[Eberron] How is Sharn arranged?

[fafhrd]

The Sharn sourcebook cemented my burgeoning interest in Eberron. In a quest to find out more about the setting and the City of Towers specifically, I bought Keith Baker's novel City of Towers. While reading it, I noticed that some of the scenic descriptions jarred with my understanding of the city layout. Specifically, the novel references certain wards as being towers in their own right (such as Menthis tower) as opposed to what I had understood to be clusters of towers, merely sharing the ward name as a geographic/socioeconomic distinction.

Again, while the sourcebook describes certain neighborhoods residing inside of some of the larger towers, the novel seems to imply that whole districts are encapsulated in one of these forementioned super-towers. First, has anyone else read the novel and gleaned a different reading? Are the disparities possibly oversights from a protracted design process? How much real estate is actually indoors in Sharn?

 

[Rel]

There's a fair bit of discussion and speculation about this general topic in this thread (much of it by me). I'm afraid that I have not read the novel so I can't be of much help there.

 

[Klaus]

I try to envision the city growth. It starts with several towers at a reasonable height. As magic progresses, taller towers are constructed, and smaller towers are expanded, both of which require thicker walls and larger bases. Eventually, several towers "merge" their bases, and holes have to be constructed at their lower levels to allow traffic (thus giving birth to enclosed streets). After a few more centuries, this "merging" has reached the middle levels. Some towers are wider, with flat tops that were initially intended as green areas and squares. But eventually smaller towers are built on these areas (making them look like the Aerenal Embassy illustration in S: CoT). Some towers are buttressed outside larger towers, and bridges connect towers that are reasonably close to each other.

 

[fafhrd]

Thanks for the responses. I agree that the rootlike structure proposed by Rel in the linked thread resolves some of my confusion. Inter-district bridges would still be truly gargantuan, leaving plausibility in the hands of magic suspensors and the link to Syrannia.

Rel, while the idea of a cistern system replete with massive gutters would be interesting, wouldn't you imagine a society as prone to magical solutions as Sharn would use municipal decanters of endless water to provide for the populace?

 

[Staffan]

Specifically, the novel references certain wards as being towers in their own right (such as Menthis tower) as opposed to what I had understood to be clusters of towers, merely sharing the ward name as a geographic/socioeconomic distinction.

I imagine that in the Menthis district (or quarter), there might be a Menthis Tower which in turn gave the district (or quarter) its name.

 

[cmanos]

I'm sure Sharn is different in everyone's imagination. Just as sure as I am that making a complete map of it would be insane, but I[m sure there is someone out there working on it.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I'm sure Sharn is different in everyone's imagination. Just as sure as I am that making a complete map of it would be insane, but I[m sure there is someone out there working on it.

I gave up BUT I have been playing with Animation Master and hope to have a city built and then do a fly threw one day.

 

[fafhrd]

I imagine that in the Menthis district (or quarter), there might be a Menthis Tower which in turn gave the district (or quarter) its name.

I wish I could quote the passages, but I'm in the process of moving and everything is in boxes, but I think the implication was that Menthis was a huge tower which had enveloped its smaller neighbors. Maybe my recall is faulty. I've moved on to reading Marked for Death and as Barliman Butterbur said "one thing pushes out the other".

 

[Rel]

Thanks for the responses. I agree that the rootlike structure proposed by Rel in the linked thread resolves some of my confusion. Inter-district bridges would still be truly gargantuan, leaving plausibility in the hands of magic suspensors and the link to Syrannia.

In my vision and version of Sharn, there are no bridges between the various plateaus. All traffic must between them must be via Skycoach. Does the novel suggest otherwise?

Rel, while the idea of a cistern system replete with massive gutters would be interesting, wouldn't you imagine a society as prone to magical solutions as Sharn would use municipal decanters of endless water to provide for the populace?

I dunno. Sharn is a very magical place, true. And a Decanter of Endless Water cranks out a maximum of 432,000 gallons of water per day. A dozen of those could easily provide the necessary water for the entire city.

But 9,000 GP buys a lot of gutters. The other thing is that, unless there were a Decanter of Endless Water in every major tower, you'd still have somewhat of a pumping issue. Even if a Decanter has a magically infinite amount of pressure (and isn't limited to the pressure available to say a firehose), You'd have to have miles and miles of utterly watertight pipes to get it to the tops of many of the towers. With gravity fed pipes leading down from multi-layered cisterns you could afford a little leakage.

But any way you slice it, this falls into the realm of "don't worry about it too much - it's just D&D."

 

[Whimsical]

The other thing is that, unless there were a Decanter of Endless Water in every major tower, you'd still have somewhat of a pumping issue. Even if a Decanter has a magically infinite amount of pressure (and isn't limited to the pressure available to say a firehose), You'd have to have miles and miles of utterly watertight pipes to get it to the tops of many of the towers. With gravity fed pipes leading down from multi-layered cisterns you could afford a little leakage.

What if you set the decanters at the top of the towers? An option that is not available to us nonmagical earthers?