Hollow Earth: The Land of Mediterranea...

Good Afternoon, All:

Based on inverting the land and water of the World Above, the fictitious mini-continent in our Hollow Earth discussion, "Mediterranea," is approximately 2,300 miles (192 12-mile hexes) long, from 100 to 600 miles (8 to 50 12-mile hexes) wide, and is bordered by the European Ocean to the north and the Saharan Sea to the south. The region is joined to the "Atlantica" land mass by a small isthmus barely 8 miles (let's call it one 12-mile hex) in width. The largest mountain range on Mediterranea is the Hellenic Peaks, which separate the Aegean Plateau from the remainder of Mediterranea.

Nice coastal maps can be found here:
Basic shaded map of Mediterranea land mass
Coastal outline of Mediterranea land mass

Given Mediterranea's close proximity to that region of the World Above known to some as the "center of the Western World", the region would likely have one or more analogues based on a number of cultures, such as the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Carthaginian, Iberian, Greek, Macedonian, Illyrian, Thracian, Levantine, Gallic, Roman, Arabic, Berber, Jewish , Slavic and Turkish cultures. This would make an excellent place to introduce some of the content from New Infinities Publications's Aesheba: Greek Africa supplement, and south Mediterranea might allow me to use some of the Nyambe material I collected in the days of D20 past.

The climate typically consists of hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Crops of the region probably include such things as olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork. I'll have to think about these things, though, since some of it may change due to the fact that the sun never sets in the Hollow Earth. Instead, it is always high noon.

The Pellucidar novels speak of an "inner moon" that maintains the equivalent of a geosynchronous orbit between the inner star and the surface of the world, keeping one region perpetually in shadow in contrast to the rest of Pellucidar. While I would want to think about it a little bit first, my gut inclination would probably be to include this inner moon, and have a realm of perpetual night somewhere along the equator. Perhaps that region would be located on Atlantica, but it would still likely be too far away for convenient access over the course of a campaign set in Mediterranea. With that in mind, the point is moot, save for descriptive elements.

Given that I would want this campaign to have a strong Sword & Sorcery feel to it,there would be a number of things to consider related to magic and encounters, but those elements will be the subject of other posts and future discussions.

More Later,
Flynn