City Image - Carnous
Carnous is the famous Boardwalk city, built upon the toxic lands of The Wastes. Here the land is slowly corrosive to the touch, causing illness with prolonged contact. Carnous is a wooden city that is never stationary and always growing.
Carnous is the famous Boardwalk city, built upon the toxic lands of The Wastes. Here the land is slowly corrosive to the touch, causing illness with prolonged contact. The bubbling sulfur and ectomass pools (HellPits too) are especially lovely, if you have the right aesthetic. The soil is soft and any heavy object slowly sinks. If it was not for the special resources here (dyes, alchemical elements, resins, Grimrock, Verner glands, etc), it would be a place that no one would come.
Carnous is a wooden city that is never stationary. All the buildings are wooden, built upon wooden platforms. They are usually one story, but there are a few two story buildings. There are boardwalks and bridges (wood and pitched ropes) that connect the various platforms. The longer the platform is in contact, the more likely it is to fall apart. Thus the older parts of the city are not that old, as the truly old part have collapsed into the soft soil, first being rubble, then a green globby mass. The City Pilot, the head councilman, keeps plotting a new course... where new buildings/ platforms are built in that direction.
The local woods are blond in color, quite flexible and light. (Local is an approximate, all good wood is from the edges of the toxic lands). In the end, all buildings here are temporary. Though you would never know that given the craftsmenship invested in them. Door frames, Frame beams, and Roof Trims are intricately carved. Various clans in the city have their own distinctive patterns, so you can tell ownership of the building (or at least who built it) by carefully looking at the patterns carved in. Interior walls and some exterior ones (for less secure buildings) are made of thick lacquer paper to save upon weight. The presence of these translucent walls helps "light up" the city at night. One would think fire would be a constant danger here, but the resins used to preserve the wood from the corrosion help to make it fairly fire resistant.
There are airship docks and Verner/ Giant Wormish pens spread along the edges of the city. These are the only safe entrance and exit ports for the city. Walking or riding a normal beast is not an option here. In fact, the cry "Soul Overboard" will galvanize every native to action, gathering ropes and vaulting on poles out to the person in an attempt to save them before the soil claims them.
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? Responses (7)
Two goons - I thinks that our little snitch needs to talk a little walk...with the worms.
Certainly interesting, and a unique setting. Would there be a way for the locals to discover some material that is resistant to the corrosive effects of the soil? Houses sitting on glass pontoons might be weird, but it would be an interesting application of Toynbee.
To date, nothing seems to withstand the caustic toxic landscape. I am assuming everything is eventually eaten.
Glass, had not thought about a proper thermal glass.
That would be interesting. It would destroy the character of the place, but it would be a fascinating change. Of course, the city would then sheer off a couple of sections, every now and again, leaving behind islands.
Though, would they be able to support themselves. Since everything corrodes eventually, just from the toxic elements in the air (which are thousands of times less concentrated than the ground), would the things built on the glass pylons stay around long enough to be worth it?
Very Cool. A city that is constantly being built up. It is like a boat, except its water is toxic land.
Spelling and Grammer erros annoyed me enought to downgrade from a 5.
And about the post above, actually I hope they never find anything resistant, otherwise this would become 'just another city', rather than a place of business that is ever changing.
Updated: Updated for some capitalization errors and links.
I would think there is not enough money - or call - for permanent structures here. It would be like oil rigs out to sea - eventually the local resource would be used up and the city would need to move again anyway. In any case, I really like this city image - it paints a very clear picture for me and is a fascinating locale. In some ways it feels star-wars-ish,
The wastes are full of exotic things that makes scavenging, harvesting, and prospecting worth the effort. This city, such that it is sulports those workers and doea processing.
I can't figure out what you mean about moving the city (large town really). People are always building in the leadward edge as older buildings and platforms (on the trailing end) are deteriorating due to acid corrousion and agressive rots. (Building to the side eventually becomes trailing or are disconected from the mass of platforms that make the city.) The city is always moving a few yards forward every day.
There arw several moving cities as defined by The Wastes post. Each one covering certain regions of The Wastes.
A unique city.
