Seven Wonders of the World

[Mr. R]

I recently watched a program about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This got me to thinking, every culture/worldwould have their own list.

So what are yours?

Tuala Morn, Turakia and Valdoria are eligable for this also.

So.....Anyone?


Jerome

[ZombiePope]

I recently watched a program about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This got me to thinking, every culture/worldwould have their own list.

So what are yours?

Tuala Morn, Turakia and Valdoria are eligable for this also.

So.....Anyone?


Jerome
In Ambrethel (what you called Turakia, but that's just the Big Bad's territory), there would be that massive stone tree. that definitely qualifies.

[Curufea]

Hmm, the seven wonders of the Western Shores (http://www.curufea.com/hero/doku.php?id=ws)-

Kron's Wall: 25 feet high, and 40 feet thick, Kron’s wall is an excellent barrier to invasion, as no gates exist. This actually comforts the Ambrians, who consider Kron’s Folly to be as much of a barrier to attacking Darian legions as Ambrian armies.
Daemon's Cleft: Rent into the earth in -58 BC with the demon invasions.
Sorcerer's Spire: Once the tower of the great Celinadion wizard, Malekith, this strange island is now deserted but for one inhabitant. Shaped like a black, jutting finger of rock pointing skyward, the spire is almost 3000’ tall, but only half as wide at the base. The ruins of Malekith’s tower still sit atop the spire, but the sides are fairly smooth and unscalable. No magic works within ten leagues of the tower, ever since the great magical explosion of 2150. Since 3129, the Sorceress has made it her exile.
The Frozen Halls: The capitol of the Dark Elves. Carved from a glacier.
Moondeep: The capitol of the High Elves.
The ruins of Cenning-Tíd: What is left of the greatest city ever built by human hands.
Odinsæl: (Odin's Hall) A joint Darian/Brondheimian project to build Odin the greatest temple.

The six hidden wonders of the Western Shores-

The Under Cleft: A recent wonder, under the Daemon's Cleft. Only known to the injured Tyranid Queen and her hordes of mining bioconstructs.
The Dungeon of Sephiroth: Millions of years old, only known to the Gods and their potential replacements.
The Lair of the Grey Necromancer: Home of Markoth the Undying. The lair is the largest undead construct in the world.
Morbeleg Thâm: The fortress of the Dark Elves in the Western Shores. Underground, full of at least one major magic/alien experiment. Where the Tyranid Queen was imprisoned.
Khodâ Khâneh: God's House - the Zylistani grand temple to the One God.
Drakon Barg: Dragon Mountain - Home of the Great Dragon.

<Edit>
After other posters fleshed out their wonders more, I had to go back and re-edit this post :)

[Edsel]

Eosin runs our campaign world so I guess he'd have to be the one to present a list of the Last Domains. Other than my character I don't really know what should be on the list. ;)

[Blue Jogger]

I have a floating city/ship in my fantasy world. An important aspect is that it floats naturally but requires magic to move it.

[Mr. R]

I have a floating city/ship in my fantasy world. An important aspect is that it floats naturally but requires magic to move it.

That's cool.

Jerome

[stewart]

My fantasy world called Hayth has around 7 wonders in it. i might make up more as the PC explore, but here are the 7 that all know about. I’ll keep the descriptions short. :hush:

The first is the city of Haymayg, which is the capital of the largest nation called Hayg. Haymayg sits in the exact center of the “known world” (the part of the world that is accurately mapped) and is the largest city in existence. Built by the gods themselves, it’s architecture and beauty is unmatched.

The next is called “The Wheel” which is a system of roads that radiate out from Haymayg. Built by the goddess of stability and order as a gift so that all cities may communicate and trade with each other. If viewed from above, it looks like a spider web of roads (and the roads are often called spokes) with Haymayg at the center. The nations and cities-states are charged with the upkeep and care of the parts of The Wheel within their influence. The wheel extends throughout the known world and beyond. Popular phrases refer to the wheel, such as “Kings and seasons come and go as the wheel turns.” And “The Wheel leads everywhere.”

The Scar is really just a huge ravine that mars the surface of the world. It’s a huge trench the size of the grand canyon basically. It was created by the first fight between the gods of good and evil, and their battle dug the scar into the ground.

