Angin Plains (sub-zone)

A subzone I want to add to Deeper Felarya. It's found somewhere inside the deep forest. The particularity of the subzone is the particularity of the wind. Unlike the strong winds of Mist Ocean, the wind there is a bit more calm, though highly variable. It can be anywhere from a breeze, to gale, to a typhoon. The other particularity is that the wind tends to give strange properties to certain creatures, particularly those who aren't aeromancers. The plain is pretty big, and devoid of vegetation, it's only grassland. But, is surrounded by a barrier of Dryads, making the access to the plains difficult. And most inhabitants possess strong wind magic, like Sylphs, which I'll make later if this pass, and Air Nagas.


It's only a rough draft, I still need help to flesh out the zone more so it meets the standards of being Felarya-ish enough for it to see the light of day.

Well-it's a bold idea.
I find the barrier of Dryads a bit hard to believe as I can't imagine them being too closely packed together but that's just me. Maybe carnivious plants or tribes of hostile natives would be better.
The plains could be packed full of life though and that's a fun idea! Lots of prey means lots of predators-although in proportion.
There's a LOT of possibilities here! The various races would have to be able to cope with the sudden wind storms as well as each other. Hmmm!

Ok-from the top of my head-(I'm sure GREGOLE will chip in too!)
Giant termite mounds-a good source of protein and enriching the soil.
Massive Tortoise-like animals weighted to withstand the winds and capable of going a long time between meals.
Vulture Harpies following the predatory Centaurs and cleaning up after them.
Some kind of giant avian predator capable of travelling great distances and making a meal of whatever it comes across.
Trapdoor Dridders
Some of GREGOLE's Dino beasties!

Hows that for starters?

By a "barrier of Dryads" I pictured more that the dryads are just close enough that their hunting ranges nearly intersect. Less like a wall of them and more like a minefield.

I'd like to know more about the "strange properties" that the wind can give... Flight? Weightlessness? Minor aeromantic powes?

The properties can vary from good, to bad. Sometimes it gives you low gravity, sometimes it makes all your movements faster, but not your reaction time. Sometimes you just float in place, unable to move. Sometimes it heals. Sometimes it makes you tastier. Sometime flights, it can be almost anything that isn't godmoddish.

Well, for the dino beasties and the termites, that could work. The plains are huge, so they would have no problem living there. For the giant avian predator, you mean like the Roc?

And has Feign pointed out, the "barrier" is more that Dryads have an hunting range almost close enough to intersect between each other.

The tortoise idea is interesting. However, it is to note that there's not always powerful winds. In fact, past gale force it's pretty rare wind will be that strong.

There are some good ideas here, I'll see how it can be molded so far.

Okay, here goes what we have for now.



The Angin Plains are a zone situated inside Deeper Felarya. While it is actually found past the forest, it is still affected by its dimensional unstability, which is why it's not a new zone of its own. In addition, Deeper Felarya is notorious for having sub-zones that aren't forests, but still shares the same dimensional unstability, and Angin Plains is one of them. As the name implies, the zone is a massive, flat plain devoid of vegetation, except for some few scarce flower. While usually bigger than a normal flower for a human, it isn't big enough to provide an effective hiding spot. However, they are big enough to eat humans whole; some tumbleweeds that appears harmless at first, may in fact be carnivorous, and much bigger than other flowers it tried to blend in. The "outskirts" of the plains is surrounded by Dryads, many of which has their hunting range almost intersecting others, but not all.

The particularity of the plains is its strange wind. Not unlike the winds of Mist Ocean, the winds of Angin Plains can be violent, but not as much, and it's rare past gale force wind. The other particularity is how the wind affect many of its inahbitants. Most creatures born or spent a very long time in the plains will become adept wind users. For most of its outsider, the wind will alter the creature a bit, another one of its strange properties. In general, wind users are unaffected, hence why native of the plains or those who lived there long enough aren't affected. What happens to the outsider can either be good or bad, most of the time, both if you dig deeper in context. There are all sorts of effect it can give, but here are a few examples of what it includes. Low gravity, faster movements, slower movements, high gravity, shrink, enlarge, invisibility, easier to be detected, heightened senses, heithened flavor (you DON'T want that one), and confused movements are a few examples of what the wind may do to you. There are a lot more, but I can't list them all.

