AMIA ARCHIVE • View topic - The underdark. L'obsul

Hello! I have questions regarding Nec'pereya, L'obsul and the underdark in general. These questions stem from my IC work with an underdark PC of mine

What is the most valuable commodity in the underdark?

I am guessing food, water and labor - Such as slaves etc.
What does l'obsul and nec'pereya export and import? What does l'obsul and nec'pereya produce and what does l'obsul need?

Oh. Forgot about underport! What do they sell? How is it ruled? Is it the flayers who have control or the drow? How is it that people let it exist when it sells slaves and stuff? Where is it located?

Where is l'Obsul located? Or nec'preya?

How many live in underport respectively l'Obsul? I know there is 180+ people in nec'preya at least.

There's no hard location for Nec'perya yet, and I'd personally prefer that if there was one it wasn't listed as of yet. But we're in the NW of Faerun in the Northdark under Frozenfar. Same with L'Obsul and previously Edonil.

Nec'perya doesn't have any exports as of yet, though Dusty might be able to shed more light on things.

Flayers have control over the Underport as far as I have been told, they just have a 'standing peace' of sorts with the others in the interest of profit.

Best I can offer for an exact location of the new city before more IC exploration, is that Nec'perya sits in the lowest depths of the Middle Dark. Here is a -very- basic, rough concept map as I do not have a paint program on my phone. It is not to scale in the slightest.

+> N
_____________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
L'Obsul~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Underport->
Docks,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ North,->
Middle Dark ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ West,->
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And up a whole strata->
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in the Upper Dark->
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-------------~~~~~~~---------
-------------~~~~~~~----------
-------------~~Black~~----------
------------~Waterway~---------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~(Flows)~~-----------
-------------~(East)~~~-----------
-------------~(and)~~~-----------
^v^v^v^v^v~(Down)~----------
Edonil Ruins~~~~~~~----------
^v^v^v^v^v~~~~~~----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
-------------~~~~~~~-----------
--------~~~~~^^~~~~---------
------~~~~~^^^^~~~~--------
?????????????????^^~~~~~---------------------------
Unknown??????????^^~~~~~~-------------~~~~--------
????????????????????^^~~~~~~~------~~~~~~~~~--------
??????????????????????^^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~------
????????????????????????^^~~~~~~~~~~Nec'perya~~~----
????????????????????????^^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~------
????????????????????????^^~~~~~--------~~~~~~--------
????????????????????????^^~~~~~-----------~~~---------
????????????????????????^^~~~~~--------------------------
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Underport:
Primary Export: Slaves, "Luxury" Surface Goods
Primary Import: Slaves, "Luxury" Surface Goods, General Underdark Goods

L'Obsul:
Primary Export: General Underdark Goods
Primary Import: "Luxury" Surface Goods

Nec'perya:
Primary Export: To Be Determined
Primary Import: General Underdark Goods

That is the roughest break down of each location's contributions to the overall UD economy as of the date of this posting.

So basically

-> River runs east!

Surface
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
L'obsul----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------Ruins of edonil-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------Nec'pereya-------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where are the l'obsul docks by the way? There's no area that leads to any docks there?

Last edited by Naivatkal on Wed, Aug 14 2013, 14:10 PM, edited 1 time in total.

*cough* I should drink coffee before posting.

Naivatkal wrote:

If you are facing the ley node they are off to the right and left. I believe the right has a pair of them but the left there is only the one.

Wat? Screeeenshot

The l'obsul docks are thru tunnels immediately left when you exit the tradehouse

EDIT: I'm fairly sure what Naiv described is Nec'perya

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/46/qd3g.png/ Found it...

But basically - Trade to and from l'obsul and underport is only doable because both of the settlements are in the middledark? While nec'pereya seems to be in the lowerdark?

Underport seems to be in the Upperdark, but seafaring between L'Obsul and Underport appears to be managed by a waterlock system, based on what Dusty's posted ICly.

Assuming I've read it correctly, the waterlock works by using pumps and floodgates to fill or empty the water in a vertical or near-vertical "chamber" large enough to fit a cargo ship. Like a sea-elevator. If you're at the top, you sail in, and signal for the gate behind you to close, and the water to be pumped out. That brings you down to the lower level. If you're at the bottom it's the same, but water is pumped into the chamber. It would only really work in an "open sea" situation with natural tunnels leading down to the lower levels, which at the moment is not the situation with Nec. It would be a masterful feat of engineering and of such immense strategic value that a small army would be assigned to guarding it. But I could be wrong, because I know virtually nothing about nautical travel. Right now I'm thinking of the entrance to Dunwall Tower in Dishonoured.

