Zehren wrote: ↑Mon Jan 04, 2021 12:56 am
ila wrote: ↑Mon Jan 04, 2021 12:05 am
I'd personally estimate Forostar's populations in the millions at least, and also personally disagree that elves are sparse by any definition.
This is based on actual medieval-time cities having populations in the hundreds of thousands, with numerous cities, and sprawling populations between them (see: the reputation system).
Please find me IRL statistics for a small continent under constant attack (for a thousand years) by two different evil hordes (lilithians + insects), thanks.
Well, let's play a game. It's called, "Extrapolate to seem smarter than you actually are"!
Seeing as how there exists: a transcontinental road, sewage systems, and twin-masted ships - along with three distinct climate zones (arctic, temperate, and equatorial / 'hot' - humid in Ormian, barren in Amsward) we can pick a few likely scenarios and situations.
1) Forostar is mid-to-late medieval Europe (10th-13th century), with an estimated population of 75 million. To say that there constant, violent wars...would be an understatement. Not to mention life-expectancies!
2) Forostar is actually late1800s America (with the creation of the transcontinental railroad and limited immigration). The 1860 census showed an estimated population of 31 Million.
3) Forostar is -actually- more analogous to the 1500s mesoamerica what with its warring cultures, individual pantheons, and more 'tribal' constructs. Estimates put this population around 12 million. With at least 200,000–300,000 in the capital (Teotihuacan).
So we can extrapolate, that no matter how 'empty' we want to pretend Forostar is, it simply -cannot be-. Not given:
- Its number of large-scale, permanent cities (5, including Eel-Dinner)
- Its scientific sophistication (putting scribes who used to horde all the magic for themselves aside) in terms of amenities, building materials, and shipbuilding.
- Its -ability- to continue fighting wars (i.e. assuming a certain number of casualties, a certain birth rate - taking into account the different lifespans of races, etc.) for over 100s of years
Having population numbers in the hundreds, thousands, or hundreds-of-thousands would mean that at some point, the major cities would be overtaken by the faster-breeding races and more successful cultures. If not, then it'd mean the 'evil hordes' would eventually have been destroyed for the same reason (the hordes of insects are breeding slower than the populations are growing, maturing, and taking up the sword in civilized socieities). The fact that nobody has one, that the cities aren't falling apart, and that -trade roads- remain happily open, well-maintained, and traverse the entire continent means...BAM. Big ole populations.