This should be enough to get us started. Imagine a setting sort of Australian/American frontierish with technology where needed.
Planet Name: Vorgrell
Location: 2 Days journey to the Rim, 4 days journey to the Core.
Primary Terrain: Rocky valleys and mountains.
Primary Settlements: Plateau City (Capital, Large City, Spaceport), Shipwreck (Large City and Spaceport), Horn Valley (Mining Town), Bone Point (Mining Town), J'frey (Settlement), Lopen Gulch (Settlement)
Indigenous Population: Hchni'i (slang "Hornee") - a small lizard-like race with prominant horned heads and a hissing language. They have a primitive "dirt-worhipper" culture that reveres their holy places and ancestor worship
Tech Level: Current Imperial Standard. However, most of the settlements use lumber construction because it is plentiful and cheap.
Transportation: Large buildings don't stand up well becasue of frequent seismic activity. Transportation is by flyer between cities or by Taun-Taun on dirt roads.
Heavy Transport is by freighter or Bantha-pulled hover-skids.
The erratic terrain is best suited to animals who can adjust to the variagated surface and slopes better than hovercars and since seismic activity is so frequent (at least a shake a week) animals can give a rudimentary early warning system.
Major industry: Mining of ultra-heavy metal deposits for use in industrials. Gardanuim, Rubixium, and Kreichite are the major exports. All three of these metals can only be mined vrom the deep bases of huge seismically active mountains (such as those found on Vorgrell)
Government: Vorgrell is ruled by a Seven Family "Co-Operative" originally affiliated to the Trade Federation. After the Trade Federation was wiped out they became attached informally to the Old Republic and later the Empire. The Cooperative appoints one family member to sit on a ruling Council that passes laws, approves mining, adjucates disputes, and generally runs everything. They have a few officers (Sheriff, Chief Judge, Portmasters for both Shipwreck and Plateau City and a Tax Collector). It is generally accepted that any one of the Council could be bought, but it is assumed that nobody can afford to buyout more than 2 or 3. It would break anyone to try to buyout four of them. So as far as that goes it is generally fair.
Imperial Involvements: The Old Republic maintained a presence in the largest building on Plateau City. The huge chrome and steel affair was the sturdiest 28 story building you ever saw until the first planetquake made it sag 14 degrees to the north. The Republic engineers (unwilling to beleive they made a mistake) shored up the listing edifice and braced it. Later quakes have meant it has been re-enforced 8 times in the last 10 years.
The Emperor, when he placed his people there, had the building further re-inforced and fortified. This 28-story building is now a virtual cube and its exterior a maze of girders, butresses and re-routed conduit surrounded by a wall with turbo-laser emplacements and heavy blast doors.
To question the stability of this building is both folly and possibly punishible by torture.
Palacial Buildings: The Government meets in a fine underground chamber carved into the side of the mountain. The interior chambers have been reinforced with carbonite and magnetic stabilizers to allow the stunning minerals to show through. These have been polished to a sheen and strategic sound-dampeneing generators are placed throughout.
The catacombs in the mountain are said to have originally belonged to the Hchni'i and have been mostly widened to accomodate Imperail standards for corridors, but some few of the original tunnels remain in use as conduits for power couplings and plasma channels.
There is a saying that the only way to get a complete map of all the corridors would be to collect all the maps and superinpose them as no two maps are completely identical. Everyone who owns one has made notes about new corridors they have found.
Settlement Timeline: Plateau City is, cooincidentally on a plateau. The Trade Federation terraformers sliced the top off of a mountain 130 years ago and declared the remaining stump to be the site of the first settlement. Unfortunately they were about 5 years too late. The first settlement was Shipwreck in the southern hemisphere where a prison-ship bound for the Kessel spice mines had crashed. Two of the families from the original survivors sit on the council today.
The Survivors were allowed to retain their claim on the site and have traded independantly ever since. The Cooperative still has jurisdiction over Shipwreck, however.
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Planet Setting Proposal
Like it enough to expand on it. :)
The Syndicate: Of the two criminal powers present, the Syndicate is possibly the weaker faction. On Vorgrell, the top Syndicate squid is a Quarren named Jorran Krell. He controls just over half of the criminal activities in Plateau City, and about a third in Shipwreck, with his main competition between one of the Hutt families (who, incidentally, run crime in Shipwreck).
