Drache's Sewers

Discussion of the various things regarding the setting itself, such as large changes to culture, politics or geography.
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Stygian
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Drache's Sewers

Post by Stygian »

Some years ago, Tom Long scoured the ML archives for every reference to the city's sewers he could find to put out a short writeup about their nature. The full version with the footnotes is available if anyone wants to see it, but I thought this was an interesting thing to pass along. I'll put it up on the wiki somewhere under the Drache category at some point, perhaps with some minor edits.

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THE NATURE OF DRACHE’S SEWERS
from the BDI Mailing List Archives

Drache’s ‘famous’ (17) network of sewers is fairly advanced: intakes at northern points take in rain overflow and river water (9)(15)(20)(23)(26), and use it to flush sewage down to the bay or the lower river (20)(45). This also protects Drache from the Darian flooding. (8) Floodgates control the backwash of the tide and the flow during major rainstorms, and at least once these have been opened to allow excess water to flood parts of the city to help with fire control. (26)(27)(34) In addition to building plumbing, there are storm drains located throughout Drache’s streets (4)(20). At least some parts of the sewers can be traversed by foot, having walkways on either side (47), and location markers to allow for subterranean navigation. (30)(46) Some areas may also be traversed by swimming, but this seems to be rare and ill-advised.

The City of Drache and its government takes some interest in the sewers, although this may be sporadic. The authorities have some maps of the sewer network, though most seem to be incomplete. (6)(44) Sewers are maintained by workers (22)(23)(27), but many of these seem to be drawn from Drache’s prisons (28)(39) and may not be as regular or as diligent as some may hope. Some citizens have opinions as to how the sewers should be maintained, as R.V. notes in his work on the subject. (37) The Regency Council did enact some legislation towards modernizing the sewers, but it may not have had great success as they were busy with other matters. (36)

The sewers stretch over most of Drache, including the new city and the old city. The New City seems to prize houses and buildings with connections to such modern wonders, and it may raise the value of many houses – though even low-rent buildings may have some plumbing (11)(29)(30)(35)(38). The Old City, too, including the Red Lantern District (26)(46) and Back Alley (which may contain some of the oldest parts of Drache) has sewers. (19)(32) This implies that construction of such technological achievements began very early in the expansion of Drache from fishing hamlet to metropolis (which began only 11 years ago as of 2006). In fact, the tiny size of Drache previous to the Royals’ return and its expansion may have made modern amenities easy to develop without disturbing pre-existing architecture. In any case, the sewers, like the city, were ‘hastily crafted.’ (16) There are some outer sections of the city, however, that are not serviced by the facilities.(17) Since it is explicitly noted in real estate ads that certain houses are connected to the sewers, it is reasonable to assume there are a number within the city itself that are not.

The sewers’ age is also attested by those who find it a haven from the elements. Shyne Blake, one-time Guardswoman, notes in her bio that she had been living in the sewers since she was young, likely when the expansion began. (1) Thus it seems even as the sewers were being built, many sections were being forgotten or co-opted for other use. In fact, it has been noted that the sewers were built ‘hastily’ and may have several redundant features that make it easy to lose track of and become available for shelter. (18)(41) These abandoned sections have been used by gladiatorial rings(41), powerful men (13), villains (10)(15)(18), crime lords (9)(21)(24), homeless Dracheans (1)(48), monsters (25)(26), vampires (2)(12), and drow (5)(33)(40). This is besides the normal rats (3) and other curious monsters that have made the sewers their home. (21)(22) The Royal Guard has occasionally ventured down into the sewers for various reasons and even has specialists for the occasions. (31)(49)

In addition to the use of the sewer complexes themselves, the sewers often have connections to catacombs (7)(25)(42)(43) and caverns (25)(42) beneath Drache. The age of the catacombs is scarcely mentioned,(43) but may be more ancient than is realized – being pre-Alysian and/or possibly even a practice of ancient seafarers or goxal nomads. Since many have suggested Drache is located at a confluence of ley lines, it could be that pilgrimages were made to bury the dead on such a site.

The tunnels are less of a mystery. There are numerous references to caverns and other underground features below Drache, and for a time it was believed that a Drowish city, Nelviarnin, lay beneath it. (33) Through recent adventurers’ excursions, including that of the Mist War, where several rogues and wizards retrieved an artifact from a subterranean Beholder, it has been suggested that it was only a small Drowish outpost rather than a true city.(42) Nelviarnin, if that is the name of the outpost, was destroyed many years ago by a fiendish race of monsters called by overlanders the ‘Darken.’ (33) Adventurers from Drache dealt with the Darken when they began to emerge several years ago into the city. However, this outpost may provide an additional reason, besides Drache’s location at an international crossroads, that the city finds itself so full of the vile dark elves.

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Dan's Note: The Darken were from a plot that Ian Walker started and then abandoned. They were supposed to be some sort of magically engineered race that the drow bred that turned on their masters and broke free.
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