Let's build another setting! (Toxic Seas)

[Xuc Xac]

It's time for another exercise in forum world-building. As usual, please limit your posting frequency: after you post, don't post again until three other posts have been made, three hours have passed, or some combination of the two (e.g. two posts then an hour of silence).

Try to keep your ideas fairly concise. There's no limit on length, but if you feel the need to use spoiler blocks for length then you should probably just save some for later. I won't impose a precise limit on length.

Remember the rules of improv: No refusals. Don't undo what someone else has done. For example, if someone says there's an order of paladins called the Dudes of Goodliness, then don't post that they are actually just a front for a thieves guild and they're all secretly evil. Feel free to add more layers ("but there's more to it than that...") but don't reverse it ("what's actually going on is..."). Add to it, but don't reverse it or take anything away. (And please don't make an order of paladins called the Dudes of Goodliness.)

So, let's begin.

0: The context. It's a low magic fantasy world. In D&D terms, it's E6 and there is no divine magic. There might be priests and religion, but priests know magic because they are educated, not because their gods grant them powers. All magic is arcane and its casters have different styles, methods, traditions, and philosophies: magic can do a lot of things, but a single caster can't do all of them. Slow rituals, alchemical items, and expendable charms predominate. I want trade and traders to be vitally necessary (and of course piracy will follow), so no permanent matter creation or teleportation (at least, no teleporting farther or faster than you could have run on foot, so blinking is OK).

1: The world is covered with a thick layer of heavy toxic gas. Islands of civilization exist on mountaintops that protrude above the toxic vapor that pools in the valleys and lowlands like a sea of thick, lime green fog. Mountain ranges are archipelagos. There is no flight magic or flying creatures larger than an albatross above the toxic vapor, due to the thinness of the air. Below the vapor, it's a different story.

[SilverStud]

2: Because of the isolated nature of the civilization pockets, trade is slow and difficult. Unless you belong to or hire the Balloon Corp., you can only really travel between pockets during certain windy seasons that make openings in the gas along mountain passes. Thus traders tend to be either lonely or traveling families.

3: The Balloon Corp. is the exception to this normality. Through techniques that they guard with lethal tenacity, they have created vessels that can bob across the surface of the dense poison gas. Using tiny sails for control (you need less sail when not in water), they can make regular trips between pockets. They dominate trade, and can easily pressure the leaders of communities with embargo.

[VoxRationis]

4. Evidence suggests that the world was not always this way. Such windy gusts have revealed ancient, mildewed ruins in lowland places. Some of them have revealed texts which suggest the use of long-forgotten magics whose effects bear a disturbing resemblance to the green fog...

5. The Unmakers are a group who, believing the green fog to be an artifice, believe there to be a way to undo it. They were founded by the executor of elven mage Celey Besaelethril, whose studies through his long life led him to this conclusion. Edit: Their membership includes many students of magic, a plurality of whom are elven.

[kraftcheese]

6. Though the toxic clouds are inimical to species above the Fog Line, life still continues below, strange though it might be.

Balloon Corp. members file rare reports of vast and indistinct shapes moving below the surface, or more commonly, brag in taverns about their encounters.

Errant winds occasionally reveal gently swaying copses of what might be (at a stretch) considered large plants...or fungal fruiting bodies, filamentaeous mineral "trees" or physical manifestations of mortal sin, depending on who you speak to about the subject.

[Demidos]

7. In the theocracy of Anuar, the gods themselves walk among the people. A trinity of gods is said to live in the forbidden temple overlooking the city, wherein they oversee the affairs of the country by way of their priests. There are frequent reports of them having come forth across the centuries to protect, destroy, or bless large portions of the city, depending on the time period, although it seems that at times their personalities can warp or even swap across time...

Spoiler: The true story behind the gods

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A trio of adventurers who found a powerful set of artifacts giving them godlike powers. When the "gods" get old, the artifacts are passed on to successors chosen in various ways.

[Mechalich]

8. Due to the alpine nature of settlements, soil quality is poor and self-sufficiency extremely difficult to achieve. A secretive order of alchemists and wizards known as Agersians, who have the knowledge to improve soil and seeds, use their influence to extract heavy tribute and to crush those who refuse them special privledges.

[Blake Hannon]

9. The greatest priests and scholars of the Grayhair Peaks have devised a suit of magical armor that allows its wearer to see and breath in the miasma. Such suits are rare and highly expensive, and most often used to recover trade goods after a balloon goes down within sight of a mountaintop settlement. If there really are ancient secrets hidden in the miasma, an adventurer would need such a suit to find them.

