The Hitchhikers Guide to the Gathering Storm

[UnOrthOdOx]

Ah, hell!

Looks like I may need to rewrite some stuff, since this is much better. May as well take some of the features mentioned and put them into the next edition of Trappings.

Very good work!

[Theseus]

Mmm, bananas.

[vulture]

Sandstorm
Sandstorm really is the Gathering Storm of legend and of popular imagination. It is not an easy place to get to; the only real option is to join a caravan heading across the desert, and they don't take on passengers, so you'll have to find one willing to employ you as a handler or drover. The pay is reasonable, but the work is hard, and you have to live by desert law. Desert law is pretty simple, if rather brutal: nearly all crimes are punishable by death. Caravans have a rather precarious existence, and won't tolerate anything that endangers their safety. Conversely, the only crimes there are are things that endanger the caravan, such as stealing, or harming another member of the group. It isn't possible to break the rules accidentally, so unless you are of a malicious nature, you'll be quite safe.

A week spent crossing the desert is quite pleasant once you get used to the pattern of life, and despite the work, you just might be sad to finally arrive in Sandstorm and leave the caravan - although the only way out again is to join another caravan across the desert to another city. Sandstorm has only really grown as a town due to being situated at the crossroads of two trade routes across the desert, which happen to cross each other near a good-sized oasis. East to west, the road connects Arashi to Hurricane, while the north-south road runs from Eye of the Storm to the new town of Blizzard. Most of the business of the town is dealing with the caravans that come through, with a side line in dyeing clothes with juices from a kind of berry that grows around the oasis. The dye produces a deep blue colour, but the berries don't grow in huge numbers, so the volume of clothing dealt with is rather small.

Places to stay are plentiful, but as you might expect, are rather shabby. They are designed for the caravan crews to spend one or two nights in before moving on, and the caravaneers don't want anything more than a straw mattress to sleep on. Slightly better quality, coupled with greater privacy, is available in the rooms saved for the caravan chiefs, but don't expect too much. Food is also rather basic, with the exception of the Dharumba. The Dharumba is actually a fruit that grows on the trees around the oasis, which has a stone in the middle. The stone is removed from the fruit, and the cavity is filled up with a mixture of honey and water. The hole is then blocked up with tree resin, which is edible if tasteless. The fruit have a hard skin which allows it to keep the water inside it despite the heat, and allows the sweets to keep for long periods in the desert. The taste and feel of them is marvellous, but they can only be found in this one town, so make the most of them while you are here.

The people here aren't talkative, although once you've had a mouthful of sand from a sudden gust of wind, you'll be more inclined to keep you mouth closed as much as possible too. As a consequence, it is hard to find out what things there are that might be worth seeing in the area. One place deserving of your time is the recently built Temple of the Winds in the heart of the oasis. The building is designed such that when the wind blows over certain places, musical notes are produced inside the building. The notes aren't constant; apparently there are sections in the roof that move with the wind so that each position can produce a sequence of notes rather than a single one. The overall effect is mostly chaotic, but occasionally coherent flashes of melody appear for a short time.

We had the good fortune to observe the Gathering Storm government in action in the few days we were here. Shortly after we arrived, we were approached by a few people asking our opinions on whether the town ought to build a new set of stables for the pack chickens. Obviously we had no idea, and explained we were new to the town. At this point we were told that the relevant information was posted near the main well, and that we were welcome to add to the discussion. The main well had a large board next to it with much data about stable occupancy and anticipated growth of trade routes. Over the next few evenings, we often found groups of people discussing the stables, and after a while it became clear that everyone was in favour of it, and discussion had moved on to choosing a site. Opinion in the town quickly became polarised into two groups each with a preferred site, but by the following evening enough people had changed from one group to the other that it was clear where the majority lay. Before we left, the new stables were already under construction, without anyone making a decision. The people building it just waited until it was clear that most of the town favoured a new stables in this spot, and then got on with it.

Eye of the Storm
This the the capital of the Storm, birthplace of their people, and with a many claims to fame, not least as the birthplace of the legendary Grog, and home to a higher proportion of talking animals than anywhere else on Estonia, and possibly the whole world. It was founded nearly four thousand years ago by the mythical notyoueither on the banks of the great river, at the southern end of the desert. It has grown into a huge metropolis and is in the running for being the largest city in the known world. Finding accommodation here is easy, and possibilities range from the very basic to the stunningly luxurious. There is so much to do here that we will list the highlights only.

The Great Chicken Chapel. The chapel itself is surprisingly small, but it houses the sacred split boulder. The boulder itself is fifty feet across, and split down the middle to reveal the fossilised bones of a massive chicken embedded in one side, while the other side contains the matching indentations. Notyoueither's discovery of this boulder is what led him to found a city here, where prayers were offered to the Great Chicken to save his people from the depredations of the war chickens. Those prayers were answered, and the Storm was thus born. There is a recently born controversy within the city as the a man claiming to be a prophet has declared that the Great Chicken is a false god, and the one true god is the holy donut. The proclamations of Octavian the tenth are not taken too seriously by most people, but he does seem to be attracting a growing group of followers. Religious tolerance is the order of the day though, and surprisingly, non believers are allowed in to see the boulder, and upon seeing it your first reaction is likely to be relief that such monstrous specimens are no longer with us today, else the armies of the Storm would be invincible.

