Farming and the Kingdom of Natanatan

[Radiant Rosa]

I'm wondering about how farming worked in Natanatan. According to the Coppermind, Navani's idea of creating a kingdom in the Unclaimed hills is discarded because it would be too hard to farm. We also don't really see any big settlements in the Frostlands aside from a few coastal cities, which implies to me there isn't enough farming going on for a large population base.

I think something similar to the scouring of Aimia happened with Natanatan. The Natan had some sort of fabrial that made the area more habitable/farmable that eventually broke (either by disrepair or sabotage), leading to the destruction of the kingdom.

Didn't see this idea anywhere and wanted to see what other people thought about it.

[Returned he/him]

Hmm, I don't know. Dalinar suggests moving a lot of farmers ("mass homesteading" was the phrase, I think) to the Shattered Plains to farm them. Sebarial actually does farm them, at industrial or near-industrial scale. And we do see efforts to farm in areas that are not well suited for it, like Urithiru, so it probably could be done.

But I think you're right that it's too hard, in the sense that it would take too much investment to achieve when they don't have any particular need to colonize the area prior to the Vengeance Pact moving the Highprinces there. And when the large-scale gemheart harvesting gets underway the need for farming is lessened a lot because grain can be soulcast with far less effort.

Technology or related practices might have made farming more suitable in the far past. We see something similar in how farming is approached in Urithiru (faster crop maturation in poor conditions). And during the Heraldic Epochs there was a strong interest in growing human populations as quickly as possible between Desolations so I can imagine any conceivable investment to support that would be worthwhile, especially in areas that were already populated (even if depopulated through war). And starving human populations, or forcing them to spend more Stormlight and gemstones to Soulcast food, is definitely something the Singers would be interested in pursuing. I still don't know enough about the Scouring to feel confident about a connection but I wouldn't rule it out.

[Treamayne]

Welcome to the Shard. Be sure to let us know in your profile or an introductory post which (if any) books you have or hane not yet read (whichever list is shorter) so that we can avoid spoilers, if necessary.

1 hour ago, Radiant Rosa said:

I'm wondering about how farming worked in Natanatan.

Wit explains this (briefly) in WoR Ch 55:

Spoiler

Kaladin watched the sky, so dull. He hated days like these, which reminded him of the Weeping. Stormfather. Grey skies and miserable weather made him wonder why he’d even bothered to get out of bed. Eventually, the carriage reached Sebarial’s warcamp, a place that looked even more like a city than the other warcamps. Kaladin marveled at the fully constructed tenements, the markets, the—

“Farmers?” he asked as they rolled past a group of men hiking toward the gates, carrying worming reeds and buckets of crem.

“Sebarial has them setting up lavis fields on the southwestern hills,” Wit explained.

“The highstorms out here are too powerful for farming.”

“Tell that to the Natan people. They used to farm this entire area. Requires a strain of plant that doesn’t grow as large as you’re accustomed to.”

That said, something did happen at Stormseat (not likely related to the Scouring - based on timeline) and that probably had an effect on the region - but farming is less likely a reason to avoid re-colonizing the region than simply a lack of need. Homans have shown over and over that if the reason to leave where you are is big enough, they will adapt to life elsewhere. 

Edited February 15, 2024 by Treamayne
SPAG/Clarity