The good and bad thing about the plains is the lack of vegetation. Which means most predators, those that doesn't possess cloaking, can't lay in ambush for you. The downside is that you can't hide anywhere unless you have a cloaking device or ability. In order to survive around the plains, you must simply be lucky and not encounter any predators at all, as their generally superior size lets them cover more distance faster than you. In short, to survive in the plains, you must be able to take on predators given the lack of shelters. The other, probably biggest problem that comes into play, is the fact Harpies can very easily swoops down and snatch you. In such a big open field, they have no problem locating you or missing you; for them, you are a sitting duck.

As said before, most of its inhabitants are adept with the wind. Which means you are likely to encounter Air Nagas, nagas with a wind affiliation; Sylphs, fairies with wind powers, not always cross-breeds with Air Elementals; and Air Elementals. Obviously, this isn't all there is to it. Centaurs can also be found in the plains. Those centaurs are smaller than those found in the Great Rocky Field, but are usually faster and better jumpers, if a bit lightweight for their race and more delicate in term of taking hits. In addition, Harpies pose a constant threats from he sky, and don't hesitate to dive bomb at whatever is small enough to swallow whole. And then, there are the Trapdoor Dridders, which takes many by surprise a lot. As far as non-sentient creatures are involved, there are nasty giant termite moulds which can be quite a nuisance to explorers. Giant predator worms, not common, but often captures prey by popping directly under their target, massive tortoises which are surprisingly a lot faster than one would expect. Most unexpected for adventurers is encountering dinosaur like beasts in the plains. Saddly for explorers, these are pretty common, and are very variable in species.



Any more ideas is welcome to flesh it out even more.

Hmm... very interesting ideas. I agree with Zoekin's suggestions on creatures to populate the subzone, although I'd also like to add a few:

Some Bola Dridders; while the lack of trees and large vegetation might seem to be a drawback, they would be able to anchor themselves to the ground with tethers to get through the worst of the winds.

Gas-filled balloon-like creatures that drift through the air. Perhaps they could be plant- or algae-based, and survive through photosynthesis, given the lack of vegetation on the ground?

I would really like to see some humans or nekos who have made adaptations to live in such an environment. Maybe a mid-sized culture with airships, towns consisting of floating platforms anchored to the ground, that sway in the wind. Lots of potential there.

Larger, bumblebee-like Miaxi, who primarily live around the ring of Dryads surrounding the Plains. Somehow, despite all odds, they seem to be able to fly just fine in the ever-changing windy conditions of the Angin Plains.

More on this later...

I like the idea of airships. That would be nice to Felarya, especially the Harpies.

The Bolas Dridder...I think long range lasso stuff could be neat.

The Baloon like creatures, I just thought of something funny with these. Basically, they can trap any thing human-sized, and still float as easily. They'd be sitting ducks for Harpies.

Sean Okotami wrote:

I like the idea of airships. That would be nice to Felarya, especially the Harpies.

A bit unsure of your meaning here; do you mean "airships for Harpy use", or they're a nice source of protein for Harpies (because of the human/neko/whatever crews)? I think you mean the latter, but some Harpy sky pirates could be pretty cool, too.

[quote="Sean Okotami]The Bolas Dridder...I think long range lasso stuff could be neat.[/quote]

Yep, sure could! Also, they might come up with some other creative solutions, like making "fishing nets" out of their silk, and casting them at prey in the air. Bolas Dridders seem to be a natural fit for a place like this.

[quote="Sean Okotami]The Baloon like creatures, I just thought of something funny with these. Basically, they can trap any thing human-sized, and still float as easily. They'd be sitting ducks for Harpies.[/quote]

That is pretty funny. It wasn't what I had in mind when I suggested the idea, but it fits very well. You should use it! It would be even worse if they were filled with something like nitrous oxide; not only would you be stuck floating in the air, you'd be laughing your lungs out... which is sure to attract the attention of a passing Harpy.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

I would really like to see some humans or nekos who have made adaptations to live in such an environment. Maybe a mid-sized culture with airships, towns consisting of floating platforms anchored to the ground, that sway in the wind. Lots of potential there.

