Goodness, huge post comming soon...
Anyhow ONE way is to build off of large mountains and other natural structures.
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WARNING: Fragmented Thought Patterns up ahead. Discontinued thoughts as well. Also pick and chose what you like.
I always liked the idea of floating lands in Dwarf Fortress, though I don’t think it should be as numerous as the underground as become. While a lot of people are mentioning things like Jack and the Beanstalk I’d personally would think Mount Olympus would be more appropriate. A mountain so tall you basically walk right into the heavens from there.
In fact having these spawn near or ontop of mountains only needing minor alterations to become climbable is appropriate.
The question is however is what exactly populates these locations?
Assuming we are going with dietetic explanations we hit the problem with forcing gods to be material beings.
Though that doesn’t go to say that these things cannot have gods, not all dietetic beings need to have a grand scope and some could quite easily be like the Titan is, in fact Titans easily could be rewritten as gods onto themselves without changing anything.
They don’t have to be hidden, in fact these locations could be obvious to everyone but require too much of an investment to attempt as well as being highly dangerous.
Anyhow so going with everyone ideas, this is what I sort of got for a Celestial Land:
Synopsis:
The Celestial lands are situated far beyond mortal reach on top of the clouds and floating islands created by their hands. Each Celestial land is the ultimate expression of a gods personality and power, it is in essence a physical manifestation of their Ego, a mirror. Divine energies run freely in these locations and mortals shouldn’t dwell in these locations for too long or else they too may become just part of the scenery.
These lands do not necessarily need to have a connection with a god in order to exist, but in order for it not to simply become a lifeless barren it at least needs to have some sort of connection to creative and primal energies.
Layout:
There are Five tiers of these celestial locations and each one is marked by its shared nature to its creator.
-1st Tier: Fragmented Lands: These locations are not celestial lands in it of itself but rather fragments often containing little or no divine spark of their once heavenly groundskeepers. These places are often devoid of even the most primitive life but that which remains has already proven their ability to survive in this dead land.
Unlike the other tiers Fragmented lands do not need to be connected to any of the higher tiers.
-2nd Tier: Borderlands: The Outer rim of influence outside the direct power of the dietetic energies. It isn’t know if the creatures of these lands were either born somewhat free and flee the god’s influence, if they lost their connection over time, or if it is simply used as stock. While the direct servants of the gods do not generally travel to these locations, they are often the homes of servants who fell out of favour of the god who spawned them.
Deceased Mortals are often seen in these locations.
-3rd Tier: Hinterlands: The gods power is like the rays from the sun in this location. Servants and honoured deceased mortals life here.
-4th Tier: Throne: While relatively small those within this location feel the overwhelming influence of the deity. This location amplifies the deities influence and those who tread upon if may find themselves transformed by the energies. Children and associated demigods live in this location and only the most respected servants tend to its care. Harm to this location can affect a gods ability to influence mortals and as such it is often protected.
-5th Tier: Ascendancy: While not part of the floating lands parse, It goes without saying that these locations connection to celestial is so powerful that creatures can enter and exist the lands of the gods themselves allowing even mortals to ascend. If a location is godless then ascending here may allow the mortal, should they keep their bearings, to take control and become a god onto themselves.
Materials:
-Floating Rocks and metal.
-Essence of Creation: Often the greatest treasures these locations bestow upon brave travelers are the essence of creation itself. While water, trees, plants, and animals are physical constructs upon the world, in these locations these concepts take primal form and are capable of being harvested for great works.
-Celestial Materials: Rarely do the heavenly bodies bless the earth with their embrace. While one could wait for a star and hope they are fortuitous enough to be the first to collect it, or they could travel to these locations and carve them out of the sky itself.
-Godly Works: The materials of mortals are flawed and inherently weak. The work of the gods however are powerful.
Risks: While indeed these places represent risks onto themselves the real danger for those capable of bypassing the danger may come from their greed itself. While harvesting the materials required for the land to remain afloat have more immediate consequences, the taking of the heavens itself can have a wide scope of consequences often throwing entire kingdoms into disarray. As well these are few ways to protect mortals from the influence of these substances, it isn’t in the best interest for someone to be in contact with many of these materials.
Ohh well, any longer and people are going to ignore my post.