Wednesday 7 June 2023

d100 Famous city wonders in the age of bronze




 So most cities have a famous attraction and wonder to impress other civilisations and shame lesser cities lacking in wonders. Building one puts your city on the map attracting pilgrims and trade. Just hope tourists don't take over and stay.

Consider a wonder will be something the city is famous for and may be part of its title like Melkathor the dreaming city of the gilded ziggurat. 

I did this to help generate some cities faster for sat game.

d10 Famous city wonders in the age of bronze
1 Defence
2 Temple 
3 Tomb
4 Knowledge 
5 Resources
6 Leisure
7 Reputation
8 Curses
9 Perils
10 Cosmic

d100 Famous city wonders in the age of bronze
01 Vast walls surround the city with massive gates, each with a name and spectacular relief art. Chariots can drive side by side or even race
02 Walls around town but also enclose large areas around the city enclosing fields and strategic choke points vs invaders
03 Famous unbreachable gate dedicated to city gods with spectacular art and shrines built-in, includes a famous professional road for parades and festivals
04 Spectacular tall towers around the city for defence each with a name 
05 City built on an ancient mound raising it above the plane, possibly built on an ancient earthwork fort or just thousands of years of urbanisation 
06 A huge fortified citadel complex inside the walls incorporating various important buildings
07 City located in a secure location like a mountain valley, canyon or in a river bend  
08 Great moat, artificial lakes or ditch surrounds the city limiting access to walls
09 Walls built on vast mounds with a 40-degree slope making it difficult for enemies to reach walls and increasing the height 
10 A colossal statue in a prominent location like a harbour or gates of a patron god, monster or heroic age semi-divine ruler. Some say these constructions can come to life to defend the city but nobody living has seen this. Includes a dedicated temple
11 Mighty Ziggurat complex towering over the city dedicated to the city patron god, a mountainous temple built in an earlier age when wages were lower. Used for important festivals, coronations and other events. Some say the gods visit the temple chamber on the top. The best rulers can now do is repair and maintain this wonder 
12 Complex of several ziggurats often of related gods with the city patron god
13 Huge sacred temple precinct with thousands of clergy, a city within a city
14 Has hundreds of temples and thousands of shrines in the city famous for recognising many gods and eager to build more if they discover a new one
15 District for divination with many specific shrines specialising in varieties of divination including a cave of crack where fumes from the underworld can induce visions or even death. Famous as a place for pilgrims even foreign rulers visit and make donations
16 Huge temples with vast vows of huge pillars and a gigantic statue of divinity, some have various wonderous features like treasures, magical effects 
17 A popular beast cult or beast form of a divinity or pet of a god is popular here and there are temples, shrines and idols everywhere. Examples of the creatures are common in art and sacred ones live in certain temples. If possible locals love these animals and many live in the city area a vast graveyard for these animals has people from many lands sending their dead animals here to be buried 
18 Temple dedicated to a wonderous relic linked to a deity of hero, pilgrims visit and hope to touch or kiss the relic but access is strictly controlled. The relic is used for city ceremonies and has rarely leaves the temple
19 Temple dedicated to the place where a famous mythic event happened or deity or servants made contact with mortals
20 Spectacular temple carved from a single vast rock covered with religious relief art of mythical scenes, a popular place for pilgrims and to take children to teach about the faith. May even be a vast statue with a temple inside
21 Vast necropolis of tombs for all classes, guarded and often haunted by night near city with tunnels and secret passages 
22 A temple of the underworld gods claims to have a gate to the underworld and attracts burials from many lands believing this location makes the journey of the dead less 
23 Enormous mausoleum dedicated to a powerful personality of city history 
24 Pyramid tomb or other vast stone tomb close to city that is so vast it will outlast the city
25 Vast burial catacombs used for thousands of years, some areas have entrances to temples and shrines 
26 Tombs of dozens of ancient rulers, surface ones often looted but many more underground. Often guarded and has active funerary temples. Many visible surface tombs have a shrine chamber for visitor offerings 
27 Huge underground chasm with hundreds of tombs carved into the rock with limited access from a temple and limited access for commoners
28 Hills riddled with cave tombs used for centuries, often sealed with boulders
29 Vast marble tomb of famous beauty with gardens and water features and a temple of caretakers. Interiors are sealed and filled with deadly traps maintained by magic and priesthood
