Tolgalen’s Location Creation Contest

Format for Submissions

Location Name: Name of your location

Description: Please give a physical description of the place and include relevant details. Is it a social place like a city, town or village? Is it rural, urban, or abandoned? Do people even live there? What sort of people live there? Is it a geologic place like a cave, valley, mountain, or lake? Is it easy or hard to get to? What sort of wildlife or vegetation is in the area? What sort of climate is this place in (tropical desert, polar tundra, temperate forest)? Does this place have significant value for some cultural, historical or economic reason?

Picture: Optional, include 1-2 picture references

Code:

[b][color=#33cc66]Location Name:[/color][/b] [i]Name of your location[/i]

[b][color=#33cc66]Description:[/color][/b] [i]Please give a physical description of the place and include relevant details. Is it a social place like a city, town or village? Is it rural, urban, or abandoned? Do people even live there? What sort of people live there? Is it a geologic place like a cave, valley, mountain, or lake? Is it easy or hard to get to? What sort of wildlife or vegetation is in the area? What sort of climate is this place in (tropical desert, polar tundra, temperate forest)? Does this place have significant value for some cultural, historical or economic reason?[/i]

[b][color=#33cc66]Picture:[/color][/b] [i]Optional, include 1-2 picture references[/i]

Location Name: The Exotic Emporium
Description: The Exotic Emporium is a glorious place filled with wonder and awesomeness! Deep within the island of Tolgalen lies an area the size of a small city,if not larger, surrounded by mountains and forest. Carved with magic, this small city sized area is in fact a zoo!  A zoo filled with  exotic creatures from all over the world. Each exhibit is made specifically for a mythical or special animal, carved and made from magic enhance stone, glass, and metals. Around every corner could be a new beast you may never have seen before! Could it be a Chimera? Or maybe a Manticore! Or maybe it’s a wee baby dragon.

Now, you may wonder who would dare have such a bold and extravagant endeavour?! Why it is run by none other than Jaeger Krüger and Pandora Dagger of the West Fiore Trading Company! They have carefully constructed, crafted, and designed the world's best zoo to house these marvelous beasts. To get there, one must start off in the HQ town for the West Fiore TRading Company then head east, following a paved pathway through the island. In the distance, as you travel, one could see the Myazhe castle that overlooks the sacred province of the former Vice President.

All along this path are benches and gardens, creating a very peaceful zone and atmosphere. Eventually, you’ll come up on a Midi styled gate, opened during visiting hours, and it is very large. Large enough to walk Elephants, or other large creatures and large enough to be seen from the ocean. This gate is the entrance and has a large sign with thezoo’s name on it “The Exotic Emporium”. Upon entering the Zoo, you’ll be greeted by the ticket office and then other shops, concession stands, and consumer based buildings, all in a Midi style. Further in are the exhibits, which looks like they were dug into the ground and stone to form the base of the enclosures. They are then likely built up of magical stone and wood that extends up about 20 feet above the top of the holes. Magically treated glass panes are placed and supported throughout for visitors to look in on the animals.

Around the zoo is a forest and mountainous area, protecting and creating a nice kind of… serene enclosure. The forests are a mixture of oak and cherry blossom, flowers and bushes all over the forest floor. There are a few pathways the swerve around the entire zoo,  with benches every so often for travelers to sit and just look into the entire place as well as trash bins for those having lunch around the area. The zoo employees those from all over Tolgalen as well as mages for jobs such as “Crap, where did the basilisk go?”, “Come on Griffin…. Out of the HQ please.”, and “Manticore, stop eating the guests!”.

The zoo has policies to both protect the exotic animals as well as the patrons. First and foremost, do not try and get into the habitats. The zoo and animals are not liable for your lack of critical thinking. Animals will not be put down due to your bad decisions.

Picture: General feel/look while under construction - https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/5/51/Ba_Sing_Se_Zoo.png


General design of the gate, but larger. - https://hips.hearstapps.com/bpc.h-cdn.co/assets/17/20/1494893181-best-zoos-redo.jpg

Location Name: Moonshadow Falls

Description: The Moonshadow Falls is a beautiful area, hidden in the inner parts of Tolgalen, close to a mountain range. Before someone can get to the falls they would have to navigate the thick wooded area that encircled it. Once passed they would reach a big pool. Multiple lakes could be seeing flowing into it. At the top the water is calm and crystal clear, and at night it is beautifully lit up by the Moon. Around the edge, where the water is cascading a large drop could be seen into another smaller area that is quite deep.