After that comment, we have to mention the chicken breeding pens, which is where the Storm's was chickens are bred. There is also a breeding program underway to try and improve the fighting characteristic of the chickens, and they claim to have recently bred a new strain of chicken capable of carrying not only a man clad in heavy armour into battle, but also armour for the chicken itself.

The Grand Opera House. Construction was completed over a hundred years ago, but the magnificent opera house is still in good shape. Opera is surprisingly popular in Eye of the Storm, although it wasn't always the case. The surge in attendances came with the opening of the operatic adaptation of Grog want Tank twenty years ago, which was playing to sold out audiences every night for the first five years of its life. It is still on twice a week (Wednesdays and Sundays), and tickets still have to be purchased some time in advance. The rousing final chorus scene is particularly inspiring, and you'll find yourself humming "Grog want tank, tank, tank; Grog want tank right now!" for weeks afterwards. The death scene, although stunning, lacks something in terms of historical accuracy, and may annoy Voxian visitors.

The Night Market. The night market is located in a large square on the waterfront, just east of the Theseus bridge. During the daytime the only stalls here sell freshly squeezed fruit juice, which is refreshing in the afternoon heat. But the place really comes alive at night. Almost anything can be bought here, but it is particularly worth visiting for the food stalls, which sell a variety of traditional Storm food. The place is usually packed with entertainers. Anyone is allowed to perform anywhere where there is space, and jugglers, fire eaters, singers, drama groups and storytellers can be found every few yards. One very popular story is "The twins of Nab" which tells of the exploits of Yelma and Trosipan, the first people to climb the highest peaks of the Spinebreakers. One of the best songs we heard was a sad tune called "The Floodplains of Athenry", about a man exiled from the Storm for stealing corn to feed his chicken. A game with small coloured stones on a table is also played a great deal, usually for money, but we were never able to find out what the rules were.

The Undercity. Part of the town is built on a rocky massif which the river winds around. An extensive network of tunnels is dug into the massif, forming an underground town with its own houses - usually at the sides of the massif so there is access to sunlight - as well as shops and even the town library. This part of the town is quite chilly compared to the temperature above ground, but is worth a visit for the odd experience of wandering around all the tunnels, and occasionally coming across a large cave park open to the outside air. It is fairly easy to find your way around, as you are never far from one of the major tunnels which all meet up at the surface.

Coming soon: I haven't decided where to do next

[Arrian]

I haven't decided where to do next

hurr-i-cane, Hurr-i-cane, HURR-I-CANE!

More good stuff, Vulture!

-Arrian

[DeepO]

I wonder why that's no surprise, Arrian

Indeed, keep going Vulture, I enjoy it very much

DeepO

[Shiber]

Vulture, this is all just wonderful! I wish I had such an active and fruitful imagination.

[Beta]

Originally posted by vulture
I haven't decided where to do next[/i]

The Voice.


(wonderful stuff, Vulture!)

[vulture]

Originally posted by Shiber
Vulture, this is all just wonderful! I wish I had such an active and fruitful imagination.

It's the combination of having plenty of time to think when walking home from work every day, coupled with real stuff stolen from places I've been to. And I've left out the wierder stuff (my home town has an annual 'cheese rolling', which is a race where the contestants have to roll a cheese in front of them - not too bad until you consider that it is run on the steepest hill in the area, and the contestants never see the cheese again once they cross the start line. The winner is usually the person who hits the ground the fewest times while falling down the hill - and usually ends up in hospital).

[mrmitchell]

[notyoueither]

This is great stuff, Vulture.

Before we left, the new stables were already under construction, without anyone making a decision. The people building it just waited until it was clear that most of the town favoured a new stables in this spot, and then got on with it.

And that, right there, describes us better than anything else could in a few words.

[Octavian X]

Maybe you can take a trip out of Stormia. I hear Bob is beautiful this time of year.

[vulture]

Due to the overwhelming vote of Arrian (and I've seen what happens to people who disagree with him), next up is Hurricane.

[vulture]

Hurricane
Hurricane is a huge city built primarily around the broad bay on the eastern most point of Estonia. To the north is the Storm's second mountain range, which contains several active volcanoes. The southern end, near Hurricane, is quieter, and is the basis of the Storm's iron mining industry. Iron was the reason that the area was first settled, although it is no longer the main industry of the city.

