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View Full Version : Undersea Community! (halp)



Serpentine
2008-07-27, 12:30 AM
Great, now I have that Avalanches song in my head...

Anyway, I'm building an underwater city (that's Homebrewing, right?) populated by various oceanic species and races. I'm kinda stuck on the logistics of it all, though. Is food just wet? What about drinking, would they need special containers for fresh water, and would it only be above-ocean visitors who need to drink? What about waste products? There's a trench where people throw their rubbish, but it's not as though gutters would work for sewerage and the like, so how would they deal with that, do you think? Are there any other problems I need to think about?
I suppose it doesn't really matter, cuz I'm being rushed to finish this campaign so we'll just be passing through, but we like realism in our games, and it'd make me happier to have something figured out for all this stuff.

Innis Cabal
2008-07-27, 12:36 AM
waster disposal is easily handled. Sea vents will quickly burn any waste that is produced. On to the topic of food and drink, are they underwater oceanic lifeforms? If not then whats to say there are no above water area's for such things? If they are underwater living beings, then drinking would be a nonissue, eating only slightly more of a big deal, but if they live underwater i am more then certain they are used to things being soggy.

Bhu
2008-07-27, 12:59 AM
They wouldn't need to drink. Most water and oxygen could be absorbed through the skin/gills. As far as waste foes, usually some fish/sea critters just vomit back up the bones/indigestible bits.

Serpentine
2008-07-27, 02:44 AM
It's mostly naturally aquatic creatures, but there will be many non-aquatic travellers, too (there's a sort of shanty/markettown on land that sells a whole lot of water survival accessories of various quality). Also aquatic creatures still poo and wee, and I doubt that they'd want it hanging around them too much, especially on a city scale. I suppose it could just be a more carefully sealed version of dryland piping... I am thinking that most food'll be pretty soggy, with maybe some specialty places that have bubbles or somesuch set up for people of less damp tastes.

DracoDei
2008-07-27, 04:09 AM
First thing that comes to mind is to read "Dragon Steel" by Yep... most of the book happens underwater, but all the characters either are amphibious (chinese dragons) or humans who need magic to breath down their.

Jack_of_Spades
2008-07-30, 01:01 AM
For waste disposal I think that a current could carry it away. Like an invisible river only it'd be visible when there's waste flowing in it.

There could also be air bubbles in bars and houses so creatures can drink; they can also keep drink in oiled animal bladders and squeeze out some wine when their thirsty.

Food would be wet, probably raw, or cooked over warm ocean vents so it's basically poached.

I'd also suggest a special workforce that acts as the cleaning service. They handle garbage from the surface that settles onto roofs or sifts bits of meat out of the "air."

Serpentine
2008-07-30, 11:51 AM
Ooo, some good ideas there. I don't think there's gonna be much of a current, but I suppose cities aren't exactly known as very clean places... Thanks!

Debihuman
2008-07-30, 04:44 PM
You can have fantastic cities where humans breathe under glass domes and where wastes are vented down to underwater volcanoes for disposal. This makes the living arrangements a bit more precarious as the volanoes are unpredictable. A well placed decanter of endless air can supply enough pressure to the dome to keep it stable.

The decanter was a gift from the Caliph of the Djinn from the Elemental Plane of Air regarding successful negotiations with the Caliph of the Marids from the Elemental Plane of Water.

The glass dome was constructed by a coalition of merman and sea mages with the help of both marids and djinn. So far the truce has held and neither the marids nor the djinn seem interested in using the city as a pawn in their power games.

Despite it's apparent fragility, the dome is far more powerful than most realize. The marids rarely make promises, but were too proud to create simple dome pieces as expected. They reinforced the glass with magic and wards and bindings but kept the information secret from the humans, merfolk and of course, the djinni. On the surface, it seems like a nice gesture, but with the marids, every gift comes with a price and they intend to use that information to their advantage at a later date.

That should give you plenty of ideas....

Debby