Structural Accommodations

There are many creatures that coexist in society with one another. This has been the case for thousands of years, but the variety has vastly increased as modernity and globalization afford species that did not evolve in an area to move and thrive there. In eras past, when coexistence with species in areas was limited, the need for accommodations was less or, as the political climate may want, ignored. For example, in the land of Raehyr, before the current struggles, the primary species living there were Humi, Solumkerd, and Tsohtsi. So, there were plenty of staircases descending to the dens preferred by solumkerd, and nearby were structures that permitted the perching of tsohtsi. However, the humi-supremacist has destroyed many of these structures, making it harder for other species to exist easily. On the other end of the spectrum, cities that need to afford a wide variety of species that aren't native, such as Thaul, have to come up with clever solutions. This ranges from districts that afford a specific kind of attribute, such as a district for larger creatures or a district for aquatic creatures. However, governmental buildings, rich companies, public areas, or other areas in need of that diversity will include multiple structures to accommodate as many people as they can. Below is a non-exhaustive list of some of those structures.   

Size

The first and most obvious accommodation structures need to be wary of is the differences in sizes between species. Where a small Vinsel might manage where everything is larger than them, albeit with effort, a large Drake may not be able to enter a building if it's too small or travel down an alley. The first line of defense is to create larger buildings, as should be obvious. However, the outcry of people who have to travel just to get to a counter is heard. So, inside those larger buildings, you may find two to three tiers of objects (counters, stairs, doors, etc) that accommodate the small, the medium, and the large (or just small and large as is more typical).

While not common, as they are expensive to manufacture, fuel, and maintain, larger governmental agencies, such as the Republic of Kexist, will have Murn that modify size to that everyone is of relatively equal height. This, for those who haven't experienced it, is often first met with an unease.
 

Canals

Canals are the roads for the aquatic. Most rela are not aquatic, so they are not the most common. However, even the non-aquatic creatures include local rivers and further modification to them to let Ships sail. These canals tend to be large and a major highway for ships with ports dotted in the city to quickly move goods and people. However, land-places with high populations of Ayabba’aru will have smaller canals that allow personal travel. These canals do not need to be set into the ground, and more often are piped through the air, just above or next to normal roads. This is preferred not only for the sociability of those in each mode of transport, but also for the cleanliness of the canals. Due to the nature of water, dirt, and grime tend to be worse in them. NAd in cities that cannot afford above-ground canals, the filth problem grows exponentially. It gets so bad that in some areas where litter naturally collects, Gutter Crawlers can be found scavenging.  
   

Perches

Streets have benches for those who walk on land and those who fly. tsohtsi, drake, muzoval have implemented structures for themselves to perch on, to wait or take a breath before they take flight again. Or, in some cases, such as with high rises and tree-top homes, as a thing to land on before entering. Perches come in many shapes and forms from simple outp-jutting of a tube to ornate fixtures with padding and additional grips. Perches are the most common accommodation structure as they are easy to manufacture and nearly don't need any maintenance.  

Drake Homes

Drake of Haseh Hmti and the surrounding area have long had a stylistic choice of their homes to have large pillars with many branches and a wide base on top for perching. These pillars also tend to have some sort of light source atop them, such as a beacon or lighthouse so that the drake who have trouble seeing at night may easily find their home. Drake of the area typically live in caves, structures not easily spotted from above, so having these structures helps them both find a place to land and as a place to land.

A modern trend for pillars is to use a domesticated land-bree of the Boda'oba tree as pillars. The strong roots originally meant to keep them from swaying in currents, provide structure integrity to the homes, preventing cavins, while the tall, tough trunk and hearty branches can support even larger drake's weight. Opposed to their aquatic ancestry, these land boda'oba do not provide water-breathing to those who kiss it, but provide bioluminescence when touched. Wind will give the bark a faint glow only visible on darkened nights.  
 

Tunnels

Like canals are for aquatic creatures, tunnels are for the subterranean. The primary users of tunnels are solumkerd and Vshawen, but humi and to some extent, drake tend to like them as well. Some areas that aren't accessible to creatures that need the surface are completely, or at least mostly, underground. Notably, vshawen hives. These tend to follow the pocket-tube formula where several pockets or rooms have tubes, roads, that lead from them to several other roads that intersect or other pockets. These city plans tend to allow for better traversal as one can move vertically. City planners try to replicate this in megalopolises, such as in Loth, where roads are tiered and lead up and down in addition to across.  

