Sedan chairs & litters

[SailorMars]

Heh, was just watching Gladiator and it got me wondering... does the Zalanthan nobility ever use sedan chairs or litters (carried by slaves, of course) to get around? Would be an awesome one-person wagon idea if they don't.

[Bubblebath Boy '67]

I think they do, virtually.

That's why slippers and fancy shoes are symbols of wealth.  Any person who would have to walk around anyplace on Zalanthas regularly would be in insane pain if they tried to do so with tight, high-heeled Liberachi (sp?) shoes.

It might even be mentioned in the docs someplace, that wearing dress shoes is a way of telling people that you get around by using sedan chairs and litters, or carriages.

[Seeker]

Most of those things already exist in game, and/or are part of an active project under staff.


Seeker
(who once rode a carriage... and was pretty tickled)

[UnderSeven]

Well lets think about this a moment.  It would take either to strong slaves to four slaves to carry one of these.  Now, this might not be expensive for any noble house in particular, but it would be quite pricy for your common noble to consider. MOST pc nobles fall under the rank of common noble.  I can't really imagine any noble under senior engaging in such a thing personally and the senior nobles don't tend to generally leave much.

[Gorobei]

Rickshaws, then.

[SailorMars]

Now, this might not be expensive for any noble house in particular, but it would be quite pricy for your common noble to consider. MOST pc nobles fall under the rank of common noble.

True, if they wanted to pay for the whole thing themselves. I'd imagine certain houses would own a few, more than particular individuals within the house. While historically litters were the lowest level of transportation for the nobles that used such things, perhaps in Zalanthas only middle or upper nobles would use them. Perhaps only middle or upper houses... Still, it would exude importance if a big shot was carried around like that...

[Anonymous]

Well lets think about this a moment.  It would take either to strong slaves to four slaves to carry one of these.  Now, this might not be expensive for any noble house in particular, but it would be quite pricy for your common noble to consider. MOST pc nobles fall under the rank of common noble.  I can't really imagine any noble under senior engaging in such a thing personally and the senior nobles don't tend to generally leave much.

This assumes that the nobles would be paying for it themselves.  I can imagine certain houses providing a couple of slaves for at least special occasions to lug a Lord into town.

Honestly, the idea of nobility walking the streets all the time seems about as realistic as nobles being whisked here or there in a rickshaw or what have you.   I can picture both in my head.  Especially the upper tier houses who, it has always been my belief, probably view flaunting their wealth and power as a means of keeping it.

And who says they are slaves?  Any starving commoner would probably be more than happy to take on a job lugging some noble from their posh quarters to some ritzy joint or a Salarri auction.

[UnderSeven]

This assumes that the nobles would be paying for it themselves.  I can imagine certain houses providing a couple of slaves for at least special occasions to lug a Lord into town.

Certain houses maybe, but I was speaking on a more general sense.  Having played a middle house noble before, I do recall that certain houses will cut costs on things that arn't applicible to what it is that house does.  And keep in mind, you keep a couple slaves avalible for what common nobles?  Do you have any idea how many common nobles any one of those houses have?  You'd have to have a staff of hundreds of slaves specificailly for that task.  My point? The ratio is too big and most houses probably arn't going to consider every common noble worth an expensive luxery.

Honestly, the idea of nobility walking the streets all the time seems about as realistic as nobles being whisked here or there in a rickshaw or what have you.   I can picture both in my head.  Especially the upper tier houses who, it has always been my belief, probably view flaunting their wealth and power as a means of keeping it.

Agreed.

And who says they are slaves?  Any starving commoner would probably be more than happy to take on a job lugging some noble from their posh quarters to some ritzy joint or a Salarri auction.

I say they are slaves, why? Because noble houses don't TRUST commoners.  You have to keep in mind, your average noble will probably view a commoner as someone who is filthy, uneducated, very possibly a thief and very possibly dangerous.  You think that noble wants such a person to be carrying them around? Not a chance.  They're going to want it to be either a very trusted employee whom them can be sure won't do things to them or a slave that's trained.

[Solas]

Wanted to bring this topic up again. Has anyone seen a sedan chair or litter recently? I think it would be preatty cool to have something like that implemented into the room emotes once in a while for the large, well-travelled roads. Or..if it isn't already hard-coded, have it available to some nobles, so us commoners can actually feel the difference in status as a retinue of some Lord/Lady Fancypants passes by.  :lol:

Underseven wrote:

Certain houses maybe, but I was speaking on a more general sense. Having played a middle house noble before, I do recall that certain houses will cut costs on things that arn't applicible to what it is that house does. And keep in mind, you keep a couple slaves avalible for what common nobles? Do you have any idea how many common nobles any one of those houses have? You'd have to have a staff of hundreds of slaves specificailly for that task. My point? The ratio is too big and most houses probably arn't going to consider every common noble worth an expensive luxery.

Would not PC characters be apart of that small ratio that is able to use that means of transportation? I usually think of PC's as the exception, the special people among the NPC and vNPCs in Armageddon.

[Larrath]

Litters exist and are used, and I think they are in the clothing documentation.

[Solas]

Oh. (Edited to delete this this sentence because it had already been addressed) The reason I brought this up was because I hadn't seen any.

[Agent_137]

I think i've seen one in an echo.

[Incognito]

I recently saw two different ones in Allanak. Just so you folks know that they DO exist and that they ARE in use :)

[Gesht]

- - I am currently working on the wagonmaking skill.  Of course, between college, hurricanes, internet problems, and now my Registry crashing, I've been held up.

- - Very shortly, the end of my time constraints will allow me to hastily complete wagonmaking for small wagons. People with 4 months of free time and wood out the wazoo should benefit greatly from this.  After small wagons are craftable (and we've worked the bugs out). I've planned to make chariots, sedan chairs (I love kung fu movies), medium wagons, and argosies craftable.  Of course, the smaller the vehicle, the more likely it will be you'll finish one within your lifetime (IRL).

- - As for the plausibility of sedan chairs, I can see a noble house having a few carried by half-giants, dropping off a noble and picking them up later.  Sort of like a nob-taxi service.

- - On a side note, what is a litter?  I can't seem to find any good sites describing them due to the apparent popularity of anti-pollution sites.

[Larrath]

A litter is a big box that holds fancy people.


http://www.hope-education.co.uk/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/imagesOnline/litter.gif
http://www.vroma.org/images/raia_images/romanlitter_sketch.jpg

[Gesht]

- - Looks like a sedan chair with walls and a roof.  I'll see what I can do.  Thank you.