Krell is an ambitious Quarren, as most who actually leave their homeworld of Mon Calamari are. His career began in smuggling, before he was recruited into the Syndicate, eventually rising to oversee smuggling on Vorgrell, then finally, the Syndicate's operations on Vorgrell itself. Said to have remarked once, "Is that the Emperor? Humans all look alike to me." It should be noted that he was talking about a woman.
A breakdown of Krell's operations is as follows: 45% Smuggling, 22% "Vice" (prostitution, drugs), 25% legitimate/fronts, 8% misc.
Organisation - The particular Syndicate family Krell is a part of is notable for its heirarchial structure. Its head - known only as `The Boss` to most members - tolerates no breaks in the chain of command. Krell reports to the Sector Boss; several people under him report directly to him, who in turn handle day-to-day operations.
A total of three underlings run Krell's operation: a Trandoshan who isn't too bright, except when it comes to beating the crap out of people, is the local `enforcer` and heads up the `welcoming committee`; a human male, who is in charge of `vice`; and someone else, who I leave up to Kris to design, who is in charge of the Syndicate's smuggling operations in the system.
The fronts are all more or less under the control of whoever it best serves as a front for; one of them, Jorran's Exchange, is under Krell's direct control, as a major shipping company.
The Hutts - Off in Shipwreck is a territory controled, in part, by former inmates. Unfortunately, one of the inmates was a ruthless Hutt, Bazlo. Even by Hutt standards, Bazlo was ruthless; and unlike Krell, who holds influence over lots of lesser officials, Bazlo has one of the Council members firmly in his pocket. He should be; Bazlo intimidated everyone into supporting him.
Bazlo's control over Shipwreck's underworld is quite firm - and is known for a hatred of Krell, as the only one who refused to bow to his wishes. Anyone outside of the Syndicate who does business in Shipwreck has to pay the Hutt for protection.
(note: I will edit and expand later)
Planet Setting Proposal
Wow, I like this :)
Again I just have the note I mentioned in Shaun's char proposal. Would the 'Cooperative' government still be in place after his char's coup? Although I find it hard to beleive the Empire would maintain such a government, I would beleive it would stand to reason that should such a system remain in place at least the majority of the members would be die-hard Imperial supporters.
Secondly, what sort of military system do you think Vorgrell support? In the char proposal I'm working on his background has him involved in the planetary defence force, which is a small but quite elite voluntary organisation (think something along the lines of the British Expeditionary Force in the World Wars). I guess the main reason for any sort of standing army would be to 'suppress' the indiginous peoples and keep the peace in a somewhat remote planetary system. Officer training (all officers come from the noble families) is at an institution that I simply named the 'Royal Military Acadamey' before, but I'm not entirely sure if this is appropiate for the planet setting. As my char comes from a line of military officers, perhaps this could instead be named after their family (Archell, by the way). Archell Military Acadamey I think sounds okay, what's the opinion on this?
Of course, when the Empire comes along they could rename it the Imperial Military Acadamey or something...
Planet Setting Proposal
You may be thinking of the Empire at the height of its power rather than the small internal movement of the Old Republic. During this period of time between the Emperor taking power (in Episode III) and dissolution of the Imperial Senate (at the very beginning of Episode IV) the Empire does a lot of things the way the Republic would have.
On the planetary scale they are depending on the support of the Imperial Senate to keep things under control. So even though they do arrest all 7 members of the planetary ruling council - they have to release them.
Even though they replace four of the seven with people loyal to them, they still have to deal with populace who beleive that their Imperial Senator will help them if there is a problem (and he/she likely would).
Once the Moffs take over for good (Episode IV) then the Empire could care less what the planetary ruling councils do and would likley not have bothered to hold up the sham of a council they have here. For now, however, they have to maintain the illusion of being an auxillary to the Senate and not running things.
It is like the Nazi party in Germany. Until they seized power they took over small bits of the civil government and ran them more efficiently than the government did. Same thing here, the Imps are handling the export routing for the heavy metal and ores coming from the mines. They coordinate the destination tarrifs and shipping manifests through their panetary offices.
It is less papaerwork than the old Replican way which is why the Vorgrellians are open to it, they just don't trust the Imps they way they did the Republican bureaucrats.
