Hello everyone. I'm new here, and I joined up to talk with all of you and make an amazing Sky City, kung fu story, steam punk themed game. (sounds pretty crazy, doesn't it? lol) Oh and hey GawainBS if your reading this. Thanks for the forum hook up. Also I'm reposting this in other forums here, so you might find it floating around in some topics. I hope that is alright Etiquette, and if not let me know.
The inspiration I'm borrowing from:
-Artistic kung fu movies like "Legend of the Tsunami Warrior," the "Ong Bak" series, and "Forbidden Kingdom."
-"Final Fantasy III and V." I love the idea of airships and floating continents. The character "Cid" has always been an interesting concept in the FF games, and I want to use him as Final Fantasy has in all their games.
-Religion. Not just one, but all of them. It's strange when you compare them all, for the most part they all overlap each other similarly.
-the movie "waterworld" and the biblical flood of Noah in Genesis. A flooded world below, with little land and very little communities interests me.
What I have thought up thus far, is that in the world below this sky city, monks that have achieved 'true enlightenment' get raptured up into a huge temple city in the skies. In this temple city, they can enjoy the richest of fruits, the purest of air, and live among others of peace for the rest of their days. (I thought another interesting flare might be the enlightened monk finds the power in himself to climb high up into the sky, hopping from one cloud to the next, with the direction to the temple city known in his heart. It would make an awesome pilgrimage and adventure I think. I haven't decided yet.)
The city is kept aloft with massively huge turbines below, and large propellers at the top of every tower. These machines, though massive in size, run very quiet, and is powered by a pure technology that doesn't harm the environment around it. (I haven't figured out what kind of energy source the city uses. I direly need help with this concept.) The city orbits around the world below aimlessly, and is never in the same spot. The city was built by the help of a storm giant who lives in the deepest pit in the seas below, and a cloud giant who lives atop the highest peek in the known world. In the city, there are many bath houses and tea houses, many gardens of fruit and shade to meditate in, and many temples where you can train and prefect your arts. This city isn't only full of monks, however. It was originally a keep for a VERY powerful dijiin and an army of avariels.
The deal is the dijiin rebuilt a society for the avariels since their kingdom of old crumbled into the sea many years ago, and for a kingdom, the avariels must protect this dijiin, and the city against his immortal enemy, a vile and blood thirsty efreeti. The dijiin has always admired the sacrifice of the monk and their strange vows of purity. These acts of kindness and selflessness the monk devotes his entire life to should be rewarded. (and in the divine plan, taken advantage of.) So through magic he rewarded their life decisions with a paradise to live in, knowing full well his city will be a pure, quiet, peaceful, and enjoyable one for all who lives here. (and mostly, an enjoyable one for himself.) On the flip side, when the efreeti attacks, the avariels will fight out of contract, and the monks will fight for survival and honoring their temples and paradise. A most ingenious plan for a dijiin who only wants to linger in the sun and smoke his hookah, and somehow be important but have little to very few priorities.
Some other subjects in this city are beautiful women the dijiin has run into and 'enjoyed' throughout his many years of life. He has persuaded them all to come live a life with him in a palace high up in the skies, where only him and his many wives may enter. His palace is place of carnal lust and revelry, very different from the city he has instructed giants to build on the outside. (This bit of information isn't known to the monks, for all they know the 'king' of this city is a wise and old monk that has transcended above all mortal desires, like themselves. The avariels know none of this either, since they keep high up in the upper levels of the city and has never even seen the inside of the dijiins great palace. In fact, all living in the city has never seen the dijiin for over 400 years.) Through sleeping with all of these women, the dijiin has many children, all air gensais (cross breading dijiins and humans make half air-elementals.) and their place is to take care for the palace, grow the fruit on the inside of is corridors, cater to the dijiin and his wives, and keep the place looking divine and seducing. These children are taken care of by their mothers in a single mass. The children are kept ignorant for the most part, they know little of the outside world, and haven't seen anything but the dijiins massive corridors and bedrooms.
The world below is flooded. There is very little land, and only two continents that are on opposite sides of the globe. Knowledge that there is another continent on the other side where people also live is not known by anyone other than the dijiin, who has seen the entire world. The oceans dominate over the land unchallenged, so it would take a sailing ship years to reach and discover the other side. So travel by airship is practiced more, but to travel to the other side of the world is madness. There is "most likely" no where to land on the endless ocean, it's perils would be most dire, and the likelihood of there even being green grass on the other side isn't likely. (silly primates. lol) The environment is very humid and tropical, islands are almost over run by jungles and rain forests. On the sea, communities of darfellen gypsies float about in boat-cities. They live off the oceans, and these cities are very common to come across. The people of land call this cities "fish slums" and most view the darfellen in a negative way.
I was thinking that the continent that the party is familiar with (for those who want to originate below) is a lot like a more extreme east india. Elephants are taxi cabs, tigers are lead on leashes by royalty, there are temples of flesh (orgy houses) everywhere, and there are over a million "known" gods and practices to worship them. (I might use some real one's of Hinduism, or I might make my own up. If you have some good sources let me know.)
I want the party to start off their adventure in the sky city, as guests, adventurers or trespassers. I haven't thought of their motives of being there yet.
So, this is all I have thus far. If you read this and you thought up an idea of your own that would work well in this game, PLEASE share it. There are a lot of holes I need to fill in, and many minds are better than one. Same goes for any of you who liked/disliked anything of my world, your input is wanted. I still need lots of names, names for the continents, names for the dijiin, the efreeti, the giants, the gods of men below AND THE CITY. If you are good at naming things, and decide to lend me a hand, your help would be most appreciated. Also an energy source for the city and a conflict is needed.
Feel free to post here, or shoot me a personal message.