30 Underground maze tomb complex with deadly guardians that devour thieves or criminals cast into it, a great treasure crypt in the centre of famous ancient hero, wizard or king
31 Famous library with scribes, scholars and vart archives
32 Museum of ancient artefacts and objects of previous civilisations and legendary rulers reigns
33 School or academy, a famous place of learning for scribes and spreading literacy
34 Great courthouse of ancient legal records, many court chambers and copies of the old laws handed down by the gods. A great statue of a king or god of law will be a feature
35 Great school of healing arts with famous teachers helping city health
36 School of magic teaching spell casters the art and science of magical theory and lore
37 Seminary for priests and missionaries to spread civilisation and city influence
38 Alchemical school and a factory making potions and magical constructs and magic items 
39 Managerie or zoo for exotic animals and monsters for study and to ogle 
40 Great garden complex with many courtyards, statues, water features and a building for herbalists and plant experts and priests even druids
41 Famous underground cisterns and wells provide the city with water even in a siege
42 Vast granaries for food storage for famine or resisting sieges for years, some may be part of tomb or temple complexes and only accessed in the worst of times
43 Fortified harbour for sea or river trade or linked by canal to river. May have vast chains or gates to keep out enemy marines and boats. Many large docks possibly with buildings for boats to dock inside
44 Lighthouse or beacon tower visible from a vast distance to guide travellers
45 Famous orchards sacred to cults with walls and a temple providing sacred fruit trees and vines
46 Vast famous market with goods from far away lands
47 Aquaduct or canal delivers water and goods to the city and within it
48 Great forge where hundreds of craftsmen work and experiment with new alloys and making the finest arms and armour and attracting famous smiths
49 Famous breweries or wineries with vast warehouses and vats and influence over regional farms
50 Great clay pits for famous pottery and bricks or a quarry of famous stone for sculptures and important buildings
51 Great arena where spectacles of sport or bloody battle and other games are waged with humans and beasts
52 Race track for contests of riding beasts and chariots, often various teams divide the city and losers or even winners sometimes riot
53 Great amphitheatre for performances where famous playrights and actors work
54 Hundreds of impressive stone and bronze statues and industry of artists
55 Famous redlight district of vice where even the temples participate in providing beer and   famous crime guilds have influence over the region
56 A great bathhouse complex with vast luxurious pools for all classes and people with shrines and religious areas for initiations and purification
57 Splendid park with beautiful gardens, water features and courtyards with tame animals, areas for free citizens and nobles only to enjoy
58 Gymnasium complex where locals train and compete in athletics. The locals enjoy physical culture and enjoy exercise more than other cities, with many artworks celebrating athletes
59 Vast feasting halls for regular great celebrations and events, the locals are famous hosts 
60 Perfumed gardens a famous redlight district with temples of love and carefully tended narcotic flowers. From the gardens come famous scented oils and unguents 
61 Warrior spirit of the city full of art depicting war and full of barracks. Civilians are well-trained and support city millitary adventures
62 Famed for first post-diluvian human kings and used as a model of ideas of kingship and justice
63 Famous kings or hero came from here and their image appears in art and rulers evoke this mighty hero often. Kings often visit here as part of their coronation rituals and empire builders crave the city for legitimacy
64 Famed for diplomacy and peace and often hosts peace treaty meetings and negotiates the end of wars. City has defences but other cities will defend this vital neutral meeting place
65 CIty holy and many religions come here as a pilgrimage and cities even send statues of their gods here to meet other gods
66 Famous for welcoming barbarians and settling them in their outlying areas and civilising them Have many barbarian shrines and artworks and vast herds of livestock and a fearsome reputation in war. Often the ruling dynasty changes every 3 generations 
67 Famous for its famous family of gods who are portrayed as a family and attracts many pilgrims of those gods and industries favoured by these gods. Often a leader god and their consort and children
68 Famous for favouring a single god above all others and the things that god prefers. Maybe shrines to other gods and the lead god's servants and family. Followers of that god consider it holy but other religions feel re[pressed and the mono cult to have gone too far  
69 Blessed by earth goddesses and the people, animals and fields are fecund. The city trades excess food and has helped repopulate devastating cities