*Vote yes!*

It makes sense that if the humans/nekos lived there for a long period of time, they would adapt and build settlements suited to the environment, and they could probably make advances in their technology/magic that would help them in making those settlements, and possibly helping them make new and interesting ways to navigate the environments, I.E. Airships. I really like the idea of the airships too, and they might possibly have weapons for taking on harpies?

I might start brainstorming on the airship part, if nobody minds...

S-Guy wrote:

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

I would really like to see some humans or nekos who have made adaptations to live in such an environment. Maybe a mid-sized culture with airships, towns consisting of floating platforms anchored to the ground, that sway in the wind. Lots of potential there.

*Vote yes!*

Three votes, motion carries!

S-Guy wrote:

It makes sense that if the humans/nekos lived there for a long period of time, they would adapt and build settlements suited to the environment, and they could probably make advances in their technology/magic that would help them in making those settlements, and possibly helping them make new and interesting ways to navigate the environments, I.E. Airships. I really like the idea of the airships too, and they might possibly have weapons for taking on harpies?

That's the sort of the lines I was thinking along; the people from this culture would have to be pretty ballsy, verging on fearless. Pretty much their whole society would revolve around aerial life, from using small personal gliders and wing suits to get around, to battling with airships and parasail troopers ( ), and heck, maybe even having cable cars/ski-lift style machines to ride along cables between the tethered platforms they build their cities on.

The attitudes of the airship crews might be pretty interesting, too; anyone who has seen the movie Stardust (which is excellent; if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it) will know what I'm talking about. Going out in the middle of a storm to gather lightning, to take back to the city and haggling with a broker to sell it for use as power... daring mid-air battles with Harpy clans might lead to a certain degree of mutual respect between predator and prey... fending off Harpies and other aerial predators may lead to some truly innovative weapon concepts and airship designs... skirmishes and full-scale wars with other floating city-states might lead to massive battles between airship fleets, with Harpies and other predators roaming the battlefield and "saving" the doomed for an easy snack...

... Can you tell I love this idea? ;D

S-Guy wrote:

I might start brainstorming on the airship part, if nobody minds...

Go for it!

Perhaps for the airships they would have a sort of camouflage so as to help avoid predators? The underside could possess proper lighting to create few shadows during the day and resemble a sort of 'starry sky' at night. Similarly, the view from above might resemble the grassy / empty plains below so as to cause those only giving a casual glance to miss them.

A flower large enough to eat someone whole is likely going to be capable of providing cover. Now as to whether someone's going to risk it being hungry at the time they go near it is another matter, but they could theoretically be used for cover.

I feel we should add some nice grazer species here to supplement the main Predator's diets during the human dry spouts (Which, being inside the dangerous Deeper Felarya, there's bound to be). What type of grazers do we want? Runners, heavily armored / 'armed', mixes, there's a bunch of options.

Malahite wrote:

Perhaps for the airships they would have a sort of camouflage so as to help avoid predators? The underside could possess proper lighting to create few shadows during the day and resemble a sort of 'starry sky' at night. Similarly, the view from above might resemble the grassy / empty plains below so as to cause those only giving a casual glance to miss them.

That's an excellent idea; camouflage for the airships (or at least some of them) makes sense. Heck, if people come up with the idea for multiple floating city-dwelling civilizations, one of them might even specialize in camouflage and stealth. Perhaps by magical means like illusions and invisibility spells, or maybe they just do it the old fashioned way.

Malahite wrote:

A flower large enough to eat someone whole is likely going to be capable of providing cover. Now as to whether someone's going to risk it being hungry at the time they go near it is another matter, but they could theoretically be used for cover.

I believe that Sean did mention that the Plains had flowers, but they were sparse. If you're near one, predatory or not, you can certainly use it for concealment. It might be risky, but it's an option. However, if the Plains have giant-scale grasses in places, you might be able to take cover in there. Sort of the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" approach.

