Into the Night Faction - The Orphic Protectorate

    Hey, everyone. In response to a notable lack in Into the Night, I said that I would write up some information about a galactic federation or some such organization to liven up space. Here's my take on it, and I only hope that it lives up to the standard. With that, I give you the Orphic Protectorate.

The Orphic Protectorate

Flag and insignia of the Orphic Protectorate.

    One of many interplanetary governments, the Orphic Protectorate is the largest such organization in the Milky Way Galaxy. They are dedicated to protecting galactic civilization and ensuring that the disparate alien civilizations can live as they choose without resorting to violence. To this end, the OP arbitrates disputes between governments, legislates galactic law, and occasionally uses force to diffuse conflict or protect against outside threats.

    Above all, the OP holds to the doctrine of non-intervention, believing that all civilizations must be allowed to follow their own natural course of evolution without upsetting outside influence. The OP monitors the activity of ships, bars landing on underdeveloped planets, and imposes sanctions against certain technologies on planets deemed unworthy.

    The OP is a democratic organization, but a tiered one. Government organizations throughout the galaxy may officially join the OP for the chance to send ambassadors to argue and vote on their behalf. However, in keeping with its doctrine of non-interference, the OP only accepts governments who have advanced beyond a certain level.

    Furthermore, different societies are given different rights and responsibilities based on their level of technological advancement. Less technologically advanced societies have a lesser say in deciding policy than more advanced ones, but are also asked to contribute fewer resources to the OP. Likewise, higher-tech civilizations have more decision making power, but are responsible for more of the funding and staffing of the organization.

    The OP has countless enemies and far more critics. These critics accuse the OP of opposing arbitrary restrictions on member worlds for the sake of socio-economic engineering and preserving the status quo, all to exploit lower-tech civilizations in favor of the higher-tech ones. Further, they claim that advancement to higher tiers in the organization has less to do with technological development and more with political maneuvering. Many of these critics are ambassadors or member-governments of the OP itself, but fortunately the OP protects all forms of speech.

The Protectorate Scale of Technological Advancement

    This is the scale by which the OP measures technological advancement of a civilization. Any time that an alien civilization is discovered, the OP sends a team of surveyors to profile all of the planet’s governments and civilizations. Then, according to a dizzying array of criteria, the surveyors assign 

the planet a “tech level,” and file a report to the OP. Though arcane, the tech levels assigned by the OP follow this general format:

• TL 0 – Stone Age. Hunter gatherers with no agriculture. Little to no metal tools.
• TL 1 – Agrarian Age. Agriculture discovered, permanent civilization and metal tools common.
• TL 2 – Industrial Age. Steam powered automation discovered. Mass production begins.
• TL 3 – Electrical Age. Electricity discovered and widely used for lighting, machines, etc.
• TL 4 – Information Age. Large scale use of computation. Global telecommunications network present.
• TL 5 – Space Age. Slower-than-light space travel common. Other planets and moons in the star system colonized.
• TL 6 – Interstellar Age. Faster-than-light space travel common. Multiple star systems explored/colonized.
• TL 7 – Immortal Age. Biological immortality discovered and all disease eradicated. Unlimited free access to physical needs.
• TL 8 – Cosmic Age. Travel between galaxies common. Matter and energy harvested on a cosmic scale. Society free of all material want.
• TL 9 – Transcendent Age. Travel between realities and through time well-established, if not common. Engineering new universes and altering the laws of physics possible.

    Only civilizations of TL 4 or higher are permitted to join the OP. If the society is assigned at least TL 4, the OP sends a team of ambassadors to greet the alien leaders, welcome them into the galactic community, and offer them OP membership.

    If the civilization’s TL is 3 or lower, then the OP does not reveal its presence and instead sets up an automated monitoring system to watch for further development. The OP’s doctrine of non-intervention is binding, and all member societies are forbidden from approaching OP designated TL 3 or lower planets. The OP has also been known to evacuate or rescue planets bearing sentient species in the event of global catastrophes, so as to prevent extinction, but otherwise they do not interfere.

The Orphs

    Though the OP contains many TL 9+ species, among them the devas, the ahrmen, the isiri, et al., the enigmatic orphs are the masters of the organization. The OP was the brainchild of the orphs, and it bears their name to this day. Though officially the orphs have no more authority than any other TL 9 species, it is impossible to verify, as lesser races find the actions of TL 9 species incomprehensible. From the enigmatic comments of other, comparable species, it is inferred that the orphs wield special privileges.