[Tentreto]

10:Those who are tasked to venture into the miasma are known as Descenders, and are often consulted by both scholars and townsfolk about anything they have seen. They often do not comment to anyone but those who usually employ them, as a caveat for being able to use the armour.

11: Every other generation, an expedition into the miasma is organised by a particularly wealthy or foolish settlement to chart lands far under the fog. In all of recorded history, only three expeditions have returned, and only one has succeeded in creating a map, though its credibility is debatable.

[VoxRationis]

12. The kingdom of Imtaraya, once a marginal alpine land, is now the largest stretch of habitable territory in the known world. In days ancient beyond memory, its surface was inhabited by a tribe of humans who left their name to the place, but they are gone now. The chronically overpopulated region is divided; the Asikaxt dwarves (x as in "loch") are a ruling class with broad privileges to divide resources and dictate terms to the lower classes of humans, gnomes, and other, less fortunate dwarves. Wealthy and powerful, Mosanimt XVII, King of Imtaraya, exercises his ambitions on other islands as well, constantly working to expand his territory. His study and innovation in military maneuvers is a boon to his armies and well beyond the abilities of his rivals.

[WantLearn]

13. Since all cities sit upon mountain tops, the bulk of the cities are actually carved into airtight shafts running down from the mountain top. The dwarves hold special privileges in most cities due to the fact that they are the only ones who can expand the city and do any of the most basic repairs upon the buildings. Cities are arranged in layers with the poorest living at the top and bottom of the shaft either having the thinnest air or the least amount of natural light, while the wealthy live in the layers that have the best of both worlds, and the middle class somewhere in between the two.

[arrowed]

14. Below some of these cities are vast caverns that lie below the Fog Line, and are used to cultivate edible subterranean plants. However, this is a risky pursuit, as an untimely rockfall miles away can open up a shaft below the Fog Line, through which the deadly miasma will flood the cave complex. This risk is one factor in why no cities extend below the Fog Line even underground.

[Lleban]

15. Rumors among the Descenders indicate that pools of corrosive dark green liquid dot the landscape beneath the kingdom of Imtaraya making sustained expeditions in the miasma unwise. Select Alchemists and many Unmakers note that water, once exposed to sufficient concentrations of miasma, becomes noticeably less viscous and dons notoriously hallucinogenic properties.

16. Not far south of the Grayhair peaks lies the city Neo Oroseros, a city prominently known for its plethora of imposing stone idols depicting gods of the wind and strange tusked beasts. Many traders in the surrounding regions put great value on the charms and smaller idols the legendary stone masons of Neo Oroseros produce.

[VoxRationis]

17. The elven city of Cinaedhdonwei ("dh" as in "there", "ae" as in "pie") is small but well-traveled, sitting as it is in the middle of several intersecting trade routes. King Calonris and Queen Daeadhril sit atop the Starlight Thrones, carefully managing a web of spies and intrigue to keep Cinaedhdonwei outside of the power struggles and ambitions of foreign military powers. The palace guard, though small and perhaps not so cunningly-led as the armies of Imtaraya, are fantastically well-equipped, owing to the wealth of the Starlight Thrones.

[Tentreto]

18: Directly south of Cinaedhdnwei lies the Grand temple of the Clerics of Brindarnas, carved from white marble. These clerics are known for their vast knowledge of ritual magic and always carrying a glass sphere filled with air. They are also known for focusing far more on the sky and heavens than the ground and are thus patrons of a number of astronomers. They accept all races, though understandably, few dwarves are in their ranks. Due to their pursuits, they are quite dependant on trade.

Spoiler: Brindarnas

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I leave who or what Brindarnas is to be filled in by others

[WantLearn]

18. Mosamit has been rumored to take out contracts with groups of descenders to collect canisters of the toxic fog in the lowlands. His own people claim that it is to study the fog to find a way to destroy it. The nations near him believe he is developing a way to harness the fog as weapon in a plan to expand his rule over all surrounding islands.

[JeenLeen]

(building on #15)

19. Although the miasma means death to anyone who is in it for long, short exposure (seconds to minutes) is not fatal. In some lands, fog-tainted water is a popular drug. Although taboo in many areas, some employ glass bottles filled with the fog as weapons (think a bottle of acid, but not acid).