When the goddess of stability reached The Scar while building The Wheel, she simply built the next wonder called “The Arch,” which in essence is just a bridge that goes over it. Big bridges such as the Goldengate bridge are common place today, but in a fantasy world are something wondrous.

The next wonder is the Dwarfen capital city of Stone-Shield, which is just the standard rip-off of every other big-city-built-into-the-bowels-of-a-mountain. It’s in WoW, it’s in LoTR, it’s in my game too. :)

And then there’s its opposite number Shiloheld, the capital city of the Elves. Which is the standard rip-off of every other big-city-built-into-the-very-forrest-itself. :)

And there are old records/tales of a wall built of stone, ice, and magic that stretches more than 300 leagues and is more than 2 leagues high that creates a barrier between this continent and the next. Though no one has traveled there and back within the memory of the known world.

hope you enjoyed! :)

[teh bunneh]

These are the man (or Elf, or Dwarf, or whatever)–made Seven Wonders of my world. I could probably come up with a list of Seven Natural Wonders, too. :D

The Demorian Road was built over the course of several generations. It is a cobbled and/or paved road that is over 1200 miles long from start to finish. Near major cities, it is wide enough to drive 4 carts along it, side-by-side. It crosses rivers either at engineered fords (for smaller rivers) or huge arched bridges (for really large rivers).

The Eiseneinfahrt (Iron Gates) are the gates to Steelhollow, the largest of the Dwarvish cities. The gates are so large, it is said, that an entire army could march through them shoulder to shoulder. They are warded by a series of powerful magical spells which make them invulnerable. The Dwarves use a clever system of hydraulics to open and close them.

The Church of Tempest sits on the very edge of the Westron Ocean. It is a mighty edifice, many storeys high, made entirely of massive logs. Sailors come here to sacrifice to the god of the sea to ensure a safe and speedy journey.

The Temple of Wynnessa in the city of Godonsa is said to be the most beautiful building in the world. Airy and delicate-looking, it is made from white marble and carved crystal; it sparkles in the sunlight and seems to glow with its own inner light at nighttime.

The Great Pyramid is the largest building in the world, hundreds of feet high, and even wider than that at the base. It took multiple generations of humans to build – a fact which didn't matter much to the overseers, who are effectively immortal.

The Hall of Kings isn't a single structure, but a series of buildings, tunnels, and halls built around, under, through, and on top of a great forest of ancient trees. It is both a holy site and a museum; the Elves memorialize their greatest heroes here.

The Grove of the Great Druid is a circle of standing stones hidden deep within a dark forest. Its size and majesty would put Stonehenge even at its prime to shame. Even those who don't follow the Druid's faith are filled with awe and reverence when they see this place.

[Markdoc]

In my game:

The city of P'nume. Built (or at least designed) by a cult of artificer-magicians it is a city built on a giant ziggurat, rising hundreds of metres out of a marshy estuary. At the top and on some of the larger towers on lower levels are mooring towers for flying ships - mostly blimps that use alchemically-produced hydrogen (called "Dragon's breath" for obvious reasons)

The Flying castle called "The Fall of Cities". Other flying castles exist (though they are very rare) but "The Fall of Cities" is almost a flying fortified city. It's owned by the Dymerian warguild called the Legion of Fury and has space for over a thousand knights, their servants, flying steeds, etc.

Rockhold - a city/fortress built partly in and partly on a mountainous cliff on the west coast of Dymeria. Not only is it reputedly unconquerable, but the artifically augmented sea caves below the city are large enough for 6 warships to sail in abreast and provide the Dymerian navy with the securest imaginable port.

The Cyberian. In the middle of the largest city in Sade is a giant, rambling temple complex and labryrinth called the Cyberian. Originally contained within the castle of the Overlord Horachius, it has been expanded and added to over the centuries until it overflowed the wall and now the original castle is somewhere inside it. That's not what makes it wondrous though. There are larger buildings - the sacred city of the Great God in New Saharn, for example, and more sumptuous ones (the palace of the withdrawn emperor in Dymeria is one). No, what make it special is that the Cyberian is alive - containing the minds of many of Sade's greatest former rulers and their most favoured servants. It is said that their memories hold almost everything of importance in the world's history.

