forest (Arlathan nudge nudge) in northern Thedas. That would mean Hawke, not the Inquisitor, was originally intended to go there, perhaps travelling north from Kirkwall.
I mentioned the linear, corridorlike nature of the Wilds because it's a very DA:O / DA2-ish feeling area in terms of structure. The same applies to some of the other smaller regions (Val Royeaux, the Fallow Mire).
Funny thing is, they seem to have reused some of the Arbor Wilds jungle-ish assets in Jaws of Hakkon, where they make just as much sense.
Yeah, that was even stranger, since the Avvar go on at some length about how soft northerners are.
It's possible that the plot that takes place in the Arbor Wilds was originally supposed to occur in a more equatorial location, but it's also possible that we Northern Hemisphere people just expect things to be a certain way. Maybe there's a miscommunication between the writers and the art department?
Yeah, that was even stranger, since the Avvar go on at some length about how soft northerners are.
It's possible that the plot that takes place in the Arbor Wilds was originally supposed to occur in a more equatorial location, but it's also possible that we Northern Hemisphere people just expect things to be a certain way. Maybe there's a miscommunication between the writers and the art department?
I'm no scientist, but since the Arbor wilds is located between a snowy area (frostback mountain) and a desert (west) then perhaps the 2 climates coalesced into something into suitable rain forest?
Rain forests can occur further from the equator than you might think, like in the Pacific Northwest, so that might explain the Frostback Basin.
Yep. Here is a map of all the rainforests on Earth. Some are twice as close to the Poles than the Equator.
So, I just watched an episode of Nature called "Mystery Monkeys of Shangri-La" about snub-nosed monkeys in the Yunnan province of China. I'm just going to point out that the area they live should be covered in snow (if you look at the surrounding geography), but it's green and lush, with really nice rhododendrons, flowers, trees, lichen, colorful birds, etc. That's because of a specific weather phenomenon. I suggest watching the episode.
http://www.pbs.org/w...d-mother/12155/
And for what may be the ten millionth time in my life: I live in Hawaii where we happen to have at least one snow-covered volcano (Mauna Kea) on the Big Island, so frankly, I don't find the Arbor Wilds all that strange.
EDIT: I'm not even counting micro-climates (vis-a-vis growing grapevines for wine-making and growing other fruit crops, etc.).
the Arbor Wilds seems to be a continuation of the weird habitats all around the Dales. The Emerald Graves is equally as strange if you think about it. Almost all major mountain ranges, such as the Frostbacks would have a wet side and a "rain shadow" (an area of less precipitation). Ferelden is known to be a lush valley, so logically the Orlais side, the Dales, would be in the rain shadow, but you have lush forests and the large amounts of snow in Emprise du Leon.
That's not a polar bear. That is a "spirit bear," or a kermode bear, or moksgm'ol, which are actually a black bear that mutated genetically to have light fur so as to be harder to be seen by salmon looking up from underneath the water, where as a bear with black fur is easy to spot. They are not albinos and they are no more a polar bear than their brothers, the black bear. Literally, a mama black bear in the PNW can have all black babies and one kermode.
But on topic, the Arbor Wilds seems to be a continuation of the weird habitats all around the Dales. The Emerald Graves is equally as strange if you think about it. Almost all major mountain ranges, such as the Frostbacks would have a wet side and a "rain shadow" (an area of less precipitation). Ferelden is known to be a lush valley, so logically the Orlais side, the Dales, would be in the rain shadow, but you have lush forests and the large amounts of snow in Emprise du Leon.
My mistake. The photo said polar bear. I removed it.
Both sides may be this way since the moisture may come from the ocean to the South of Thedas rather than East or West. Thus the Frostback Mountains are perpendicular to that moisture current and neither side is subjected to a rain shadow.
Yep. Here is a map of all the rainforests on Earth. Some are twice as close to the Poles than the Equator.
Rain forest in Alaska?
Rain forest in Alaska?
Yep. 
What's the technical term for the rain forest in Washington? *glances out window* Temperate Rain Forest? The Grunge! Amazon? 
The Arbor Wilds being that warm took me by surprise. I kept thinking of it as the Korcari Wilds with gilding and wondering why the characters weren't complaining about the cold. 
But in addition to the sheer weirdness of geography, if ever there was a time to play the Elf Magic Card, the forest home of Mythal is probably it.
That is weird since my country is on the same latitude as Alaska and we don´t have anything relating to rain forest. 
That is weird since my country is on the same latitude as Alaska and we don´t have anything relating to rain forest.
Latitude doesn't matter. Geography laughs at latitude.
My own barbarian understanding of such matters is that ocean currents, the rain-shadow effect of mountains, that kind of thing, has a more potent effect on climate than latitude does.
In my state of Washington in the US, for example, which is on the same strip of coastline that the Alaskan rainforest is on, we're hemmed in by the Cascade Mountains, and the big rainforest by the Olympic Mountains. Combine this with the Puget Sound and Pacific Ocean, and you've got Seattle's legendary rain and looking like it's about to rain weather summers.
But the parts of the state over the mountains is very different. Heavy snow in winter, scorching heat in summer. No rainforest. Too hardcore for me.
That is weird since my country is on the same latitude as Alaska and we don´t have anything relating to rain forest.
Berelinde used the term ‘rainforest’, but while the Arbor Wilds definitely have a subtropical jungle vibe (parrots, ferntrees, a fair bit of colour overall) it’s not necessarily a rainforest.