    In fact, some doubt the existence of the orphs altogether, as they have thus far concealed themselves from the rest of galactic society. Their claim is that any contact with a lesser race, even allowing themselves to be seen, would unbalance their societal evolution, violating their doctrine of non-intervention.

    When an orph needs to convey a message to another species, they usually appear in the form of a roughly humanoid robotic body, or as a holographic projection of a member of the observer’s own species. Given their extreme advancement, orphs are practically incomprehensible by lesser races, and many of their instructions, orders, and suggestions make no sense.

    Orph (Robotic Body): Level 8 (24). 40 hp. 5 Armor. Can fly Long distance per round. Intellect tasks at level 10.

The Athraim

    The OP’s central base of operations and a common ground for all member species, the Athraim is a massive embassy and space station. Circling a planet-less white dwarf star called Pergolo, the Athraim takes the form of a spherical object enclosed in clear, hexagonal synth panes. The Athraim is the size of a small moon, about 3000 miles around, and the surface beneath the outer shield is entirely covered in a vast cityscape. Further, the Athraim is built as a series of nested spheres, each with more buildings on it.
    The Athraim is extremely old, and was actually found drifting and derelict before being repurposed for its current function. At the very core of the Athraim, amid its various machinery, is ball of organic brain matter a mile across, fused with layers of optical circuitry and ceramic structure tubes. The brain is alive, but it serves no apparent function. Many speculate that the Athraim was once a single intelligent creature, a cyborg taken to its logical extreme. However, the station predates the OP and even the orphs, so no one truly knows.

    The Athraim features not one, but several debate halls for council meetings, and contains permanent residence for over 10 billion ambassadors and staff. The cityscape of the Athraim is made of nigh-indestructible white synth (level 10), and the individual districts can have their atmospheric and gravity conditions altered to suit the residents. Further, the entirety of the Athraim is covered in a violence-suppression field that makes any violent action require a level 9 Intellect check.

    Important locations are connected by teleport pads, as well as a system of transport-tubes and flying cabs. Getting anywhere from anywhere on the Athraim takes no more than a couple of hours at most.

    Aside from the spaceport, various common-ground offices and meeting halls, the Athraim is also technologically segregated. Fearing ambassadors from low-tech worlds may steal, purchase, or otherwise illegally acquire proscribed technology, all personnel aboard the Athraim are confined to areas of their own tech level.

    Given the violence-suppression field, the restrictions on technology, and the assumed constant surveillance, over half of the Athraim is uninhabited. Almost everyone on the Athraim either works for a member government, the OP, or a business with branches on Athraim.

The Athraim Hearsay

• The Kaemor-Threx Group, an elite guild of assassins, has developed a device to negate the Athraim’s violence suppression field. The OP denies this, but many ambassadors would pay dearly to hire an assassin equipped with such a device.
• A coalition force of TL 4 and TL 5 ambassadors is planning a demonstration to picket important OP offices, in protest of the OP’s technology sanctions and inequality.
• The Arnox, a rival interplanetary government, has infiltrated the Athraim. Security has increased, but with technology equaling the OP, chances are good that the Arnox will succeed in their mission before being caught.

The Weird of The Athraim

• The ambassador of the ochopi, a race of blue-shelled crustaceans, does nothing but draw bizarre symbols on the walls of buildings, seemingly at random. The cleaner drones can’t seem to get them off, either.
• Certain districts are subject to recurring temporal weather. Within these districts, time might move several times faster or slower than usual, sometimes for days.
• Reports describe bizarre, white-skinned five-limbed creatures coming out of the walls and stealing things from the apartments of staff and ambassadors before melding back into the walls. The creatures match no known species, sentient or otherwise, and the most thorough scans reveal nothing.

More Factions

    If you liked that, there's more where that came from. I don't think I'm going to write up another faction in quite this much detail, but I will write up a list of some other important space factions. You can expect a post like that in the next few days. Until then, iadace.

Into the Night - Random Aliens, part 3

    Welcome to the third and final part of my Random Alien tables for Numenera. This section has tables for generating random alien planets. As you are more than likely creating this planet with a specific usage in mind, these tables are probably the most subject to individual finagling. If you are trying to make a homeworld or colony for a specific alien species and you roll some results that make no sense, don't be afraid to just pick one that's better suited.

