Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 RalofTyr Oct 14, 2010 15:16:41	Hola: I'm in Patagonia right now.  I've been thinking about Dark Sun recently and I have a few ideas for visualizations. This is what I imaged Scrub Plains would look like (most of Patagonia). img841.imageshack.us/img841/5012/juvenes... This is what the Forest Ridge and Ringing Mountains should be like. img687.imageshack.us/f/martes12octbarilo... Although the Andes are tall and has a snow-line, moisture still goes over the mountain and provides a little bit of rain so it's not quite a rain-shadow desert.  Hence most of Patagonia is scrub-land. The Mountain-Forest Ridge img717.imageshack.us/img717/6155/lunes11... I have more pics, but the internet sucks down here.
#2 FriendlyBiscuit Oct 14, 2010 18:18:34	Cool idea! Thanks for sharing. The first pic looks like a lot of Arizona, too.
#3 RalofTyr Oct 14, 2010 18:29:18	Yeah, Patagonia and AZ are both Living Deserts. Patagonia is flat.  It's like a plain here.  There are strong winds and dust storms (small) every once and a while.  I often imagine Dark Sun as being a flat plain as represented in the maps. It takes a day of driving though Patagonia before you get to the Andes Mts. One thing about the mountains here is that they are very dusty.  My shoes are covered in dust when I walk the trails.  I litterally have a cloud of dust following me as I hike sometimes. Also, on the South facing slows, there is still snow.  A good source of water if you were in the Ringing Mountains. South is away from the sun here.
#4 lord_rock Oct 14, 2010 22:02:54	Sweet.  Thanks for sharing.
#5 RalofTyr Oct 15, 2010 16:13:48	The Forest-Ridge should have a few water-falls and many streams. b.imagehost.org/view/0556/Viernes15OctBa...
#6 FriendlyBiscuit Oct 18, 2010 4:07:26	I always imagine Athas as being a little... prettier than the parts of Arizona I live in. Most of the area around here would qualify just fine as Scrub Plains. I like to visualize Athas as having deeper reds, harsher oranges, brighter yellows, in most places. I mean, not cartoon colors, but certainly close to the colors used on the 2e boxed set, the DSCS, the foldout map, etc. Most of Arizona is just uniformly, plainly light tan, including our buildings for some reason. One thing about the mountains here is that they are very dusty.  My shoes are covered in dust when I walk the trails.  I litterally have a cloud of dust following me as I hike sometimes.   How evocative! I'll totally work this into a color scene or interstitial in my game. Thanks!
#7 RalofTyr Oct 18, 2010 21:14:08	It rains, but only a little. Not enough to prevent the dust from covering everything.  In the clearings there was mud. I was in LLao LLao today (google it), it a forest.  It has the ground covered in bamboo-like plants and trees not seen by the Northern hemisphere. The forest was thick enough that I didn't feel much of the rain.  The bamboo  and trees formed a sort of cover.  I image the upper Forest-Ridge like that.  Sunny, with a light storm that moves in, and rains, but not too hard. The Halflings would be good at this sort of environment.  They are small enough to move through the thick bruch at the base of the forest.
#8 tallric_kruush Oct 20, 2010 6:45:53	Ral, thanks for the photos and experiences. I love learning about new places, and I'd never heard of Llao Llao. Not only were the pictures and information enjoyable in their own right, Llao Llao definitely has a cool look and feel. I'm sure these posts will come to mind whenever I think of the forests of Athas. Again, thanks.
#9 RalofTyr Oct 20, 2010 18:40:27	You're welcome. I was at the other end of the lake today in an area I can only describe as the Hinterlands.  There were strong winds coming off of the mountains and rain in the forest 15KM to the west next to the mountains, but there, only dry desert and occasional drops of rain from the clouds over the forest area. Llao Lao gets over 2,500mm of rain a year; Cerro Leones and Dina Haupi (town at the edge of the lake), gets only 400mm of rain a year. Cerro Leones was cool; it had a series of caves no bigger than a large garage.  One, had a small hole you climb though and that opened up to a larger cavern with a small pool of water at the deep end; it's a spring and you can drink from it.
#10 edwin_su Oct 21, 2010 3:48:56	room42.wikispaces.com/file/view/files_wa... friedmanarchives.com/Namibia/images/Nami... www.robotarm.se/images/desrt11.jpg wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/2102/P... farm1.static.flickr.com/158/436691645_85... www.eveandersson.com/photos/israel/masad... some desert photograpy and art work