Author Topic: Cities of the Underground  (Read 3834 times)

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Offline Elrik

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Cities of the Underground
« on: September 21, 2008, 12:43:30 PM »
If you have not seen this series, I would encourage you to try. It may put some dungeon crawling into perspective  ;)

http://www.history.com/minisite.do?mini_id=53900
I'm told it's my duty to fight against the law
That wizardry's my trade and I was born to wade through gore
I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul
I wish it'd picked another to be it's killing tool

Offline markc

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Re: Cities of the Underground
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2008, 01:53:55 PM »
 I have liked the episodes I have seen and IMO they are good for any GM creating underground complexes.

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Offline Guillaume

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Re: Cities of the Underground
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2008, 01:02:21 PM »
I haven't seen any

No surprise here... I lived more than 20 years in a nice city ( Clermont Ferrand ) with a cathedral built on top of a hill notoriously honeycombed by layers and layers of cellars...Some people says that two century ago you could enter cellars on one side of the hill and exit on the other side... quite a nice way to avoid climbing up the hill to the cathedral and back down :D

One of these cellar was used at a time by the local best shop for wine... until the place was needed to build a new office building for the bureaucrats :D :(

It is also relatively well known that parts of Paris are built on old quarry ( especially the South, the Butte Montmartre and Chaumont ) with some parts that can be visited if you know where to look and what to look for.
514 to see, 416 to lock, 614 to shot...Target downed...Ask the marines to pick up the pieces.

RM, RM2, RMSS, RMFRP, HARP,  MERP, Cyberspace, SM, SM2, SM:P, Star Strike, Armored Assault, SD , SD : The Next Millenium, Bladestorm, Battle of the Five Armies .... Collecting ICE production since the epoch...

Offline Michael Petrea

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Re: Cities of the Underground
« Reply #3 on: September 22, 2008, 01:16:14 PM »
I have watched many of these episodes.  While they stretch out the information to fill time (like many basic cable shows), they do visit some fascinating places.

One of my favorites was in France (under Paris I believe) where they had stacked all the bones they had taken from old graves.  There is a government department that is responsible for keeping them all neatly stacked.  It was creepy and cool.

« Last Edit: September 22, 2008, 02:07:26 PM by BillyJoeJive »

Offline Elrik

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Re: Cities of the Underground
« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2008, 02:00:29 PM »
That was pretty interesting episode BillyJoe

The one on Dublin captured my imagination.
I'm told it's my duty to fight against the law
That wizardry's my trade and I was born to wade through gore
I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul
I wish it'd picked another to be it's killing tool

Offline Guillaume

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Re: Cities of the Underground
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2008, 11:09:35 AM »
One of my favorites was in France (under Paris I believe) where they had stacked all the bones they had taken from old graves.  There is a government department that is responsible for keeping them all neatly stacked.  It was creepy and cool.

The Catacombs... They emptied all the cemeteries from Paris some 200 years ago and dumped all the bones in there. It's actually one of the few place under Paris that you can visit. ( I can give the exact address, entrance fee and all eventually to those interested )
The catacombs is just a tiny ( and suposedly secured as it's some sort of museum ) part of the network of old quarry that riddle that part of Paris.
Now, there's a whole Police department in Paris called Inspection G?n?rale des Carri?res ( Quarry General Inspection ) whose duty is :
- make sure nobody enter the underground network of quarry.
- check the state of the quarry and act in case of what we call a fontis ( the top of the quarry comming down, with the building atop and all ) appears or if the quarry ceilling seems to become weak.
- make some security checks around several places that shall not be named;) ( well it's as if you had a quarry under the Federal reserve or the White House... )
- Check the 100+ ways in/out to make sure they are all sealed...
- Arrest the occasional  guy that manage to get in. ( not that occasionnal, as It's dead easy for somebody that live in Paris to know what to look for and where to look for it to find entrances... the hardest is to find an unsealed entrance )
514 to see, 416 to lock, 614 to shot...Target downed...Ask the marines to pick up the pieces.

RM, RM2, RMSS, RMFRP, HARP,  MERP, Cyberspace, SM, SM2, SM:P, Star Strike, Armored Assault, SD , SD : The Next Millenium, Bladestorm, Battle of the Five Armies .... Collecting ICE production since the epoch...

Offline Elrik

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Re: Cities of the Underground
« Reply #6 on: September 24, 2008, 11:25:18 AM »
That is just not fair Guillaume!

I doubt I will ever make it to France  =-(

I would imagine that the roof problem happens all the time... ?
I'm told it's my duty to fight against the law
That wizardry's my trade and I was born to wade through gore
I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul
I wish it'd picked another to be it's killing tool

Offline Guillaume

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Re: Cities of the Underground
« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2008, 10:40:28 AM »
I would imagine that the roof problem happens all the time... ?

No, because about 100 year ago, when it started to become a problem, the government wasn't overbloated with paper-pushers... so something had to be done, and something was done... there's reinforcements everywhere it matters, and it was built to last, so when something has to be done nowadays it's mainly because there's going to be a new building upstairs and the 100 year old reinforcements will not support the mass of concrete, so they need to build more reinforcement... ( which is usually done by putting walls around the concerned aread and just pouring concrete until it's filled. )

My flat is over a quarry that was completely refilled in 19th Century.
Well, most of the part of Paris where I live is built over these old Gypsum quarries... not far from my flat you can't build houses with more than 2 levels, nearer there's a subway station that is partially built atop of 30 meter ( 100' ) pillars.
Well the whole Parc des Buttes Chaumont is an old Gypsum Quarry that was intentionally collapsed (when needed) or refilled and changed in a park somewhere around 1860... 
514 to see, 416 to lock, 614 to shot...Target downed...Ask the marines to pick up the pieces.

RM, RM2, RMSS, RMFRP, HARP,  MERP, Cyberspace, SM, SM2, SM:P, Star Strike, Armored Assault, SD , SD : The Next Millenium, Bladestorm, Battle of the Five Armies .... Collecting ICE production since the epoch...

Offline Elrik

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Re: Cities of the Underground
« Reply #8 on: September 25, 2008, 11:55:46 PM »
THAT IS MORE THEN COOL!

Below my house is a 60 year old sewer... and maybe a native burial ground...
I'm told it's my duty to fight against the law
That wizardry's my trade and I was born to wade through gore
I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul
I wish it'd picked another to be it's killing tool