And Now For Something Completely Different

No, I'm not conducting a class on How Not To Be Seen. I have said elsewhere that I need a break from the Portown Project, and that I would eventually return to it. At present, anything more that I might do with Portown requires a level of skill and knowledge about modeling that I do not possess. I have turned my attention to other projects, but some of these also have some pretty strict requirements regarding how they must look (specifically Aduiltham, an elf compound similar to Rivendell). I need something that I can experiment with, something that is not strictly defined – at least, not as yet.

So we travel about 1000 miles south to Yethlyreom*. An ancient city-state, it is removed both in distance and in time. It is located in the rain shadow of a mountain range at a latitude that gets little rain to begin with. In addition, there is also a dust bowl effect from over farming and forest depletion. As if these things weren't enough, there is a rift valley nearby with volcanoes that throw ash on top of the dust. Even in its prime, water would have been a treasured commodity, except that the Yethlyri feared large bodies of water. In the pantheon of their religion were Cthulhu, Tsathoggua, Dagon and “Mother Hydra” (Blidoolpoolp), and as a result they abhorred the sea, lakes and the like. They prayed to the remaining gods of the pantheon to protect them from these four. Unfortunately for them, the remaining gods of the pantheon were not especially benevolent. Yethlyreom is now a ruined and abandoned city half buried in 1000 years worth of dust, sand and ash.

The city lies in a complex crater (Learn about it here), with the palace, a public square and the temple built upon the summit of the central mound, and the necropolis is built on the rim of the crater (Oh, the plans I have for that...). Due to the environmental factors mentioned above, the ruins of Yethlyreom and the land surrounding it for miles and miles is a dusty, ashy wasteland.

Below is the palace of the King/Emperor/Overlord/whatever-I-eventually decide to call him. I'm especially tickled by the mosaic of Thasaidon on the second floor. I took a picture from the internet, altered it in GIMP, they used the mosaic feature to create a jpg. Then I imported the jpg into Sketchup.

Here also is the same palace, after lots of weathering. Basically, it has been beat to hell by the elements – save water. The wood has survived, but the integrity of the timbers is completely destroyed.

 

Imagine it covered in dust, sand and ash as well. In fact the whole first floor is probably buried.

 

This is an exciting project for me as I am learning things that I can use elsewhere -- like a coastal settlement you may be familiar with. The erosion was done using the Erode extension. I like it, but the finished product is huge in terms of memory. Towards the end, Sketchup became very slow. There are probably many other things to learn. Considering that I've been modeling for about six months or so, I don't think this is too bad.

 

Next up, the temple. With the coming holidays, I wouldn't expect any new posts to appear before sometime in January. I will still be reachable, however.

 

Best to all, A

* Most of the names mentioned in this post come from the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. I am using them for non-profit purposes and without permission or apology.