If you're interested in finding the best details from history, take the following advice. When you search the web, specifically search "books." Set the tools so that you're only searching for those with a preview, and then under "any time," select "19th Century."
I chanced to be looking for information about a place in Algeria called Ouargla, or Wargla, and stumbled across this little gem:
This is from the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record ... Vol. 4 ... a real page turner. It was a pleasant surprise to discover there were convenient ruins inserted right into the description of the town. I could not find an image, but no doubt the ruins aren't much. The best images I could find were stock photos from Alamy ... but they're not overly spoiled by the company.
I find that more than romantic enough to let my imagination wander. The guns that are carried in the foreground promise this is 19th century; no doubt drawn by a French visitor. The region was virtually untravelled by Europeans before 1800. Wargla is in the true desert, 200 miles south of the Atlas Mountain foothills, and through most of the year it was unbearably hot to all but natives: above 120 F on many days. That water would no doubt be welcome.
Finding information about an obscure place such as this is not an easy task; travellers do not write more than a dozen sentences, and rarely give an in depth account. Imagination must be used to fill the gaps. The town is a jumping off point for the desert, so there must be caravans coming and going. The day is hot, so action must be found in the evening or before dawn. I read that in the winter, some mornings are so cold that there is frost on the ground ~ which must be at least 50 or 60 degrees below the day temperature ... so when night settles in, it is as unpleasant to move about as it would be on a very hot day.
I conjecture baths, to keep some filth out of the drinking water. Animals no doubt must drink at assigned places. Strangers must have to bargain for water to refill their casks; and yet there are opportunities to obtain many strange and unusual luxuries, not to be found elsewhere: ostrich feathers, gold, coffee, sugar, spices, cloth, beads ... and ivory. These things can be bought cheap and transported north. Making arrangements with a merchant could also be the making of a lifelong friendship, if the deal is right and the player returns. There are many opportunities to learn about near and distant places, as the denizens have little to do except lay in the shade and talk. There is a long storytelling tradition here; and the desert is ever a land of magic. But as I say, we will not find this in books. We must insert our imagination.
I find this easy to do; and it is the reason why I fell in love with geography as a boy. There is so much in the world, and so many ideas to be added to it. When I chanced across D&D, I realized immediately that it had been made for me.
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