70 Famous dynasty is descended from a mighty hero or deity and the population include some mighty heroes with a fragment of this ancestors power
71 Bloodthirsty and cruel traditions like mass sacrifices, cruel executions, abused prisoners of war and the gods of this city are portrayed more blood thirsty and hideously fearsome aspects
72 City under the influence of ancient undead wizards from the age of forbidden magic and human rulers live in fear. Conquerors have left this city alone for aeons
73  Remnants of active prehuman religion, either side by side with other modern gods or many hidden cults of the dark gods and demons thrive here
74 Prone to famine and disease every few generations, a punishment of the gods for some act in the past
75 City worships the worst aspects of the gods of death and the underworld and is infamously gloomy and dispairing. The death templars control the population with terror and wage war against the gods of light and life
76 City is conquered every generation and rulers are slaughtered due to angering the gods, peoples poverty increases each generation
77 CIty is slowly sinking into boggy soil or sand and seems to be doomed due to angering the gods, degenerate cults thrive and accelerate this  
78 When the city was built a prehuman city nearby was destroyed and its people were killed. This angered the god of these people who seeks to get revenge. Inhuman ghosts dwell in the ruins and around the city by night making travelling evenings dangerous
79 City is attacked each generation by a titanic behemoth monster that causes great damage and kills thousands of people each time, otherwise, it is hidden and asleep
80 Citizens revolt every generation, butchering their nobles and anyone else they want to dispose of. The crown employs brutal executions and secret police but these don't seem to calm the people down. Many attributes this to a curse of a mighty priest
81 Dungeon complex full of perils and danger where contestants enter to compete for fame and honours. Great treasures are placed within and survivors are showered in gifts
82 Labyrinthe where sacrifices are hurled in to appease the beast within, if they can't find volunteers they use criminals or prisoners of war or 
83 Great caverns beneath the city where creatures occasionally come from. Secret shrines and temples of known gods and strange cults are built here and occasionally vast hordes of cannibalistic humanoids of the deep boil up from here
84 A gate to the underworld here shrouded in poisonous fog and protected by temples, priests exposing themselves to limited fumes have esoteric visions. An ancient hero once passed the fumes and the gate and returned
85 A ruined mound remains of a much older civilisation with various entrances but haunted. May even have some other great structure built on top
86 Catacombs beneath crawling with the dead only used by cults and criminals to move around
87 CIty has temples and shrines and art dedicated to dreams and divination. Some say the city dreams sometimes enter the waking world and vice versa
88 City is full of prehuman idols, shrines and buildings from some non-human species that have remained incorporated into the modern city. Many long sealed chambers, tunnels and relics from this past. Fish folk, reptilians or frog folk common
89 City is close to a vast ancient ruin with a thriving industry that plunders the old city. Gold, idols, artworks, treasure and even bricks and stones can be seen all over the modern city. Many adventurers and grave robbers dwell here
90 CIty full of crime, cults and warren-like streets of gang wars. Non-human shapeshifters have infiltrated the nobility to exploit the people and plunder the city's wealth
91 The city is visited often by many petty gods and immortals and many have shrines
92 A deity has been known to manifest here several times and there are locations pilgrims visit to see the remaining presence of the gods, there are footprints and other miraculous sites 
93 Once the city was mostly destroyed by a fireball from the sky from an angry god
94 city has a significant non-human population and their strange gods or versions of gods are commonplace. One species or several
95 City is dominated by a near human or non human species, humans might be an pressed minority or the ruling clan are nonhuman 
96 The ruler literally meets an avatar of the god yearly in the high temple yearly in a secret chamber for several days as part of a huge famous new year festival
97 CIty has a guargantual monster imprisones, asleep or just remains of in the city that people build on and around or is possibly worshipped or exploited
98 City crawling with wizards, summoned planar entities, buildings and walls of bronze and other evidence of spells in use are commonplace. Some buildings might even levitate or some other wonder
99 Remnants of the prehuman age are imprisoned under the city and exploited by rulers, don't pity them as they once pressed the whole world and blotted out the sun
100 CIty famous for spirits and has thousands of shrines, local shaman, medeums and spiritualists and excorcits are commonplace

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