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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eltab" data-source="post: 8034639" data-attributes="member: 6803337">There's more than one way to skin a cat.  The idea is to create a Secret the PCs can discover, then take advantage of it to solve a problem within the adventure.  The Empire might have had...<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">IRL style: a clock, a chartbook of Jupiter's moons with time notations, and a big sheet of paper with squiggly lines on it.  What do these have to do with each other?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">They developed geo-mancy magic</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Some genius (or totally obsessed) person figured out trigonometry and measured out long ropes and observed angles and ...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Psionics</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The first step to creating floating cities / islands was an observation balloon.  Look down, check that out!</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The early explorers discovered a magnetic anomaly as an aid to navigation</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">These islands are too far apart to see each other (even from mountaintops), but a ship on the horizon from one island can see another island on the other side of the horizon.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The (legendary?) constructor of the great ship Argo - which boldly went where nobody had gone before, and came back to tell about it - left behind wonder-filled tales of his voyages, and stimulated later trips to see if the legends and stories were true.</li> </ul>Other stuff:The church of the sun likes to build temples on islands where the sun is directly overhead on the solstices and equinoxes.  You are favored by the sun god if you have no shadow (darkness attached to you) at all.Plundering a church / holy site might generate eventually world-wide renown / infamy, as word spreads.  An unhappy Paladin from half the world away might show up on your ship's bulwark, years later.Dutch East India Company - how to gain command of the sea near a valuable commodity, and exploit your monopoly status on sea travel.British East India Company - how to create an empire without really trying. The leader of a pantheon might well be the sea god, not the sky god or god of magic.What would set off a Viking-style invasion / wandering if there is no large body of land to get overcrowded?Giant jellyfish is a stealth predator of underwater swimmers; you cannot see it coming because it is almost transparent - see The Future Is Wild (BBC miniseries).Secret squid turns itself the same color as the water when it wants to be ignored.  Not so useful if sonar is used.</blockquote>

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