Random Alien Tables

1. Biology
2. Culture
3. Planet - You are here.

Planet

Table 16 – Size
1d6	Size
1	Tiny. Equatorial circumference <15k miles. Light gravity.
2	Small. Equatorial circumference 15-19k miles Light gravity.
3-4	Near Earth-like. Equatorial circumference 20-30k miles. Normal gravity.
5	Large. Equatorial circumference 31-35k miles. Heavy gravity.
6	Huge. Equatorial circumference >35k miles. Heavy gravity.

Table 17 – Temperature		Table 18 – Moisture
1d6	Average Surface Temperature	1d6	Percent surface water
1	Freezing. < 48 °F	1	Dry. No surface water
2	Cool. 49-53 °F	2	Parched. <30% water
3-4	Temperate. 54-62 °F	3	Moderate. 30-60% water
5	Warm. 63-73°F	4-5	Earth-like. 60-80% water
6	Scorching. > 73°F	6	Drowned. +80% water

Table 19 - Landmasses
1d6	Landmasses
1	Supercontinent
2	2-4
3-4	5-7
5	8-10
6	Countless islands

Table 20 – Atmosphere
1d6	Atmosphere
1	None/Thin. Bring air or risk suffocation.
2	Unbreathable. The atmosphere is inert, but unbreathable. Bring air or risk suffocation.
3-4	Breathable.
5	Thick. Special pressure mask needed, or take 1 Might damage per hour.
6	Poisonous. Take 1 Might damage per round of breathing this atmosphere.

Table 21 – Biosphere
1d6	Biosphere
1	Dead. No life worth noting.
2	Simple. Bacteria and algae.
3	Diverse. Plants, animals, etc. Earth-like.
4	Fecund. Extreme diversity, like the rainforest.
5	Hybrid. Mixture of multiple alien ecosystems.
6	Artificial. Carefully engineered for a desired effect.

Table 22 – Habitation		Table 23 – Traffic
1d6	Habitation	1d6	Traffic
1	Uninhabited. Possibly a few hermits.	1	Isolated. Nobody ever comes here.
2	Sparse. < 5 billion.	2	Rare. Once every few years.
3	Moderate. 5 to 10 billion.	3	Occasional. A few arrivals/departures a year.
4	Populous. 10 to 20 billion.	4	Often. A few arrivals/departures a month.
5	Congested. 20 to 50 billion.	5	Daily. People come and go every day.
6	Super-Metropolis. > 50 billion	6	Bustling transit hub. Constant coming and going.

Table 24 – History
1d6	History
1	Virgin. The people living here have always lived here.
2-3	Fresh. One or two previous worlds.
4-5	Used. Three to five previous worlds
6	Venerable. Several previous worlds, like Earth.

What's Next

    With these tables completed, I feel as though the only sensible thing to do would be to test them out. I think my next post will be some example aliens and their planets created with these tables, polished up and ready to go. Aside from that, I've got plenty of ideas just related to Into the Night:

• Expanded spaceship rules
• Rules for mass-produced technology
• A Galactic Federation-style organization
• A Mos Eisely-style shadowport
• Factions in space
• Homeworlds of established visitants

    If there's something else that you want to see, leave a comment and let me know. If I like your idea, I just might do it.

A Trip to Stone Mountain, Part 2 - Hevoth's Rock

    In my last post, I began to adapt my experiences at Stone Mountain into usable material for Numenera, or another weird RPG. I described the vanquished nation of Strathar, and how Hevoth's Rock came to be. In this post, I will discuss the landmark known as Hevoth's Rock as it stands in the Ninth World of the present.

Hevoth's Rock

    Hailed by many as the cultural mecca of the northeastern Pytharon Empire, Hevoth's Rock is a monument to the vanquished nation and people of Strathar. The massive rock, covering nearly a square mile, marks the site of the Battle of Rockfall, where the Stratharian Grand Chieftain Hevoth crashed his floating island into the Pytharon Legion, roughly 280 years ago.
    Although the Stratharians are effectively defunct, those who claim Stratharian heritage organized themselves into a group known as the Sons of Strathar, and declared Hevoth's Rock a holy site. A massive likeness of Hevoth was carved into the face of the rock, and pilgrims flock to the cite to worship at the carving and scale or circumambulate the rock.
    The Pytharon Empire does not approve of these activities, seeing the Stratharians as rightly destroyed savages, but they do not interfere, lest they cause a rebellion.

