Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
From: hutch@ibeam.intel.com (Steve Hutchison)
Subject: [ADMIN]  How big _IS_ Generica?
Message-ID: <CAw7tD.4M@ibeam.intel.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1993 21:03:13 GMT

Hi, folks.

...sage has been wheedling at me to do a bmp drawing of Generica, and I've
come across a few interesting problems.

First, how big IS the place?

How many people?  How much square mileage?

Second, we have three layers (at least) of historical building and
rebuilding.  The Shunned Center (and Buff) are the remnant of the oldest
part of Generica, but Glorshanned Keep is also fairly old, and there has
to be some interesting stuff around the harbor.

Also, when a city gets too crowded, the people build on outside.  The
dynamics that created the Buff don't happen when it's OK to build on
the outside, so there MUST have been some external force keeping the
Buffers there for the first two generations or so.  Like, the presence
of armed enemies.  Walled cities don't just spring up without them.

So the next question:  How big ARE the walls?  Are there farms and
dwellings outside?  I'm assuming none to the south, because of a
fairly steep canyon attached to a small but turbulent river that runs
the length of the wall, with all the graveyards and public parks and
small outdwellings located south of there.  I'm also assuming that
there is a small area around the East gate that has caravanseries and
some Inns and things, such that in peacetime, farmers and merchants
can do their travelling to there.

Hmm.  Problem.  With a river south of the wall, some recent posts
develop consistency clashes.  So there have to be some footbridges
from place to place across the river, in addition to the big bridge
that the main South Gate is set behind.

Anyone want to send me estimates?  I'm leaning towards a city of just
over 200,000 people, with about three miles of wall on the south,
two on the north (thanks to natural escarpment along the seacoast)
and about two and a half miles on the east side.  The west side has
no walls, since that's where the water is, and the harbor is well
controlled.