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Hi folks. Sorry for being tardy again. RL been keeping me busy. Anyway back to Andur. I have never done an aerial view of my dreamscape city and this proved to be quite a challenge. Especially since I have only seen it once from this angle years ago when Petina took for a ride in the gilder. http://www.furaffinity.net/view/839121/ Now I've wandered up and down those hills for over fifteen years but it can be hard to combine all the elements together into one coherent image.
Andur is a city built upon five terraced steps with the Sultan's Palace being at the top. Each of the five levels has its own walls. These are for defense but they also help protect against erosion and landslides. Each level has fortified gates to them.
Most of Andur's 120,000 inhabitants live in two or three story dwelling modeled roughly on old roman designs of apartments. This is not too surprising since Andur was once part of Imperial Rome for a 100 years. In fact two of the most important elements of the city's infrastructure have their roots in Rome's history. The aqueduct and the sewers.
The Aqueduct is the tallest structure in the city and comes in from the north through the mountains and spans across two of the levels. There the water enters a central station where it distributed out through underground pipelines that radiate out in a semi-circle like spokes from a hub. These feed into cisterns that in turn feed out to the many fountains and baths. The fountains provide much of the water for the neighborhoods although most dwellings have their own cisterns to save and collect rainwater. Also there are two artesian wells and river that run through the city.
The sewers take advantage of the natural slopes in the city and feed out of Andur and into large pits to the south, and down wind, of the city. The pits were originally where people mined for clay back in the days of Malakakar. Andur's original name. At first the sewers just dumped into the bay; with of course bad results for the bay. Eventually a particular type of fish that the then ruling Sultan loved to eat stopped appearing. In a moment lucidity and empirical knowledge he decided that the beautiful fish that he so enjoyed didn't like swimming in filth! Make the sewage go some place else, and since he was the Sultan well..... he got his way and the fish came back in few years.
In many ways Andur proved to be a challenge for the Roman Engineers since its location defied the preferred Roman grid system for laying out streets. On the Grand Plateau you can see where they tried their hardest to put the stamp of Rome on the street grid.
For most of Malakar's history, both the old and new one, the city was generally located in the top three levels. As the time passed and the city grew it eventually crept down the slope until its outer curtain wall is right against the wharves.
Andur is a city built upon five terraced steps with the Sultan's Palace being at the top. Each of the five levels has its own walls. These are for defense but they also help protect against erosion and landslides. Each level has fortified gates to them.
Most of Andur's 120,000 inhabitants live in two or three story dwelling modeled roughly on old roman designs of apartments. This is not too surprising since Andur was once part of Imperial Rome for a 100 years. In fact two of the most important elements of the city's infrastructure have their roots in Rome's history. The aqueduct and the sewers.
The Aqueduct is the tallest structure in the city and comes in from the north through the mountains and spans across two of the levels. There the water enters a central station where it distributed out through underground pipelines that radiate out in a semi-circle like spokes from a hub. These feed into cisterns that in turn feed out to the many fountains and baths. The fountains provide much of the water for the neighborhoods although most dwellings have their own cisterns to save and collect rainwater. Also there are two artesian wells and river that run through the city.
The sewers take advantage of the natural slopes in the city and feed out of Andur and into large pits to the south, and down wind, of the city. The pits were originally where people mined for clay back in the days of Malakakar. Andur's original name. At first the sewers just dumped into the bay; with of course bad results for the bay. Eventually a particular type of fish that the then ruling Sultan loved to eat stopped appearing. In a moment lucidity and empirical knowledge he decided that the beautiful fish that he so enjoyed didn't like swimming in filth! Make the sewage go some place else, and since he was the Sultan well..... he got his way and the fish came back in few years.
In many ways Andur proved to be a challenge for the Roman Engineers since its location defied the preferred Roman grid system for laying out streets. On the Grand Plateau you can see where they tried their hardest to put the stamp of Rome on the street grid.
For most of Malakar's history, both the old and new one, the city was generally located in the top three levels. As the time passed and the city grew it eventually crept down the slope until its outer curtain wall is right against the wharves.
Category All / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 752 x 715px
File Size 147.3 kB
The amount of detail you put into your fictional setting is incredible! (Silly Romans, arcs following the curve of the land would be more space efficient in this case, as well as a more "organic" area to live in and easier to navigate if one could follow each arc road from one side of a terraced area to the other.)
PS Wow... you been lucid dreaming this thing for 15 years... that's amazing. ^_^
PS Wow... you been lucid dreaming this thing for 15 years... that's amazing. ^_^
Mmm... The city seems well defendable if prepared to repel hostile invaders. The harbor doesn't form a weak point in a way that it cuts a hole in the city wall. This does rather mean that in case of an attack the ships must depart an fend for themselves in open seas or become seized or razed by the enemy. It would be wise to store the armament stock and surplus inside city walls as well as placing the main storehouses behind the second or third defensive wall. And what about crop growing inside the city? Are there small fields or pastures inside the city? Or maybe individual family gardens on top of the houses in the spirit of the hanging gardens of Babylon? This could potentially yield a descent crow of vegetables, spices and herbs a few times a year considering the climate. These gardens could also be used to grow medicinal plants which you really want during times of war.
The weak point in its defense is the aqueduct. Its existents shows that the natural water supply, artesian and rain, are not sufficient and they live in an arid to dessert environment so evaporation is a serious problem as well. Also what is the extent of its use as a power source for machinery like flour mills? This aqueduct might be pivotal in a few ways to destroy or capture the city.
