About the dots and their possible meaning in the VM, I remember seeing an explanation in a family of manuscripts but unfortunately I didn't take note.
Basically, when the "scales" are mountainous terrain, one manuscript had a little "tree" or plant on each bump. In a later copy, these plants on mountains were reduced to dots or tiny dashes on scales.
So I think that dotted scales might in some cases be shorthand for mountains with vegetation, or fertile hills or whatever. But this is just extrapolated from a pair of manuscripts I can't remember, so take it with a dot of salt.
Basically, when the "scales" are mountainous terrain, one manuscript had a little "tree" or plant on each bump. In a later copy, these plants on mountains were reduced to dots or tiny dashes on scales.
So I think that dotted scales might in some cases be shorthand for mountains with vegetation, or fertile hills or whatever. But this is just extrapolated from a pair of manuscripts I can't remember, so take it with a dot of salt.