Malahite wrote:

I feel we should add some nice grazer species here to supplement the main Predator's diets during the human dry spouts (Which, being inside the dangerous Deeper Felarya, there's bound to be). What type of grazers do we want? Runners, heavily armored / 'armed', mixes, there's a bunch of options.

I agree, some grazers are definitely called for. I think a diverse mix of types would be good, but it's kind of hard to picture species that hybridizes the runner and heavily armored roles... typically, in an open environment like that, you need to be able to either outrun your predators, outlast/endure them, or outfight them. A slower, heavily armored runner might run into some problems.

Then again... I suppose something like a highly aggressive, armored gazelle might be pretty formidable; instead of running away from predators, it charges at them and uses a hardened body/horns/hooves/whatever against them. If they can build up enough speed, and land a solid hit, the impact might be enough to do the job.

... Like you said, there's a bunch of options.

Alright, let's see if we can continue.



Humans and Nekos born in the plains, or settled there a long time ago, have mastered the art of aeronautics. They are one of the first "nations" around Felarya to use airships for travelling. In addition, having mastered the art of the wind, they also built in floating cities which are solidly attached to the ground in case of rare storm winds. The floating cities were built to protect against terrestrial predators.

The culture of airships is viewed with mixed reactions to the public. Some says that thanks to air travel, it offers protection against the majority of predators, who are grounded. But some says that air travel only makes them at the mercy of Harpies and Sphinxes, the two most dominant aerial races.

While airships tends to use cloaking technology to go around the problems of Harpies and Sphinxes, their senses would still detect them at close range, which only served to delay the inevitable. For this reason, most airships are armed to fight against the threat of aerial predators.

The huge floating cities around the Angin Plains are all linked together by air cabins, which transport its passengers to one section to another. The cities of the Angin Plains are some of the biggest in Felarya, rivaling Negav.

On occasion, humans and nekos are forced to movel on land, due to the wind being too strong for air travel. In which case, they are forced to travel by grazers. In either case, travelling around the plains is always risky.

I think that's a pretty decent start, but I don't think all airships would be camouflaged, or even use the same types of camouflage for the ones that are. For instance, pirate ships would want to be big, intimidating, recognizeable... and very well-armed.

In addition, I'm picturing all kinds of other flight methods aside from airships, like small one- or two-person gliders, "wing" suits, maybe some small gyrocopters or something... Deck-to-deck combat between ships would be very interesting, I think.

Also, I wasn't really picturing the cities being lowered to the ground and attached when storms roll along... I was kind of thinking about them just riding out the storm. They're floating in the air, and securely tethered to the ground with heavy cables, mainly to keep them from being swept up and carried off.

The worst damage would come from platforms bouncing off one another or crashing into each other, sort of like earthquake damage.

Sean Okotami wrote:

The cities of the Angin Plains are some of the biggest in Felarya, rivaling Negav

Beware a very big may draw the attention of the guardians, Negav is as the limit so this kind of statement can be a bit problematic.

Oh, sorry, I forgot that statement ^^;

We escape from the imminent destruction

It might be better to kind of picture them as city-states. Individually, they're physically smaller than Negav and more spread out, but their influence is comparable... within the subzone. Each city might consist of half a dozen to a dozen giant platforms, that might be miles apart and require air travel between them via smaller vehicles. Each platform has its own buildings and neighborhoods, being almost like a smaller town in itself, but there's a lot of interdependance between all of the platform-towns that make up the city.

Like... maybe one platform in a city specializes in growing crops, and they regularly send crews down to get soil and plants, so they can keep their agricultural production up.

Another platform might serve as the trade district and general 'port', where commerce between that city and other cities happen. Traders from all of the platforms in that specific city bring their goods to the trade district, both to sell to local buyers, as well as to the distributors from other cities.

... Am I making sense?

Edit: Whoops, forgot about the cable-car style conveyances between platforms. ^^ Of course, you could still use a glider or small air vehicle to get back and forth, too.

This thread has been pretty quiet for a while; I don't want people to think everyone has forgotten about it.

