Paridon Gazetteer

[Jasper]

One things we are all forgetting is that closing boarders dosen't keep people out, it keeps people in.

Sodo can make it that any marikith who do make it to the serface find every turn and every allyway leads back to a doppel hunting party but even at full strength the boarder closing dosn't keep the marikith from swarming up every manhole in the city.

[Tobias Blackburn]

No... actually it keeps them out as well. Otherwise Falkovnia would have no trouble rolling over it's foes. The masses of undead that rise in Darkon are the borders closing, for example.

[Mortavius]

Why can't Sodo close the border between Paridon & Timor? Because it would simply make things too easy for him and the other Dopplegangers. Remember, the Dopps are almost just as afraid of Timor as the Humans, because any Dopps that have gone down there to investigate have not returned (they were killed or turned into Marikith).

Why can the Hive Queen close her borders? Because her realm is about entrapment. People go down to the monster's den, and then they can't get out by any means when she closes the borders.

Could the border between Cavitius and Tovag be closed? Those two domains were constantly at war; I don't think either could close the borders.

Another thing I forgot to mention, it says in Shadow that on the outskirts of the city a lot of tenements have been destroyed and the land has been churned up and converted to farmland, so there is a bit more food coming into Paridon now.

[Tobias Blackburn]

They still need a constant supply of food to suppliment what they can grow and closing the borders constantly will hurt that.

The Burning peaks is a nice example, except that Kas wanted to fight and Vecna didn't mind tossing people to fight in the war while he concentrated elsewhere. It makes more sense to all the borders to close naturally but give Sodo and the Queen good reasons not to try to rush one another. The Queen doesn't know the land above and wants to try to explore and set up "mini-hives" to get past a locked border, while Sodo needs to develop something that would be effective enough against the Hive and then get it placed properly so he can strike when the time is right.

[Undead Cabbage]

Am I the only one picturing an Underworld style war going on between the Dopplers and the Marikiths?

This could potentially be very cool. Physically, Marikiths are stronger than Dopplers. However, the Dopplers would most likely have a lot more cunning. This isn't to say that the queen isn't herself smarter than your average doppleganger, just I doubt she would be able to fend off numerous well planned attacks made by the dopplers all at once in different locations.

Timor could very quickly become a battleground. It sort of sounds like an Alien vs. Predator that doesn't suck!

[Tobias Blackburn]

I don't know if doppelgangers in tight latex catsuits really fit the setting, Cabbage.

And let's not try to think of the Hive Queen in a catsuit.

The doppelgangers aren't going to put themselves in harms way if they can avoid it. After all, that's what the guards are for. And it wouldn't be hard to get the government to help cover up ther Marikith as they aren't going to want to add shadowy sewer monsters to the list of things for the people to fear, not after what happened when the Doppelgangers were revealed.

The marikiths were more open about their nature in Old Timor, but the Hive Queen was familiar with the people, their attitudes and their abilities. The technology (and alchemy) are quite new to her, so she is likely to take it slow.

There are definitely battles, but they are more likely to be Adventuring Patsy the Doppelgangers have sent into a Marikith hive.

[Jester of the FoS]

Sodo being unable to close the borders may be kludge but it is canon, and one of the tenants of this project is to stick as closely to canon as possible. When things are really broken, so broken as to limit playability (such as number of Marikiths and lack of anything else in Timor) then bending canon is acceptable. Altering canon to make a land fit a personal preferance should be avoided when possible.
Other than that, changes should be left to individual DMs.

You don't like Sodo being unable to close his boder? Fine, change it in your games.

Sure, no other domain or lord is unable to close their borders to defend againt invasion, but no other lord has their domain stacked atop another. I like him being vulnerable because it gives him something to fear.

Regardless, this discussion is closed. I'm not trying to be an ogre but spending a page plus swatting a single topic back and forth gets us nowhere. Especially when said topic(s) occupy a single sentence or paragraph in an 80-page topic.


So what are the buroughs of Paridon?

