Questions tagged [underground]
For questions dealing with things that happen beneath the surface of the planet or other celestial body, except for things that happen in water (use [underwater] for that).
35
questions
119
votes
11
answers
26k
views
Could a Dwarven Civilization Exist?
Could a Dwarven society as described by Tolkien mythology actually work? Dwarves for the purposes of this question are short, stout, bearded men and women who live primarily underground. They have a ...
- 13.8k
8
votes
6
answers
3k
views
How would my dwarves tell time underground?
How could they keep track of the "Surface World Time?"
Parameters:
Very little contact with the surface world
Phobia of "just go and check"
It is needed to know when traders will ...
- 828
60
votes
12
answers
11k
views
How can Dwarves produce honey underground?
I have often heard/read/watched in fantasy about dwarves drinking mead and lots of it. I recently learned that mead is made from honey which requires bees and flowers which require sunlight. I doubt ...
5
votes
3
answers
404
views
What weapons would fossorial people use?
The fossorial people are similar to humans. They are around 3ft tall as adults. Their limbs are far stronger, and their hands and feet are larger, with the fingers being shorter and more robust, and ...
- 16k
15
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How to hide an underground city?
Related to my previous question : How to live in an underground city?
The refugees managed to live in their underground city with the few resources they can find. They are prepared to fight if ...
- 2,996
31
votes
7
answers
7k
views
Is it practical to build dirt scrapers instead of skyscrapers?
Buildings are often build on the ground into the sky. Would it be conceivable if instead, we build down into the ground instead? We wouldn't have to worry about wind then. I think we could go farther ...
- 12.8k
24
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Expanding occupied underground habitations safely?
I have a colony of humans living underground in man-made catacombs on another planet. They are, essentially, digging/blasting as they go; they did not create a complete underground city first and ...
- 19.6k
19
votes
10
answers
6k
views
A huge asteroid is going to hit. How many people can the world put into (mostly) self-sufficient homes in 6 months time?
Background: The 20-km (or however large it needs to be to cause the below effects) asteroid appeared out of a dimensional rift close enough and going fast enough that it will reach Earth in just six ...
- 1,181
14
votes
3
answers
2k
views
How to live in an underground city?
A group of refugees (around 50) fled enemies in a land full of rock. Fortunately they found exactly what they needed: a small river falling into a deep and tight gorge.
There is a network of caves ...
- 2,996
13
votes
5
answers
1k
views
What would a medieval war against a subterranean race look like?
To round off the little series started by this and this, I figured that I should add this question.
The setting: there is a race of underground people living beneath a human kingdom.
To avoid the ...
user54563
10
votes
6
answers
4k
views
What would be the evolutionary adaptations of a subterranean fantasy race? [closed]
In typical fantasy novels, the dwarf civilization lives within mountains and is known for mining. But if a race of sentient people really did live largely underground in mountains, what ...
- 2,468
6
votes
3
answers
1k
views
What would the physical effects be to Elves if they began living underground?
Background:
An Elven nation that once thrived for thousands of years as a predominantly agricultural race was forced underground because of unexplainable occurrences of extreme weather conditions (...
- 129
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
How quickly will the oceans freeze if Earth becomes a rogue planet?
Assume Earth has been wrenched out of the Sun's orbit and has become a rogue planet (for the purposes of this question, assume that it happens near instantaneously, i.e. say the Sun just vanishes). ...
- 473
1
vote
5
answers
380
views
How would Elves survive underground without prior experience? [duplicate]
Background:
An Elven nation that once thrived for thousands of years as a predominantly agricultural race was forced underground because of unexplainable occurrences of extreme weather conditions (...
- 129
52
votes
11
answers
16k
views
What does the Minotaur eat?
So: We all know about the Labyrinth and the Minotaur. One is a maze of stone tunnels, and one is a half-man half-bull killing machine.
It's reasonable to assume that the Minotaur requires a decent ...
- 66.3k
44
votes
11
answers
6k
views
Migrating Dungeon Monsters / Why do monsters not leave the dungeons?
Background : Consider a typical dungeon, which has weak monsters at the top and the lower you go, the stronger the enemies become.
Some questions about dungeons have already been answered - why are ...
- 3,596
27
votes
12
answers
6k
views
Without modern electronics, how could you determine your longitude, latitude, and altitude while lost deep underground?
Brief setting notes: it's a "basically earth" type situation, a spinning ball of rock in space with the same size and gravity and atmosphere and magnetic fields and everything else.
The main ...
