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  • File :1244751108.jpg-(56 KB, 650x415, Asperatus_cloud.jpg)
    56 KB The Flattest Earth Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:11 No.4846170  
    Welcome young bards, and listen to the story of our world.

    In the old days, before the 4th generation's 4th descendants, the world was filled with many plants and creatures, the land itself arched into the sky as mountains and hills. Man gathered in cities, vast fields of buildings, and built towers.

    One such tower was their folly. They spoke with one voice and reasoned that they could avoid dying by building a bridge to the gods in the sky. As they built it higher and higher, the gods grew angry, seeing it as an assault against the laws of their own creation.

    First the gods divided the people, by changing their language, changing their appearance, and smashing their tower to pieces.

    But man learned, and built a new. A second tower reached even higher, and the gods' violence returned again. To ensure the punishment would not be forgotten again, they cursed the very land itself so that it would be perfectly flat, and anything built upon it would be swallowed deep below the surface, anything that grew tall would be struck down with disease.

    So cursed, Man scattered to the wind, or fought amongst themselves. Unable to deny the will of their gods, we learned new ways. No structure would be fixed on the soil. We live in tents, on horseback, or on foot.Only the strong grass grows on the planes, trees rotted away.

    Heretical people still exist though, many build isolated towers, protected by arcane means. Whether they build them to reach the gods may be true, but all of them wish revenge upon those who have cursed us.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:14 No.4846185
    >>In the old days, before the 4th

    stopped reading there, I know where this is going
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:14 No.4846192
    >In the old days, before the 4th generation's 4th descendants
    >4e
    fag detected, play a real edition of D&D
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:15 No.4846200
    Man, gods are pricks.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:17 No.4846226
    in hindsight that was a bad number to pick
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:18 No.4846233
    OP should've said "billions of years ago" and PCs should've been snakes.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:20 No.4846255
    >>4846233
    well, planes-riding halflings, kobolds and goblins are still available
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:23 No.4846280
    you can also dig into the ground, having an underground civilisations (especially if you can live in the buildings that have disappeared into the ground)
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:27 No.4846312
    Unlike the rest of you pricks I actually like this setting-intro. A grass-sea, an endless tundra populated by nomads. Perhaps, far out from the distant corners of the earth, come rumors of great cities with high towers and jutting walls. Their names are Jerusalem, Constantinople, Memphis, Zijin Cheng, Tenochtitlan, Rome.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:39 No.4846440
         File :1244752792.jpg-(30 KB, 500x375, steppe grassland.jpg)
    30 KB
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:42 No.4846467
         File :1244752971.jpg-(12 KB, 600x393, vliehors.jpg)
    12 KB
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:43 No.4846477
         File :1244753015.jpg-(32 KB, 338x450, 0000-7793-4~Salt-Flat-Land-Spe(...).jpg)
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    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:48 No.4846523
    sounds awesome,
    especially with the cities >>4846312 mentioned...

    Aztects perfected magic so they could have trees and they could have their pyramids?
    >> Aun'La Ukos 06/11/09(Thu)16:50 No.4846541
    >>4846170
    You're ideas intrigue me, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

    This actually sounds like a really awesome setting, tell us more!
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:55 No.4846582
    >>4846312
    Maybe
    (a) the legendary cities are bunched up at the literal edges of the world
    (b) they are proto-memories of cultures that will never exist, shadows of another world seeping through
    (c) the grassland is actually similar to the vast mongol tundras and only the inhabitants perceive the world as flattened and the ancient-mystic world continues as usual outside
    (d) the cities are but superstition and baseless rumor and don't exist at all
    (e) they are the homes of the gods
    (f) all of the above
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:55 No.4846583
    Some rickety old tower made from rare planks of wood, inscribed with runes of power, hanging with warding flags. A small telescope sits on the top floor which the wizard uses to look up at the stars and to spot any incoming "faithfuls".
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)16:57 No.4846598
    >>4846582
    >(f) all of the above

    Suddenly, this setting becomes AWESOME
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:02 No.4846648
    really flat areas are pretty mind-blowing, since there's usually a hill or a slope or some buildings near you whenever you are.

    "I can see forever" is likely to set in even if it's something you were born into. And general hazards like snow-blindness in the snowy areas.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:07 No.4846688
    >>4846648
    No hills. You can see far out, many miles away, until the atmosphere bunches up too much.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:08 No.4846698
         File :1244754534.jpg-(20 KB, 550x413, ica_nazca_lines_02.jpg)
    20 KB
    Since everything is flat, there're no land-marks (except maybe the stars). So you might fall asleep in one area, and when you wake up you're not even sure if it's the same place.

    So, you make perfect lines across the ground as a way of marking locations.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:09 No.4846707
    >>4846688
    I meant in real-life there're usually hills etc. Obviously not here.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:13 No.4846746
    Giraffes are heretical
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:18 No.4846787
    Fuuuuck this is the most depressing shit I ever have read.
    Please write more!
    Would love to play in such a settng.
    For those wishing to experience a team-based FPS with similar FLAT, try Empires mod for Half-Life2. FLAT never ends.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:26 No.4846866
         File :1244755619.jpg-(15 KB, 430x287, 2.jpg)
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    Demons don't walk on the land, but live in deep chasms, or vast holes. Those wishing to make bargains with them, can either shout their desires into such pits, or can journey down inside them to bargain directly (and most often not coming back).
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:30 No.4846898
    >>4846866
    Echos are thought to be the voices of demons mocking the speaker. When your echo says something different from what you originally said, that's when you should start running.