How'm I doing, Dusty?

Doing great so far.

•According to IC knowledge the Drow presently have, Nec'perya is either on the cusp or past the edge of the Lowerdark.

•L'Obsul is in the Middle Dark.

•Underport is part of the Amian Underground. It shares the same strata as the Upper Dark, but as the Underdark is only used in reference to the continental underground of Faerun, the area Underport is found is simply refered to as the Amian Underground.

Also, spot on with how locks work. I will make some more drawings and add them as well. Give me about two weeks or so and I should have them posted in the thread here.

Forget drawings, who do I have to sell my body to to get the waterlock outpost/facility added to the module?!

Underport MUST be in the upperdark.

I also find it somewhat ...Unrealistic.. .that the friggin OCEAN is just above underport and undeport is a port near the UNDERDARK ocean ><

•As mentioned above, Underport is part of the Amian Underground, which shares the same strata as the Upper Dark, but as it is not under continental Faerun, is called something else.

•Water ways do not always coincide directly in location, shape, volume, or depth. One example of a similar circumstance though is the huge cavern housing the whole of the Glimmersea resting directly below the Sea of Fallen Stars.

DustSpray101 wrote:

Underport:
Primary Export: Slaves, "Luxury" Surface Goods
Primary Import: Slaves, "Luxury" Surface Goods, General Underdark Goods

L'Obsul:
Primary Export: General Underdark Goods
Primary Import: "Luxury" Surface Goods

Nec'perya:
Primary Export: To Be Determined
Primary Import: General Underdark Goods

That is the roughest break down of each location's contributions to the overall UD economy as of the date of this posting.

what is luxury surface goods? Saffron? Sheep wool? Deer meet? Normal wood?

Rich surfacers. Duh.

Apples and other surface foods/spices/liqueurs, pelts of all sorts of non-UD animals, mahogany bed posts, etc.

These things are rare in the UD, and from the UD perspective are seen as exotic goods and luxuries.

Would wood/lumber in general be included in that? Raw wood, not fashioned into furniture or anything.

Surface wood? Yes.

The UD does sport some trees of its own.
An online listing of specific "Plants and Fungi" as well as other fun facts about the UD that a native UD character -may- know can be found here.

I would just like to say I support the selling of Serbris' body to to get the waterlock outpost/facility added to the module.

DustSpray101 wrote:

•As mentioned above, Underport is part of the Amian Underground, which shares the same strata as the Upper Dark, but as it is not under continental Faerun, is called something else.

•Water ways do not always coincide directly in location, shape, volume, or depth. One example of a similar circumstance though is the huge cavern housing the whole of the Glimmersea resting directly below the Sea of Fallen Stars.

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3361/tc6c.jpg

Questions!

:idea:

Dark red

White circle

Yellow circle

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) No :3

The whole Upper/Middle/Lowerdark can be confusing at first, depending on how you look at it. Think of them as layers that go down into the ground. So, lay the map flat and the Upperdark is the places below the crust/surface of the map and a few miles below it. After that for a certain depth is the Middledark and deeper under the surface is the Lowerdark. It doesn't go North to South (ie Upperdark is not at the top of that map, Middledark in the middle, and Lowerdark in the bottom.

Nec'perya is below (depth-wise) L'Obsul.

I hope that helps

Found a cool map what i believe Nec'pereya looks like. How accurate is it?
Here we can also see the 'Lock system' which Dusty spoke about, can we not?
What's most interesting is that according to lore - Nec'pereya is an island made out of a gigantic stalagmite/Stalagmite that dropped from the 'Roof' and plunged into the waters below forming an island.

Ps - This map is poorly photo-shopped in paint

Quote:

Location location location.

•White: Amia Underground, Home of the ruins of Ultrinnan and the city of Underport.
•Red: L'Obsul is located in that region, yes.
•Yellow: There are two caverns in the area. Both are massive and filled with water, though one is in the Upper Dark, and the other in the Middle Dark. It is in this region that the great lock system connects the two strata and allows for trade between L'Obsul and Underport.

Hint: Nec'perya isn't located under the Sea of Swords. Otherwise, the exact location remains unknown as no one has succeeded in discovering that part yet IC wise.

Quote:

Shape of Water

Shape of Water was indeed the inspiration for Nec'perya's cavern. However, there are no adjoining caverns 1 & 2. There is only a massive river running past the entrance to the cavern. There is no present lock system between L'Obsul and Nec'perya.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Side note: Can anyone recommend a good, free image hosting site? The map/cross section is drawn up, I just need to scan it and host t so I can post it here.

www.imageshack.us / i use it all the time

imgur.com is my personal fave

Also, darn it Muspel can you link that map image? It's breaking all the thread with that size haha.