Have we settled on a theme yet?

Anything we're forgetting?

[Undead Cabbage]

I don't know if doppelgangers in tight latex catsuits really fit the setting, Cabbage. Wink

No, but the idea is quite commical.

So what are the buroughs of Paridon?

I plan to be posting what we've got so far soon. As soon as someone can get the sketch I've made on a website to help visualize everything, it'll be good to go.

[Pamela]

So what are the buroughs of Paridon?

Have we settled on a theme yet?

Anything we're forgetting?

Cabby's said he's going to be posting info on the boroughs, so I'll leave that be till later.

The recurrent themes of Paridon are, it seems:

1. Competition: Survival of the Fittest. A society where everybody’s trying to work their way up the economic and social ladder, with a religion that teaches you can be more than you are.
2. Xenophobia: Fear of the unknown, and the other
3. What Lurks Beneath.

Things still to be addressed: The level of education and literacy in this city-state. You'd earlier also brought up the issue of health care- I doubt that the Council is going to provide it, but do the city's lodges in their talk of improving mankind provide medical services? Input appreciated, especially yours, Boccacio!

David, can you put me on the 'dibs list' for government, please? And anyone interested in working on this, please PM me; I'm more than happy to collaborate.

[Jester of the FoS]

Continuity Errors! What to do with them.
How should we handle the river? What's it called? Why are there two names?

Any other goofs we should adress?

[Tobias Blackburn]

Continuity Errors! What to do with them.
How should we handle the river? What's it called? Why are there two names?

Any other goofs we should adress?

We need someone to sit down and go over all the Paridon products and make up a list.

For example, there are coal mines in Paridon that we need to take into account, who's tunnels are now part of Timor (Shadow of the Knife).

Going over Timor I discovered that the Hive Queen and the history of the domain has 2.5 versions to it. It doesn't mean we have to throw away goofs, but we have to make sure we explain them properly if we keep them in.

[Pamela]

Continuity Errors! What to do with them.
How should we handle the river? What's it called? Why are there two names?

The guys went for text over map; the map called it Rhastik but the very first paragraph of the Paridon description calls it Nodnal River. Why there are two names, I have no clue, except to assume an unusual typo.

[Pamela]

A question I've always wondered about- what do sunrises/sunsets look like in such a constricted domain? For example, let's say the sunrise is at 6 am. You live close to the eastern city walls. How long would it take for a Paridoner to actually be able to see the sun itself, versus the light that emerges over the Mists?

[Stygian Inquirer]

It could become ambiently and directionally brighter until the sun is visible.

As for the river, Timor used to be a city with sewers and subterranean levels so if Paridon 'overwrote' the city above leaving Timor underneath, 'Rhastik' could be the original name in Timorian (?) or in the Marikith language and 'Nodnal River' could be the name given to it by the Paridonites when the domains formed Zherisia.

[Undead Cabbage]

A question I've always wondered about- what do sunrises/sunsets look like in such a constricted domain? For example, let's say the sunrise is at 6 am. You live close to the eastern city walls. How long would it take for a Paridoner to actually be able to see the sun itself, versus the light that emerges over the Mists?

Depends on where you are in the city I would think.

In Blackchapel, (unsurprisingly) the sun will not be actually seen save the very coastal edges until near midday. These areas are very urban, very dense, and arguably very polluted. Of course, the fact that Blackchapel would be a place with little sunlight is a no-brainer.

King's Quarter's, on the otherhand (conveniently placed on the western side of the city) would be an optimal spot to see the sun rise. The nobility would likely step out of their homes and into Queen's park to see its red rays shine upon the city.

Riverside, the Docks, and the Southshore District would get the most sun at midday. Conveniently, the midday may also signify the highest business hours for these areas.

On the eastern side, Shadewell would probably watch sun sets more than sun rises. The people of the Bowels would have this option to. Of course, if they just happened to be near a sewer enterance during those hours, the show they recieve might not be what they expected .