sunshadow21
Explorer
Now that I have finished playing with the Silver Road and am ready to let others have their fun with it and the city of Gist that has yet to be explored as far as I know, I am ready to turn my attention farther south to the Chasm. Copied here is a proposal made a while ago by GlassEye that never got acted upon, along with all the replies to it. Hopefully we can get some action on this so I have some solid details to work with while planning adventures.
Original Thread
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The Southern Ouhm and the Great Chasm
Following the Ouhm from the northernmost reach of the Seithr Mountains, the river falls from those vaunted heights into the lowland between and the Seithr range and the peaks of the northeastern range, the Sul Orlo Mountains. The Ouhm is then inexplicably drawn up into the higher elevation of the Great Chasm.
The Great Chasm stretches approximately 700 miles long, is just over 200 miles at its widest point and 60 miles at its narrowest*, and appears as if the stone of the surrounding Sul Orlo Mountains has been ripped apart in a loose ‘J’ shape allowing the Ouhm River to rush through its depths. The southern entrance to the Chasm is the highest elevation of the Chasm and as the Ouhm flows northward it passes through a number of rapids that make navigation extremely difficult, though not impossible.
The Rift
At the bend of the Chasm, a crescent-shaped rift in the fabric of the prime exists. Known simply as the Rift, it stretches nearly 100 miles long, 50 miles wide and seems to extend deep into the earth. Some scholars claim the Rift itself fluctuates and flows at a very slow rate and formed the Great Chasm exposing or depositing the oddities that can be found along the length of the Chasm.
The Ouhm is pulled from its bed here and flows as a wide, watery plain in the air at the edge of the Rift until it leaves the influence of the Rift and resumes its course. The floor of the Chasm along the bend contains an oddly organic city presumed to be the ancient home of the merfolk but now dessicated and deserted.
There are few known permanent residents of the Rift, at most a few scattered tribes of cliff-dwelling lizardfolk living near the northern end of the Chasm.
Sul Razza
On a peak overlooking the northern end of the Chasm is the exotic city of Sul Razza. It is home to descendents of the strange beings who have come out of the Rift who have mixed with humankind, now known as the clans of the Ifrit, Oread, Sylph, and Undine. Sul Razza is the setting off point for forays into the Chasm to search its follies for hidden riches, and the end of the overland trade route that winds through the Landadel Baronies to end in Venzan territory.
*For comparison, the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, an average of 10 miles wide, and one mile deep.
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The two main gates of the city open into districts respectively called Eastgate, and Westgate, though many of the upper class try to spice the names up by translating those very basic names into elven to make them sound more impressive than they really are. Both are basically what one would expect from district defined by gates and the travelers that use them.
Westgate, opening up onto the trade route to Venza and other civilized lands to the north, east, and south, tends to have middle to lower upper class taverns and inns, with a fair number of theaters and a decent number of brothels that fall in the same economic standards as the rest of the available services. Being at the head of the major trade routes to other major markets, it also is the home of many businesses who use the trade routes to expand their influence. Typical of the businesses found here is Westgate Alchemists, a gnome run family business, that after starting out as just a neighborhood shop, grew to be a major business in first the city, and than the various lands surrounding the city, and recently expanding all the way to Venza. Now grown into a compound that takes an entire city block to house the main shop, business headquarters, and living quarters for its members and employees, their compound is one of about a dozen that large, with one or two larger, and many smaller compounds and businesses hoping to reach that status level, most of which cater in some way, shape, or form to either travelers of the middle and lower upper class and their needs , though there are also some basic services available for the adventure types as well should they find their budget lacking upon immediate arrival to the city, or to the shipping business and everything that goes along with being the staging point for large shipping caravans.
Eastgate, bordering on the wilder lands of the continent, is a lower end neighborhood that tops out at middle class. Otherwise, it is very similar to Eastgate, but with less theaters, businesses, and respectable destinations, and more bars, taverns, openly advertised brothels, and similar entertainment. This district caters more to the raw adventurer than Westgate does, with more of the businesses being blacksmiths and other suppliers of common nonmagical adventuring items, and the security tends to be slightly less stringent here than elsewhere in the city as it tends to draw a fair number of the milder black market activities. Not the poorest district of the city, or the most dangerous, due to the constant influx of travelers using the gate to enter the wildlands and the much fewer who manage to return in one piece, but definitely a transient neighborhood that is mostly a blue collar, working class type of neighborhood that can get rough at times.
