3 reverse-atlantis (GLoGtober 1 '23)

Taking on Glass Candles GLoGtober '23, challenge #1 is from a list by PRIMEUMATON - "Atlantis-type situation but in reverse. It goes up instead of down."

1. Dwarf Citadels - it is known that dwarfs understand how to create citadels - the carving of mountain tops such that they can fly.

What differs hugely place to place is how dwarfs feel about this. In some places to walk beneath the open sky is shunned and to sail the void of wildspace a dreadful fate. For those dwarfs, citadels are flown only by those who have dishonored themselves and seek redemption. A clan exiled in such a way gathers at the highest peak of their holdings, severs the mountain top and flys away to seek glories to over-stain their shame.

As the carving of this citadel of exile is being completed, often others will come to join them - some adventurers but mostly individuals who seek glory and restoration of their own honor among the stars. For the dwarf society that remains, such times can be seen as a cleansing of rogue elements or a grievous loss of debate and innovation and calcification of power and opinion.

Once launched these citadels of exile typically seek great works - finding rich ores to mine, dread enemies to fight, or great works to create. Often starting from a deeply dwarven traditionalist perspective, freshly launched citadels often overshoot into interfering with whatever they come across as they seek their new focus.

d6 Exiles of this dwarf citadel
1. - Monster Slayers seeking bloody redemption
2. - Artificers with a war-machine to test
3. - Surveyors examining the richness of these lands
4. - Old guard warriors here to resolve a local situation to the glory of the dwarves
5. - Foraging crew, logging and quarrying materials for their new great work
6. - Raiding team, testing the strength of local forces before the invasion

2. Merfolk cities - rarely an aquatic city can be thrust from its place on the seabed to the surface. Typically this happens through a ritual curse of unknown name and origin. First used long ago, with unknown purpose, it now exists only as a city-destroyer, suppressed by authorities and with even research into the nature of the curse viewed as a dire threat to be dealt with harshly.

The casting of the curse is the death of the city. Without water it is useless to its onetime inhabitants - even where they are happy to breath air and lurch around without the support of water, all the buildings are constructed to allow swimming with no stairs or other accomodation for ground-walking.

After a first wave of treasure hunters picks through the abandoned streets, these become hotly contested by avians who can make use of them in their existing form.

d6 People encountered amongst the ruins
1. - Kenku brigands setting up a base
2. - Aaracockra settlers, colonising the top of the city
3. - Winged Elves
4. - Djinni
5. - Winged kobolds serving a manticore
6. - Flying serpents

3. Exposed Underdark cities - broadly equivalent circumstances can be underdark cities expose to higher realms through earthquake, volcanic activity or other cataclysm. This will only happen for the upper-dark - the kind of catastrophe that would bring a middle-dark city to the surface is not going to leave anyone around on the local continent to be curious about it afterwards. Four things can happen - an aquatic underdark city suddenly drained - similar to the merfolk city, treat as above. An aquatic underdark city can be suddenly connected to the seas, in which case you potentially have a serious disruption to local trade routes and either rich picking for the local aquatic raiding cultures or a dread power landing among them like a wolf thrust among sheep. Next there is a 'dry' underdark city suddenly flooded, in which case it is almost certainly a treasure trove for the local aquatics to fight over and loot at their leisure. Lastly is the dry underdark city connected to the surface and likely to be at more of a disadvantage than an aquatic underdark city due to having to deal with flyers like dragons that were never a problem before.