[Quest Hub] Talon Rock

[gaghiel42]

Yay, gotta love burrowing ogres.  When they don't have caves to hide in, they make their own!  I'd have to imagine the sheer tonnage of dirt they dig up for their Burrows forms into nice defensive walls/hills for them to defend their turf as well.  And, the added bonus of maybe finding big fossilized skulls or other bones that they can use as weapons.

Updated my list, with a few tweaks based on your ideas.  Also, another couple of locations:

- Across the river on the east bank should be the Judge's house as well as the small jail and militia headquarters.  Since most of the threats come from the east, they are stationed there to intercept foes before they can ford the river.  Also, I'd imagine the judge has a pretty awesome ferry that she comes across in for trials and to pick up people to be incarcerated.  Something that would scare the daylights out of somebody.  (We need to add a HOT-like quality for vehicles that instead gives a bonus to intimidate/resolve checks or something like it for when something is just dread inspiring)

- On the Northwest bank should be another guard outpost and perhaps the town's Grain and lumber processing buildings, I'm picturing it as a more industrial part of town since most of the farm land would be that direction, and keeping the noise of Mills and such away from the residential areas would be nice. I would imagine that would be the side of the river they want to build a bridge across first, since it will save them effort on transporting workers across daily, but I'd wager they have a rope/chain or the like that they can use to help guide the ferry across.  Something that can be raised or lowered for traffic to pass through.  If it was a chain, it could double as a defensive item too.  A well anchored chain is sometimes all you need to keep boats from entering or exiting your port. Having the lumber and Mills on that side of town, would also simplify storage concerns as well as keeping the city somewhat more pest free as they would target the larger stores than the small refined amounts in the city proper.

[Mister Andersen]

"Ogre burrow" is my favorite concept of the day. Sunchasser Ogre now officially form burrows as base camps when out raiding .

Barrows are cooler

[Wolverine]

Barrows are cooler

But only really appropriate if the Orges-in-residence are (un)dead.

[Mister Andersen]

I dunno, live ogres hanging out in barrows rathrr says you can expect worse from them than regular undead.

Plus it's harder to collapse a barrow and you don't have to worry about dealing with water tables or subsidance. Plus anyone worth their salt with summon/create water spells could just drown a burrow.

[gaghiel42]

I'd agree, but the Ogres in question do this in Arid landscapes where the water table level would be well lower than 6 feet beneath the surface.  Heck, in illinois (one of the biggest agriculture centers in the US) it is quite easy to dig down 6-8 feet without even having to worry about ground water.  I was on a soil judging team back in high school for the FFA, and it would take A LOT of water to do more than make their burrows muddy.  Adding water (unless it was on the scale of gallon jug to ground squirrel hole capacity) wouldn't really have an adverse effect.  It'd probably just make their sandly loam into better, more solid clay loam. 


Now, that being said... fashioning a giant jug full of water, and carrying it by airship to try to drown out/capture ogres would be hilarious. 

For those that dont know what I mean, if someone were to take a gallon jug of water and up end it into a ground squirrel tunnel, they will swim up the neck of the jug and end up getting trapped inside as opposed to being drowned.  So, its one of the easiest ways to trap them to keep them out of your cattle pastures or yards without killing them.
 
*shrug* /farm nerd moment

[MugMug]

Adding water (unless it was on the scale of gallon jug to ground squirrel hole capacity) wouldn't really have an adverse effect.  It'd probably just make their sandly loam into better, more solid clay loam. 

I'm going to have my own nerdy moment, here. Water content does not drive soil texture classification. Sandy loam and clay loam are differentiated by their respective ratios of soil particles of various sizes; sandy loam has the larger proportion of larger particles (i.e. sand), while clay loam has the larger proportion of smaller particles (i.e. clay).

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Walter

[gaghiel42]

Well yeah, but, as far as judging it goes, you pretty much get to test it's particulates and how well it holds up to a 'ribbon test.'  The more water content in an area at a given moment, the better it holds up to the ribbon test. So, while it isn't actually a clay loam, it would hold up to compaction and stress better for the time period it was full of water.

Ultimately, though: well played   Glad someone else knows what I'm talkin about.

[MilitiaJim]

For those that dont know what I mean, if someone were to take a gallon jug of water and up end it into a ground squirrel tunnel, they will swim up the neck of the jug and end up getting trapped inside as opposed to being drowned.  So, its one of the easiest ways to trap them to keep them out of your cattle pastures or yards without killing them.

That's freakin' hilarious.

What is this "ribbon test"?

[Agent 333]

Ground squirrels? You mean chipmunks?

[gaghiel42]

Ground squirrels? You mean chipmunks?

Yeah, chipmunks are a variety of ground squirrel.  There are a bunch of different kinds ranging from the classic chipmunk to the Prarie Dog, and all scales in between.  Here are the ones that live around me typically, that I refer to:

(click to show/hide)

What is this "ribbon test"?

The ribbon test is where you take a hand full of dirt and squeeze it out in a 'ribbon' between your thumb and index fingers.  The consistency and length of the ribbon helps you tell what kinds of particles/how dense your particular soil is.  Sometimes it forms nice long ribbons of dirt, other times it crumbles away almost as soon as it has escaped your hands.

[MugMug]

That ribbon test is just a quick field screening test. You don't, for example, build soil maps based on this kind of test.

Walter

[gaghiel42]

Back on topic though, am I missing anything from the list of ideas for locations in the city?  No one seems to be saying all that much here outside of commenting here and there. 

Anyone have any other/better ideas? We cant leave Morg hangin, so lets hear em.   

[Wolverine]

I would imagine that would be the side of the river they want to build a bridge across first, since it will save them effort on transporting workers across daily, but I'd wager they have a rope/chain or the like that they can use to help guide the ferry across.  Something that can be raised or lowered for traffic to pass through.  If it was a chain, it could double as a defensive item too.

Depending on the width of the river, a ferry could be armed with a harpoon-like device which fires a line to the other side of the river and then is drawn back in to pull them across. Perhaps a little complex, but it would get around having to suspend a line across the river, or risk rotting or rust by submerging one underwater.

It you went with a bridge that still allowed for water traffic, a swing bridge would be an interesting way to go. Either rotating in the middle, or pivoting from the town side. They would be relatively easy to construct, and could be swung aside as a defensive measure.

[MilitiaJim]

How wide and deep is the river and what sorts of craft are used to ship ore up and grain down?

Is river transportation expensive enough that the surrounding forests are being culled for charcoal for the initial smelting? 

How thoroughly has organized crime taken over the gin joints, brothels, gambling dens?  How easy is it to separate a miner from his loot?

Check this out for demographic information:  http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm

(Of course I feel like my questions are wandering off on the wrong track.)

[Edited to add stuff.]

[gaghiel42]

I kinda like the harpoon idea, but I think there is too much that could go wrong with it.  For the chain/rope idea they could easily make a submersible piece out of a non-rust or rot material like clay or stone that wouldn't degrade.  Also, I believe if the chain was thick enough and solid, they could just hammer the rust out of the links every year or so and no big deal.  Not too sure on that one though, not a lot of smithing background