It certainly doesn’t look like a cool temperate rainforest like the ones you find in, say, Norway, Iceland or more southerly Ireland.
There’s also a difference between popular usage of ‘rainforest’ (oh, you mean warm humid jungles with parrots and reptiles and insects and stuff’) and the technical usage of ‘temperate rainforest’. The average European, certainly, doesn’t know that there are such things as rainforests in various parts of our continent. To us, they’re just forests - perhaps a bit mossy and wet - and we are certainly not going to confuse them with parrot-infested jungles.
If there IS a candidate for a cool-temperate rainforest (it certainly has enough rain…) in DA:I, I guess it would be the Storm Coast area, though to be honest its vegetation doesn’t seem quite thick enough.
Anyway, nothing for people to be upset about. If the IP holder decides there are parrot-infested jungles in southernmost Thedas, then there are parrot-infested jungles in southernmost Thedas. And fur-clad pseudo-Vikings.
There may even be a cunning plan involved, with BioWare foreshadowing the introduction of…
TADAA!!!
The parrot dragon!
AWESOME!
I have to admit when I use the word "rain forest" I do think of the jungle with parrots, not conifers. Since we have a lot of those here, spruces and pines. Definition error then.
I have to admit when I use the word "rain forest" I do think of the jungle with parrots, not conifers. Since we have a lot of those here, spruces and pines. Definition error then.
Well, let's face it, when you combine 'jungle', 'parrots' and 'ancient ruins', this is what comes to mind:
(Ruins of Copán, Honduras)
'Bob, look, one of them Avvar dudes!'
'Awesome! I've always been into furries...'
Das Tentakel, you're killing me! Especially with the parrots in your last image.
And for the record, I was actually aware of the existence of rain forests outside the tropical/subtropical zones, but as Aimi pointed out, those in the US/Canadian Pacific Northwwest and Korea (maybe parts of China, too, but I'm not familiar with Chinese vegetation) feature conifer forests and not a lot of broadleaf plants. Especially those in Korea, where the wintertime temperatures can drop to -40(Fahrenheit or Celsius, the temp is the same). The forests of Korea do have monkeys - beautiful ones, too, with long, soft-looking gray coats - but no parrots.
I never intended this as a deep, thought-provoking topic, but the discussion it produced has been both articulate and well-informed, so thanks to all for turning what was pretty much a throw-away "Huh, go fig" into an interesting and educational conversation.
But yeah, in this instance, I'm going to headcanon elven magic, with the less poetic secondary explanation of geothermal warming. It's also possible that the planetary axis is less tilted than Earth's, and that seasonal and latitudinal differences in climate are less extreme than we're used to.
As a completely unrelated aside, does anybody else remember reading that Thedas has two moons? I wonder what that does to the tides. Clearly, I spend far more time than I should thinking about the climate and ecology of a fictional universe.
Well, this kind of stuff is just interesting. I think many of us realise that DA has in many ways a ‘What the Hell why not…’ approach to worldbuilding, but it’s still fascinating to speculate how these things get into the final product. Was it originally content meant for a subtropical region in northern Thedas, or did they just want someplace jungle-y because they wanted as much environmental diversity they could cram into the game?
Oddly enough, WoW, which is extremely relaxed about what it puts in its world, is broadly far more consistent. On Azeroth, Northrend, the Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor and Pandaria have, broadly speaking, the kind of climate you would expect.
Then again, it has goblin bankers wearing tuxedo suits, though arguably it’s no worse than Inquisition bigwigs wearing vaguely British 19th century parade uniforms while wearing chainmail and plate armour on the battlefield.
@Berelinde: Regarding the two moons, I’ve read about them but I think they were never both visible in any of the games?
Regarding the impact of two moons, perhaps this book would be of interest?
http://www.tor.com/s...o-moons-excerpt
Meanwhile, on the other side of Thedas’ Antarctic region:
‘Damn Sir Roderick Ponce Von Fontlebottom the Magnificent Bastard and his new scientific learning! It’ll be cold he said! Dress warmly, he said! Take along plenty of woollen and leather clothing and furs he said!’
‘…parrots, parrots everywhere!’
New Zealand has parrots that live in colder climates, so the parrots aren't that weird to me. The palm-like trees are. But I think that was artistic license to make the forest feel "primordial" or "pre-historic."
New Zealand has parrots that live in colder climates, so the parrots aren't that weird to me. The palm-like trees are. But I think that was artistic license to make the forest feel "primordial" or "pre-historic."
No offence, but those aren't exactly tropical / subtropical parrots - although their distant Gondwanan ancestors were - and they look fairly dull. Besides, if Thedas had a population of climate-adapted parrots, one would expect them also in more northerly - presumably warmer - areas of the same landmass.
That the different zones and their plant- and wildlife are designed around a specific 'landscape theme' (desert, jungle, forest, swamp etc.) absolutely.
The desert zones, for instance, are supposed to be relatively young, cold deserts of supernatural origin (the Blight). However, they do not look like an extrapolation based on the lore (one would expect lots of dead trees, ruined settlements etc.) but they rather resemble stereotypical warm deserts with deeply eroded landscapes, big reptiles etc. The ruins (not the Tevinter ones) reinforce this impression, even including black sarcophagi that look vaguely Egyptian in inspiration.
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