- 3,296
24
votes
8
answers
8k
views
How could a human civilization have happened to live underground, in Antarctica?
Let's assume a human civilization have been living for centuries, nay millennia, in a very large cave, not too deep under Antarctica - deep enough not to freeze, but shallow enough not to die because ...
user20952
22
votes
9
answers
5k
views
How do you build an underground city that "cuts through" a mountain range?
Let's say I have a mountain range similar to the Andes but with no easy passes, hence forcing everyone to circle around it (for hundreds or even thousands of miles) in order to get to the other side.
...
- 4,687
21
votes
15
answers
8k
views
How do dwarves defend their City-under-the-Mountain from a dragon?
The Kingdom of the Dwarves has been rich and prosperous since the days that the first Dwarf-father awoke in the roots of the mountain. In the uncounted ages since he rose, the depths of the mountain ...
- 85.4k
18
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Dungeons in a Medieval fantasy
Suppose the typical Medieval fantasy world with elves, humans, dragons, magic, politics, society, and the rest, such as is found in countless open-world games. Open-world games encourage the player to ...
- 25.2k
17
votes
5
answers
573
views
Architectural encoding of maps
Picture a band of explorers deep underground in huge dwarven underground complex they have been exploring for what to most of them feels like an eternity. They come to hub like chamber with a dozen or ...
- 43.2k
15
votes
3
answers
11k
views
How deep can underground tunnels be within the scope of science?
If the Earth's interior was not hot and liquid, how deep could we dig before the tunnels collapsed by the pressure or the air became too pressurized to be breathable? In other words: how deep can ...
- 4,586
15
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Considerations for a Dwarven Volcano City
Related: Could a Dwarven Civilization Exist?
Background: A Dungeons and Dragons world (for all intents and purposes, Tolkein lore is close enough) in which a group of colonists far from home are ...
- 253
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How far underground could a human civilization be before it is unsustainable/inhospitable?
For a civilization like this, firstly, I would like to know what dangers there are, e.g: radiation, cave-ins, temperature. I also want to know about the sustainability of this colony, power I'd ...
- 784
9
votes
7
answers
5k
views
Would a black population whiten over generations because of living underground?
This questions came to me after some discussion on my previous one about a civilization living under Antarctica.
I somehow have the feeling this is a dumb question - sorry if it is -, however I can't ...
user20952
8
votes
2
answers
14k
views
How low underground could you go? [duplicate]
How far underground, assuming we're talking about a secret underground "living area", could be hospitable for human life assuming you don't want to hit the mantle? Would there be a pressure difference,...
- 145
6
votes
4
answers
969
views
Where would water come from in an underground colony?
A large solar flare event ignites the atmosphere of Earth, but luckily, humans have been preparing for an event like this for some time. We have a fairly large shelter around 2.2 kilometers ...
- 3,317
6
votes
2
answers
678
views
Farming underground
Suppose the surface of earth is -349 Fahrenheit and survivors live deep underground dependent on geo-thermal energy.
They do farming in tunnels. They have enough energy (heat, electricity), fresh air (...
- 95
5
votes
2
answers
288
views
Could these demons exist?
The demons are large subterranean humanoids. They are human-like in form and intelligence, and around 8ft tall when stood up. Their face is elongated, with a vaguely canine-appearing snout. They have ...
- 16k
4
votes
4
answers
591
views
An underground city beneath another city?
How plausible would it be to build an entire underground city beneath another city? Would it be structurally sound? And I do mean an entire city, underground with skyscrapers holding up the ceiling.
- 51
4
votes
1
answer
581
views
Underground City scenario: Unpredicted earthquake
If an earthquake happens, will people underground be in more danger than people above ground or not? I can think of several pros and cons for each:
Stay underground Pros:
Minimum risk of ...
- 4,169
3
votes
4
answers
2k
views
How much time would you have to build cities underground after a gamma ray burst?
So the situation, for those who aren’t familiar, is that Earth is in trouble. Again. A gamma ray burst from a dying star somewhere close by (a couple hundred to a couple thousand ly) has grazed or ...
- 1,015
2
votes
3
answers
905
views
How long can a human stand to be underground?
How long can a man survive underground without going insane?
A traveler is buried under stones in a cave system. His only sources of food are mushrooms and creatures that live in the caves. Some of ...
2
votes
2
answers
206
views
Does this vegetable make sense?
This vegetable is a fungus grown by the people described in this question. It is egg-shaped with no stalk, and is around 1m tall and 70cm across at the widest point. They can be, and often are, ...
- 16k