Post by Volta on Jul 2, 2008 22:38:06 GMT -5
Because Regen has deleted the old boards in favor of new territories, I have taken the liberty of seeking out a little real-world information about the four main areas she would like to see in Darkened Spirits: forests, plains, mountains and a shoreline. After picking out a correspondinng example of each potential packland, I came up with these little snippets:
Mountains (like those of Montana)
Reference picture: www.bigskybaseball.org/images/Montana%20Mountains.jpg
Mountains offer a variety of opportunities to create different sub-boards because of the multiple biomes that exist surrounding them (grasslands at the base of a mountain, coniferous forest at the center of the mountain, and the tundra found at the top of the mountain). Mountains are highly unpredictable places to live, both due to their unstable nature (falling rocks, anyone? Not to mention that many are merely sleeping volcanoes, just waiting to erupt) and the ever-changing weather patterns that brew above their peaks. The temperature and climate surrounding any mountain range can change in literally minutes.
Shoreline (like that of Washington)
Reference picture: farm1.static.flickr.com/100/281962320_952b2a28c5.jpg?v=0
The rocky Pacific coast, so unlike the sandy shores of Myrtle Beach or the crystalline waters of the Caribbean, is nevertheless home to many plant and animal species. Its rugged outline offers a spectacular view of both sky and water; while among its stone, tide-pools often form, only to be swept away hours or days later. The shoreline is marked by imposing, dark rock formations, hidden caves and sheltered pools. While dull at first glance, it offers much to the imagination.
Plains (like those of Wyoming)
Reference picture: www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/biogeography/mixed_tall_short_grass_prairie_NRCS.jpg (our plains could also have a lake, if you guys wanted one—that’s another thing; we need to create bodies of water around here… streams through the forests and runoff, waterfalls, even, in the mountains, on top of the pools that naturally form along the coast.)
Also known as the prairie, this long, flat, seemingly desolate swathe of land is a dramatic change from the nearby mountains and woodlands. Trees are rare, stunted and sparsely located throughout the area; their height is replaced instead by the encroaching, inescapable grasslands. The kinds of plains in this area are short-grass prairies, where rainfall is rare but snowfall from the mountains often paints the ground. Occasional oases of shade exist in the form of clustered dogwood trees, or other stubborn deciduous varieties of foliage, and many beautiful flowers grow in the spring and summer, attracting all manner of insects. Closer to the mountain range, the plains rise up and grow rockier, and more forested: here is where many predators, including wolves, can make their homes and survey unwary prey as they graze.
Forest (like those of Minnesota)
Reference pictures: curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/biomes/deciduous/decfor/dectrees.gif, www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/Forsite/picts/biome8.jpg
Multiple forested areas could exist within Darkened Spirits, because the surrounding lands will support both deciduous and coniferous trees. Pine trees would grow closer to the mountains and the coastline, while leafy trees would flourish in the more fertile areas beyond the plains. Further details on the types of trees within each type of woods can be easily uncovered later. I think the forests are our most open area: just about anything could be discovered under a thick canopy of leaves.
Also, if anyone could find a neat way to incorporate former habitation in the area (maybe the first wolf packs, or evidence of long-ago migrating animals, or even early humans, or at least signs that they have visited Darkened Spirits before), I think that would add a new dynamic to the land—like stumbling upon an old camping site on the shore, or graffiti in a grove of trees in the woods, or the dens of an old pack whose bones are moldering away on the plains… anything like that, to give the land a breathing kind of feel, that’d be cool.
Let the imagining begin! Hope I’ve compiled a little bit of interesting information for you all to use or build off of. Let me know if I can look up anything else to help you out (trees, flowers, types of native animals, ideas for naming places).
Mountains (like those of Montana)
Reference picture: www.bigskybaseball.org/images/Montana%20Mountains.jpg
Mountains offer a variety of opportunities to create different sub-boards because of the multiple biomes that exist surrounding them (grasslands at the base of a mountain, coniferous forest at the center of the mountain, and the tundra found at the top of the mountain). Mountains are highly unpredictable places to live, both due to their unstable nature (falling rocks, anyone? Not to mention that many are merely sleeping volcanoes, just waiting to erupt) and the ever-changing weather patterns that brew above their peaks. The temperature and climate surrounding any mountain range can change in literally minutes.
Shoreline (like that of Washington)
Reference picture: farm1.static.flickr.com/100/281962320_952b2a28c5.jpg?v=0
The rocky Pacific coast, so unlike the sandy shores of Myrtle Beach or the crystalline waters of the Caribbean, is nevertheless home to many plant and animal species. Its rugged outline offers a spectacular view of both sky and water; while among its stone, tide-pools often form, only to be swept away hours or days later. The shoreline is marked by imposing, dark rock formations, hidden caves and sheltered pools. While dull at first glance, it offers much to the imagination.
Plains (like those of Wyoming)
Reference picture: www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/biogeography/mixed_tall_short_grass_prairie_NRCS.jpg (our plains could also have a lake, if you guys wanted one—that’s another thing; we need to create bodies of water around here… streams through the forests and runoff, waterfalls, even, in the mountains, on top of the pools that naturally form along the coast.)
Also known as the prairie, this long, flat, seemingly desolate swathe of land is a dramatic change from the nearby mountains and woodlands. Trees are rare, stunted and sparsely located throughout the area; their height is replaced instead by the encroaching, inescapable grasslands. The kinds of plains in this area are short-grass prairies, where rainfall is rare but snowfall from the mountains often paints the ground. Occasional oases of shade exist in the form of clustered dogwood trees, or other stubborn deciduous varieties of foliage, and many beautiful flowers grow in the spring and summer, attracting all manner of insects. Closer to the mountain range, the plains rise up and grow rockier, and more forested: here is where many predators, including wolves, can make their homes and survey unwary prey as they graze.
Forest (like those of Minnesota)
Reference pictures: curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/biomes/deciduous/decfor/dectrees.gif, www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/Forsite/picts/biome8.jpg
Multiple forested areas could exist within Darkened Spirits, because the surrounding lands will support both deciduous and coniferous trees. Pine trees would grow closer to the mountains and the coastline, while leafy trees would flourish in the more fertile areas beyond the plains. Further details on the types of trees within each type of woods can be easily uncovered later. I think the forests are our most open area: just about anything could be discovered under a thick canopy of leaves.
Also, if anyone could find a neat way to incorporate former habitation in the area (maybe the first wolf packs, or evidence of long-ago migrating animals, or even early humans, or at least signs that they have visited Darkened Spirits before), I think that would add a new dynamic to the land—like stumbling upon an old camping site on the shore, or graffiti in a grove of trees in the woods, or the dens of an old pack whose bones are moldering away on the plains… anything like that, to give the land a breathing kind of feel, that’d be cool.
Let the imagining begin! Hope I’ve compiled a little bit of interesting information for you all to use or build off of. Let me know if I can look up anything else to help you out (trees, flowers, types of native animals, ideas for naming places).