Entrances

One important structure in many towns that have tunnel systems and top-side buildings include subterranean entrances. These come in the form of holes in the ground with their means of travel ranging from stairs, elevators, escalators, or pits with slow-fall in prime locations of high traffic or personal access. These e
terances will often have an ascension and descension parallel to one another, but not always. They will also typically be adorned with ornaments to inform passersby of their existence and purpose, typically having an overhang to prevent rainwater from flooding anything and lights for the night.  

Vents

Vents are crucial in tunnels for creatures that need more surface-side environmental effects than subterranean creatures. A tsohtsi traversing tunnels needs more air and a drake will need more ambient fire to keep their flame sac full. Vents, either passive or active, are the solution, pumping fresh air from the surface into the tunnels at key points. They are also a safety feature, a means for deadly smoke to escape -- a great alternative to suffocation. Moreover, modern vent installations include filters to keep the air clean.  
 

Translation Murn

While not a noticeable structure, a wide-area translation murn are commonly kept active in government buildings, notably embassies. Translation murn, as should be evident, casts a sound-changing spell on an area, as a ward, that converts any encoded language the murn is "familiar" with into the desired language. This is not perfect and often leaves large bits of linguistic context missing. However, it allows for many more people to communicate in an area that may not know, be fluent, or not have a personal translator for a given area.

The devices, as could be expected, are quite expensive. So prohibitively expensive that they aren't seen in many places other than large government buildings. Even international businesses tend to have personal translation murn that they lend to visitors, or just translators (people) as they are far more cost-effective and more accurate. Technology has improved that personal translation murn does cover a lot of context and subcontext found in language, but the wider translation murn that covers an area does not have this kind of accuracy. They are also known to take a lot of power to operate and, when broken, due to the complex nature of them, are expensive to repair. This isn't to say that the most wealthy of business executives, nobles, or others don't purchase them. In fact, they do more so to have them as a status symbol, the beautiful orbs adorning their homes as a show of wealth.   
This wasn't easy to get, in fact, it brought me a few more scars. But, with my business of traveling to and fro across the Rot Saegri, it's come in real handy.
— Tresu, captain of the Ship's Heart
 
 

Ports

Ports are a mainstay of any town, from the humble hamlet, like Dagjvamzha, to a massive trade port, like Thaul. They are a means for long-range travelers to dock and provide Shipyards, an entrance to the town, a place where goods and people can be unloaded and loaded, and anything else one could image a port to be. Inns, restaurants, tourist traps, and kiosks fight for the limited space near a port to get the patronage of all who come to visit or return to the town.

A modern addition to ports is the Wind Gate yard. This is an area where the town's windgates are erected and hosted. Due to the nature of windgates, it must be kept separate from the shipyard, stations, and other destinations of the town, creating a whole new micro-ecosystem for the town's port. These windgate yards also tend to be the new artistic center of the town, since the empty space needed to host multiple windgates would look boring without a sculpture, fountain, exhibit, or ten.  
 

Localized Environments

Another structure more commonly found in larger cities are localized environments. They are often not funded by the government but privatized to offer a service of an enclosed environment that simulates another. This could be a desert for Vshawen that need their carapace buffered or a salty area for an ayabba'aru. These are not required for being to live, but more as a means for them to feel comfort. As such, they are a luxury, often including several other things within the environment that have extra costs. This can mean a bar, authentic food, cultural trinkets, or religious services.  

Baths

Often in these localized environments is a portion for a specific kind of bath (occasionally, the bath itself is the localized environment). Baths can come in the form of sand or dust, hot springs, water-houses, salons, tanning booths, and more. They are often public but can be private depending on the culture. They are also a luxury, as the bathing situations of the local area are often sufficient for most people that live there. They are more a means of cultural connection, a treat of an experience, or just an area where someone can get clean in the way that they would most like. Sand or dust bathing houses, hot springs, water-houses,

Comments

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Dec 30, 2024 04:20

Interesting the cultural adaptations. Very diverse coverage and the translation and size adjusting Murn is great touches. I imagine there are also exclusive places that are species specific and discourage others from visting.