Kelerm

After Heaven is more developed I'm going to look a bit more at that Big Eastern city Kelerm at least. ( Yes I removed the "n" in the end. this way it fits the map and it's easier to pronounce ^^; )

My base idea is that of a city surrounded by a large field of quicksands such as the sea of sinking sand ( http://felarya.com/wiki/index.php?title=Akaptor_desert ) that would provide a natural defense for the inhabitants against the predators. The effects for humans there could be mitigated by having ships being able to navigate the sand like literally a sea, fishing and harvesting it for resources for example. That would create a very particular environment and some interesting customs. Also a good idea to develop more Akaptor desert as a whole.

If you have some ideas or suggestions and you wish to share them, please don't hesitate

It may be cliché, but maybe it could have somewhat of an arabian architecture. I don't know why, but I like that kind of look for desert towns. I wouldn't want to see stereotypes like flying carpets or snake charmers, though. I would also assume that there would be trade of linen or some kind of light, airy fabric unique to Felarya.

As for the sea of sinking sand, I now picture a harbor area, which has a booming market of desert sea food and such, and sailors and their captains are dressed somewhat how we see typical sailors, although probably more stylized. I just think that would be hilarious. Not the most original ideas, but I'm not the most original guy around.

It's pretty hot there, too. It could also have like 60% of it's structures submerged beneath the ground to keep cool. They could also sit right next to a type of resource in the desert, similar to adobe that keeps places cool when its hot out, and keeps places hot when its cold out

I think an arabian-inspired architecture though, I wouldn't want to copy them directly. Personally I'm a fan of a curvy architecture, or maybe even bubble like (but less dramatic, similar to the gungans in star wars).

Thanks for your imputs ^^
yes indeed I imagine a good part of the buildings would be subterranean. As for the architecture, yes Arabian is the first thing that come to mind but I might do some sketches to find something a bit more unique. But the bustling market areas a bit like bazaars is definitely what I have in mid , yes.

How about "Market ships" or "Ship District"? Numerous ships visible on the quicksand sea/moat that are bound together. Not used for transport anymore but basically a floating, makeshift extension of the city, perhaps converted into dozens of shops, houses, and such, with people throwing nets overboard and then selling what they catch immediately from their boats.

Also, perhaps tamed/domesticated sand whales used as living transports?

that's a really cool idea here
And I really like the floating market one as well. It really make sense. The floating part could be somehow just in between a store stand and a boat ^^

An idea occurred to me about a possible defense for Kelerm, based on "burning-glass", similar to Archimedes supposed "heat ray".

Giant, ornately designed mirrors that weaponize sunlight as a deterrent for various predators that inhabit the Akaptor desert. Possibly they could be influenced/enhanced by the time magic-charged sand used in the glass for their construction.


By the way, where is Kelerm getting the majority of its wood for the boats, stilts, etc... mentioned so far?

At last! A new place to explorer and put my characters in. Also landships yay! So under-utilized those.

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By the way, where is Kelerm getting the majority of its wood for the boats, stilts, etc... mentioned so far?

Have you noticed there's a huge forest just a little west of there? No I see your point but couldn't they just import it via convoy or if worse came ot worse use osasis palm tree wood? I mean there's not alot but I'm assuming this city will have to have something like that for settlers to have ven cosidered building where it is, no? I mean in the desert water is your biggest concern.

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import

Import from where? It can't come from Negav because Kelerm is too far away and I doubt they have a warp gate as well. Furthermore, how can you be sure that the wood comes from the savannah? May I remind you that Kelerm, Lamina and the savannah are all outside the current map's border, so we don't know how close they are from each other.

Wow, I like the sound of this idea. Though if you're gonna have them fish in the sand, then I would think up some creatures that can actually exist in the sand, instead of just recolored fish.

Maybe they fish for those lizards that live off of cactus juice.

Shady Knight has a good point. Also all we know so far on the location of Kelerm (though Karbo seemed to be hinting that he was expanding the map, given that he was removing an 'n' from the cities name so it would fit) is that it is in the Akaptor desert and located in a region filled with enough quicksand to make modified boats feasible. Also the distances on the map are much greater than they would seem to appear, and dragging wood across the many miles in-between would be outright dangerous.

As for using trees from oasis, that's not really feasible, save for making a few stilts. Given that the Akaptor desert is described as a sandy desert, like the Sahara, there wont be many trees located around the oasis'. Here's an example of what an oasis in a region like that would look like:

Spoiler:

Not a whole lot of viable wood. Even if there was, clear-cutting enough would likely end up impacting the oasis, possible even leading to it drying up. Not to mention the local predators that use them not only as sources of water, but hunting spots, such as Scorpisaïs, Sidewinder Nagas, etc... would make harvesting from these areas extremely risky, if not outright impossible.

Jasconius wrote:

Shady Knight has a good point. Also all we know so far on the location of Kelerm (though Karbo seemed to be hinting that he was expanding the map, given that he was removing an 'n' from the cities name so it would fit) is that it is in the Akaptor desert and located in a region filled with enough quicksand to make modified boats feasible. Also the distances on the map are much greater than they would seem to appear, and dragging wood across the many miles in-between would be outright dangerous.