I have a few ideas for various platform-cities and airship groups that I am working on developing; once they're fleshed out beyond just vague ideas, I'll post them for people to check out.

I just realized that maybe I'm being a little too secretive about my stuff. It's a bad habit of mine, I don't really like to show my work to other people until it's in a state I consider "complete", or close to it. Really need to work on that.

So, in the interest of open disclosure, I'm considering working on developing the following, and would like to guage people's interest and opinions on the matter:

1) A small platform-city created by a race of Elves. Their culture is primarily magic-based, but instead of using airships to get around and defend their city, they have use tamed "warbeasts", both flying and non-flying. Their platforms tend to be about "medium size"; smaller in comparison to those of the human cultures in the sub-region, but their city is made up of more of them. They're a somewhat naturalistic race, but not to the point of being the stereotypical "tree-hugging elves"; these guys can be pretty savage and ruthless, like the Wood Elves from Warhammer Fantasy Battles. They also don't practice the typical haughty elven "High Magic"; their magic is more savage and primitive, and derived from mystical links to the warbeasts they use (Anyone who plays Privateer Press' "Hordes" game will have an idea of what I'm talking about).

2) A large platform city created and established by a sky-faring human culture. This place serves sort of as the "Negav" of the region; it's a major trade hub and meeting place, where travellers come and go freely. They make use of airships and smaller aircraft that are sort of magically-powered, but also based off of the flying machines designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. These guys have a bit of everything, moderate amounts of magic, moderate amounts of technology (nothing too advanced or high-tech), and a booming economy. If you want to make some money in the region, this is the place most people come; there's always someone looking to hire people for a run down to the surface to retrieve valuables or resources, or to guard a trade ship along a perilous route.

3) A medium sized platform city created by humans, but populated by a mixture of human and neko culture. These guys have magical knowledge, but very, very little magical potential; most of them simply don't have the amount of power in their body to cast more than a cantrip unassisted, let alone a 'real' spell. But they have quite a bit of mechanical ingenuity; these guys are something of a steampunk-oriented culture. They have pretty fantastic machines that look incredible and may or may not work in the desired manner; note that it's not just a matter of human ingenuity, the nekos living with them are pretty darn handy with a wrench themselves, and their 'technology' is a blend of both species' development. Because they are so woefully underpowered when it comes to magical ability, these guys have developed a makeshift solution, that seems to work alright for them; they create magical 'cartridges', bullet-shaped shells (most of them without actual bullets attached) that are filled with finely ground crystal sand that they find buried just beneath the soil of the Plains. This 'sand' is a wonderful storage medium for magical energy, and they have built mechanical steampunk derived devices (clockwork staffs, daggers, hammers, axes, swords, piston-driven spears, early handguns and carbines) that are capable of being loaded with these cartridges and 'firing' them into the weapon to release intense bursts of magical energy that can be used to power their spells. Their airships are fitted with cannons that operate much in the same way, only on a larger scale.

4) A cluster of small, independant "cities" that are really just individual platforms controlled by the strongest pirate groups. More on these guys later, I haven't done as much development work on them yet.

What do you guys think?

Good. We need more elf civilization.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

1) A small platform-city created by a race of Elves.

Something nice, a city not by Humans or Nekos.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

Their culture is primarily magic-based, but instead of using airships to get around and defend their city, they have use tamed "warbeasts", both flying and non-flying.

To avoid the cliche of Giant Eagles... Giant Falcons?

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

They're a somewhat naturalistic race, but not to the point of being the stereotypical "tree-hugging elves"; these guys can be pretty savage and ruthless, like the Wood Elves from Warhammer Fantasy Battles.

Savage Elves, something not seen enough in Fiction. You usually see either the Haughty Warriors Elite, or the Pacifist Tree Huggers of above. Nice turn.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

They also don't practice the typical haughty elven "High Magic"; their magic is more savage and primitive, and derived from mystical links to the warbeasts they use (Anyone who plays Privateer Press' "Hordes" game will have an idea of what I'm talking about).

Spells to give the strength of a Bear, stubbornness of an Ox, etc?

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

This place serves sort of as the "Negav" of the region; it's a major trade hub and meeting place, where travellers come and go freely.

