Geography of Bajor

Discussion in 'Trek Literature' started by TJ Sinclair, Apr 30, 2020.

  1. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    In some shots of the Bajoran capital in DS9, it looks like Ashalla is on the shores of a bay or wide river, with the opposite coast visible on the other side. Did any of the novels establish what that body of water is? I've looked through everything through Fragments and Omens, and haven't found any reference to it.

    Also, has anyone online made a map of Bajor based on the novels? The ones from Star Charts and the LUG/Decipher games are all I've been able to find, and they aren't really compatible.

    Sorry for starting a new thread, but I searched and didn't see another where I could post this question, so I figured start one that could be useful for people in the future...
     
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  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    There's a map of Bajor on pp. 652-3 of the DS9 Companion. The capital (unnamed in the show) is hard to see because it's right on the page gutter, but it looks like it's near the ocean, with no river in sight. But then, only a couple of rivers are marked on the map, so there must be many more that aren't shown.
     
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  3. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Ah, that's one I was never able to get. Too bad it's now long out of print and $60-$100+ on the secondary market. It'd be great if Gallery or Titan or someone would be able to release ebook versions of these old out of print reference works...

    I wonder if anyone has a scan of the map?
     
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  4. Corran Horn

    Corran Horn Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's basically this with some maritime routes and other small legend items.

    As Christopher said scanning it would be tough as it spans two pages and there's lost detail in the center-gap.
     
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  5. Desert Kris

    Desert Kris Captain Captain

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    That map of Bajor in the DS9 Companion was what sold the book for me. Now I'm making my way through DS9 (a re-watch for the first two and a half seasons, will be first time viewing for the rest of season three and beyond). It's been fun watching an episode and then getting some behind-the-scenes context from the book. And periodically look back at the map and see where the locations are on Bajor.

    Looking at it again, I am surprised and disappointed to see how the map was arranged between pages, and so locations like the Bajoran capitol are harder to view unless you want to splat the book down flat and put a nice, distinctive crease on the spine! There are a couple early pages that use enlarged portions of the map for a decorative effect, and it would have been nice if the between-pages area was one of those sections zoomed in on; it's a little bit of a missed opportunity there.
     
    Last edited: Apr 30, 2020
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  6. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    The "whiteboard map" drawn out for reference when they were doing season eight for the DS9 documentary does put a river right near the capital, but it is not named. The whiteboard map has several rivers that the DS9 Companion version does not.

    Edit: [​IMG]
     
  7. TJ Sinclair

    TJ Sinclair Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Thank you all for the responses, I do really appreciate it. Interesting to see "Ha'athorn" spelled that way, as I'm used to Hathon... Wonder which way it is in the script...
     
  8. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    Hathon.
     
  9. Enterprise1701

    Enterprise1701 Commodore Commodore

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    Perhaps Ashalla is located along some sort of intermittent lake like Tonlé Sap in Cambodia or Lake George in Australia.

    Alternatively, the lake is not in DS9 Companion because it is the Cardassian equivalent of the Salton Sea, which the Bajorans intend to dismantle on nationalist grounds.
     
  10. DEWLine

    DEWLine Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'm sure that the Ashalla(?) watershed is more detailed and extensive than what we've seen in print and online.