Dunamin
First Post
With all these ideas in the general discussion thread being thrown out for the equivalent of an Underdark in our setting, I thought it might be a good idea to branch out a new thread to discuss it.
The basic premise is to collaborate on ideas for how to realize our own unique version of an underground world. Of course, we can have traditional Underdarks on larger islands or continents such as Allaria, the Savage Lands, and other appropriate Near Lands and Far Lands, but this is focused on using underworld civilizations in connection with the more PC frequented Daunton and Proximate Isles - because these are small isles that in themselves probably don't have a great deal of underground society.
Codenaming this region the Depthworld for now (due to me lacking any creativity at the moment), it could be an extensive system of caverns and tunnels running under the ocean floor. There might be a variety of ways to access the region; using ideas from the general discussion thread a possible take could be this:
Daunton: Connected normally through landmass to the ocean floor. Access is gained by conventional travel deep down tunnels until crossing seamlessly to the Depthworld. Having Daunton rooted could be an incentive why the residents consider it the "main isle" - because while all the others drift back and forth, Daunton is the only certain point of reference.
Mykonos: Unconnected. Access is typically gained via diving bells or (for the wealthy) submarine-like vehicles. Using engineered devices adds to the idea of the Empire being industrious and the idea of dwarves being expert craftsmen – both of which are primary residents on Mykonos.
Kythira: Connected through one or more enormous living entities. Access is gained by travelling through tube-like organic passages, which might be hazardous at certain times or in certain areas where the entity try to “digest” or other bodily functions threaten travelers. Using living passageways adds weight to why Kythira is called “the Living Isle”.
Isle of Opposition: Unconnected. Using elemental rituals from their home that manipulate water and air, residents of the Kingdom of Jade typically gain access through magical resistant bubbles they can move up and down. Beast-tamers from the wild jungles of the Valley of Bone, however, more often used trained sea life to ferry them to and from the depths. The idea here is to play on themes from the respective Far Lands.
Bacarte: Connected through exotic flexible landmass. Perhaps Bacarte was once rooted like Daunton but some wild and/or powerful magic disturbed the foundation, so now transportation sometimes requires slipping and sliding down passages. I figured Bacarte should have travel be treacherous and unreliable, but I’m not really sure about this one (perhaps an alternative could be plentiful unstable portals).
This is all just random ideas and brainstorming, mostly coming from the general discussion thread. The above setup maintains that from the perspective of surface inhabitants, all the proximate isles still drift around relative to each other, but below the sea things may be interconnected in intriguing and fascinating ways.
Any thoughts?
The basic premise is to collaborate on ideas for how to realize our own unique version of an underground world. Of course, we can have traditional Underdarks on larger islands or continents such as Allaria, the Savage Lands, and other appropriate Near Lands and Far Lands, but this is focused on using underworld civilizations in connection with the more PC frequented Daunton and Proximate Isles - because these are small isles that in themselves probably don't have a great deal of underground society.
Codenaming this region the Depthworld for now (due to me lacking any creativity at the moment), it could be an extensive system of caverns and tunnels running under the ocean floor. There might be a variety of ways to access the region; using ideas from the general discussion thread a possible take could be this:
Daunton: Connected normally through landmass to the ocean floor. Access is gained by conventional travel deep down tunnels until crossing seamlessly to the Depthworld. Having Daunton rooted could be an incentive why the residents consider it the "main isle" - because while all the others drift back and forth, Daunton is the only certain point of reference.
Mykonos: Unconnected. Access is typically gained via diving bells or (for the wealthy) submarine-like vehicles. Using engineered devices adds to the idea of the Empire being industrious and the idea of dwarves being expert craftsmen – both of which are primary residents on Mykonos.
Kythira: Connected through one or more enormous living entities. Access is gained by travelling through tube-like organic passages, which might be hazardous at certain times or in certain areas where the entity try to “digest” or other bodily functions threaten travelers. Using living passageways adds weight to why Kythira is called “the Living Isle”.
Isle of Opposition: Unconnected. Using elemental rituals from their home that manipulate water and air, residents of the Kingdom of Jade typically gain access through magical resistant bubbles they can move up and down. Beast-tamers from the wild jungles of the Valley of Bone, however, more often used trained sea life to ferry them to and from the depths. The idea here is to play on themes from the respective Far Lands.
Bacarte: Connected through exotic flexible landmass. Perhaps Bacarte was once rooted like Daunton but some wild and/or powerful magic disturbed the foundation, so now transportation sometimes requires slipping and sliding down passages. I figured Bacarte should have travel be treacherous and unreliable, but I’m not really sure about this one (perhaps an alternative could be plentiful unstable portals).
This is all just random ideas and brainstorming, mostly coming from the general discussion thread. The above setup maintains that from the perspective of surface inhabitants, all the proximate isles still drift around relative to each other, but below the sea things may be interconnected in intriguing and fascinating ways.
Any thoughts?
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