Map Key

1. Fort Vigilance: This squat stone fort serves as a garrison for 200 Pytharon soldiers. When the Sons of Strathar came to prominence, this fort was constructed to keep an eye on the activities of the pilgrims and ensure that they were not planning rebellion. The commander of the fort is Commander Bellaropha (level 4, 20 hp, armor 1, attacks as level 5), an austere, judgmental Pytharon woman from a house of minor nobility. She considers the Sons of Strathar and all other pilgrims here to be disgusting savages. She keeps an eye on them to ensure there is no rebellion, but also does as little as possible to help against the dangers of the region.
2. Hast: This ramshackle village is comprised of semi-permanent wooden huts and tents, generally housing about twice as many pilgrims as permanent residents. Merchants sell memorabilia and religious icons, and cooks shout out their cheap prices from open air kitchens. The town has no official leader and basically no laws, but almost all permanent residents are members of the Sons of Strathar, and can rouse a mob to pummel troublesome strangers.
3. The Great Carving: Up the hill east of Hast stands a long, stone temple known as the Grand Lodge of the Sons of Strathar. Here the most esteemed elders of the Sons of Strathar live and hold counsel. There word is taken as holy writ by the other Sons of Strathar. Behind the Grand Lodge is a wide portico an a lawn that slopes down into a natural amphitheater before ending in a small pond. The rock face above shows the Great Carving, depicting Grand Chieftain Hevoth in full war regalia astride a brehm (Numenera Corebook page 163), with a flock of Stratharain war moths flying in the background. The blue-and-gold banners of Strathar line the amphitheater, and the elders conduct ceremonies, religious services, athletic games and military drills before the Carving.
4. Margr Camp: A band of opportunistic margrs (NCB pg 244) holes up in a copse of trees just a bit southeast of the path between The Great Carving and Sklar, preying on pilgrims. Their tribe remembers the Battle of Rockfall somewhat differently, and views Hevoth's Rock as an abomination and an affront to their gods, that allegedly dwell up in the mountains. The Pytharons in Fort Vigilance know of the margr presence in the region, but do not care enough to intervene.
5. Sklar: Another ramshackle village, similar in many ways to Hast, but with a generally less jovial and more meditative atmosphere. Here, pilgrims prepare themselves, spiritually and physically, for the climb up to the summit. There is a drab wooden temple that doubles as a hospital, and it is run by the Aeon Priest and Sklar's de facto leader, Father Loredo (level 3, Numenera and social interaction level 5). Loredo is a tough and weathered middle-aged man and the veteran of many climbs and circumambulations. In addition to being an Aeon Priest, he is also a proud Son of Strathar.
6. Imelith's Palace: To the northeast of the Rock, beside a lake, there stands a magnificent palace of white marble, with a gilt dome. This is the home of the nano-witch Imelith (level 5, armor 1, numenera as level 6; capable of flight and limited control of war moths), formerly a scion of a wealthy merchant company and a disciple of the mystical practices of the plain folk. She seeks to recreate the "miracles" of the nano-witch Gatalla, by restoring the Rock to flight and once again taming the Stratharian war moths. She is not herself a Son of Strathar, however, and only wishes to do so for her own gratification. In her palace, she has laboratories devoted to the study of counter-gravity and the moths. She is capable of anti-gravity flight, but cannot turn it off, and floats weightlessly even at rest. She has also built a scale model of the Needle, and can control two or three war moths at a time, but her control is tenuous at best. She is self-centered, paranoid, and a bit mad, and is not above violence if it will advance her goals.
7. Lerin's Hut: A small wooden hut stands on the western tip of the Rock, and is home to the hermitess Lerin (level 4, hunting, climbing, survival, geography as level 6), who survives by hunting and fishing in the lake. For a price, she will also lead pilgrims up an alternative pathway to the summit. Called the Accuser's Path, this path is much longer, steeper, and more arduous than the main path up from Sklar. Many pilgrims seek it out for just this reason, believing it is a better test of spiritual rigor. Secretly, Lerin is actually a mlox (Ninth World Bestiary, page 86), who keeps up the act of a spiritual hermitess to avoid suspicion.
8. Chirog Village: A tribe of chirogs (NCB pg 235) have built a permanent settlement of burrows into a muddy hill. They swim and hunt in the depths of the lake, and sometimes swim all the way down to Hast to drag pilgrims away to eat. Like the margr, the Pytharons know of them, but do nothing. The chirogs do not care about Hevoth's Rock, aside from the fact it has brought variation to their diet. They are also deathly afraid of the hermitess Lerin from area 7. They know she is a mlox, or rather, they simply know of her strange and deadly powers from an earlier encounter, and steer well clear of that area.
9. Temple of Human Excellence: At the summit of Hevoth's Rock is a grand stone temple built through cooperation of the Aeon Priests and the Sons of Strathar. The Temple of Human Excellence serves as a rest area to weary pilgrims having just made the climb, and holds religious services celebrating not only their achievement in climbing, but the human achievement of lifting an moving such a massive rock, which they hold as proof that humanity will one day regain all the secrets of the prior worlds. The head of the temple is Father Kedorian (level 4, numenera, history, social interaction as level 5, deception as level 6), a robust, handsome man in his mid-thirties who knows how to work a crowd. In truth, Kedorian is as devious as a politician, and secured himself this post to better study the Needle and rake in donation money.
10. The Needle: Believed to be a transmitter to boost the signal controlling the war moths, the Needle is a nearly 100ft high tower of white metal struts, yet is only a few feet in diameter at its base. Despite the fact that the signal generators were crushed long ago along with Hevoth's castle, Stratharian war moths (NCB page 261) are still drawn to the site, and can be seen circling around it endlessly. At the base of the needle is a hole, intended as a loading hatch for deploying or retrieving moths. It leads down into the labyrinthine tunnels of the prior-world facility, but the abundance of moths makes approaching the area dangerous.

