Re: Question to people who have been around longer than I

[Wright Frazier <khelek>]

Lojem could never hope to sustain the population that lived on it for
farming.  Not even if every square inch of it was farm land.  The population
density was staggering for the size of it.  A good comparison would be
Lafayette/West Lafayette trying to feed itself without access to
the outside world.  That kinda population(100,000+) with the same
land area.  Just not gonna happen.  Food production would have to
come from the sea.  Esspecially consider that a good chunk of the island
at the center was unfarmable(lake alfrego).  You just can't support
that kinda population off that kinda acrage without modern farming, and
then it'd still be a vegetarian diet.

Southern lojem, much like the north was under developed as far as I
always saw it ran.  Not wall to wall farms as it would have to be
to support even a portion of the population the island held.

People in the north wouldn't go hungry..they'd keep getting food the
same as they always have, from the sea.

re: floating cities.  Read the book, they are big floating barges that
roam around.

Lock fees are EASILY replaced by Dock fees.  Further docks are far
easier to keep in repair than 5 locks.  The locks require some hefty
up keep that gets expensive fast.  Docks don't.  Just patrol'ema nd
replace boards/pilons.  Locks take patroling, garrisoning, staffing,
AND repairing with much more expensive materials.  Further the goods
come to Port Haven now, not through it.  That means money coming into
their economy.  They are a major population center now instead of
a stop over.  That means a big increase in tax revenue for all those
people who migrate there.  

> I still think that the natural evolution is a valid concept. My point
> was that since the food-producing areas of Lojem are now under two
> hundred+ feet of water, people in the north are going to get hungry. My
> understanding of Lojem was farms and plains in the south; foresters and
> trees in the north. Plus the volcano. As for floating cities - name one.
> And one that is still in play, actively used.
> 
> What about Port Haven being the "little buddy" of Karfelon? Who got the
> fees for getting into the locks? As I recall, astronomical fees were paid
> to boat down to Karfelon. I think that certain parties in Port Haven
> probably miss the influx of cash and treasure from those ships.
> 
> What's this about the seawall being destroyed before? I don't recall
> that at all.

Read the book, its been destroyed several times throughout its history.

Wright