Planet Setting Proposal
That sounds ideal. I imagine each of the seven families has a private force as well. There are likely also several private "pathfinders" who would gladly hire to lead people through the wilderness and protect them from the Hchni'i
Planet Setting Proposal
In case you didn't get it, the Hchni'i are the same as D&D Kobolds.
Planet Setting Proposal
Hmmm...okay, point conceeded.
And with reference to the military and the Academy I've come up with this:
The Archell Military Academy is an institution largely ignored by the majority of the galaxy, but respected and somewhat famed in Vorgell’s small corner.
The Archell family itself is, by and large, descended from the prison guards aboard the Kessel prison-ship that crashed and founded Shipwreck. Master-at-Arms Archell, the surviving ranking officer, formed a small, secure enclave populated by the prison guards and strove to maintain order amongst the now ‘free’ prisoners. Although he was, ultimately, unable to re-imprison them due to lack of resources and superior numbers there were frequent clashes during the five years prior to the arrival of the Trade Federation both with the ex-inmates and the local natives. At this point, though, Archell was selected to oversee the protection of the Federation’s holdings in combination with their own security personnel and moved to Plateau City. Using his surviving prison guards as instructors and requisitioning Trade Federation resources, he established a rudimentary military academy. Besides security of the mines, Plateau City, Shipwreck and the other areas of civilisation that were springing up, it was the task of the new-born Vorgell military to suppress the indigenous Hchni’i. After a mere ten years the military and the Academy had flourished. Action in frequent clashes with the Hchni’i brought further experience to the soldiers and officers who became adept at engaging in small-scale infantry-based operations in the dense terrain found across Vorgell. This later became military tradition, and today the Academy still teaches doctrine based upon small, well-equipped and mobile units despite the influence of the growing steam-roller tactics of the Imperial Army.
As both the Academy and military established itself, it became the arm of the Republic, and frequently Vorgell defence personnel were called upon for action in a number of surrounding systems. In more recent years, the Off-World Special Operations division was founded (OWSO) with this explicit intention and has seen action in a number of neighbouring systems.
With the Hchni’i largely pacified and relative order established on Vorgell, the role of the military has become garrison-orientated, with the exception of OWSO, and more ceremonial in its duties. The majority of the officers have a swollen sense of pride for an institution just over a hundred years old and whose main duty has been killing primitive locals. After the Orsiri Coup and the Archell name was discredited, the academy was renamed the Vorgell Military Academy. OWSO was disbanded and the military’s role became even more ceremonial.
An ex-military officer holds the Office of the Sheriff on the Cooperative and who is the political advisor for military operations. Traditionally House Archell, as befitting their history, occupy the Sherrif’s office however recently representatives from other houses have won this post instead as Archell’s gene pool and influence wanes. The second-to-last Sheriff prior to the Orsiri Coup died (some say assassinated) whilst in office, and Archell was able to restore their pride by neatly installing Corin Archwell in his place.
Planet Setting Proposal
I just checked The Imperial Sourcebook for WEG SWRPG, second edition. It was apparantly quite common for the Empire to just put a garrison on a planet visibly and let their government continue to function as normal. Kind of a way of saying, "You don't really want us to do more, do you?" with maybe one world in eighty subject to more direct rule. And then you might not get a governer; instead just "advisors" who make subtle changes.
The feeling I get from this is that unless you're a vital or important world (say, home to a Moff or Grand Moff), the Empire really doesn't care what you do, as long as you enact their policies.
Planet Setting Proposal
Dave, you said that lumber construction is major here on Vorgrell. But you described the planet as "rocky valleys and mountains." Am I to picture trees--lots of them?
Also:
Quote: "To question the stability of this building is both folly and possibly punishible by torture."
Hahahahahahhahaha.
Planet Setting Proposal
Basically anywhere the mountains drop down into a valley where there is water there are forests. In this sort of terrain, a river valley creates a low fog-bank that hangs in the valley. Therefore what you get for trees are huge straight affairs that try to reach above the mist. Imagine Redwoods in every valley surrounded by an etherial mist that blows through their trunks. and tropical ferns and mosses around the rocky rapids that run through the ravines.
Planet Setting Proposal
Sounds good to me. I'm onboard!
Er, no. Not "onboard," considering the wreck. Let's get an auspicious start to this thing. :lol:
Planet Setting Proposal
Not too far off from the area I live in!