Using Hevoth's Rock

Adventure Hooks:

1. A terrorist of the Jagged Dream (NCB pg 224) fled from Jargolamis (NCB pg 162) when his cell was discovered. He has taken up refuge among the pilgrims of Hevoth's Rock, and is planning to bomb the sacred site and blame it on Pytharon nationalists. This man was a high-ranking member, and has a large outstanding bounty on his head.
2. Pilgrims have been disappearing from the northeastern edge of the circular path, and the Sons of Strathar would pay dearly to find out who is responsible. In truth, Imelith has been abducting them for use in her experiments.
3. Stratharian war moths have become more and more of a nuisance throughout the southern Steadfast as of late, and giant, overgrown versions of them have begun to appear as well. Empress Challadien III has offered a substantial reward to whoever can find a solution, and one might just be found in the tunnels within Hevoth's Rock.
4. The Angulan Knights have put out a bounty on a dangerous "mutant" that matches Lerin's description. If the players follow the trail here, they will find people who know of Lerin, but will have to deal with belligerent locals who consider Lerin a valued member of the community. Furthermore, the involvement of the Angulan Knights might be enough to rouse the soldiers from Fort Vigilance into action.

The Weird of Hevoth's Rock:

1. Despite only being exposed for a few centuries, patches of odd purple shrubs have sprouted all over the top of the Rock, growing up through solid stone as if it were soil.
2. A few years ago, an anonymous pilgrim who was walking up the eastern path of the Rock exploded for no apparent reason. To make matters even stranger, all of his strewn body parts maintained a semblance of life and continued to function. Those parts that were recovered had shrines built around them at the height where they were found.
3. Strange patterns of lights can be seen in the depths of the lake, some nights. Large orbs of green and blue flash periodically, before a separate cluster of red and green flashes elsewhere, as if they were communicating.
4. Some pilgrims have chiseled their names or other elaborate designs into the rock on the path up. On certain nights, these glow with an eerie red light.

Photo Gallery, mostly just for fun

Yes, I did climb all the way to the top.

Someone painted this stump as an eye.
I made a joke about a guy exploding, and thus, weirdness item 2.

A radio tower surrounded by vultures.
The inspiration for the Needle.

That is carved into granite. Charlie is certainly no quitter.
Inspiration for weirdness item 4.

A domed structure, taken from a scenic overlook about half way up.
The inspiration for Imelith's Palace.

