Help me describe a large elven city

[NewJeffCT]

The players in my D&D campaign will be entering a large above-ground elven city next session. There are a good 12,000 or so elves there - mostly wood elves, but about 1,000 or so high elves. A smattering of non-humans, but mostly visiting dignitary types.

The city is on a large freshwater lake at the center of a massive forest. Even some of the trees are gigantic - of the redwood & sequoia tree types that can be 300 feet tall or taller. And, since they're tended by elves, they can even grow taller than real redwoods here on Earth.

I'm looking for mainly "flavor text" type descriptions, but also some unique ideas of some sights that can be seen in the city itself. (Homes 100 feet off the ground in the trees - though, that's been done in DragonLance - that sort of thing)

The city will also be preparing for war, as a huge army of evil humans (led by a powerful Death Knight and some evil clerics) are invading.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

They could live in the trees to, or at least have passages inside the living trunks leading up into the homes in the branches.

Also, given the longevity of elves, they could have actually guided the growth of the great trees over the aeons. I'm envisioning coming through the woods to the lake and seeing across the water immense sequoias actually bent into graceful arches, crisscrossed by wooden bridges, with high gleaming windows in the trunks illuminating the rooms within. Perhaps an immense temple at the center is formed of the trunks of three massive trunks actually twisted together into a great braid, with the branches arching out over the nearest buildings like butresses. Cypress or mangrove-like trees could stretch out over the water, making a living complex of docks.

 

[Set]

There was a 2nd edition spell that allowed one to shape water into solid shapes. Given hundreds of years to play around with it, the elves might have created a temple to the gods of nature out of solidified (but still transparent, and even flowing) water rising up out of the surface of the lake. It would appear to be a structure of glass, from a distance, but closer up, fish could be seen wriggling through some of the lower supports.

 

[Ferret]

Have you seen the video game Baldurs Gate II, they have a good 'map' of an elven city, if you can find it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

"My God...Its full of elves!"

Tree cities have been done in Elfquest and the original Star Wars movies...

At the very least, there is an element of familiarity with them that gamers would "get" instantly. Its even cooler if you grab up pictures of how the elves have shaped the trees...like the circus trees of Gilroy Gardens (aka Bonfante Park):

Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park -- Home of the Circus Trees!

In addition, like I posted in this thread:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/plots-places/256063-what-would-society-look-like-3.html

...S.M. Stirling's sword & planet novel, In the Courts of the Crimson Kings, the Martians are masters of biotechnology, having had no interruptions in their culture in tens of thousands of years, but also having no access to fossil fuels or nuclear materials.

Their biotech extends to all kinds of things we use for tech, like living engines...and even guns. The martian gun-creatures fire needle-like projectiles by using exploding methane as the propellant. Yes, they need to be fed; yes, they can only fire as fast as they can refill their gas chambers; yes, shooting them results in a burning fart smell.

(BTW, I'm yoinking this for the martians in my Supers 1912 campaign.)

I bring that all up because...you can have Druids doing the same doggone thing. A little Druidic magic, alchemy and animal/plant lore, combined with...lets say...Craft Wand?...and your mundane Wand of Magic Missiles becomes a living Druidic poison dart flinger. OK...you wouldn't let that have the autohit...

And as I pointed out, it would work for his elves. It could work for yours.

 

[NewJeffCT]

They could live in the trees to, or at least have passages inside the living trunks leading up into the homes in the branches.

Also, given the longevity of elves, they could have actually guided the growth of the great trees over the aeons. I'm envisioning coming through the woods to the lake and seeing across the water immense sequoias actually bent into graceful arches, crisscrossed by wooden bridges, with high gleaming windows in the trunks illuminating the rooms within. Perhaps an immense temple at the center is formed of the trunks of three massive trunks actually twisted together into a great braid, with the branches arching out over the nearest buildings like butresses. Cypress or mangrove-like trees could stretch out over the water, making a living complex of docks.

Thanks - some great ideas there.

 

[NewJeffCT]

There was a 2nd edition spell that allowed one to shape water into solid shapes. Given hundreds of years to play around with it, the elves might have created a temple to the gods of nature out of solidified (but still transparent, and even flowing) water rising up out of the surface of the lake. It would appear to be a structure of glass, from a distance, but closer up, fish could be seen wriggling through some of the lower supports.

good idea - certainly could be an area of interest. Thanks

 

[NewJeffCT]

Have you seen the video game Baldurs Gate II, they have a good 'map' of an elven city, if you can find it.

No, I'm not really a video gamer. I'll see if I can dig up a friend's map, though.

 

[Ferret]

It's this sort of deal:

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How does that look?

 

[catastrophic]

You should also think simple as well as complex and magical. There are simple things the elves could do, especially with enough time, without the use of magic, that could be impressive to your players and give a feeling of a pratical civilisation as well as a magical one.

For instance, IIRC redwoods are actually hollow. It would be relativly simple to press a small arch against the trunk of a redwood, and eventually that arch would lead into the tree as the trunk grew out and over it.

Another example would be construction that doesn't just rest on tree-tops, but relies on the growth of trees to create or as part of their assembly process.

Imagine if the elves need a watch tower. Well, they could build on in a big tree, or build one on the ground and then haul it into a tree. OR, they could build it in several parts, each one in the branches of a young tree near the ground. Over the centuries, the saplings would grow up and the pieces of the watch-tower would naturally come together, maybe with the help of some guide-ropes tied between them. Of course this would take a while, but it would probably be the best view ever.

Another idea in this vein would be modular buildings. Say there's a hall built along a large branch of a tree. The hall is built of segments, modular pieces made of a roof and two walls. Each one fits into place against the next piece. But how did they all get there?

It started off as only one segment, resting against the tree trunk, but as the branch grew longer and wider, the earlier segments were pushed up and out along the branch, and newer, larger segments were lowered into place, against the trunk of the tree. The result is a tapering structure which has extended along with the branch as it grows.