Thread by @rdonoghue

Ok, different topic: Building Height in Blades in the Dark.

So, the first skyscrapers (or "tall buildings") went up in the mid-to-late 1800s, enabled by improvements in steel, elevators and concrete. They were ~10-12 stories tall at the outset. 100 stories wasn't till the 30s

As I understand it, the big difference was the switch from self-supporting masonry to an iron framework providing support for the building. This is particularly interesting to me in Duskvol for a couple reasons.

The first of these went up in Chicago, in part because the great fire had made space for it. This point is of particular note to me because Duskvol certainly has the TECH for skyscrapers, but *space* is at a premium.

I buy into the idea of a Duskvol that's been largely built up on itself, but "up" has limits before you start adding in framework, so the "pile buildings atop each other" thing starts running into problems at, like, 4-6 stories (story height being a variable)

(I need to find a source on this, but I assume this is also a reason for townhouse style construction: Widening the base allows more height, which also applies to great works)

Anyway, the upshot of this is that I suspect that most of Duskvol is precariously stacked, but also height capped. (Aside: Height cap is also tied to how water gets around, but that's a whole other topic).

But there is space for skyscrapers, or space for skyscrapers currently under construction, which would be kind of a delightful addition. I think at the very least one open construction site is a location that needs to come up in play.

Now, the very existence of (small) skyscrapers is a very nice addition to the setting, but there are a few cool considerations.

First, these things need deep foundations. The prospects of what that might dig up in the city DELIGHTS me.

Second, to take a page from Ghostbusters, consider the implications of a GIANT IRON CAGE in the setting.

Now, we have the question of where the iron comes from. While I'm sure there are mines, I assume there's a fair amount of re-use.

Which is to say: If you were to make the girders from the melted down remains of a leviathan ship? I love the thoughts about what that would bring to the building - not a haunting, per se, but definitely weirdness.

On the other hand, if some clever sparkwright were to figure out how run mild current through the frame to make the building ghostproof? To introduce this space of safety and security in a space of weirdness? That seems nice, right?

Except, of course, the rich ruin everything.

Early skyscrapers could, effectively, be private kingdoms of wealth. No need to go walk the dirty streets or deal with madness and monsters - just sit in your modern castle, and metastasize into Robber Barons.

Naturally, as more spring up we eventually get walkways connecting these kingdoms, creating a parallel city above everyone's heads.

Keep that up and eventually you get Midgar, and that's a REALLY interesting line of thought, albeit not a direction I'm going right this second.

Walkways are not completely viable if this model grows, and this is where you start getting airships for short hops between towers (additional aside: LTA aircraft and Blades are two things that need more mixing).

Ok, so this is a fun slider, because you can pretty much decide how many skyscrapers there are in Duskvol, how normal they are, and *where* they are to set your tone. Heck, go far enough and you even have old, "fallen" skyscrapers a la the Judge Dredd movie (the good one).

But we have only slightly delved into the weirdness here.

Bear in mind that Duskvol has weird metallurgy (steampunk!), and a variety of material limitations and opportunities which can be used to justify almost any kind of special weirdness.

I find myself wondering about Duskvol concrete.

I can't quite come up with an excuse to go full brutalist, but there's still a LOT to do with how concrete gets made, since it's actually complicated and variable.

So, obviously, leviathan blood can go in the mix.

Either literally, or as one of the derived components. And now that this door is opened, you just need to decide what characteristics you want it to have: is it pliable? Self healing? Sticky? All of the above, depending how you make it?

What if Duskvol bricks are red from blood? Perhaps they need no mortar, because if you get them wet they just attach to each other like stone leeches. Sure, there are health risks, but it allows for very fast construction, and results in a lot of ad hoc architecture.

Which, in turn, brings us back to the buildings that are largely stacked on top of each other. Heck, if blood-bricks self adhere strongly enough, you can enable all sorts of structurally terrible ideas.

Anyway, I need to switch gears to prepping for Dragon Heist tomorrow, but this is just one more thing going into my Blades brain bucket.

Belatedly, I am growing really enamoured with the idea of blood bricks (or blood mortar) allowing brutalist-appearing architecture, but with bricks. Imagining something like this in duskvol delights me. images.app.goo.gl/EPdW3kdJb2nVT1…

"Building sideways" is just a wonderful and disturbing look.