Also, Svensk, Nec'perya's island is a stalagmite, not a stalactite. It didn't drop and settle there, it grew up there. The only thing that has fallen in that cavern is the water levels from the time it was filled with water and Aboleths used it, to the time the cavern wall crumbled and half of the cavern's water spilled out through the opening.

I'm so excited! I finally get to see dusty's pictures!

I would think that some of the sailors in Nec would have a pretty decent idea of where about the city is geographically. Unless they are not very good sailors that is, which is possible I guess. But since we knew where Edonil was located and any half decent sailor would be making sure to track knots and direction changes some of them should be able to give a pretty good estimation. Of course depth would be harder and unless they had an actual cartographer it wouldn't be nearly as precise, but they should have a decent idea of general area.

Although I suppose the boat captains could deviously hide such information to make trade and getting resources more difficult so that demand rises and then make a killing themselves by supplying it all once it has reached a peak. >.>

Except the flight from Edonil was highly disorganised, manned by inexperienced sailors (Edonil never had a Navy or even any notable shipping that I was aware of... also it's the Underdark, even in this heavily-waterfied region sailing would be a niche, underdeveloped art, further hampered by the difficulty of sailing through caves in constant darkness and probably getting eaten by Aboleths sooner or later) and navigated mainly by prophecy and following someone else's direction. I imagine the ships were run by skeleton crews, so the guy in charge of keeping track of direction might've been busy making sure that his bosses weren't about to drown.

There had been limited trade done via the water between Edonil and L'Obsul. When Edonil called for aid, a few commoner Drow from L'Obsul, with little experience, took up the oppurtunity to rise in rank above some of their peers. The most experienced of them were stationed upon the Spider Bearer and the other two crews aboard the other vessels.

These "massive" barges only survived the so far one way trip due largely to the efforts of the PCs with oversight by the captains of the ships and the guidance of Lolth's clergy. Had they left it to the NPC crew to manage alone, things would not be where they are at present.

Amongst one of the crews is one who could make a rudimentary map and was ordered to do so. Here is the link for it. Its scale is off, but the general idea is upheld. Granted, it doesn't represent topography. Just X and Y, with little attention to Z.

Every Drow NPC in Nec'perya, any PCs who survived the trip from Edonil, and House Zau'tar in L'Obsul are aware though that Nec'perya sits on the lower end of fast moving portion of the Black Waterway. It will simply take some exploring, once they have a vessel capable of it, to pin down where they are and the PCs will have the oppurtunity to update the map from there. That is, assuming any desire to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The map below is for OOC reference. The black lines following rocks and obstacles are signs of the motion of the water and appear on the tail end of the obstacle from the direction of the water. On the map, the water current flows from the top of the picture to the bottom and otherwise swirls around Nec'perya in a counter-clockwise direction.

L'obsul - is it one council with one representative from each race, Aka the svirfs, kobolds, drow, duergar and orogs, even the goblins too?
Or does house zau'tar dominate everything?

It's a council. I know that Zau'tar has a representative along with the duerger, svirfs, and kobolds (unless I am remembering wrong), not sure about orogs and goblins.

I never heard of the kobolds having a rep, nor goblins. Orogs definitely do. There's four though.

There is not only 'Four'. There are 'Four' in game NPC's but naturally there are more behind the scenes. Like Nec'pereya has about 470 inhabitants - 400 Drow and 70 slaves. But there are only like 20 NPC's

Pretty sure he means races on the L'Obsul council.

Very_Svensk wrote:

There is not only 'Four'. There are 'Four' in game NPC's but naturally there are more behind the scenes. Like Nec'pereya has about 470 inhabitants - 400 Drow and 70 slaves. But there are only like 20 NPC's

Correction: Nec'perya has around 250-ish Drow (including the PCs) and about 180 slaves.

As for L'Obsul's council... Pretty much every standard playable UD race found in the town has a Council member. Some try to keep their council member a secret though on account of the ever-in-play 'cold war' style power struggle to control the whole town. Very cloak and dagger as to not disrupt the general 'peace.'

Goblins are not listed as standard inhabitants of the town, and hence do not have a representative on the council.

http://i.imgur.com/VN4fJBJ.jpg

Are you planning to update either maps btw as we progress into the deeper daRK ?:D

Yes. But, to reflect what you have available, scales will be off. Charting the UD, especially on a ship in a fast moving water way is not an exact science.

You guys also have yet to properly discern the location of the city itself in relation to the greater map of the Underdark. Lots of exploring to do! ^_^

The underdark. L'obsul - Nec'pereya.

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