The rocks at the lower pool are covered in moss due to the constant moisture from the cascade above. Small fish could be found in both area's but nothing dangerous that could hurt the people that decide to visit the Waterfall or even take a swim in it. The water itself is salty and could get quite cold especially at the bottom part where it is mostly hidden from the sun.

The lower pool also has a smaller waterfall that is not cascading and is flowing in a steady stream, due to the larger area beneath and slower flowing of the second waterfall, the water there is knee-length at best. A wrecked ship almost in the middle completely surfaced. No one knows how the ship got there, there are still some notes and maps left. From the treasure chests and such it indicated that it was once a pirate ship. Maybe a treasure was hidden somewhere around the area? There is also a hidden unexplored cave under the larger cascading waterfall, the cave's inner length is unknown.

Picture: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e9/03/4a/e9034af74b210fc3121823258c235f82.jpg

Location Name: Tribulation Chasm

Description: While Tolgalen is mostly covered in lush forests and deep lakes, the south eastern area of the country becomes inexplicably barren and dry, as if the heavens just shut up overhead one day and never blessed the land again. Grass can no longer grow in the rich terra-cotta dirt, let alone trees. Wild life is limited insects, birds to eat those insects, and iguanas to eat the birds. Iguanas have a heavy presence in this area due to the lack of apex predators. It's if hell rests just below the surface, as if this part of Tolgalen is a hotspot for a fiery underworld that could tear through at any moment.

Pieces of the land in the center of this dry area have become so brittle that they have eroded and broken away to reveal underground caves, leaving a deep chasm running through the earth like a tear. While there are some villages a few miles away that make a life out in this wasteland, Tribulation Chasm is largely left alone. Some say it's cursed because of the heat that pours from the deep crack, but the most accepted consensus is that it's a testing grounds from the gods. Many travel from around Tolgalen to Tribulation Chasm to earn adulthood and most that make it home are never the same. Any who emerge with their mind and body in one piece are hailed as village legends.

Those wishing to become stronger or prove themselves meet an old man in a ratty robe at the cusp. He always knows who approaches him, and he will meet challengers no matter where they encounter the chasm. To prepare them he offers prayers, ward charms, a smoke of his pipe, supplies, and to be a witness to what occurs within the scar. Those who descend the chasm embark on an intense survival trial. The terrain and heat are harsh enough and the nights are even colder. Water is limited or non-existent. Food must be hunted, most often consisting of lizards or bats. The main chasm itself is narrow, deep, and dripping with unstable stalactites that only seem to fall when they think they can impale an intruder. It's where all caves and tunnels that run beneath the arid ground meet and it's from these countless branches that mysterious threats emerge for challengers to surpass. Sometimes it's illusions, hordes of insects, wicked beasts of all kinds, mobs of rabid savages, or clouds of mists with varying affects. Any manner of wicked test emerges from every shadow. The dangers are unpredictable in every way, so the experience is different for everyone. They will test mind, soul, and most certainly body. Survival is not guaranteed, but growth for those that emerge victorious is.

The old man will meet those that make it out once the trials cease, giving them a strange crest with a serpents head on it. No one has figured out the exact purpose of this item other than to prove victory, but there's a rumor that it will one day tip its owner's fate at the most crucial moment.

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Location Name: Sanctum of the Remnants

Description: Several miles away from Cloverdale, out among the rolling hills and mountains, there's a patch of ruins. It looks to be the site of a very old village that is long gone, but that's not to say the area is unused. While everything is overgrown, mostly reclaimed by nature, a sanctuary is situated amongst the trees at the base of a mountain in the back of the ruins. It's a small structure made of some sort of blessed stone. It has barely lost any of its structural integrity, even though vines and moss are trying their best to cover it. It's a domed structure with a single arched entrance. Inside it is filled with more arches and pillars as support. In the highest point of the dome, where there should be a steeple, it's left open and circular. Light from the sun and moon alike filters through to the center of the sanctuary, putting all the emphasis on a lone winding tree. Its pink foliage never wilts or falls, no matter the season. It's as if it is always frozen in the season of rebirth: Spring. The cobblestone floor of the sanctum is hardly noticable because of fresh standing water, since it rains in the area quite a lot.