Snap! Got me a mental picture.
Jedi was filmed not all that far from me. Lots of trees, though not quite as you described. Got the fog, though.
Planet Setting Proposal
Halean Falls
Location: Eastern end of Plateau City
length of brink: 4060 feet
height: 236 feet
volume of water: 350,000 Gallons per second
Actual amount varies, there are two hydroelectric converters which draw water into their reservoirs prior to the Falls. Their intake greatly affects the volume of water flowing over the falls. The amount of water being siphoned away depends on two variables. The time of year, and the time of the day. Flow is greatest in the daytime. In the event of an emergency the flow can be somewhat reduced by the hydroelectric converters increasing their intake.
Myth behind the Falls
Legend has it that during the early years of Plateau City’s creation, there were two merchant families, the Tarwin and the Kerkes who were great rivals, each seeking to gain a dominant position in the Plateau City market. Their hatred for each other began over a small dispute about the ownership of a prime mining area located just outside of what is now Bone Point. What should have been nothing more than a small disagreement escaladed into fierce rivalry between the families which lasted for the better part of a century. During the later years of hatred between the two clans, at the annual Harvest festival, the middle son of the Kerkes family, Elrin, and the youngest daughter of the Tarwin’s, Halea (who the falls were eventually named after) met. It was love at first sight, and since that moment onwards the two began their forbidden romance, a great love story that would be passed down through the ages. Of course, their respective families eventually discovered what the two had been up to, and instantly put a stop their relationship. Unable to convince their families otherwise, the two snuck away into the night and ventured to the falls. As the story goes, the two waited till the morning light glistened over the waters, and then, with one final kiss, the two lovers jumped to their death, believing the falls would bring their spirits to a place where they could be together forever. When the families discovered the fates of their children, they were so consumed by grief and regret that they put aside their differences, finally bringing their bitter rivalry to a tragic end.
Now, it is customary for young lovers to venture to the falls, and, at the brink of dawn, each throw a coin into the water in order to bless their relationship and insure everlasting love.
based on Romeo and Juliette
Planet Setting Proposal
Very cool. I think that this location is also sacred to the Hchni'i who throw messages to their ancestors carved on pieces of wood. Hchni'i legend has it that the Gods will safely convey any message that survives the falls and rapids to the dead.
They view the "lover's leap" as a quaint but silly way to bypass parental approval for marraige by appealing directly to the ancestors. They wish the lovers well, but they don't hold out a lot of hope since many of the younger (and less reverent) Hchni'i gather the coins at the base of the falls to buy things.
Planet Setting Proposal
:fist:
Don't be insulted, you two. It was the closest I could find to "thumbs up." :P
Planet Setting Proposal
Expanded on the criminal organisations; gave the Smuggling runner in the Syndicate over to Kris to develop as needed.
Planet Setting Proposal
I just realised... anyone know what a Hutt lifespan is? Whether Bazlo would be original or someone who came along later?
Planet Setting Proposal
Just a little something I bashed out for extra detail. I've taken the liberty of naming this 'crashed Kessel prison vessel' we keep mentioning, but if anybody's got any ideas then it won't be much bother at all to change :)
Victory Plaza, Plateau City
Formally Naboo Victory Plaza, it was renamed from Leviathan Plaza shortly after the Battle of Naboo to demonstrate Vorgell’s changing allegiance from Trade Federation to Republic. Leviathan was the name of the Kessel prison vessel that crash-landed at Shipwreck. Today, it is simply called Victory Plaza, and the Imperial presence on Vorgell appears more than content to leave it that away.
Four important buildings surround Victory Plaza. To the north is the large, skewed Imperial structure and it is faced by the Office of the Sherrif, one of the few above ground government buildings on Vorgell. To the East is the Archell Military Academy and opposite it the Archell family home.
The Plaza itself is a well-known meeting place used for ceremonial military parades, celebrations and functions.
Planet Setting Proposal
Ok, some little more detail on Jay'vex 'Rose' Castle and the Halean Gardens.
Jay’vex Castle is located almost in the center of Plateau City, not far from the Victory Plaza and most of public buildings. One of its first settlers, Fara Jay’vex purchased enough land to assure herself that her home would be isolated yet central. A low structure, built with the rose-colored granite found in the mountains surrounding the city, the castle looks strong yet beautiful, and has stood firm since it was built. The Halean Gardens surround the buiding and hide it from view. The castle is also known as the 'Rose Castle', because of its color and the great variety of roses that grow around it.