The town first jumped past the status of a mining camp when the great architect and builder Aeson came here with a band of followers. Aeson had put forward the idea that the Blockheads of Legoland were descended from ancient explorers from the Storm who had set out to sail across the ocean. This theory met with a good deal of scepticism from everyone else. so Aeson and his disciples moved to Hurricane to develop their plan to re-create the voyage, to prove it could be done. Sadly Aeson never lived to see the voyage over the vast ocean, having drowned in a shallow puddle one night on the way home. His death lead to a schism in the Aesonic lodge (as they became known), with one group pushing to attempt the voyage, while the other group diverting their efforts to Aeson's other great passion - building things.

The first group faced not only the scorn of their fellow Hurricaners, but also the problem of continual strong winds blowing east to west across the ocean. Their best attempt at the voyage got two miles out to see before being blown back on to land. The wind problem would eventually prove an insurmountable burden to the voyage. The second group had meanwhile started on their great project to build a tower high enough so that Legoland could be seen from the top. Engineering was rather basic back in those days, so the tower ended up being as wide as it was high - rather pyramidal in nature in fact. When news eventually came that the Blockheads had completed an even bigger pyramid, reactions were mixed. Some took heart from this evidence of a common attitude between the Blockheads and the Stormians, while others grew depressed at the failure of their pyramid tower. Construction was halted, but eventually the idea of putting a light in gained ground, making the tower a navigational aid for ships.

In light of the failure of the Lego expedition, that group also split in two, giving rise to the current three rival Aesonic lodges (the pyramid lodge, the boat lodge and the bridge lodge). The first of the new groups stuck to the modified theory of an ancient link between Lego and Stormia, but claimed that the voyage went the other way, with the prevailing wind. The other lodge, not liking the idea that Legoland was the birthplace of their civilisation, reasoned that the migration must have gone from Stormia to Legoland via the great bridge. Members of the first group set off to travel across Bob to Legoland to attempt the voyage in that direction, while the second group started construction of a great bridge of their own. The attempts can be seen south of the main harbour to this day, stretching grandly fifty meters into the ocean.

More recently the pyramid lodge completed another great project, a statue of a man mounted on a war chicken. The whole statue is close to one hundred and fifty meters high, and was commissioned to celebrate the end of the war with Vox. This recent success has brought a lot of tourism to the city, and a great deal of prestige to the pyramid lodge. Discussions are underway about what their next project should be. With rumours floating around of new developments in engineering methods coming in from abroad, there is talk of a collaboration between the pyramid and bridge lodges to restart the great bridge project.

The city, as it currently is, is strongly influenced by the lodges. The pyramid lodge in particular has contributed a lot to the layout and architecture of the city. The colossal statue, known locally as 'Ernie', stands in a large ornamental garden which is built on many levels. Near the top, between Ernie's feet, is a large fountain, from which four streams flow down to create a veritable maze of ponds and streams through the gardens, and it is possible to spend a whole day exploring the pathways and miniature forests. The centre of the park is also used as a performance area, with a feel similar to the night market in Eye of the Storm. Another day can be spent following the history of the town as it is laid out in a series of statues around the town. Currently there are thirty four statues, and following them in order takes you around most of the old town, and conveniently near to several good places for food and refreshment. The meaning of some of the statues is a little obscure at first, but there are always plenty of people around who are willing to explain the significance of various features.

There is a great deal of rivalry between Eye of the Storm and Hurricane. Eye is of course the capital, and the first city of the Storm. It has also been the larger of the two for most of their history. Recently though, Hurricane has overtaken the Eye in size and claims to be the cultural capital, if not the administrative one. For that reason you will often hear jokes about Hurricaners everywhere in the Storm; they have always been regarded as a bit strange, and the bridge project in particular hasn't helped their case. Nor has a more recent plan, thankfully abandoned, of exporting buildings. Another brain-child of the bridge lodge, they wanted to build traditional Hurricane buildings and sell them to other cities. The plan never got going, because they couldn't find large enough chickens to carry the houses.

The maritime museum in Hurricane is worth visiting, and explains the development of the modern lighthouse. The original has been upgraded by adding a second, smaller light on an island in the bay. The distance between the two has been carefully measured, and so at night navigators just have to measure the angle between the lights as seen from their boat to know exactly where they are, and safe night routes for galleys have been plotted with this method. Hurricane also features the galley captain's school where these principles of night navigation are taught. They proved vital during the war, and such skills were used to great effect during the series of midnight landings in Voxian territory which eventually turned the war in favour of the Storm.

The presence of the lighthouse has lead to a uniquely Hurricane way of spending the evening - on a boat. Pleasure galleys are organised, which serve food and drink, and usually carry a group of musicians. Once it is dark the galleys load up with passengers and goes on a trip around the bay, which typically takes a few hours, arriving back at the port just after midnight. Different galleys specialised in different styles of food and entertainment, and it is quite likely you will find something that interests you. Tickets are available from the maritime museum.

At the time of writing, travel by galley is only available from Hurricane to Blizzard, Tornado and Sufa. Inchoff is still closed to the public.

Coming soon: Tornado, Cyclone and the south

[vondrack]

This one is even more beautiful than the previous ones, vulture!

[FrustratedPoet]

The price of our world map has just gone through the floor, though.

Great stuff vulture.