    Okay, and that does it for my trip to Stone Mountain! In hindsight, climbing it was a very bad idea. I swear to god, the next time I have family members in town, I don't care what anyone says, we are going to the god damn aquarium.

A Trip to Stone Mountain, Part 1 - The Republic of Strathar

    My father and my little brother were in town today, and together we went to Stone Mountain. This was a bad idea, for a variety of reasons, but propriety demanded that I not say anything, at least, not before I get my present for my birthday on the 19th.

    Anyway, as I was roasting in the sun and cursing my poor fortune, I thought of this blog, and knew I would be remiss if I did not use this experience as inspiration. I mean, look at this place:

    So this got me to thinking, how could I use this experience for something in Numenera? First, I had to figure out what are the essential traits of Stone Mountain. I boiled it down to two:

1. A big ass rock.
2. A memorial to a conquered nation.

    Item one didn't seem all that interesting at first, so I set to thinking about item two. What conquered nations are there in the Ninth World? None that are given much attention, but there is one vanquished nation that is at least mentioned in passing.

The Republic of Strathar

    The Stratharians are hardly remembered, now, save for the deadly moths which they tamed to serve as beasts of war and still bear their name. They were originally nothing more than a race of loosely affiliated barbarian tribes, who fought and raided in the southeastern Steadfast, in the plains along the southern edge of the Voil Chasm all the way to the Black Riage.
    Roughly 300 years ago, the burgeoning Pytharon Empire enveloped Stratharian lands, imposing martial law and hunting down their raiding parties. The Stratharians suffered under Pytharon rule for decades, until they discovered the secret that would make them famous.
    A Stratharian chieftain named Hevoth bought the services of the then-famous nano-witch Gatalla Strith, who discovered a ruined prior-world structure in the foothills of the Black Riage. At Hevoth's bidding, Gatalla discovered a way to restore the ancient broadcasting equipment in the ruins, and used it to control and goad the deadly moths.
    Armed with this radical new weapon, the Stratharians fought back against the Empire, and as more and more chieftains flocked to Hevoth's side, the campaign for Stratharian independence began. Seeking legitimacy, the other chieftains named Hevoth the Grand Chieftain, officially seceded from the Pytharon Empire, and declared their ancestral lands the Republic of Strathar.

The Battle of Rockfall

    Years passed, and the attacks from the Pytharon Empire were methodical and ruthless. Hevoth realized that the war moths were not enough, so set about looking for new weapons. A raiding party uncovered an ancient cache of gravity obviators, and Hevoth envisioned a fleet of flying ships, raining down destruction on the helpless legionnaires below. A few of these ships were constructed, but they were all captured and burned by the Pytharons.
    Desperate for a solution, Hevoth hit upon a stroke of genius, or madness, some said. The ancient ruins where Gatalla had discovered the means to control the war moths had long ago become the seat of Hevoth's capital and a mighty stronghold.
    Hevoth equipped an army of men with detonations and ray-emitters, and ordered them to blast shafts into the mountain, wide enough and deep enough to encompass all of the stronghold's underground laboratories and breeding pits. They installed the gravity obviators in these pits, powered them up, and tore a massive chunk of rock free from the Black Riage. The result was a floating island, nearly a square mile in size.
    The remaining Stratharian forces rallied to this flying fortress, and marched against the Pytharon legion on the open plains. Though intimidated by Hevoth's new weapon, the Pytharons charged, and engaged the Stratharian forces in the shadow of the island.
    It soon became clear, however, despite the siege engines atop the island, and despite the war moths, the Stratharians were outnumbered and doomed to slaughter. Overcome with grief and anger, Hevoth ordered that the gravity obviators be shut off, for a suicidal strike against the Pytharons.
    The obviators did not cut off all at once, so the island rolled over before it fell. Nevertheless, 2 billion tons of rock crushed the warring armies.
    In the chaos that followed, the surviving Stratharians found that they could no longer control their moths, as Hevoth's castle, along with its prior-world broadcasting equipment, had been destroyed in the fall. The moths turned on their handlers, killing most of the survivors. The Battle of Rockfall, as it would later be known, ended the short-lived Republic of Strathar and effectively wiped out the Stratharian race.


    Aaaaand this post is long enough. For my next post, I will detail Hevoth's Rock as it stands in the Ninth World of the present. as well as the surrounding lands, drawing inspiration from several more pictures I snapped on my cell phone.