Nature
Anything about the natural world, the heavens, science, etc.
Entries
Question: Q: Hi! So jade has its own listing on the material page and isn't available at the market. Like platinum, which generally isn't available on Arvum. Is jade about as rare?
Answer: Yes. Sometimes we'll decide for thematic reasons specific materials aren't available commonly and deal with them separately, and jade in this instance isn't found much outside of Jadairal.
Question: Are Tahitian (black) pearls canonical?
Answer: Yes, some Abandoned clans in the Saffron Chain have been known to make them- unfortunately, the black lipped oysters that can produce this specific coloring of pearl are found in tropical climes, save for extremely uncommon coloring in other species of oysters along the shores of Arvum.
Question: So we know some stuff about Arvum's climate, the North being regularly cold and snowy and the Lyceum being more hot. But in a wider scope, what kind of overall feel do the different general areas of the continent have? Likewise, what kind of weather is usually expected of them? Is there anywhere especially more rainy or arid than most? Are there any large weather phenomenon like tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, etc that people of the Compact may have experienced?
Answer: Arvum is several thousand miles from side to side, and that covers a lot of geographic diversity, but it's specifically an analogue for North America in culture and most of western europe. There's some geographic types that aren't represented much in Arvum (jungle for example, or African style savannah or extensive deserts), though there's a few types that are at least partly represented, such as the Everwinter being arctic and some of the Northlands being permafrost or tundra.
Generally speaking, the Northlands climate wise would be pretty similar to lower through higher Canada, which is a pretty good range, with only the largely unsettled Everwinter being similar to the Northwest Territories or Nunuvut.
The Crownlands would be similar climate wise to a large range, equivalent to most of the eastern seaboard of the US, probably a range of say similar to Maine, all through appalachia, midwest, and southeastern US.
The Lyceum very much mediterranean, the Oathlands similar to france, and the Mourning Isles mostly scandinavian type climates in the north to more something like Guernsey or the Isle of Jersey or other Brittany style isles in the south.
Only outside of Arvum proper, into something like the Saffron Chain, do we start to see caribbean climates, and it's not till Eurus that deserts and so on are really seen, with the Suthyrn Wastes and beyond more of a south american analogue.
Question: Do the colored golds exist?
White gold == Gold and white metals such as nickel, manganese, palladium
Red Gold == 75% gold, 25% copper
Pink Gold == 75% gold, 20% copper, 5% silver
Green Gold/Electrum == silver / gold alloy (appears natural)
Grey Gold = Gold / palladium, but cheaper uses silver, manganese,and copper instead.
If they exist would they be a luxury metal like "rose god" (which is a gold 75%, 22.25% copper, and 2.75% silver alloy)?
Answer: Sure, they exist and are luxury metals. Platinum, on the other hand, is a metal not commonly found in Arvum.
Question: I remember reading something about how the Darkwater receded when Marin died, and there was a smaller, moving patch of evil sea now that's being called the bloodwater. But I've had RP with a number of people who've referenced the Darkwater Deeps as though they still exist. Did they just recede a lot (but there's still some out there), or is it all the Bloodwater now?
Answer: Much of the water now has a reddish tint, and it's receded somewhat. Darkwater Deeps could still be said to exist, just some of it might be reddish and further east.
Question: Q: Hi! Onyx is a coded material but not available for purchase. Is it ICly rare/unavailable as well? Are there other materials (besides jade and platinum) that are similarly rare?
A: It's on the rare side, and most black stones (obsidian, jet) are rare. Not so rare that I feel the need to police people describing random jewelry with it, but yeah I'd rather not. Some point in the very distant future I'll likely revisit materials and make them more specific and less general.
Question: ...Poo?
Answer: Well, I guess it had to happen at some point.
Arx absolutely has some kind of system of wells and pumps and aquifers/channels that keep the general hygiene of the city well above that that would be analogous from the real world for the 'time period', but as to defining it by class and specifics, we really don't want to. There's just a lot to define and write about that is both more interesting and more likely to lead to nuanced rp. Just don't talk about your heated seat hello kitty toilet with LEDs, or how you are shitting in the streets, and you're fine.
Question: Would alligators/crocodiles be present on the Saffron Chain?
Answer: Yes, some parts, particularly jungles.