Paddish, the Dreaming city. Once - long ago - Paddish was a wealthy and powerful city, defended by supernaturally large walls, and home to many powerful mages. Built on the edge of a volcano, it was eventually overwhelmed by an eruption, and subsequent subsidence left half the city submerged by the sea. But for some reason - people say the strong sorcery used to build it - it refuses to stay ruined. Buildings which should have long since toppled remain standing and occasionally even seem to renew themselves. By moonlight, parts of the city sometimes appear to to be wholly unruined and local legend has it that you can visit the city's past in such a place. But if you are stil there when the moon is obscured, you will never be seen again.

Narganash, also known as "The City of Ladders", for its precarious site on the edge of the gorges of the upper Falteith river. The citadel of the Heresiarch, the oldest part of the city, perches on a spire of rock rising up from the bottom of the gorge, its feet washed by the roaring waters. The citadel is only reachable by rope bridges. Now Narganash has grown to encompass a considerable amount of land on both sides of the gorge, which is spanned by the perilous-seeming rope bridges above and the tiny, darting river ferries below. The riverboat community lodges along the edge of the water and in houses, markets and a maze of tunnels cut into the rock of the gorge, or even cantilevered out into space from its face. Thus the gorge is filled with clothes lines, ladders, walking gantries, smoking chimneys and all the impedimenta of a busy river village, but spread vertically rather than horizontally. Add to this the cranes and winches that hoist cargo up from the river, and the famous windmills of Narganash, characteristic of the richer quarters of the city, which pump water up from the river, as well as driving forges and winches and one can see what inspired the words of the traveller Dreimach of Kalash that "Narganash is what would result if all of the spiders of the world were seized with a frenzy of spinning, and chose to devote their efforts to an enormous red wound in the face of the earth. The buildings deposited in this web appear to be the detritus left there by the ebb of a thousand floods".

The Fiora - the enormous bridge which connects the heart of Ilthmar to the riverbank. Enormous and ancient, its spans are large enough to allow a fair-sized ship to sail under without lowering its topsails, and it holds numerous houses, towers, shops and even a fair-sized temple high above the waters.

[PhilFleischmann]

I want in on this thread! I don't have time right now to fill in all the details, but for my campaign world, there's:

Manufactured Wonders:

