During the autumn rainy season, Sharn is hit with rain. Enormous, water-laden clouds spin off of the

During the autumn rainy season, Sharn is hit with rain. Enormous, water-laden clouds spin off of the Stormreach Archipelago, delivering life-nourishing precipitation to Khorvaire. It is this rainfall that fuels the temperate rainforests of Zilargo. The area around Sharn also used to be apart of this rainforest, but was chopped down during centuries of occupation. This did not stop the rain, however. If anything, owing to the lack of trees to absorb it all, it made the rain worse. Over the centuries as the city grew and grew, its buildings not bound by gravity as others are. The initial period of building was a direct reaction to this flooding: making it so that the streets and floors would be above the water. However, once the water got into the foundations and started causing even more problems, it was apparent this wasn’t going to work out.During the Early Industrial Period, Galifar ir'Wynarn II, famous for bolstering the city to its current-day height, provided a solution. Using the royal army he dug a series of trenches through the streets called The Depths. These trenches were 30 feet lower than the ground-level of the city and connected directly to the Dagger River and the sea through the ancient sewer systems. This way water could pool up in The Depths until it was steadily drained. This system has been used for hundreds of years, although some would say it requires some updating. Some parts of the city have sunk in to the stone perch of the city over the years and experience flooding on the ground level. Unfortunately, because only the poorest of the poor live on the ground-level, it’s unlikely action will be taken swiftly.One of the side-effects of The Depths is the creation of a unique freshwater environment. In the height of the rainy season the Depths are teaming with life from the Dagger River. Species of water plant have even taken root, using strategies for normal droughts to survive the dry season in their canyon-like homes. While it’s too early for new species to evolve, some native to the Dagger River have changed their ways of life to adapt to the man-made river. Like the rubber ducklings. Despite the name they are not related to ducks, instead they are goldfish-sized relatives of the marine hesperornithines. Their name comes from the general urban colloquialism of “if it’s a bird in water it’s a duck or a penguin” and the rubber toy-like squeak they make when grabbed.Rubber ducklings normally live around the shallow edges of the Dagger River, eating small fish and invertebrates while avoiding larger predators. The Depths of Sharn provides them a safer opportunity to lay their eggs on land, usually in sewer openings away from large trout and crocodiles, and an abundance of food from otherwise unusual sources. While the people of the upper towers of Sharn feed pigeons, ground-dwellers feed rubber ducklings. Many have even been observed in the wild several miles up the Dagger to react positively to the presence of a humanoid, expecting food. Sharnites have taken to them so well in fact that breeding programs and unofficial “rubber duckling races” are held during the height of the rainy season. When the waters eventually retreat the ducklings and their new hatchlings follow the river northward to greener waters. A few rubber ducklings have been known to hang around until it’s too late, becoming stuck in the drying mud of the former river-bottoms. Primary schools in Sharn use the drying of the Depths as a field trip and educational opportunity on the handling of animals, picking up ducklings and placing them back into the river waters so they can swim back.  –Recently I’ve been holding a D&D game for friends set in Eberron. A slightly tweaked version of Eberron. I have no lover for the “so high fantasy it’s nearly Sci-Fi” aesthetic that Eberron normally goes for, so I’ve tried to flavor it by bolstering the industrial revolution and Great War themes it has going on. In addition to a few other things. And, me being me, the first thing I wanted to do was populate it with little creachers. Considering Eberron already has dinosaurs running around, fish-sized hesperornithines wouldn’t be too unusual. Also they’re just too cute. Like a cross between a duck and a penguin you can hold in the palm of your hand. The little goblin girl knows what’s up. (Also, note, please don’t feed ducks or fantasy ducks chocolate-chip cookies)Will this series continue. Maybe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -- source link
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