Scenario 1: Cutting it off in case of conquest might be enough to bring the city to its knees if timed in the dry season. Because cutting off the water from the aqueduct would not only make water scares but also make food production on a large scale close to impossible when used to power flour mills. Happened to Rome once by the way. They partially solved the problem with the implementation of ship mills but the city fell some time later.
Scenario 2: The aqueduct could be used by a small task force to gain access not only to the city but directly to the residences of its military, political or religious leaders since both are located in the top level of the city. Selective of wholesale assassination can be performed as a means to create an excuse, killing of a residing diplomat, to attack the city and gain support or allies in this task. Or to cut off the head of its defensive apparatus and lower moral. The task force could also open or destroy the workings of the city gates from the inside from which a signal could start the invasion by fast moving cavalry and mounted archers.
Scenario 3: When destruction of the city is the goal the I'd start lacing the water with a slow acting poison that would work both by ingestion as by skin contact. When it is expected that enough people are affected the aqueduct would be destroyed to gain effects of scenario 1 and a protracted siege would be prepared and put in motion. This would include small scale attacks to test the remaining defensive capabilities and to destroy moral. When the desired levels of these two have been reached full scale attack will be initiated by breaching the walls with heavy artillery probably in the form of catapults, trebuchet or possibly heavy cannons. Combined with an assault on other sections of the wall by ladders or grappling hooks and destroying the gates with covered battering rams. All the while firing burning arrows and slinging flamepots over the walls into the city for further lowering of moral and stretching of the cities means of defense.
The presence of magically gifted is a moot point for any self respecting and informed attacker would have a couple with him as a means to counter their possible advantage to the cities defences.
The weak point in its defense is the aqueduct. Its existents shows that the natural water supply, artesian and rain, are not sufficient and they live in an arid to dessert environment so evaporation is a serious problem as well. Also what is the extent of its use as a power source for machinery like flour mills? This aqueduct might be pivotal in a few ways to destroy or capture the city.
Scenario 1: Cutting it off in case of conquest might be enough to bring the city to its knees if timed in the dry season. Because cutting off the water from the aqueduct would not only make water scares but also make food production on a large scale close to impossible when used to power flour mills. Happened to Rome once by the way. They partially solved the problem with the implementation of ship mills but the city fell some time later.
Scenario 2: The aqueduct could be used by a small task force to gain access not only to the city but directly to the residences of its military, political or religious leaders since both are located in the top level of the city. Selective of wholesale assassination can be performed as a means to create an excuse, killing of a residing diplomat, to attack the city and gain support or allies in this task. Or to cut off the head of its defensive apparatus and lower moral. The task force could also open or destroy the workings of the city gates from the inside from which a signal could start the invasion by fast moving cavalry and mounted archers.
Scenario 3: When destruction of the city is the goal the I'd start lacing the water with a slow acting poison that would work both by ingestion as by skin contact. When it is expected that enough people are affected the aqueduct would be destroyed to gain effects of scenario 1 and a protracted siege would be prepared and put in motion. This would include small scale attacks to test the remaining defensive capabilities and to destroy moral. When the desired levels of these two have been reached full scale attack will be initiated by breaching the walls with heavy artillery probably in the form of catapults, trebuchet or possibly heavy cannons. Combined with an assault on other sections of the wall by ladders or grappling hooks and destroying the gates with covered battering rams. All the while firing burning arrows and slinging flamepots over the walls into the city for further lowering of moral and stretching of the cities means of defense.
The presence of magically gifted is a moot point for any self respecting and informed attacker would have a couple with him as a means to counter their possible advantage to the cities defences.
Yep the aqueduct is the weak link. The wells and cisterns might just be able to keep the city running on emergency rations for a while. But not indefinitely. The aqueduct has some of the best defenses both magically and physical attached to it try and foil any infiltrators or poisoners. However any defense system can be overcome with persistence, subterfuge, sacrifice, and imagination.
Also it is possible to use intelligent avians to circumvent the security and cause mayhem.
For this reason both Dawn and Sultan are of the opinion that Andur's army should meet the enemy before they get to the city walls.
Also it is possible to use intelligent avians to circumvent the security and cause mayhem.
For this reason both Dawn and Sultan are of the opinion that Andur's army should meet the enemy before they get to the city walls.
That tactic might be used to catch the city undefended or undermanned and the mobile army without a base of operation and seriously hinder its line of (re)supply.
Also it seems to me that the city can only be laid under siege from the sea and from the bottom left. From above I suspect that the terrain to the city is way to steep to field an army or to attack the walls. Same deal for the right side where the aqueduct comes into the city. There is rather little detail about the surrounding landscape in the drawing though.
Also it seems to me that the city can only be laid under siege from the sea and from the bottom left. From above I suspect that the terrain to the city is way to steep to field an army or to attack the walls. Same deal for the right side where the aqueduct comes into the city. There is rather little detail about the surrounding landscape in the drawing though.
Well its a country now. When I first arrived in Andur in 1995 it was nothing more than a city-state encompassing the city walls and territories around the bay. As the years have gone by though it has grown into a regional power that has extended its influence almost up to the strait of Aden and down to Madagascar and Zanzibar. It now has colonies to the south of it where thousands of colonists have gone to make their future.
If you haven't taken a chance you might want to nose around Andur in my gallery it is my longest running dreamscape. Fifteen year old and counting. It does have what I like think of as some very charming characters in it. Yes I know that may take some rummaging. I have started adding keywords to my postings but I do wish I could build world folders to put things into for folks.
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