Palace (& city) of Jasser's King - A huge and beautiful palace in the middle of the capital city of Jasser. There are streets leading from the palace that are absolutely straight and flat (earth was moved as necessary). Each of these grand boulevards is actually a double street, and the "median strip" in the middle of each one is prime real estate. You need special permission from the king to set up residence, or business, there. Generally this is reserved for only the most favored nobles, military leaders, wealthy merchants of renown, etc.
Temple of Delphileq at Ang - A very large temple to the god Delphileq, King of the Gods (at least as believed among most of the central, civilized, "good-guy" nations), God of Justice and Law, Creator of the World and all the other gods, directly or indirectly, etc. People make pilgrimages from all over the known world to the small town of Ang to visit this temple. Yes of course there are other temples of Delphileq, but this is universally acknowledged as the biggest and grandest. There is an honorable organization called The Order of Ang, given to temples and priests of various gods (the good ones, anyway) who have distguished themselves in some way.
Dunhaven - The fortress of what are commonly known as the "Dun Wizards," though that isn't what they call themselves, located at the juncture of the Ulim and Falati rivers. They have that name because of the distinctive dun-colored robes they wear. They are a much feared order of wizards, and Dunhaven is their home, their cloister, their fortress. Some legends say that it was once an ordinary fortress, that gradually transformed into a big, rocky hill. Others say that the Dun Wizards caused the rock to rise up there to form their fortress. Still others say that they deliberately built their fortress to look like a natural rock formation. Most likely, they simply carved out their fortress from the rock that war already there. It is a "wonder" mostly because of the presense of the Dun Wizards, not because it's physically that impressive looking from the outside. And no, they won't let you in unless you're one of them. A large village has sprung up nearby over the years. After all, even Dun Wizards need goods and services and entertainment from the utside world. And most agree that it's a good idea to keep the Dun Wizards satisfied, after all, who can stand against those who have power over stone? The mightiest castle is made of stone, but it may as well be made of cloth, as far as the Dun Wizards are concerned (according to most peoples' beliefs of them).
Hexatheon - A very impressive and unique temple, dedicated to six gods - the Six Sons of Libreq, respectively the gods of courage, valor, war, strength, vengeance, and victory - in the city of Delphileqtia, capital of Virbenland. There are many temples to each of these gods individually, throughout Virbenland, Neron, and other lands, but this is the only one dedicated to all six. It has a very interesting and complex architactural style as a result.
Tunnel of Fate - This tunnel through the southern end of the High Hills was commisioned by some long-dead king of some long-dead kingdom, in an effort to establish easier trade with the now long-dead kingdom on the other side of the mountains. The tunnel is a fairly impressive feat of engineering. But the wondrous thing about it is... the Curse! There's nothing particularly dangerous in the tunnel itself: rats, bugs, bats, the usual things you'd expect to find in a tunnel under a mountain. And you can travel through the tunnel with no problem. But apparently, you can only do so once. If you go through the tunnel once, all is well, but anyone who comes back through the tunnel dies soon afterwards of a seemingly coincidental accident. If you put enough coincidences together, they stop being coincidences.
Shrine of the Four Arms - The most recently constructed of the wonders, built buy a man named Jemilon, who is now the chieftain of his tribe, the semi-nomadic Osai. The Osai live in the central region of the Wizard's Wound, the desert that separates Neron from Larethia and Virbenland. Jemilon was a young man and not yet chieftain at the time. He was traveling through the western desert when he saw a vision of a man with four arms. He took this to be an omen and built the shrine on the spot where the four-armed man stood. He rose to lead Osai soon afterward.
Giant's Gate - I added this one to the list just to make it seven. If I think of a better one, I'll change it. The great city of Delphileqtia, like most great cities, was not built in a day. Its walls were built in three stages, which can still be seen to this day in the three sections of the city. The original city was nestled along the western edge of Lake Uthonafen, where the Rossiobyn River flows out of it. The later sections of the city expanded westward, obviously, and slightly northward. The northern wall of the New City area contains a huge gate, big enough for common giants to pass through without bending. This is to welcome the friendly and good race of giants that live nearby. There are also evil, unfriendly giants around, but the Giant's Gate stands as a symbol of alliance between Virbenland and the good giants (commonly known as "mountain giants" to distinguish them from the more savage and brutal "hill giants").

What do you know? I actually managed to come up with seven! Although the last two are probably a little too small to be properly called "wonders."

Natural (or supernatural) Wonders:

Mount Gomnarinchus - An obviously magical mountain in the kingdom of Temna that leans out over the sea at what would seem to be an impossible angle. The Temnans are fiercely proud of it, and forbid non-Temnan ships from sailing under it, and non-Temnan expeditions from climbing it.
Sea of Fog - A large gulf mostly enclosed by the land of Kaloknusfi (once independant, now conquered by Neron). The fog that rolls up onto the shore every night is normal fog which burns off every morning as one would expect. But the fog that hangs over the sea - in some places as near as 50-100 yards from shore - *never* lifts. Ships can sail in the Sea of Fog as long as they stay within sight of the shore. Those that venture into the fog, unless they come back out immediately, are never seen again. The natives of Kaloknusfi are well aware of this, but the conquering Neronians initially wrote it off as the superstitions of a backwards, primitive people - until they lost a few ships. This is quite frustrating to the Neronians, who haven't given up on trying to figure out some way to sail across the sea, which would save a great deal of traveling time, instead of around its edge.
Dragon's Eye - rocky outcropping on the end of the peninsula that encloses Seakiss Bay - a primary geographical feature of Neron. There's a small village there and a Neronian order of knights named after it.
Firegrain Fields - Once you pass Gromingia, the land of the gnomes, the world starts to get considerably wierder. The first obvious sign you'll see south of the Groming River is the Firegrain Fields. A wild reddish-orange grain grows over a vast area. As the wind blows the stalks of grain, it looks from a distance as if a huge pasture is completely covered by fire. The primitive human tribe that lives in this area (known as Boo-Wa-Doki) have, as their highest law, "Ek kalop bakabal!" - or "Do not eat the firegrain!" It is the first thing they say to strangers who enter their land, and they are right to give this warning. It is perfectly safe to walk through the fields of firegrain, but not try eating the stuff, or making flour, or bread, or beer or anything else, from it. Bakabal is magical, and has unpredictable, and often dangerous effects on those who consume it. Explorers from Jasser who had sailed down the coast did not heed the warning and loaded several barrels of the stuff onto their ship for transport back home. One of the sailors sampled a bit of it and started screaming in agony as his crewmates watched him slowly melt into a grease stain on the deck of the ship. They dumped the barrels overboard immediately. In recent years, some Dokian shamans have learned to use the firegrain in small quantities under controlled conditions. It has become tradition in Boo-Wa-Doki, that bakabal may be eaten in specific circumstances under the careful supervision of a shaman.

