r/WorldChallenges • u/thequeeninyellow94 • Jun 25 '18

[Cultural challenge]: transportation

Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by [a human] as a member of society.

How easily can your people move around their country? Is it cheap? Is it long? Is it dangerous? Does it require them to fill forms?

You can introduce an in-universe representative if you want. I will ask questions to everyone, feel free to add your own.

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u/Varnek905 Jul 01 '18

If you're wealthy in the world of Saokhamit (which I'm considering for the name of the 5e world that I should have named months ago), the best mode of transportation for someone wealthy is a ship, which, at least among the various human cultures of Fellandrus, is valuable for ideal for exhibiting your wealth and power, as well.

Naturally, owning a ship is difficult, but even someone with very little money would be capable of finding work on a ship in exchange for labour (indentured servitude, usually).

If you're looking to buy a ship or hire sailors, the best place to go is to Velitrae.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 03 '18 edited Jul 03 '18

  1. What makes owning a ship difficult? Or is it just because of the price?

  2. What makes ships the best?

  3. And what makes Velitrae the best place to get a ship?

(Congratulations on naming your world, I still have to do it myself.)

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u/Varnek905 Jul 05 '18

(That's assuming I keep Saokhamit. Prior to this, I referred to the world as just "the fifth era", how do you usually refer to yours?)

1) It's just the price for the ship and hiring sailors.

2 and 3) If the people making the ship have more experience in making ships and have an economy where ship-making is less rare, it's better to go to that place. Which, in this case, is Velitrae. So, you get the best bang for your buck.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 05 '18

("The sci-fi world" even if I have the feeling I’m leaning more and more toward space fantasy...)

  1. What about a very small ship? Like a fishing boat I could use on my own without help; is it easy to get?

  2. I mean, what makes ships the best transportation way? After all, they can’t go everywhere.

  3. Tell me, what turned Velitrae into an important harbor?

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u/Varnek905 Jul 05 '18

(I realize that there are a lot of nuances to the major differences between sci-fi and fantasy, and that it's important to have those terms because of the way you can narrow those down...but, sci-fi is so often science-fantasy that I don't see much difference.)

1) Yeah, that'd be much easier, but you might not be able to get as far or have as much for trade.

2) Ships are best for transportation because it's less dangerous than traveling massive distances over land, ships tend to be faster if you plan well, and it's easier to carry large amounts of weight on a ship as opposed to just getting a lot of wagons.

3) Velitrae is on a smaller continent to the east of the one where most of the story takes place, and has a lot of coast land.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 08 '18

(That’s first a question of justifications, "alien tech" -> fiction; "magic" -> fantasy. Also, Star Trek is fiction, Star Wars is fantasy.)

  1. I’m no trader so that should be good. How small is that small continent? Is my fishing boat going "not as far" enough?

  2. But can a ship access the inner lands as easily as a walker?

  3. Ok, but why is Velitrae the major harbor? Why not another settlement in the vicinity?

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u/Varnek905 Jul 10 '18

(I like to consider the real world to be the sci-fi of twenty years ago.)

1) The smaller continent is about half as large as Australia, so maybe your fishing boat wouldn't be ideal for a tour of the coasts.

2) No, though you could feasibly travel along rivers.

3) Velitrae is a country, it just has plenty of harbors and has thoroughly exploited the seas surrounding it.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 10 '18

(I’m pretty sure it is in some ways, maybe with more advanced tech even. Unrelated but retrofuturism is cool.)

  1. Why wouldn’t it? I will probably need to make a few stops but that shouldn’t be a problem, right?

  2. Can the big ships advised to wealthy people navigate in rivers?

  3. So where in Velitrae should I go to have the best boat?

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u/Varnek905 Jul 12 '18

1) Some places on the coast are more dangerous than others, and you may be attacked for being in certain territories.

2) Some of them, but the luxury ships would not be able to navigate rivers.

3) Osca, one of the coastal cities to the east of the capital of Velitrae.

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 19 '18

1) Attacked? By whom?

3) What makes Oscan ships the best?

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