The Halean Gardens surround the Jay’vex Castle, leaving it at its center. The gardens have become a place of relax and recreation for common citizens too, since a large area of them is public. This public sector is only separated from the Castle’s private gardens by rose bushes and a surrounding force field that those who dont have access simply cannot cross. The Gardens then, look like a whole thing, but are effectively split into public and private areas.
Despite its beauty and conservative design, the Rose Castle is not a vulnerable building. Both the Castle and the Halean Gardens are heavily guarded by Archell academy cadets and the Chume personal guards. The force field surrounding the castle and the Castle itself security systems are state of the art and dayly checked. It is still unknown how the Imperial troops got past those security measures and into the personal chambers of the Chume family.
Planet Setting Proposal
This is in the album.
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Awesome map :D
But...you left out the Archell family home ;)
Planet Setting Proposal
You see that enormous brick castle behind the academy? It sort of sitting on a hill by itself. I'll sell it to ya cheap for on 50 million credits.
Planet Setting Proposal
By the way, if you own a copy of SC3K let me know I'll send you the file and you can do fly-arounds and such and appreciate the truely rotten terrain around the city. It's practically unuseable for SimCity.
Planet Setting Proposal
Ah, was looking in the wrong place.
I'll give you 60 million for that and the swimming pool underneath 'Plaza' :P
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Great map indeed, Dave. :D
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You can have the pool for free...it is a water treatment plant. :deadban:
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Man, thank you. No matter how detailed a description gets, I'm the type of Rain Man that needs a visual to help me out.
Hutt Lifespan
Nikolai, not sure if this has been addressed yet, but Hutts live upwards of a millenium, more specifically, 972+ years.
Re: Hutt Lifespan
Gott im Himmel!
Thanks for the info, but still.. wow... those slugs live a long time. They must have a kick-ass cardiovacular system.
Planet Setting Proposal
Guter Diät mit Frösche.
Planet Setting Proposal
Plateau City Intergalactic Spaceport
Located in the north-west edge of Plateau City, the Plateau City Intergalactic Spaceport, or simply ‘the Spaceport’ as locals call it, is a large group of low structures articulated in half-circles around the military installations - originally dependant on the Plateau City’s Sheriff office, and now on the Galactic Empire. The once light control on the going in and out the docking bays by the Sheriff’s men is nowadays much enforced by the Empire’s officers. However, the growth of the spaceport and the neighborhood besides it make it difficult for them to efficiently control the comings and goings of captains, crew, passengers and visitors. The docking bays feature the classical landing pits, carved out of the plateau stone ground, and they can harbor up to (?) starships.
Initially planned to lay apart from Plateau City, the original settlers didnt account for the growing rate of the city or the spaceport itself. Along the edge of the docking instalations a somewhat chaotic neighborhood has appeared, connecting the port to the city. The ‘Spaceport Neighborhood' is a bustling place, ever-growing and never-sleeping. It features civilian habitations, a commercial center, inns, cantinas, nightclubs and much more. It is also the neighborhood with the highest crime rate of Plateau City.
People in transit, as well as those more permanently established, can find in this neighborhood everything they want, never needing to venture into the city if they dont want to. Nevertheless, they are not the only ones to frequent the area, it has become a fashionable place for entertainment among young people from the city, always in search of more exciting places. 'The Falling Star', a night club and casino, is especially popular.
Planet Setting Proposal
Creatures' profile: Madris
Madris are proud riding beasts from Charubah, in the Hapan Cluster, home-world of Vorgrell’s first Chume. After positioning herself in power, Fara Jay’vex had a centenar specimens brought to Vorgrell and the Jay’vex family has bred them for riding and racing ever since, turning it into a very profitable trade. They own extensive ‘ranchs’ to breed Madris in different parts of Vorgrell, the smaller of them, but closer to Plateau City, is called the 'Charubah Ranch'. It is not far from Halean Falls.
The two-meter tall animals have smooth seal-like pelt that goes from black to camel tones, a long lean reptilian tail, powerful muscular legs and four short and stout tusks, two in the top of their head and two protruding from their mandibles.
