sneakyarrow
Commoner
Pathfinder is soooo much better than D&D.
Posts: 21 
Favorite D&D Class: Sorcerer
Favorite D&D Race: Human
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Post by sneakyarrow on Dec 16, 2016 18:34:53 GMT
Well... not that many, but still. I have an island that is large (think Australia) but it is circular and I want to have a good lore reason as to why it is circular and so far I have come up with a blank. The only event on the island that I could possibly link it to (if I wanted to) is the dead venerable red dragon (my way of saying one of the first dragons) on the west coast. It's death caused a ~600 mile wide explosion. The roundness doesn't need to happen before or after, it is just an idea to link it to if you want.
Any help is appreciated.
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Post by Jesse Ross on Dec 16, 2016 19:18:57 GMT
How about a spell with a spherical area of effect that created a protective bubble around the land mass? Whatever the land was being protected from burned away or disintegrated the land (and water and creatures) outside of the bubble, thus creating a circular island.
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Post by dmsam on Dec 16, 2016 20:46:03 GMT
If it's a rough circle, a volcanic eruption or an asteroid could form ring-like land-masses with a central crater.
High-fantasy wise, the continent could have been the foundation of house of an ancient, titanic race with a predisposition for circular floor plans.
Or, the whole continent is actually an spell form (nod to full metal alchemist) for some magical experiment or plot device.
Or, it was the Earth Mother and the Sky Father's engagement ring. In the sky, there is the moon. On earth, there is this perfectly round continent.
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dmtreat
Squire
Posts: 48
Favorite D&D Class: Ranger
Favorite D&D Race: Dwarf
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Post by dmtreat on Dec 21, 2016 17:10:01 GMT
Geologically speaking this could be looked at as a product of differential erosion. When an underlying layer of sediment is composed of a softer material than what is on top the underlying layer erodes quicker around the edges, usually resulting in a semi-circular structure. This is the case with the Grand Mesa in Colorado as well as a lot of flat tops in utah.
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Post by galakan on Dec 21, 2016 19:44:18 GMT
Not sure what pantheon you're working with, but the fact that it is a perfect circle could have something to do with the god of Order in your land. Maybe this was the area he created, and thus everything is at an OCD level of perfection.
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justdave
Squire
Yes
Posts: 27
Favorite D&D Class: Paladin // Barbarian
Favorite D&D Race: Human
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Post by justdave on Dec 22, 2016 7:53:19 GMT
Some plants grow into cirle-ish forms. Maybe the island is some kind of rock-flower that hasn't bloomed yet or a gigantic fossilized remnant of an ancient fruit
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sneakyarrow
Commoner
Pathfinder is soooo much better than D&D.
Posts: 21
Favorite D&D Class: Sorcerer
Favorite D&D Race: Human
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Post by sneakyarrow on Dec 23, 2016 0:12:53 GMT
Thanks for the great ideas. What I settled on is that it is the remnants of a colossal earth elemental. In ancient times, a giant cabal of wizards who worshiped Rovagug (basically the Pathfinder god of destruction) summoned an earth-shattering earth elemental but were stopped by a hero (some believe it was Sarenrae in disguise) who killed the earth elemental, cutting off it's head (Which became the moon). So these people basically live on the neck of a beheaded earth elemental.
I know it doesn't really sound like any of the ideas y'all gave, but you definitely inspired it.
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Post by randosaurus on Jan 14, 2017 19:11:45 GMT
Have you ever heard of ice circles or discs? Perfect Ice Circle on videoA chunk of river or lake ice breaks from the surface as ice cover melts. If the conditions are right, if the ice is in a bend, an oxbow, or a natural eddy point in the river, the broken chunk doesn't float away, but spins in place. As pressure from the river current spins the ice, it grinds the rough edges down to a naturally perfect circle. If you expand the time scale, the same process could apply on a geological timeline. Some chunk of land, maybe a whole tectonic plate, breaks free of the mantle. Because magic. It's floating on a bed of liquefied rock that moves like a river, but slow like a lava flow. This flow provides the forces to set the plate spinning, with the island atop. How would this look to the inhabitants? There would be a ring of steam or bubbling sea all around the island-- the broken edge would be underwater with a chasm open directly to magma. Currents around the island would direct ships away-- the current would be circular so you couldn't take a direct path without your ship falling over. Captains would have to pilot the spin on the approach, and any vessel just floating the current would be sent on a tangent path. It would have no connection to the underdark or any underworld-- the earth above and below is rotating, so you could only use a tunnel when both sides perfectly match up. On that point, the whole island is spinning -- the exact speed may be so slow as to be barely detectable, but there would be no true north, star orientations would be ever changing, etc. There could be a whole second set of seasons, if the island/continent is large enough-- one point on the island may be at a cold latitude for winter one year, but a mild latitude the next. Picture if Sydney had a summer closer to Antarctica one year and an equatorial summer the next. Anyway, that's my input. Floating islands are pretty standard fantasy fare, so this shouldn't be too much a stretch and you get to have fun exploring how it impacts PCs & NPCs alike. |
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