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Do you have a flavor to the city decided on already GE, I don't know why but when I read the description it screams Sinbad, Aladin and Al-Quadim in my mind.
No, no flavor in mind but that Al-Qadim flavor seems cool to me.
Original Thread
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Southern Ouhm and the Great Chasm
Following the Ouhm from the northernmost reach of the Seithr Mountains, the river falls from those vaunted heights into the lowland between and the Seithr range and the peaks of the northeastern range, the Sul Orlo Mountains. The Ouhm is then inexplicably drawn up into the higher elevation of the Great Chasm.
The Great Chasm stretches approximately 700 miles long, is just over 200 miles at its widest point and 60 miles at its narrowest*, and appears as if the stone of the surrounding Sul Orlo Mountains has been ripped apart in a loose ‘J’ shape allowing the Ouhm River to rush through its depths. The southern entrance to the Chasm is the highest elevation of the Chasm and as the Ouhm flows northward it passes through a number of rapids that make navigation extremely difficult, though not impossible.
The Rift
At the bend of the Chasm, a crescent-shaped rift in the fabric of the prime exists. Known simply as the Rift, it stretches nearly 100 miles long, 50 miles wide and seems to extend deep into the earth. Some scholars claim the Rift itself fluctuates and flows at a very slow rate and formed the Great Chasm exposing or depositing the oddities that can be found along the length of the Chasm.
The Ouhm is pulled from its bed here and flows as a wide, watery plain in the air at the edge of the Rift until it leaves the influence of the Rift and resumes its course. The floor of the Chasm along the bend contains an oddly organic city presumed to be the ancient home of the merfolk but now dessicated and deserted.
There are few known permanent residents of the Rift, at most a few scattered tribes of cliff-dwelling lizardfolk living near the northern end of the Chasm.
Sul Razza
On a peak overlooking the northern end of the Chasm is the exotic city of Sul Razza. It is home to descendents of the strange beings who have come out of the Rift who have mixed with humankind, now known as the clans of the Ifrit, Oread, Sylph, and Undine. Sul Razza is the setting off point for forays into the Chasm to search its follies for hidden riches, and the end of the overland trade route that winds through the Landadel Baronies to end in Venzan territory.
*For comparison, the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, an average of 10 miles wide, and one mile deep.
---------
The two main gates of the city open into districts respectively called Eastgate, and Westgate, though many of the upper class try to spice the names up by translating those very basic names into elven to make them sound more impressive than they really are. Both are basically what one would expect from district defined by gates and the travelers that use them.
Westgate, opening up onto the trade route to Venza and other civilized lands to the north, east, and south, tends to have middle to lower upper class taverns and inns, with a fair number of theaters and a decent number of brothels that fall in the same economic standards as the rest of the available services. Being at the head of the major trade routes to other major markets, it also is the home of many businesses who use the trade routes to expand their influence. Typical of the businesses found here is Westgate Alchemists, a gnome run family business, that after starting out as just a neighborhood shop, grew to be a major business in first the city, and than the various lands surrounding the city, and recently expanding all the way to Venza. Now grown into a compound that takes an entire city block to house the main shop, business headquarters, and living quarters for its members and employees, their compound is one of about a dozen that large, with one or two larger, and many smaller compounds and businesses hoping to reach that status level, most of which cater in some way, shape, or form to either travelers of the middle and lower upper class and their needs , though there are also some basic services available for the adventure types as well should they find their budget lacking upon immediate arrival to the city, or to the shipping business and everything that goes along with being the staging point for large shipping caravans.
Eastgate, bordering on the wilder lands of the continent, is a lower end neighborhood that tops out at middle class. Otherwise, it is very similar to Eastgate, but with less theaters, businesses, and respectable destinations, and more bars, taverns, openly advertised brothels, and similar entertainment. This district caters more to the raw adventurer than Westgate does, with more of the businesses being blacksmiths and other suppliers of common nonmagical adventuring items, and the security tends to be slightly less stringent here than elsewhere in the city as it tends to draw a fair number of the milder black market activities. Not the poorest district of the city, or the most dangerous, due to the constant influx of travelers using the gate to enter the wildlands and the much fewer who manage to return in one piece, but definitely a transient neighborhood that is mostly a blue collar, working class type of neighborhood that can get rough at times.
-------
Do you have a flavor to the city decided on already GE, I don't know why but when I read the description it screams Sinbad, Aladin and Al-Quadim in my mind.
No, no flavor in mind but that Al-Qadim flavor seems cool to me.
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