The madris are omnivorous and can be very ferocious when hunting, attacking their prey with help of their tusks. However they were domesticated centuries ago by the Charubahns and used as a privilege mount beast. They are specially priced because of their speedy and smooth gait that can race through Vorgrell’s rocky plains and forested valleys.
The expensive and exclusive beasts are sold as mounts for the privileged but mainly they are used for racing. There is a huge madris race trak in the outskirts of Plateau City, the Hapes Race Trak, and a smaller and more disreputable one in Shipwreck city. The weekly races bring people from all around the planet for sporting and gambling.
Planet Setting Proposal
nice drawing, did you do that?
Maybe I'll model up a concept, the drawing would be a very nice bump map, and color map template.
G
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No, I didnt. I found it in an alien beast gallery... somewhere. :D I cant draw like that. It'd be cool to have a Madris drawn in color.
They are used for riding and racing, I imagine them with high saddles and maybe numbers or symbols on them. Or running free in the Jay'vexes ranchs. :D
Planet Setting Proposal
cool ok, maybe if you can find the artist I can at least credit for the concept as I post. just a respect thang.
Just blocked out the main shape and placed the map on the model. Not close to done yet. Nice its in that rigid pose, makes it very symmetrical, and easy to model.
click for bigger image
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Wow, Greg. :D
I'll try finding the drawing again, sure. Not sure i'll find it, though. i dont know how many images i saw till i found one i liked. :(
Planet Setting Proposal
Gagra Marda
Huttese for "Scar on the World"
The Hutt who originally did the planetary survey of Vorgrell (before the Trade Feds bought it from them or the Leviathan crashed on it could hardly fail to notice the hemisphere-long rift that they call Gagra Marda.
Republican geologists theorise that the rift was caused by an imbalance in the tectonic plates that made the word split like a grape that has been subjected to too much pressure. The local primitives say that it is where the claw of the space-dragon gripped their world before leaving it in space.
Either way, the deep rift is surrounded by volcanic peaks and steam-filled caverns. The hulk of the Leviathan lies in one of the smaller offshoot canyons.
From the Nothern Hemisphere to the Southern one, Gagra Marda extends a total of 16,445 km (10,220 mi) from Plateau City to the agricultural settlement at Assendof.
There are several extended canyons off of the rift with seperate names.
Travelling from North to South The most prominent ones are:
NOTE: In case you wondered...the length of Gagra Marda is the distance between Annapolis, MD and Melbourne Australia and the length of Fougera Jerfra is the distance between Manchester, UK and Las Vegas, NV. Just for a sense of scale.
[/]Shipwreck (Large City and Spaceport)
any more info on this: try to get a picture together in my head.
I see its a prison transport, crashed in southern end of canyon, at the mouth of the fork.
How wide is the canyon? and in comparison to the ship.
size and config (shape), crew compliment of ship.
How long has ship been there, I take it a city has morphed out of the hulk of the ship, and grown up the sides, with parts from the ship.
I see a kinda of mad max barter town, yeah / nay?
how does the seismic, geological activity play around this settlement?
and city wall structures.
just wondering
Planet Setting Proposal
I see this as being an enormous Prison transport (they don't name small ships Leviathan) and it was probably full of a lot of largely inconvenient people that the Old Republic were removing to less visible places (like Kessel). So imagine a mix of small time crime-lords and political prisoners along with altruistic policemen and people with more scruples than sense. It probably concided with some sort of "Let's clean up the Galaxy" campaign 150 years ago.
So this huge ship has a failure - say a shield failure. So it heads to a world to park in orbit while it repirs the ship. But it hits something (I imagine that there is a debris field surrounding the inner and outer orbits of this world that is made up of grape-shot sized pieces of granite from the rift. Not quite a ring but dangerous to fly through without a shield). And the ship now looks like swiss cheese. The pilot (quick thinker he is) decides to make planetfall risking that that is going to be easier than flying through this invisible field of grapeshot.
He can see this enormous rift so he aims for the edge hoping to use the downhill slope of it to ride off his momentum and slide downhill to the sea. And misses. He hits the cavern wall and the ship rolls into the rift. The ones who survive impact and falling into the rocky canyon (likely with a rapidly flowing river through it - Think Grand Canyon) come out and say many curse words.
They scavenge the ship at first and 6 years later discover that the Trade Federation has started building a permanent colony not that far away. So they start trading. Lots. Plateau City is only about 6 years younger than Shipwreck.
