Post by Stix on Apr 15, 2007 1:20:09 GMT -5
Now here's a place where a basher can feel safe and not he bothered by the petitioners at the same time, because Bytopia (called the Twin Paradises by primes who don't know any hetter) is a place where a being's left to himself until there's good need. That means folks here help each other when they need assistance and leave each other alone when they don't. All in all, it's a pretty sociable place.
Now, Bytopia is just that: a pair of layers filled with mountains, streams, forests, meadows, and all the other stuff of a wild and natural world. While it's a far cry from the perfect order of Arcadia, Bytopia isn't the untamed wilderness of the Beastlands either. Both layers hold towns full of hard-working souls and little city-states. Caravans and traders pass from community to community, linking the whole together.
What makes Bytopia particularly unusual is that a cutter can look up, past the sky, and see the other layer of the plane. That's because the layers are stacked on each other like a sandwich, sharing one sky between them. The tallest mountains of each 1ayer actually touch so that they're more like columns (where stalactites and stalagmites meet). During the day, the plane is lit by radiance from the sky. When nighttime comes, the light fades and the sky becomes dark. What looks like stars overhead are actually the lights and fires of communities on the other layer.
The petitioners of Bytopia are industrious to a fault. Truth told, their lives are defined by work. Petitioners figure everybody's got to have an honest trade. Folks who don't, for whatever reason, are shiftless if not outright evil. Adventuring isn't really an honest trade here, and thieving is just intolerable. Petitioners here don't offer charity, although they're fair in all dealings, A basher looking for a handout is likely to be given an axe and pointed to the woodpile with instructions to work up a sweat before dinner.
Layer: Dothion. Of the two layers, this one is dedicated to pastoral industry. Its vast woods are the province of' hunters and woodcutters, its meadows are given over to herders and farmers, and its rivers are plied by fisherfolk and traders. The towns on this layer are small, self-supporting farming communities, each with its own militia and council. The largest of these is Yeoman, a good-sized market town. Dothion is the realm of most of the gnome pantheon, Garl Glittergold being the greatest power. The realm of the gnomish deities is marked by deep woods, great warrens, sentient trees, and large numbers of gnome petitioners. The creatures of the woods are normal animals like those found in temperate regions of a prime-material world, although they're larger and more curious. Seasons are mild, but they do occur.
Layer: Shurrock. The other layer of Bytopia is rough and stormy. The land is more mountainous, rich with ore, and blessed with abundant running water. Farmland is sparse and the woods deep. This is the layer of craft and industry. Mining, smelting, quarrying, and carving are the most frequent trades. The towns hum with energy as mills churn, pumps grind, and forges crackle with activity. Still, it isn't a layer of organized factories. Each laborer maintains his own shop or works as part of an informal cooperative - it's a pre-industrial, industrial world.
Special Physical Conditions. A traveler gets from one layer to the other by climbing to the top of one mountain and then climbing down the other. It's a tricky bit of business when gravity reverses, but after trying it once, a berk gets used to it. Travelers can fly to the top of the sky and make the crossover, taking care not to fall when up suddenly changes to down.
Now, Bytopia is just that: a pair of layers filled with mountains, streams, forests, meadows, and all the other stuff of a wild and natural world. While it's a far cry from the perfect order of Arcadia, Bytopia isn't the untamed wilderness of the Beastlands either. Both layers hold towns full of hard-working souls and little city-states. Caravans and traders pass from community to community, linking the whole together.
What makes Bytopia particularly unusual is that a cutter can look up, past the sky, and see the other layer of the plane. That's because the layers are stacked on each other like a sandwich, sharing one sky between them. The tallest mountains of each 1ayer actually touch so that they're more like columns (where stalactites and stalagmites meet). During the day, the plane is lit by radiance from the sky. When nighttime comes, the light fades and the sky becomes dark. What looks like stars overhead are actually the lights and fires of communities on the other layer.
The petitioners of Bytopia are industrious to a fault. Truth told, their lives are defined by work. Petitioners figure everybody's got to have an honest trade. Folks who don't, for whatever reason, are shiftless if not outright evil. Adventuring isn't really an honest trade here, and thieving is just intolerable. Petitioners here don't offer charity, although they're fair in all dealings, A basher looking for a handout is likely to be given an axe and pointed to the woodpile with instructions to work up a sweat before dinner.
Layer: Dothion. Of the two layers, this one is dedicated to pastoral industry. Its vast woods are the province of' hunters and woodcutters, its meadows are given over to herders and farmers, and its rivers are plied by fisherfolk and traders. The towns on this layer are small, self-supporting farming communities, each with its own militia and council. The largest of these is Yeoman, a good-sized market town. Dothion is the realm of most of the gnome pantheon, Garl Glittergold being the greatest power. The realm of the gnomish deities is marked by deep woods, great warrens, sentient trees, and large numbers of gnome petitioners. The creatures of the woods are normal animals like those found in temperate regions of a prime-material world, although they're larger and more curious. Seasons are mild, but they do occur.
Layer: Shurrock. The other layer of Bytopia is rough and stormy. The land is more mountainous, rich with ore, and blessed with abundant running water. Farmland is sparse and the woods deep. This is the layer of craft and industry. Mining, smelting, quarrying, and carving are the most frequent trades. The towns hum with energy as mills churn, pumps grind, and forges crackle with activity. Still, it isn't a layer of organized factories. Each laborer maintains his own shop or works as part of an informal cooperative - it's a pre-industrial, industrial world.
Special Physical Conditions. A traveler gets from one layer to the other by climbing to the top of one mountain and then climbing down the other. It's a tricky bit of business when gravity reverses, but after trying it once, a berk gets used to it. Travelers can fly to the top of the sky and make the crossover, taking care not to fall when up suddenly changes to down.