Mythical Wonders (may or may not actually exist*):

Ghost Castle
Demon Mountain
The High Land (World Throne)
Cursed Island
Soulless Land

*but they probably do, otherwise why would I have bothered to make them up?

[Lucius]

Some wonders from a world that will probably never see the light of play....

The Rainbow Garment.
The colorful vestment is held so sacred that an entire temple was built to house it. Tradition says that if it is ever removed from the vicinity of the Rainbow Temple, it will lose its virtue. At appointed times, or times of crisis, a wise and reverent person is chosen to don the Garment, who then expreriences prophetic dreams regarding the future of the People. The Temple itself, inspired by the Garment, is built with as many different kinds of stone and wood as could be acquired, and decorated as colorfully as possible.

The Ship of Fools.
Leagues from any ocean, and with a great tall tree for a mast, it is obvious this so-called Ship is going nowhere, and claims that it can sail anywhere on land and sea are just the babbling of, well, Fools. There must be some other reason why the immortal ruler Psyche always knows so much about the affairs of other nations. It is a startling thing to see, though, especially when the crew of Fools are hard at "work" hanging upside down in the "rigging" like contemplative human bats; and the mast is said to be the oldest tree in the world.

The Colossus of Ozymandias.
This statue towers even over the palace of the immortal Ozymandias himself, which otherwise could be considered an architectural wonder in its own right, and people come from all over the known world to see the Colossus. Although one would think the enormous reproduction of the king's visage, with its frown and wrinkled lip, its sneer of cold command, would do little to endear the ruler to his subjects, the common effect seems to be either terror of the sheer power expressed, such that one dare not oppose such a force, or an awe-filled conviction that such a ruler must be wise beyond understanding, besides being powerful enough to protect his subjects from all external threats, or both reactions at once. Widespread speculation says only some mysterious and unknown force could account for how such a vast figure was raised, how it can remain upright for centuries, and why it has such a powerful effect on those who view it; the same force, no doubt, that accounts for the Emperor's own undying state. Legend has it that only if Ozymandias himself perishes, will his Colussus fall. On the pedastal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair."

Lucius Alexander

Does a Palindromedary count as a wonder? Many people look at it and wonder "WTF?"

[Lucius]

Oh, and one I forgot.

The HellDoor.
More a Terror than a Wonder, the Door stands in the middle of a very small, anomalous patch of desert, about three leagues across, where a kingdom's capital once stood. None remembers the name of the city, although it stood within living memory; No one knows exactly what happened to it either. Another capital was founded nearby, and a few other towns sprang up in the vicinity, for the land around the Desert of the Door remains fertile. Walking across the unnaturally sharp boundary of the Desert (animals refuse to cross) arouses uneasiness, and fear grows upon all who venture close enough to clearly see that all that remains of a great city is a Door, not a particularly large one, in fact a very ordinary looking Door. Those who are very brave may come close enough to note that the Door stands very slightly open. Then they turn around, for there's nothing here to see but a dull and boring portal such as can be found in any building, no one and nothing lives here, come on let's get out of this Damned Desert.....

Lucius Alexander

Wondering about the palindromedary

[Blue Jogger]

When I designed the Floating City, I put the size at roughly the two aircraft carriers, or about 120 kton or about 100 points in Size. The rest of the vehicle is rather unremarkable.

For Disadvantages
20 Distinctive Features: Floating City (Not Concealable, Major)
12 No Running
15 Publically Known (Well Established Trading Route)
20 Physical Limitation: Really Big Floating City