Fantasy building materials and the people who use them

[Buttercup]

The whelk thing is cool. If it was an ancient sea-bed, I can imagine that the shells wouldn't just be laying on the surface but rather would be embedded in the earth. Was that what you meant?

It wasn't, but it's a very good idea. I can picture a harsh desert wasteland, maybe salt flats, that appears barren of all life. There are these strange things sticking up out of the sand here and there, which are the tips of the whelk shells. Underground is a thriving city of interconnected shells & tunnels, and maybe some tunnels are miles long, with exits in areas that can be used for farming, hunting & gathering, or raiding. If the shell people disguised their entrances well enough, they would be quite difficult for strangers to find.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I have used gaint turtle/tortoise shells. Have a great plain/marsh that they move accross and are used as beast of burden.

The shells of the dead are pushed together forming rooms for buildings.