Another trade center, got to tick off the Merchants who lose their Levitation gear before arrival.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

They make use of airships and smaller aircraft that are sort of magically-powered, but also based off of the flying machines designed by Leonardo Da Vinci.

Renaissance level tech then, mixed with Magic?

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

These guys have a bit of everything, moderate amounts of magic, moderate amounts of technology (nothing too advanced or high-tech), and a booming economy.

It's got to help that they're likely going to be able to charge most people whenever they need to enter or leave the city.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

3) A medium sized platform city created by humans, but populated by a mixture of human and neko culture.

In before "Neko's can't do it on their own?!?"

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

These guys have magical knowledge, but very, very little magical potential; most of them simply don't have the amount of power in their body to cast more than a cantrip unassisted, let alone a 'real' spell.

More of a scholarly interest like real world Daemonology and the liking instead of an attempt to expand power?

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

But they have quite a bit of mechanical ingenuity; these guys are something of a steampunk-oriented culture.

And now I'm given the image of a Steam-Punk Giant engaging a Naga in Fisticuffs. Thanks a lot.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

They have pretty fantastic machines that look incredible and may or may not work in the desired manner;

So, they're Gnomes?

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

note that it's not just a matter of human ingenuity, the nekos living with them are pretty darn handy with a wrench themselves, and their 'technology' is a blend of both species' development.

Humans have Giant Flying Cathedrals. Gnomes, Giant Flying Turnips. Nekos.... Giant Flying Tuna Fish?

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

Because they are so woefully underpowered when it comes to magical ability, these guys have developed a makeshift solution, that seems to work alright for them; they create magical 'cartridges', bullet-shaped shells (most of them without actual bullets attached) that are filled with finely ground crystal sand that they find buried just beneath the soil of the Plains.

This has got to help with their trade, both the cartridges and the sand itself.

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

This 'sand' is a wonderful storage medium for magical energy, and they have built mechanical steampunk derived devices (clockwork staffs, daggers, hammers, axes, swords, piston-driven spears, early handguns and carbines) that are capable of being loaded with these cartridges and 'firing' them into the weapon to release intense bursts of magical energy that can be used to power their spells. Their airships are fitted with cannons that operate much in the same way, only on a larger scale.

Is the city more circular, or rectangular / sided so that it can offer Broadsides?

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

4) A cluster of small, independant "cities" that are really just individual platforms controlled by the strongest pirate groups. More on these guys later, I haven't done as much development work on them yet.

Do you see it more as something too small to warrant an assault against, or too large to make a net gain?

TheQuantumMechanic wrote:

What do you guys think?

Nice.

Malahite wrote:

Something nice, a city not by Humans or Nekos.

I thought about coming up with another race, but just for starting off, I figured it was best to stick with races already fleshed out in the wiki. Plus, like you said; plenty of Humans and Nekos already.

Malahite wrote:

To avoid the cliche of Giant Eagles... Giant Falcons?

Actually, I had things a bit less... typical in mind.

Malahite wrote:

Savage Elves, something not seen enough in Fiction. You usually see either the Haughty Warriors Elite, or the Pacifist Tree Huggers of above. Nice turn.

They're going to be somewhat Haughty, but not in the "stuck-up elvish snob" manner High Elves are usually portrayed in. They're pretty vicious and savage, but they have peculiar ideas about their place in the world, and where those Giant Predators should be.

Malahite wrote:

Spells to give the strength of a Bear, stubbornness of an Ox, etc?

Sorta along those lines. I'll go into it more once I get their magic system developed; it's going to be more a matter of developing a direction connection between them and the warbeast, and using its own natural abilities for their own benefit. For example, the stereotypical fire-breathing dragon (that doesn't exist on Felarya?) might give them the ability to resist flame, or shoot it out their eyes, or something. It's a sort of Thaumaturgy, on a much smaller scale.

Malahite wrote:

Another trade center, got to tick off the Merchants who lose their Levitation gear before arrival.

Heh. Pirate Captain bellowing out at the top of his lungs: "Stand down and prepare to be boarded, or we just anti-magic your whole ship, and pick through the wreckage for what's left!"