[SarcasticDom]

Building off 5

20. In opposition to the Unmakers is the Church of the Sacred Mist, a cult who see the toxic vapor as divine in origin; something sent by the gods eons ago for the mortal races sins. They try and prevent and sabotage any research carried out by the Unmakers, believing that the hardships brought on by life in the mountains/due to the fog is merely a means for the gods to test the faith and character of mortals. By these reasoning any attempt to lower or remove the toxic vapours is seen as heresy.

[Tentreto]

21: The edge of the known world is widely regarded to be the small and otherwise unremarkable eastern town of Snown (like known) due to no other mountain being found beyond it and being almost entirely isolated by foot all year. Descenders have noted a vast body of water beyond, and have considered it impassable at the current level of technology. As a result, 'walking to Snown' is usually a synonym with death, which is an annoyance to the actual traders who do.

[kraftcheese]

Building off 18

22. The Grand Temple of Brindarnas lacks the (comparatively) large swaths of agricultural land and mushroom tunnels that many other towns use to produce trade goods, and has no mines, but it has one trade that has allowed it to import a great amount of its resources for generations.

Silk.

Brindarn silk is produced in staggering quantities and is of a quality that no other crafthall can hope to match; it has great strength and beautiful lustre, soft and light as a breeze, and is used from everything between the clothes of wealthy gentry and the fabric of Balloon Corps gas bags.

23. The secret to the Brindarn silk trade is their worms; great clusters of which hang in silken cocoons from the ceilings of dark rooms in the temple, shining with a soft inner light like the stars the Clerics of Brindarnas gaze upon each night.

The Clerics say that the worms' productivity is the result of careful breeding and the care they lavish on their slimy livestock. Anyone who has visited the Temple during the annual Festival of Moths can attest to the love and attention the Clerics show to the insects; thousands of tiny wings beat the air as the creatures engage in their mating dance, whirling around a bonfire after a day of revelry by the priests. Nesting boxes are laid out in a ritual pattern, eggs are laid, and the moths give themselves to the great bonfire; "Released into a higher, lighter form." say the clerics, "One with the air, now." they affirm, glassy eyes fixed on the rising smoke.

Spoiler: However...

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Many outsiders have smuggled worms or moths from the Temple, hoping to get rich off the Brindarn silk the Clerics are so famous for; but once they have left the temple, the worms are sluggish and produce poorly, moths that leave the temple mountain are...sad, somehow, will not mate or lay. Some say it is the blessing of Brindarnas.

The Clerics are oddly silent on their deity, Brindarnas; questions about it are deflected politely but forcefully. There are some who say that Brindarnas does not exist. Some that say it is a dead god, from the world before The Fog, residual power still leaking from its temple.

But there are others that say that there is a great cavern, deep below the Temple, older than it by millennia. It is not spoken of, even between members of the priesthood. In this cavern hangs a worm of staggering size, greater and more terrible than any worm has ever been. It spins its shroud of silken webs and plots, awaiting the day when it will finally undergo metamorphosis; lending its fervour to its smallers siblings above, tended to by only the highest ranked of its clerics. It dreams of the greatest lights it will consume in the night sky, and perhaps these dreams resound with those who toil above it, in its temple.

[JeenLeen]

From 18 and 19.

23. Despite 'Fog Bottles' being used as thrown weapons, other weaponizing of the mists tends to fail. The reasons why are unclear, but fog in large quantities tends to have some reaction and change in a harmless, if unpleasant, gas.
Also unclear is why the vast quantities of fog do not also express this quality. Some theorize it has to do with elevation and the fog line.

[Tentreto]

Building off 23...

24: The only partial exception to this is the incredibly rare and dangerous being known as the Fog ghost, although elemental may be a better title. These beings are seemingly composed of fog, and though they have never ventured far above the fog line, have so far been found impossible to destroy without control over wind to disperse them. Historically they seem to appear most frequently around low lying yet prosperous mountains. The Church of the Sacred mist reveres them as sacred, although only the most zealous would ever want to meet one, as meeting one without any form of fog protection is worse than a one way trip to Snown.

Spoiler: Theories on the ghosts origins ambition

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It is said by some that, as the fog is an intrinsic part of the world, these elementals occur in their own right, and attack those who would affect the fog.
Others say that the fog is a foreign entity, and these 'ghosts' are magical wardens of it.
A few mad men, addled from descending, claim they are the spirits of those who have died to the fog, come to seek revenge.
Whatever the true origin, Mosamit has found an ancient book by Celey Besaelethril, the first unmaker, which claims that the fog ghosts can be controlled.

EDIT: Misread a post with names. Oops... Thanks for the catch, although I can somehow imagine two kingdoms claiming the same titles. It happened with 'the sun never sets'...