As for using trees from oasis, that's not really feasible, save for making a few stilts. Given that the Akaptor desert is described as a sandy desert, like the Sahara, there wont be many trees located around the oasis'. Here's an example of what an oasis in a region like that would look like:

Spoiler:

Not a whole lot of viable wood. Even if there was, clear-cutting enough would likely end up impacting the oasis, possible even leading to it drying up. Not to mention the local predators that use them not only as sources of water, but hunting spots, such as Scorpisaïs, Sidewinder Nagas, etc... would make harvesting from these areas extremely risky, if not outright impossible.

Hmm I see your point. I suppose it's too much to work to try dragging wood across, even using heavily fortified convoys or predators as escort there's no chance to drag it that far without losing more than it's worth. Even a black hearted and profit obsessed merc would see that.

Hmm then HOW do you build in a place WORSE than the Sahara? I mean I know there's a way but in most world scapes I've delt with I've had little distance and enough tech to get the job done. Kinda frustrating to be outwited by some stupid sand.

Indeed, wood wouldn't be a big resource of Kelerm I think XP
As for a map of the western part of the continent, yeas along with one of Negav ( big priority ) they are pretty high on my to do list ^^;

No wood? We're boned!

And speaking of boned, bones would probably serve as a construction material in the absence of anything else. As we're close to the Akaptor, I'd recommend maybe an elephant cementery close by, preferably full of bones from beasts of the past. Otherwise, we'll be down to sand whale bones, and maybe chitin, for the buildings: nothing else's so bony. So it's WHALING TIME!

A tar pit full of beasts of the past's bones would also look awesome, dinosaur bones may be brittle but if there really is nothing else to build with, it's worth a shot. Tar (asphalt) can also be used as glue. Maybe the whole city is built on the base of a few jagged stone spikes that are cannibalized regularly for building material?

Stabs wrote:

No wood? We're boned!

And speaking of boned, bones would probably serve as a construction material in the absence of anything else. As we're close to the Akaptor, I'd recommend maybe an elephant cementery close by, preferably full of bones from beasts of the past. Otherwise, we'll be down to sand whale bones, and maybe chitin, for the buildings: nothing else's so bony. So it's WHALING TIME!

A tar pit full of beasts of the past's bones would also look awesome, dinosaur bones may be brittle but if there really is nothing else to build with, it's worth a shot. Tar (asphalt) can also be used as glue. Maybe the whole city is built on the base of a few jagged stone spikes that are cannibalized regularly for building material?

Bones! That's brilliant. They are strong materials, also some cultures believe bones have magical properties and Felarya is soaked in magic so it sounds pretty sound to me. Also take it easy Ahab XD Start slaying sandwhales left and right and soon there'll be the SPCA in Felarya....Actually that wouldn't be so bad.

Perhaps a new region is needed, one for the coastline north of the Akaptor desert. Perhaps covered in a thick fog, these beaches are littered with the hulls of thousands of ancient ships from just as many worlds. The nomads could scavenge these for wood.

This would a place where areas like the "Bermuda Triangle" (and its equivalent on other worlds) lets out.

(changed mist to fog)

And how do you expect the nomads from picking the bones? If memory serves, creatures there are enormous, so their bones would weigh several tons. Not to mention, stepping on the sand sends them to the past where navigation is far more dangerous. How do you expect them from picking massive, heavy bones, and be able to carry them back to Kelerm, all in relative safety?

Harness them to domesticated sand whales and have them drag it back?

Jasconius wrote:

Perhaps a new region is needed, one for the coastline north of the Akaptor desert. Perhaps covered in a thick mist, these beaches are littered with the hulls of thousands of ancient ships from just as many worlds. The nomads could scavenge these for wood.

This would a place where areas like the "Bermuda Triangle" (and its equivalent on other worlds) lets out.

Hmm I like the idea of expanding the map to include a new region. Leaves lots of expansion open for later. Though mist...There's at least two areas covered in mist already. I like the ships from all kidns of worlds though. A scavenger's dream! =D Loads of tech and scrap metals. Not to mention the tech/ magical artifacts and treasure their holds likely have in them. X3

Jasconius wrote:

Harness them to domesticated sand whales and have them drag it back?

Can they even be domesticated? Even so, how can they be domesticated? Remember, sand whales live in sand that send people back in time.

Okay sorry to kick this thread but I had the most amazing idea today while confronted with my worst nemesis: the wasp. Which got me to thinking. What if Gyspas settled that area instead of humans? *See's many a confused looker* Ah why you may ask? Well it goes back to the idea of how to get around the Akaptors "sands of timey whimey doom". I kept trying stilts and such, but honestly a structure that large wouldn't be able to be supported on stilts very easily. So I told myself: Okay what if I had just the one patch of sand with the osasis in the middle. I can technically build there right? Then I wondered...With what? O.o; I asked myself "How are cities in the desert built anyway?" and the anwser hit me like a ton of clay bricks. With mud, clay and the like! So let's say I want to build around the osasis and protect it from bandits and invading armies or whatever. Now what? Can I expand? Actually quite easily if you use Gyspa's ad wasp logic of adding mudd and clay to something from either the near by osasis or taking little bitty bits from the eastern "Torrential Coast". Probably allot of mud there right? Now you could have them fly it to the city and build it steadily upward. Am I right? Just keep building up and adding another tier after tier and so on. Want to add other races? ...Well...I'm working on that bit. <.< Let's just see if this flies first eh? So does it solve the problem? Or...have I missed something?