Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 greyorm Jun 10, 2010 22:37:36	I'm currently throwing together some Dead Lands stuff, just for fun while my paying design project simmers in its own creative juices for a bit, and I'll put it up on the Studio site when I have a decent chunk. For new comers to the setting, the Dead Lands are a vast obsidian plain south of the Tyr Valley region, an area even more deadly than the Tyr deserts because of the ubiquitous presence of undead and the complete lack of water and living things. I've always been kind of bored by the idea that the Dead Lands are just a big, wide plain of flat, black obsidian. That's kind of like thinking that because Athas is all desert, it is nothing but sand dunes everywhere. The Tyr region boasts numerous different types of desert terrain (the aforementioned sand dunes, plus scrubland, boulder fields, salt flats, etc.) and I feel the Dead Lands should have more variety as well. As well, obsidian is often grayish, not black, especially after it weathers for a couple hundred or thousand years, so I don't see the Dead Lands as being this weird black, featureless plain. I mean, this is what an obsidian landscape looks like. And obsidian can have a golden or multi-colored sheen, a rainbow coloration, or have a matte-white snowflake pattern. Etc. A little bit of thinking on the subject inspired the following terrain types: Petrified rock fields: fallen forests whose trees turned to stones scattered everywhere. Black desert: where the obsidian has been ground down into deep, shifting black sand. Shards: where unstable layers of razor-edged obsidian shards cover the ground. Volcanic vents: splits and cracks in the obsidian release smoke, ash, and toxic clouds. Magma: churning pools or slow rivers of molten rock surrounded by basalt and etc. Ooze: volcanic sand and ash combine with moisture creating fields of ill-colored muck. Ash: dry, blinding areas coated with ash and pumice. Crystals: huge black crystals grow in large clusters from the ground. Badlands: columns, plateaus, and twisting natural towers of obsdian. Razor-trees: large clusters of sharp obsidian spears that crack and fall at the slightest touch. I have a number of other things written up right now, too, but I wanted some feedback on the terrain. I'm curious if anyone has any other generalized terrain types, like one would put on a region-scale map, that might fit into this? Anything I've forgotten? Or comments on any of the above types. (I'm trying to stick close to what real obsidian is, how it is formed, what happens to it when it weathers, etc. Though clearly I've also dipped into the fantasy end of things.)
#2 big_goon Jun 11, 2010 18:32:58	I should probably read-up on the Dead Lands supplement (which I will... someday... it's in the queue.. honest). Please excuse my ignorance from not knowing some of the finer details of the area. Obsidian in the real world is rather soft, and breaks down quite easily from wind and water. Without any water, and with no real wind, Obsidian plains could be preserved for a much longer time than what we experience in the real world. I love the ooze idea. Mixing obsidian dust with moisture would create a pretty deadly concoction. It would be easy to filter the obsidian dust out however... but if you did it incorrectly, the result would be deadly. Badlands: in the real world are often canyons, created by glacial movements or melting Glaciers. Obviously, Glaciers are not all that common on Dark Sun, but there could have been Glaciers at some point. One could imagine the force of water created by a huge glacier suddenly melting and creating sudden river flows (as if the arctic ice caps melted, and the resulting water evaporated away). If a huge deposit of Obsidian accompanied the water, the result could be what looks like huge boulders of obsidian suddenly and violently smashing or piercing the earth. The land would probably be very broken with vast fissures. The badland would appear as is a massive sword cleaved through the land. Shards: Walking around on obsidian will qhickly tear any foot gear. Soft sandles are shreded in minutes. Sneakers in an hour or so. Players walking on obsidian need expensive and thick foot gear to travel. Underground, one could find some super-neat obsidian terrains: Cave of Mirrors: A trickle of light penetrates this underground cavern, dancing around the mirror-like obsidian surfaces of the cave. It's difficult to differentiate between what's real, and what's a mirror image. Focused light might even heat up a chamber, or light items on fire. Chambers of Dust: Because of the lack of wind in caverns, you might experience some interesting "floating" dust. A weak inflow of air into a wind tunnel canyon could lift the dust but not move it, causing the air to be filled with sharp obsidian dust particles for perpetuity. Without visibility, one could stumble into a pocket of floating dust so thick, you can drink the particles. On bare skin, the particles scar and scour. Clothes are easily shredded and weapons quickly blunt. Icy Obsidian: Some chambers might mix ice with obsidian to create stalactites of icy obsidian crystals. Cold, and dangerous. Brittle Walls: Caves of obsidian might create a network of thin, brittle, "faux" walls that are easily broken through. Horrid undead could break through a "faux" wall suprising a unwary wonderer and showing them with glass-like shards.
