Shurrock
Shurrock is Dothion’s wild counterpart. While Dothion is well mannered, Shurrock is savage. Where Dothion is calm, Shurrock is extreme. It is a land of rough country and harsh weather, divided by deep, snow-filled winters and dry, parching summers.
The land of Shurrock is filled with raw materials. Seams of gold and gems are found just beneath the surface, the tangled woodlands are rich in timber, and all manner of wild game thrives throughout the layer. Quarries and mills are common, usually with small communities crowding them. These towns are often walled and guarded, for on Shurrock walk the more powerful creatures of Bytopia such as celestial versions of animals and magical beasts.
Shurrock is a land of continual challenge. For those who seek to prove themselves and their ability to survive, it is a very different type of paradise from its tame sibling, Dothion. Occasionally some foul beast breaks loose from Shurrock and reaches Dothion, but in general the challenges of this layer stay on their side of the border.
As Dothion is the layer of manufacturing and finished goods, Shurrock is the layer of raw materials: ores, timber, stone, and gems. Here, mining, smelting, quarrying, and carving are the most common professions. The petitioners here're fewer than in Dothion, but they're hardy souls, proud of their works and their homes. As most of the occupations of this layer's inhabitants require large amounts of manpower, communities tend to revolve around a series or mineshafts, a large mill, a granite quarry, and so on. Most activity occurs indoors or underground, as these areas provide shelter from the layer's wild weather.
For reasons unknown, the weather here is harsher than that of Dothion. The sky is seldom clear, a blustery wind never ceases even in what passes for summer, and a storm's always brewing on the horizon. In fact, Shurrock's weather is so unpredictable (except that it'll be bad, and soon) that a race of creatures known as air sentinels (MCB, Outer Planes Appendix) watch over travelers and traders on this layer. These air spirits resemble djinn from some prime worlds (and may've evolved from them), and while these beings can't control the wild weather, they can guide a sod to a cave or 01 her she] ter away from the worst ravages of the storm.
In any case, the weather here matches the terrain. Shurrock's ground is hard-packed and rocky, making farming difficult even without considering the chaotic, violent weather. The hills are steeper, and the mountains much more rugged. Like Dothion, Shurrock has a number of streams and rivers, but here they're faster flowing and more treacherous - full of dangerous rapids, perilous falls, and huge boulders just under the surface that rip the bottom from any wooden craft.
Bashers may wonder how the raw materials for the plane's industries, most of which come from Shurrock, are transported to Dothion where these commodities are turned into finished products. After the ore is mined, the stone is cut, and the uncut gems removed from the detritus, hearty souls load up their wagons and brave the weather to the nearest spire. While individuals can climb up the mountain's winding trails to reach the plane's other layer, heavily loaded carts and wagons just can't handle the sudden shift in gravity when passing from one layer to the other. To get large amounts of cargo to Dothion, and to ship food and finished goods back to Shurrock, the gnome petitioners've invented a new type of transport that deals with the unique conditions of this plane quite well.
Large pieces of leather or canvas are sewn together to form huge bags. These bags are then filled with heated air (often from a forge, bonfire, or thermal vent in the mountainside). The bags are then tied dosed with stout ropes. Meanwhile, the cargo is loaded into enormous containers (usually spheres) for the shipping process. Wooden containers are lighter, but metallic vessels offer the contents better protection during the ofttimes bumpy ride. Once loaded, padding is added to prevent damage, and the latch is closed. The ends of the ropes used to close off the bags' openings are tied to handles on the sphere's midpoints. The number of bags used is determined by the weight of the cargo.
When enough bags of heated air have been attached to the cargo sphere, it lifts off the ground and begins floating toward the other layer. When the bags reach the "gravity plane" - the place where gravity shifts - their natural tendency to rise forces them to move outward along the gravity plane. There is no "up" for the bags to float toward, so they simply move along the plane itself. As the bags are drawn outward along the gravity plane, the cargo container eventually reaches the plane too. Not possessing the inherent buoyancy of the bags, the cargo sphere crosses the gravity plane and begins to descend toward the other layer's surface. The momentum of the falling container tugs the bags out of the gravity plane. By the time this process has completed itself, the heated air in the bags is cooling and losing its buoyancy, allowing the cargo to descend and impact the surface of the other layer. ideally, this occurs before the air in the bags cools too much (which causes the spheres to plummet more than they descend). Other dangers include the ni'iaths, which're just canny enough to bust the bags or chew through the ropes and cause the cargo to go crashing to the ground. Fortunately, ni'iaths are rare.
Obviously, not all goods can he transported in this way. Anything fragile is right out, but most raw materials and sturdy finished metallic and other goods are often moved in this manner. And it's cheaper than the other method to get goods from one layer to the other.
A few gates between the layers of Bytopia do exist, but most are controlled by a guild or community. Those in charge of these gates usually levy a tariff on all goods that pass through. The guilds sometimes even refuse passage to a competitors' wares. The delays and expenses incurred with these gates is what first drove some businessmen to search for an alternative.
- Centerspire
- Lair of the Adamantine Dragon
- The Ridiculous Tower
- Martyrdom
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