I see the hulk of Shipwreck being in a park-like setting in the center of town. There are tours and things. The original settlment would have been along the riverbanks at first, and later it would have moved into cliff-side dwellings most likely.
So in this wide canyon there are dwellings clinging to the side of the cliffs. There are landing platforms jutting out and light bridges from one side to the other. These are all connected to the canyon floor with lift-tubes and cables.
The Barter-town idea would be good for the inner city, but the newer parts (on the walls of the canyon) would be more spiffy-looking.
Here are my thoughts...
The wreck is going to look something like this (not much left after 150 years): http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/203856/Action/FullPre...
It'll be in a canyon about 10 miles wide. but that has a shape sort of like this:
<br /> ___ ______<br /> | |------- 10 miles ------| |<br /> \ ___ /<br /> | | |<br /> \ 5000 feet |<br /> \ | /<br /> | _|_ /<br /> \___ /<br /> |___2 miles__|<br /> \~~~~/<WaterPlanet Setting Proposal
I have been thinking about this smoe more...I think the transport would have been about the same as the Mon Calamari ship Home One which makes it huge...nearly a mile long.
So imagine if the shipis lying - not Paralell to the canon like this (view looking straight down):
___ _____<br /> ____/ \__/\/ \____<br /> ______<br /> [ship \_<br /> [______/<br /> ________ ____ ____<br /> \__/ \/but perpendicular like this:
___ _____<br /> ____/ \__/\/ \____<br /> ___<br /> | |<br /> | |<br /> _____Z Z ____ ____<br /> V \__/ \/From the side it might even provide a natural ramp (which has been adapted into a highway after all this time up the side of the canyon. (side view again)
______/<br /> / |<br /> ___ / _|___<br /> | / P |<br /> \ / I /<br /> | / H |<br /> \ / S |<br /> \ \ /<br /> | O\_ /<br /> \___ 0\_ / <debris under the wreck<br /> |___ oO\|<br /> \~~~~/<Waterjust a (simple) Visualization
(O)T.I.E. ______/ /\<br /> / == ==| /==\<br /> ___ (Skimmer) . / == _|_|==|__<br /> ##| 0=0 |/ = |#########<br /> ###\_______. / === /##########<br /> ###[==] . / = ==|###########<br /> ###\// | |/ == |###########<br /> ####[==] \ == /############<br /> #####|/ _ _| O\_ /#############<br /> ######\/=\/==\ 0\_ /##############<br /> ########|=====\ oO\|#################<br /> ###############\~~~~/###################<br /> ########################################Another stright down view (zoomed out and not nearly to scale. Just to show relative positions.
\_ ~~~ \_ ~ = Water<br /> \ ~~~ \ Z = Ship<br /> \ ~~~ \ # = Upper City<br /> \ ~~~ \ @ = Lower City<br /> \__ ~~~ \__ ##############<br /> \ ~~~ | ############ _____<br /> \_ ~~~ \_##_/@@@\##/\/ \____<br /> \ ~~~ @@@@@|ZZ|@@ ~~~~~~~~<br /> \ `~~~~~~~~~~~@@@|ZZ|@@@~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /> \ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~@|ZZ|@ ~~~~___ ____<br /> | ~~~~~ / ###\/##\@_/ \/<br /> | ~~~~~ | ########<br /> | ~~~~~ \ <-- Some sort of peak<br /> \ ~~~~~ |_<br /> \ ~~~~~ \<br /> \ ~~~~~ \<br /> \ ~~~~~ \Planet Setting Proposal
hmmm, ok let me rattle that around in the space between my ears.
look cool :D
Planet Setting Proposal
If anyone wants to describe the color, patterns, textures, skin, hair, etc on this dealie, I can think about that. Maybe general disposition, attitude.
Solitary, pack hunters, herds???
And if I get to it, the madris racing, saddle and rider, accoutrements, etc.
Planet Setting Proposal
More on Madris...
Madris’ pelt is similar to seal skin, short and glossy. It ranges in color from black to light camel, passing through bronze and golden. Madris can be of solid colors, or have tiger-like stripes on their back and tail, when stripped their marks are unique to each individual. Their underbelly is usually lighter than the rest of their pelt. The tusks are ivory colored and their eyes are black and brilliant.
