Brainstorming: sunken continent

[Eldan]

So, I basically told my players to go where they want (they found an airship. I made it hard and they got it.) They decided to leave the continent, which I admit I hadn't thought of.

So. The World is Tamriel, of the Elder Scrolls. They decided to sail to Yokuda. For those who don't know, it's a continent that was destroyed in a vaguely specified cataclysm, it's present state is vague and never stated how much is left.

The redguard culture of Yokuda was a warrior culture, at war with, amongst other things, a race of desert elves. In fact, the most common climate mentioned for the continent is desert. They have at least three different warrior gods among the handful of gods mentioned for them. Elder Scrolls Online seems to go a bit more into it, giving them a vaguely Egyptian looking culture.

There are several reasons mentioned for how the continent was destroyed and in true Elder Scrolls fashion they disagree. It may be that a religious splinter sect used Earth magic to sink the continent. IT may be that a sword master became so powerful that he employed a forbidden sword technique to split the continent and cut the laws of nature. It may be that the inhabitants fell away from their religion and summoned something terrible. It may be that a cycle of cosmic time ended and the snake god of creation and destruction ate the continent.

Looking away from Elder Scrolls Lore, what could be found there? I don't want to have everything under water, of course, it tends to make adventuring hard. So we're looking at islands that were mountains. Maybe towers reaching over the waves. I doubt there would be any inhabitants left, the cataclysm was millennia ago. Bringing in dreadful gods and dark cults sounds at least interesting, so we may do something

Still, does anyone have any ideas, even small ones? Even just for aesthetics?

[TheYell]

Combine subsiding land with the fast winds of a great storm.

Fast winds reduce air pressure. Lower air pressure leads to rising water. This is called a storm surge. In a bad enough hurricane, this can send a ten-meter wave racing inland for miles.

So the coast of the continent is now underwater, and the interior was scourged with a massive, temporary wall of water that has now receded.

[Nifft]

Hmm.

Maybe it "sunk" but not very far -- say 10 ft. or so -- and additionally, new mountains were thrust through the land, and volcanic activity increased greatly.

Now you've got:
- Port and river cities which have been sunk ~10 ft., becoming swamps with 2-story houses that can be explored, and hills which may contain unsunken houses.
- Mountain cities which have been sunk in lava.
- Valley cities which starved after having been cut off by avalanches and/or liquid magma.
- Farmlands which may have been blanketed by volcanic ash.
- Deserts which are now getting regular rain due to new mountain formations, and farmlands which are NOT getting regular rain for the same reason.

So, basically, not entirely sunken -- but a great justification for why those who fled on boats might think of it that way.

[Mastikator]

You could have dwemer underground cities that were designed specifically to be water resistant, that they'd have mechanisms for pumping water out of their passages and halls (as well as the ventilation for preventing the air from getting stale).
From there you could have falmer remaining.

In addition to this you could have some artifact that caused the cataclysm to happen still remain with the option of removing it, which would raise the continent back. Maybe it wasn't really lowered, just the local sea level that raised, with the artifact removed the water just flows away and levels with the rest of the ocean.

Argonians could live there, they're amphibious so they'll be fine even when the ocean subsides.

Maybe it was a cult of argonians who caused the cataclysm in the first place, they needed a way to get rid of the humans and elves so they made a pact with some daedra lord. If you want you could just make up a new daedra lord, one that pertains to the ocean and would have motivation to drown out entire continents.

[Samzat]

You could have dwemer underground cities that were designed specifically to be water resistant, that they'd have mechanisms for pumping water out of their passages and halls (as well as the ventilation for preventing the air from getting stale).
From there you could have falmer remaining.

In addition to this you could have some artifact that caused the cataclysm to happen still remain with the option of removing it, which would raise the continent back. Maybe it wasn't really lowered, just the local sea level that raised, with the artifact removed the water just flows away and levels with the rest of the ocean.

Argonians could live there, they're amphibious so they'll be fine even when the ocean subsides.

Maybe it was a cult of argonians who caused the cataclysm in the first place, they needed a way to get rid of the humans and elves so they made a pact with some daedra lord. If you want you could just make up a new daedra lord, one that pertains to the ocean and would have motivation to drown out entire continents.

That falls under Mehrunes Dagon, simply because his portfolio is destruction and change, and such a disaster is both

[Eldan]

I'd rather take an opportunity to put some things there that can't be found in Tamriel. Argonians and Dwemer never went far west, as far as I know, and nothing intelligent except Sinistrals and Redguard was ever mentioned to live there.

Same for the gods. I could blame everything on Mehrunes Dagon again, but Satakal is just the more interesting alternative. The games already woefully underrepresent the non-Imperial aspects of the gods. Looking at you, Skyrim, with your nine-divines-worshipping Nords.

But I like the idea of the continent not having sunk as such, but being under a bubble of water. If anything, it would look cool.

[exelsisxax]

Well from canon, Yokuda was destroyed by a guy using pankatosword (sp?), which is basically being so good at swordfighting that you get to beat reality up and take its wallet (CHIM, anyone?) before it gets back up and extinguishes you from itself.

And there's significant bits of yokuda left.

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The pre-megasploding yokuda was just far, FAR larger. It could well have been larger than tamriel.

[kraftcheese]

Same for the gods. I could blame everything on Mehrunes Dagon again, but Satakal is just the more interesting alternative.

Forgive me if I'm remembering this wrong, but is Satakal the snake god that's linked to the Serpent sign? Or did I conflate the two?

[Eldan]

Forgive me if I'm remembering this wrong, but is Satakal the snake god that's linked to the Serpent sign? Or did I conflate the two?

I don't know if he's linked to the serpent sign, but Satakal is in a way the one true Yokudan god. He's a combination, sort of, of Anu, Padomay and Alduin. A serpent god who regularly stroys the world and creates a new one. Since Sep (Lorkhan), the other serpent god, trapped humans and gods in this world, he's the only truly immortal being.

Well from canon, Yokuda was destroyed by a guy using pankatosword (sp?), which is basically being so good at swordfighting that you get to beat reality up and take its wallet (CHIM, anyone?) before it gets back up and extinguishes you from itself.

I'm given the impression that the Pankratosword (all fighting, in Greek) is just one of the explanations given in the fluff.

[LibraryOgre]

I assume you're familiar with the Unofficial Elder Scroll's Pages and their Lore Page on Yokuda?

I'd lean towards there being outlying islands, with most of the continent itself sunk, to varying degrees... I think the idea of everything being 10' under water is a good one, with a lot of potential for adventure. Since the supposed destroyers were a brand of Stone magicians, I would think about what that means and how that will manifest.

Personally, I'd be disinclined to use anything from standard Tamriel. You might have lizard people, but I wouldn't make them Argonians (anyone else remember the Lizard Men of Arena?). There may be elves, but I would not have them be explicitly Dwemer... instead, some weird bit with the Lefthanded Elves or the Maomer (or both... who says you can't have multiple elves?)

However, I'll add one other consideration... depending on WHEN you play, the continent sank literally ages ago (if you're in Skyrim, both the 2nd and 3rd ages passed with it under water). While you might play it like WaterWorld, I wouldn't emphasize the tragedy in everyone's daily lives, there. Ages seem to last about 1000 years, so it's like modern people lamenting the fall of Rome on a daily basis. The only people for whom it is relevant are historians and a few old elves.