[VoxRationis]

Spoiler: Theories on the ghosts origins and starlight ambition

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It is said by some that, as the fog is an intrinsic part of the world, these elementals occur in their own right, and attack those who would affect the fog.
Others say that the fog is a foreign entity, and these 'ghosts' are magical wardens of it.
A few mad men, addled from descending, claim they are the spirits of those who have died to the fog, come to seek revenge.
Whatever the true origin, Mosamit of the Starlight thrones has found an ancient book by Celey Besaelethril, the first unmaker, which claims that the fog ghosts can be controlled.

Mosanimt's throne is also called the Starlight Throne? That has to be confusing.

[Lleban]

Building on 21

25. Frequent storms to not far outside Snown occasionally reveal a large marble hand within the fog. Fanatical devotees of the church of the sacred mist frequently take sacrifices,apostates, and volunteers to the hands palm to be consumed.

26. From the Grayhair peaks to the civilized lands of Imtaraya, and even the great city of Cinaedhdonwei a group of pirates, lead by the ex elven general Baron Noveliss, have terrorized the popular trade routes. The pirates evade military action by hiding in abandoned caves close to the fog line and bribing corrupt officials. Rumor has it that Baron Noveliss is manufacturing vast amounts of fog water slowly increasing her share in the illicit trade.

[Xuc Xac]

27. The Wandering Stars Monastery in Cerrydwyn, like most fortress-temples of the Order of Panth, is built just off shore. It was raised brick by brick and stone by stone by Panthan brothers and sisters who trained to hold their breath long enough to carry a few blocks, a trowel, and mortarboard through the miasma to add to the foundation. Although construction is long since finished, the members of the order still meditate and exercise to hone their bodies and minds to perform amazing feats. In addition the typical training halls, reflection chambers, sleeping cells, and mundane functional rooms like kitchens, the Wandering Stars Monastery also has a library topped by a celestial observatory.

[Tentreto]

Building off 27:
28: The celestial observatory here is notable for being one of the most well designed observatories not patroned by the Clerics of Brindarnas. It also has a reputation for imparting great wisdom on those who look through it, though this is because very few people every get the opportunity. The Clerics have asked multiple times to 'inspect' it, but are always politely rebuffed.

29: The Penninites are a chivalric order dedicated to helping travellers traverse the mountain tops, only asking for donations to help maintain the ways. With the rise of the Balloon Corp, they have gradually become a far smaller influence on the land as rich traders will hardly ever deal with them. However, to a citizen, King, or peasant, they are widely respected, due to their virtuous behaviour, and great protection from both nature and bandits. They are some of the greatest warriors not directly tied to a single region.

[Knaight]

30) While the fog gets extremely thick well below the fog line, the line is a gradual transition for about a mile. There are a few small and hidden communities just below the fog line, and the people in them have adapted to low concentrations of the fog. There are even fewer and rarer communities down just a bit further, and only natives of the hidden communities who grew up in the fog even have a chance of adapatation - and even then, it's slim.

31) These communities take a few different forms, but most are either criminal organizations or ethnic enclaves avoiding cities where their best option would be ghettos. A noticeable exception is the Strongbreath Monks, who operate a monastery and view resistance to the fog as evidence of favor of the gods. Their monastery has three tiers, each lower into the fog than the last, and in the third tier only the most holy monks who have been part of the monastery for generations live. These monks are not celibate, representing a schism from their wider church.

[tantric]

32)the clouds are a mix of phosgene, nitrogen dioxide and chlorine dioxide. phosgene was one of the gases used in the first world war. it's transparent and smells of freshly cut grass. nitrogen dioxide is a reddish brown gas with an acrid smell. it is a liquid below 70F. chlorine dioxide is a yellow-green gas that is mildly corrosive.

all of these gases are heavier than air. the mix is very uneven. during winter, most of the nitrogen dioxide pools out, so the clouds change color to cyan. phosgene - the really toxic one, is heaviest and lowest down. chlorine dioxide is highly reactive (its used for bleaching paper) in an oxygen rich environment and tends to spend itself, thus during summer, the upper layers are survivable

this is my first try, i don't think i broke anything....

[Xuc Xac]

If the temperature is over 70C, it's not the gas that will kill you.

[tantric]

good catch - i meant F. fixed. otherwise....was that okay? seriously, my first attempt at this.

[VoxRationis]

Are any of those gases hallucinogenic or capable of dissolving in water to give it hallucinogenic properties?