When they were brought to Vorgrell there were about a hundred animals, but in the following century their population has grown. The few families that breed Madris have them in extensive ranchs, mostly in the rocky plains. Jay'vexes ranchs are the larger, and the family continues to be the most important breeder of the planet.
They are herd animals, usually living in groups of around 20-30 beasts, under the leadership of an alpha male. When young males reach their prime they usually move away from the pack to form their own groups. Since they are bred in extensive territories, a Madris shepherd is appointed to care of each herd. Madris relationship with humans is millenary, and once they are taken from their herds, they bond with their riders, considering them automatically their alpha male. Madris don’t need to be broken.
Though their diets can be as widely varied as that of a Human, Madris’ aspect is that of a savage attack animal. However, even if they can be quite ferocious when hunting, using their tusks to attack, they only hunt small animals and have long been domesticated.
Madris are really fast animals, their powerful legs carry them across the plains of Vorgrell at incredible speeds, often appearing to run just above the ground.
When a madris is standing it is 2-2.5 meters tall, and its neck and upper back rise at a steep angle. This requires a high-backed saddle that keeps riders in an upright position. Madris need to kneel to let humans mount them.
Racing madris are decorated with their numbers and sometimes names, much in the same way racehorses are. Riders’ costumes bear the same numbers and colors than their mounts.
Madris Racetracks...
There are two important madris racetracks in Vorgrell. The 'Hapes Madris Race Track' near Plateau City, and the 'Steeple Canyon Madris Race Track' in the outskirts of Shipwreck City.
The Hapes Madris Racetrack was built according with Hapan sense of beauty. Extensive gardens surround the facilities and the installations were built taking into consideration the terrain aspect not to alter the landscape. The racetrack consists of an array of elevation changes, nine turns and one long straight away where Madris seem to fly over the track. Hapes Racetrack is about 6 miles long.
The Steeple Canyon Madris Racetrack is a bit smaller than the Hapes one, only 4 miles long, but it is a much more difficult and dangerous track. The racetrack builders used the irregular terrain of the canyon wall to build some parts of the circuit, even to the extent of widening some of the natural caves and passages that go in and out the canyon. The rest of the racetrack also sports closed angle bendings and a long straight away section. The canyon walls were also used to build the public stands and the racetrack facilities.
Planet Setting Proposal
Just playing with coloring (and a saddle harness idea)
Here's the Photoshop file
Planet Setting Proposal
That's great, Dave!!
Greg, I located the site where I found the pic. I think that the artist is Arnie Jorgensen. This is the site: http://www.rpgplanet.com/starwars/cantina/concept.htm
Planet Setting Proposal
Mmmm, looking at that pic again... maybe a smaller saddle, Dave?
Madris are over 2 meters tall, and have to kneel for their riders to mount them, so they are big animals. Human legs should reach more or less the middle of their body. A saddle that big makes the animal look smaller.
The coloring and marks are great!! :D
Planet Setting Proposal
hope it jives with the description: An enviroment transition interface.
click for large pic
Planet Setting Proposal
Wow Greg, that looks amazing!! I love it.
When I visited your site, I found the topomap.jpg file, which i suppose you used as basis for your rendition of Vorgrell (it's VoRgrell, Greg, btw, though I also like Vogrell better :wink: ). Can we use that as a map for our world?
I really liked what Dave did locating cities, canyon names and such in the planet image, but it'd be easier to visualize them in a map-like image (for me, at least)
Also there are oceans!! Even an mediterranean sea. Cool. I hadn't thought of oceans, (i'm already controlling myself not to write the Betrayn House profile in relation to oceans, but they could as well come from a water world and be in charge of oceans, couldnt they? Damn) However, we need names for those oceans now. :D
Planet Setting Proposal
I have that map too, and am converting it to a line-drawing to use as map (just been busy with other things). Look for that soon. It will be slightly changed when I post it since Greg did it in what is essentially Staight-line projection (which causes a lot of distortion) and I want to modify it to Mercater Projection which will minimise the distortion some (and be more familiar for us).
Planet Setting Proposal
Cool, Dave. That's exactly what i was thinking about. Looking forward to see that map. :D
Planet Setting Proposal
Oh, it's Vorgrell !! hmm :D
Yeah, spelling not a strong point in my design. ha ha
I guess I have some text to change.
Thx