4 General Types of Areas of Adventuring on Cidri

ak_aramis · 08-26-2018, 03:55 AM

I think you're missing a key one for fantasy - depths of the underground.

For real world parallels, Derinkuyu, Cappadocia, Turkey, and Wieliczka Salt Mine, Krakow, Poland come immediately to mind; both Byzantium and Paris used to have extensive subterranean populations, now abandoned, but still causing architectural issues. Likewise, Cheyanne Mountain, and a handful of other deep bunkers.

Stuff near the surface (≤6-8 m deep) is essentially just buildings. Stuff deep underground, like the 80 meters of Derynkuyu, 30m of Paris, tha various swiss cantons' "every-citizen-capable" fallout shelters/bunkers, the undercity of Beijing, or Cheyanne Mountain Air Force Base present a strongly different environment.

Likewise, wild deep cave systems are very different - and often toxic to Humans - in both air flow and life forms.

Given a fantasy context, and orbs of light, one might in fact have deep underground farms which provide for civilizations in the 100 to 300 m zone. (Much below that, and one needs exceptional means of lowering the temperature AND keeping flooding from happening.

After all, we see in Tolkien the dwarf-cities which, much like Paris, Derynkuyu, or Cheyanne Mountain, are reliant upon surface trade, but have wild tunnels leading into/out-from the wild caverns.

We also have the possibility, thanks to more reliable and potent magics than Tolkien uses, the ability to have deep underground farms, and manavore critters, which need no mundane energies, but a suppression of magic will starve them...

Which makes several additional areas...
deep annexes to surface civilizations
wild cave systems
deep-earth civilizations
abandoned D.E.C's
abandoned annexes.

Note also - the sky-open valley-side or pit-side dwellings of the Anasazi, the Ethiopians, the Tunisians, and a few others are almost worth a separate clade. The "set" for Owen & Beru's farm on Tatooine is, in fact, a Tunisian village-in-a-pit. People really do live there. Ethiopians often built churches in such pits... I think they fall under "annexes" - they're essentially part of the above ground community - but are a distinct set of hazards and conditions from the land above.

08-26-2018, 03:55 AM	#2
ak_aramis Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Alsea, OR	Re: 4 General Types of Areas of Adventuring on Cidri I think you're missing a key one for fantasy - depths of the underground. For real world parallels, Derinkuyu, Cappadocia, Turkey, and Wieliczka Salt Mine, Krakow, Poland come immediately to mind; both Byzantium and Paris used to have extensive subterranean populations, now abandoned, but still causing architectural issues. Likewise, Cheyanne Mountain, and a handful of other deep bunkers. Stuff near the surface (≤6-8 m deep) is essentially just buildings. Stuff deep underground, like the 80 meters of Derynkuyu, 30m of Paris, tha various swiss cantons' "every-citizen-capable" fallout shelters/bunkers, the undercity of Beijing, or Cheyanne Mountain Air Force Base present a strongly different environment. Likewise, wild deep cave systems are very different - and often toxic to Humans - in both air flow and life forms. Given a fantasy context, and orbs of light, one might in fact have deep underground farms which provide for civilizations in the 100 to 300 m zone. (Much below that, and one needs exceptional means of lowering the temperature AND keeping flooding from happening. After all, we see in Tolkien the dwarf-cities which, much like Paris, Derynkuyu, or Cheyanne Mountain, are reliant upon surface trade, but have wild tunnels leading into/out-from the wild caverns. We also have the possibility, thanks to more reliable and potent magics than Tolkien uses, the ability to have deep underground farms, and manavore critters, which need no mundane energies, but a suppression of magic will starve them... Which makes several additional areas... deep annexes to surface civilizations wild cave systems deep-earth civilizations abandoned D.E.C's abandoned annexes. Note also - the sky-open valley-side or pit-side dwellings of the Anasazi, the Ethiopians, the Tunisians, and a few others are almost worth a separate clade. The "set" for Owen & Beru's farm on Tatooine is, in fact, a Tunisian village-in-a-pit. People really do live there. Ethiopians often built churches in such pits... I think they fall under "annexes" - they're essentially part of the above ground community - but are a distinct set of hazards and conditions from the land above.