Malahite wrote:

Renaissance level tech then, mixed with Magic?

Right about there, yeah.

Malahite wrote:

It's got to help that they're likely going to be able to charge most people whenever they need to enter or leave the city.

"Docking fee, check. Processing fee, check. Customs fee, check. Departure fee..." "Wait, we have to pay to leave?!" "*ahem* Departure fee?" "Mother-fethin'... *grumble*" "Departure fee, check. Thank you for your patronage sir, and we hope you enjoyed your stay! Please, come back to visit us again!"

Malahite wrote:

In before "Neko's can't do it on their own?!?"

Actually... Nah, I don't want to get lynched by the rabidily pro-human crowd. Nevermind.

Malahite wrote:

More of a scholarly interest like real world Daemonology and the liking instead of an attempt to expand power?

Pretty much; they have magical theory and knowledge, they just don't actually have the power to use it directly. But they have "Science, my good man! Behold, the power of SCIENCE!"

Malahite wrote:

And now I'm given the image of a Steam-Punk Giant engaging a Naga in Fisticuffs. Thanks a lot.

Well, Steam-Punk Giants would be extremely rare, considering the amount of resources that would require. And metal might not exactly be easy to come by in the Plains. But I'm not saying it's never going to happen...

Malahite wrote:

So, they're Gnomes?

Nah, just mechanically-inclined humans who met some mechanically-inclined nekos during a potentially awkward social situation and became friends. "You got your flux capacitor in my tesla cannon!" "No, you got your telsa coil in my temporal decelerator!" "..." "..." "... What is it?" "... I don't know. Push the button?" "I'm not pushing the button, you push the button." "We'll both push the button?" "'Kay." "Did you see that?! That was..." "... Awesome!"

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Malahite wrote:

Humans have Giant Flying Cathedrals. Gnomes, Giant Flying Turnips. Nekos.... Giant Flying Tuna Fish?

Nekos have Surface-to-Air Giant Exploding Tuna Launchers, which are a parallel development of the original Exploding Sheep, retasked for anti-Harpy operations.

Malahite wrote:

This has got to help with their trade, both the cartridges and the sand itself.

Quite a bit, yes... although the cartridges are mostly just magical capacitors to real mages. Enough to provide a quick boost if you're low on mana, but of limited use otherwise (if you're able to replenish your mana by other means). The raw sand, after it's been processed and refined... that's a different matter.

Malahite wrote:

Is the city more circular, or rectangular / sided so that it can offer Broadsides?

Humans wanted rectangular, Nekos wanted circular. So they compromised and went octagonal, plenty of room for defensive broadsides which the Humans love, and the Nekos are satisfied because it's harder to sneak up on them.

Malahite wrote:

Do you see it more as something too small to warrant an assault against, or too large to make a net gain?

Nah, it's big enough to launch an assault against (the Elves do it all the time); I just don't really consider it an entire city because the distance between each platform is pretty great. It's more a loose coalitions of "hideouts" owned by various pirate outfits. They're pretty fractured, and fight and steal from one another as often as they do the other cities; it just never really escalates to the point of a full-scale war. And whenever someone comes knocking with an assault, they all band together to deal with it. They prey pretty heavily on Civ #2 (the traders), but it's the first civilization that they really have fierce mutual enmity going with.

They're more sort of individual groups with their own agendas, who band together when it's mutually convienent.

Malahite wrote:

Nice.

Thanks.

That idea is neat. But now I think it might be time to work on the fauna of the plains.

I think that would be a good idea. In addition, don't forget to create plants for the herbivorous fauna to feed on. Most of the terrestrial plants are grasses and flowers, but that doesn't mean there can't be plants that drift on the wind. Gas bladders, simply being very light and blown around easily, or magically able to stay aloft are all ways to do it.

I can sort of picture floating lily pads, and 'tumbleweeds' that bob along in the breeze, for example.

EDIT: Also, the types of fauna there might play a big role for the peculiar Elves I mentioned earlier (still need to do some work on them, but it'll be a while before I get around to it).