Under Cover

This one's short and sweet for the city kids out there. The out of doors are really dark at night. If you rely on movies/TV you might expect nights to be well lit and the darkness a mere inconvenience to getting a good look at the slavering monster in the bushes. It's really much more.

Granted, when the moon is out and the sky is clear I've had many a night that would be easy to find my way home (even easier if there's snow on the ground), but that is not a given. Because people are not elves.

My city in China is on the banks of the Yangtze River. It provides a beautiful case study in how this darkness thing works because it's cloudy all the time. There's lit-up city on both banks of the river and a band of blackness running down the middle.

There's a story about how the Chinese got rid of the British navy that was patrolling this river back in the 19th century. They attacked a gunship putting a hole in the side. The ship didn't sink, but it was crippled. Eventually the crew fixed the ship and they snuck out of town back to Shanghai.

Before I got here I didn't get it. How do you sneak around in a ship on a river that you can see the other side of? That darkness covers a lot. Even today with electric lights on both sides, it doesn't come anywhere near the interior of the river. Without any lights, a ship can be very sneaky (especially if it is being taken by the current). When I watch the river at night now I can lose track of the huge coal barges who aren't even trying to sneak at all. One green light winking in the night isn't a signal flare.

Another darkness story from my travelling comes from Nepal where my buddy and I were hiking through villages in the Annapurna mountain range. When you're on the side of one mountain and look across to the other side of the valley during the day you can see small houses scattered about. At night when the clouds are right you cannot tell the difference between lights in houses and lights that are stars. It's like you are standing over the edge of the world. Or at least that's what I felt like.

Anyway, that's the thing to think about this month now that the days are getting longer again. Next month's will be a more extensive examination of Festivals.

J Unrau
Hungry J Propaganda
www.djs5.com/hjp

Topics	Author	Date	Latest Reply
Great Idea For A Column... (1) new	RT Murphy	01-09-2006 00:16	01-09-2006 00:16 new
I like the night (1) new	Jethrow	01-04-2006 02:22	01-04-2006 02:22 new
Rivers are dark in the city too... (1) new	Ian Sokoliwski	01-03-2006 22:05	01-03-2006 22:05 new
food as atmosphere (1) new	Ian Sokoliwski	11-03-2005 17:34	11-03-2005 17:34 new
On The Other Hand... (1) new	Bipolar Bear	10-07-2005 20:45	10-07-2005 20:45 new
Blank stares (1) new	Whymme	10-07-2005 15:42	10-07-2005 15:42 new
Languages vs dialects: alignment (1) new	Ian Sokoliwski	10-05-2005 23:23	10-05-2005 23:23 new
a linguist's take on linguistic realism (2) new	magic-rhyme	10-04-2005 14:37	10-05-2005 22:27 new
Chinese (player) characters (3) new	Ian Sokoliwski	10-04-2005 08:28	10-05-2005 23:12 new
Recognising borders (6) new	Jethrow	09-09-2005 00:37	09-09-2005 03:19 new
Props on Pilgrims :) (2) new	Ian Sokoliwski	08-03-2005 19:02	09-08-2005 18:39 new
Where Are You? (2) new	Matt Drake	07-04-2005 09:05	09-08-2005 18:37 new
Mass Production and the Marketplace (2) new	Ash	06-29-2005 11:13	06-30-2005 21:02 new
Over-gracious landlords and Adventurers (1) new	Ian Sokoliwski	06-29-2005 09:58	06-29-2005 09:58 new
Realism in Game Design (3) new	Spike	06-05-2005 18:56	06-30-2005 00:55 new
With modern means... (1) new	Grop	06-04-2005 02:18	06-04-2005 02:18 new
Interesting article! Thanks! (2) new	No2	06-03-2005 04:05	06-03-2005 07:33 new
RL thought - dwarves are idiots. (4) new	Ian Sokoliwski	06-03-2005 00:37	06-03-2005 14:05 new
Creating the illusion (2) new	David Mandrake	05-03-2005 06:47	05-04-2005 01:13 new
Fantasy realms and the suspension of belief (4) new	Doulos03	05-02-2005 17:56	01-04-2006 15:56 new

The Gamer's Guide to Hitch Hiking

Under Cover

Under Cover

What do you think?

Previous columns

Other columns at RPGnet


The Gamer's Guide to Hitch Hiking Under Cover by Justin Unrau Jan 03,2006	Under Cover This one's short and sweet for the city kids out there. The out of doors are really dark at night. If you rely on movies/TV you might expect nights to be well lit and the darkness a mere inconvenience to getting a good look at the slavering monster in the bushes. It's really much more. Granted, when the moon is out and the sky is clear I've had many a night that would be easy to find my way home (even easier if there's snow on the ground), but that is not a given. Because people are not elves. My city in China is on the banks of the Yangtze River. It provides a beautiful case study in how this darkness thing works because it's cloudy all the time. There's lit-up city on both banks of the river and a band of blackness running down the middle. There's a story about how the Chinese got rid of the British navy that was patrolling this river back in the 19th century. They attacked a gunship putting a hole in the side. The ship didn't sink, but it was crippled. Eventually the crew fixed the ship and they snuck out of town back to Shanghai. Before I got here I didn't get it. How do you sneak around in a ship on a river that you can see the other side of? That darkness covers a lot. Even today with electric lights on both sides, it doesn't come anywhere near the interior of the river. Without any lights, a ship can be very sneaky (especially if it is being taken by the current). When I watch the river at night now I can lose track of the huge coal barges who aren't even trying to sneak at all. One green light winking in the night isn't a signal flare. Another darkness story from my travelling comes from Nepal where my buddy and I were hiking through villages in the Annapurna mountain range. When you're on the side of one mountain and look across to the other side of the valley during the day you can see small houses scattered about. At night when the clouds are right you cannot tell the difference between lights in houses and lights that are stars. It's like you are standing over the edge of the world. Or at least that's what I felt like. Anyway, that's the thing to think about this month now that the days are getting longer again. Next month's will be a more extensive examination of Festivals. J Unrau Hungry J Propaganda www.djs5.com/hjp