The Sanctum of the Remnants is a place of meditation. A few robed monks mill about the grounds, meditating, praying, and otherwise keeping an eye on the sacred place. For all visitors who ask, monks will quietly explain that this is a place for those seeking answers from and to come and commune with those who have already passed. The tree at the center is an immortal symbol of the hope found in life's cycle. Even from death, life continues on. The sanctum blurs the line between life and death for those able to clear their minds. It is a place of grief and knowledge. Some visit to say their goodbyes and lay unfinished business to rest. Some come for answers, either from loved ones or ancient scholars. Some come to just find peace or forgiveness. Some come to rest in the comfort of lost family. While it is generally a place for those who have been left behind, it is also open to those who just need a place to think, a place to breathe and seek the calm aura of the tree. It's a place of reverence, quiet, happiness, and sorrow. It is a place to speak with the dead.

Occasionally though, it is a place of war, a place of rage and bitterness. The dead are not always at peace. It's not unheard of for vengeful spirits to use the thinness of the veil between life and death in the sanctum to wreak havoc on the living. They can possess the monks or reanimate the countless bodies beneath the ruins. Fortunately this only happens on full moons and blood moons, nights where the sanctum monks do their best to keep visitors away far away. For the safety of all.

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Location Name: Rivvenshire Infirmary

Description: Near Cloverdale, in a forest outside the walls, there's a medical institution situated among the trees. The facility is sizable, but not flashy. It's made of brick and stone like many of Tolgalen's buildings and much of it concealed by thick trees all around it. The exception is a small clearing in front of it, highlighting its entrance and allowing for emergency vehicles to get close enough to rush patients inside. It makes use of large domed windows on the front to provide sunlight and fresh air to the ill. It continues on back into the forest quite a ways, allowing for hundreds of patients to receive treatments at once. Most rooms are small, accommodating one patient to maintain privacy and comfort. Double rooms are available for special cases or in the event of becoming too full. Each hospital room has no less than two plants and a large window to open so the air remains fresh, a private bathroom, and a small bookshelf filled with a random assortment of reading material. Behind the building there's a sprawling rose garden for those well enough to leave their rooms to move around in for exercise or mental well being. Most doctors and nurses live on campus in cottages beyond the rose gardens, though usually only long enough to sleep before they are back with their patients or in their libraries and laboratories searching for new cures.

It's not like the huge, more modern hospitals that have been developing recently. It relies on the older ways, combining magic, alchemy, and science to treat patiences. Much of the infirmary's supplies are gathered from Lunar Woods, the Weeping Forest, and Usawoti Lake. As such, they employ any who are willing jobs to gather their samples. They also take on employees and volunteers alike to work in the hospital, depending on levels of experience. Help is always needed, especially with the chronically and mentally ill patients that can't leave the grounds for long periods of time. The level of care is excellent.

Underneath the whole of Rivvenshire Infirmary and even the gardens, there's rumored to be a secret basement. No one outside of staff has ever been able to find how to access it, and security on the grounds prevents any snoopers from digging around to find it. While rumors persist, they are very hushed, and often the originator is either forgotten or met a tragic end of natural causes. Due to the vagueness of it all, it has bred mystery and outlandish stories as a result. Do they experiment on people down there? Maybe they are creating super diseases to weaponize. Perhaps there are dungeons, even a prison under there. Could it be a blackmarket organ harvesting, selling, and implanting ring? Illegal drugs? A place for the disobedient kids to go be punished is a popular threat among parents of naught children. Most have written it off as highly unlikely, but they also won't admit that it remains at the back of their minds, teasing them and filling their daydreams. For everyone's sake, it's a popular urban legend.

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AND ITS OVER!!!

1st place goes to Nekros with the Exotic Emporium!
2nd place goes to Sara with the Moonshadow Falls!
3rd place goes to Rainer with the Sanctum of the Remnants!

Thank you all for participating!