Cyphrus Questions

by **Colt** on May 25th, 2013, 9:42 pm

Hello, everybody! I've got some questions regarding the region of Cyphrus. From what I've come to understand, the Sea of Grass is most similar to the African savannah, with a bit of the American Great Plains and a pinch of Mongolian steppe thrown in; is this correct?

If so, then it seems that, like in Africa, a great deal of life revolves around two distinct seasons--or rather, combinations of the four seasons. The wet season and the dry season are of the utmost importance, and so if this does actually happen in Cyphrus, which seasons are wet and dry? I've been imagining winter and spring as the wet season with summer and fall as the dry season, but I don't really know enough about it to do more than speculate. Since my particular character is a hunter, this would really help me to be aware of what exactly the plains are like when he's out and about.

Also, if it is like a savannah, would it be safe to assume that common savannah animals are also common there? This also makes me wonder about zebras--do they exist, and, if so, what do the Drykas think of them? Would they be seen as "acceptable" prey, or are they sacred to the Drykas in a similar way as the strider?

by **Gossamer** on May 25th, 2013, 9:54 pm

Hi Khasr-

The Sea of Grass is patterned off temperate grasslands with a huge steppe influence. That means there are four distinct seasons. It is in no way shape or form designed to reflect african savannah. There is no wet/dry seasonal difference other than the temperate climate changes of Fall, Winter, Summer, Spring.

There are no Zebras or common savannah aniamls. There are a few 'almost' like animals, such as night lions (Did you know there was a north american lion that did very well for ages and ages?) but for the most part, think of it as the era in North American history where the mammoths roamed the states in the Pleistocene epoch. We were mostly grass then, rolling hills and hills of it. This was when the giant sloths roamed North America and the wealth of the internal north american continent was absolutely astonishing.

by **Colt** on May 26th, 2013, 3:43 pm

Thanks, this clear up a lot!

As a kind of follow-up question, though, how common are the craters and geysers that are mentioned in the Sea of Grass? Are they common enough to stumble across randomly, or unusual enough to require mod permission?

Also, on a kind-of-but-not-really related note, how does rockhunting work? Say a PC is strolling down a riverbank, looking for interesting stones; exactly how interesting would those stones be before mod permission is required? Flint, it seems, would be fairly common, but what about other rocks that are often found in RL around riverbanks, such as quartz and/or small geodes?

by **Gossamer** on May 26th, 2013, 4:01 pm

As a rockhound myself I know for a fact you can find rubies and sapphires in Montana and depending on where you are tourmaline and all sorts of things. Feel free to find these things in reasonable numbers, especially decorative agates, gypsum, jasper, etc etc etc. You always need a mod to grade your thread and approve it so keep that in mind, but the gemstone list is fair game to find things especially if they are developed and listed as you know being found in specific regions.

Craters are uncommon... to be special areas and noted. Geysers are very common due to the valterrian. Since Ivak is present, I suspect they are even more common now. Same with geothermal hotsprings. Feel free to stumble across them randomly - same with caves. And if you use one, by all means write it up and the cyphrus staff will plug it into the map etc. The better map we have the better region we have.

Cyphrus is my favorite.