#3 greyorm Jun 12, 2010 20:50:53	I should probably read-up on the Dead Lands supplement (which I will... someday... it's in the queue.. honest). Please excuse my ignorance from not knowing some of the finer details of the area. No need to excuse you for such, this is for my own conception of the Dead Lands. I haven't read much material on the Dead Lands myself, and what I have, I'm not really big on most of it. So starting from ignorance is as good a point to start from as any, probably better, in fact. Obsidian in the real world is rather soft, and breaks down quite easily from wind and water. Without any water, and with no real wind, Obsidian plains could be preserved for a much longer time than what we experience in the real world. True, though Athas does have high winds. Anyways, this is part of why I don't like the "vast, featureless plain of obsidian" approach I've seen elsewhere, because the timescale and nature does not support such an idea, even if that's what it started out as. Badlands: in the real world are often canyons, created by glacial movements or melting Glaciers. I knew that term was going to bite me in the ass. I really need a different term that describes the kind of landscape I'm talking about. I could just go with "Obsidian Badlands", but there's probably something better. Shards: Walking around on obsidian will qhickly tear any foot gear. Soft sandles are shreded in minutes. Sneakers in an hour or so. Players walking on obsidian need expensive and thick foot gear to travel. Yep. Though for the most part, I'm thinking of the Dead Lands as a place for non-human characters (undead and etc.), so while it would be deadly and dangerous to living, fleshy beings, not quite as much for the character types I have in mind for it. More on that in another post, though. Underground, one could find some super-neat obsidian terrains: I don't think I'm ready to tackle the Obsidian Underground yet, but those are some very neat ideas.
#4 big_goon Jun 13, 2010 11:33:32	True, though Athas does have high winds. Anyways, this is part of why I don't like the "vast, featureless plain of obsidian" approach I've seen elsewhere, because the timescale and nature does not support such an idea, even if that's what it started out as. The Deadlands are rather vast areas. There could be any number of canyons or mountain formations that all but completely prevent winds. I always thought that "dead" air supports the mood of undead habitats. If you want to keep the "black" of fresh obsidian AND the potential for high winds, why not continuously form new obsidian? You could amalgamate the "badlands", "magma" and "volcanic vents" to have sporadic mini-volcanic eruptions that spew new molten hot obsidian and form "tower-like" formations. Example: High winds and cool temperatured obsidian plain: described like walking on a frozen over lake. Except that the obsidian is brittle. As the weight of persons walks over the plain, the obsidian cracks. Too much weight, or too brittle an obsidian step and the crack produced can cause an explosion of pressure from the magma and steam that flow beneath the surface: causing a volcanic vent. The magma spewed out quickly cools (takes a couple of hours to a week) forming a strange glass-obsidian tower. I knew that term was going to bite me in the ass. I really need a different term that describes the kind of landscape I'm talking about. I could just go with "Obsidian Badlands", but there's probably something better. I don't think I'm ready to tackle the Obsidian Underground yet, but those are some very neat ideas. Only mentioned it for the cave of glass idea, which I'm probably going to steal for myself. Of course none of the ideas have to be truly "underground". The badlands or a canyon could have the same effects. For example: smooth and brittle towers of obsidian that dot the badlands. The towers distort or bend light. Or maybe, any image reflected appears "undead" (like looking are your own walking corpse).