    Ducks are blessed by the gods, and so demons refuse to reply to them.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:39 No.4846994
         File :1244756366.jpg-(123 KB, 768x512, burning-man-stilts-walking.jpg)
    123 KB
    A group of madmen have developed in the west. They kill people for their bones. Once the body is stripped of flesh, the bones are bound together to create elaborate stilts, adding to the height of the wearer, and granting them a longer stride....

    They use their enhanced speed to chase down more victims and further elongate their stilts. Their leaders can stand 3 or 4 times the height of a normal man on the bones of all their victims.

    The best way to defeat one in combat is to run towards them. Hopefully, you will be able to topple them before they cave in your skull with a strong kick. Running away will lead to a swifter death, but you will never be able to escape them as they can always outrun you.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:40 No.4847002
    >>4846898
    Echoing words that are not what you said is some serious nightmare fuel. Please elaborate.

    The landscape is totally flat, with some really lame hills and gorges. Mirages are very abundant, especially in the dryer regions.

    Since there are no tall mountains, or much height-difference, water streams arent running too fast. Most water is muddy, dirty, and has shit living in it.

    Underground springs are feared, since that water comes from the demons below. People will rather purify the muddy water instead of drinking the springwater.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:43 No.4847037
    >One such tower was their folly. They spoke with one >voice and reasoned that they could avoid dying by >building a bridge to the gods in the sky. As they built it >higher and higher, the gods grew angry, seeing it as an >assault against the laws of their own creation.

    >First the gods divided the people, by changing their >language, changing their appearance, and smashing >their tower to pieces.

    Oh my god its the plot of Rise of the Zilart from FFXI
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:45 No.4847056
    This concept intrigues me, if only for its familiarity... Living in Kansas for 22 years gives one intimate knowledge of what "flat" really means.

    Fear the winds. The bellowing of gods is felt, not heard.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:48 No.4847104
    >>4847002
    the landscape is totally flat, no mild hills or "wobbly" features. Any holes in the ground are huge gashes, or vertical pits, like a equally huge claw has punctured the earth. There isn't even a slightly raised lip around them, so there is very little chance of spotting one until you're right on the edge (at which point, it's straight down). There are usually some caves in the walls as you go down, leading to endless passages under the earth. Natural weather-erosion is minimal.

    These holes could contain the old buildings that were swallowed when the curse original came into being. Though it is thought a swallowed building leaves no trace behind (the earth closes up over it), so these are here for some other reason.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)17:49 No.4847108
    >>4847037
    Obvious troll is obvious.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)18:45 No.4847663
    The people that live in the plains are similar to mongols.
    They ride small, stout ponies, who favour endurance and adaptability over speed.
    Others settle down, and try growing meagre crops in the whipping winds and pale sunlit taiga.
    Main cause of death is boredom.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)19:04 No.4847844
    A strange species of snake has developed in the areas where longer grasses grow. They are far larger than any other serpent, but their bulk is readily concealed by the overgrowth. Many a tribesman has been lost after travelling into the grass hiding such creatures. Often tribes will divert around the large areas of long grass. However, this type of grass provides good food-stuff and hay, so others risk their livestock for the superior grazing.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)19:09 No.4847895
         File :1244761784.jpg-(162 KB, 1281x853, grass_fire.jpg)
    162 KB
    The grasslands are often covered with sweeping rain-clouds, but during particularly dry summers unkempt fires can be deadly. A sweeping wall of flame spreading out across the endless plains can devastate many lives, often force some tribes to take shelter in Pits.

    Many a tribe has found themselves balancing between the fires and a demon's price. Those that are lost to the pits, often return to seed more fires.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)19:20 No.4847994
    There is another serpent within a grasses, a snake that can grow up to 25 meters long but only a few inches in height. In effect a giant tape-worm that lives in the marshy areas where the clouds roll low over the grass. Large ones swallow small livestock and unaware travellers whole, smaller ones however, if caught early, can be raised as beasts of burden - shimming over the shallow waters where horses cannot tread.
    >> Anonymous 06/11/09(Thu)19:39 No.4848178
    A single solid stone statue sits near the centre of the lands. It depicts a large humanoid creature whose face is obscured by a intricate mask. It is visible for many miles.

    Some who visit it say it is squatting low to the ground as if hunting, others say it sits atop a throne of the same stone material. Some who have sought it, have never found it, even though the location is well known among shamans.

    No magic has been recognised in its crafting, but it is large enough that it should be swallowed by the Curse, though it is not.

    Many believe it is a warrior of the gods, tasked with striking down any who would still try to pursue the heavens, or to keep the demons from emerging onto the surface. Other's believe it is the creator god of Man, cursed by the other gods as they cursed the lands.



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