Great Steppe:
[DESC: location. SUMM: Harsh, dry steppe used as grazing land by the Steppe Nomads. TERRAIN: steppe. LOCATION: within the Ultraviolet Grasslands, a week west of Violet City. EXIT: E⇒Violet City, W⇒Porcelain Citadel, N⇒Lavender Cliffs. APPEAR (Ultraviolet Grasslands): rippling waves of grass, arid dryland coral. FEATURES: Abandoned gate towers, sizzling humming electrical pylons, bands of horseriding steppe nomads. CITZENS: Steppe Nomads. THREAT: bird mechanoids, megapedes.]
Ideally, the details under EXIT should enable players to navigate between the locations by prompting the AI to suggest them as possible directions of travel, and by providing an indicator of what a player will find if they travel in a certain compass direction. However, I think that AI Dungeon enthusiasts on the Discord are a bit optimistic about how effective this technique is, as my success rate is not great. In particular, one location away from where the player starts, the geography tends to depart significantly from the World Info. This is a bit of a stumbling block for making a UVG scenario for AI Dungeon, as the route from the Violet City to the Black City is the heart of the UVG as a game and setting.
Nonetheless, AI Dungeon can create interesting descriptions based on entries like the one above and a bit of prompting about the theme:
The next day the caravan sets off. The journey through the Ultraviolet Grasslands is long and arduous. The weather is dry and hot, and the grass is yellow and rust-colored. Occasionally, you see evidence of the steppe nomads who roam these lands: a deserted camp, the bleached bones of some poor soul who strayed too far from the road, a half-buried skeleton still clad in tattered rags.
The days pass. You see strange things in the grasslands. A black pyramid a mile across rises out of the ground and disappears into the sky. A city of shattered glass stretches for miles. A thousand-foot-tall purple hand beckons you towards the West. You see a metal tower, a copper man crouching on top, peering through a telescope. The caravan's machines and wagons are pulled by strange, six-legged beasts which are part machine, part animal. They are like a cross between a cat, a cheetah, a dog and a mechanical robot. They are the size of horses, with long tails and thin legs, and have triangular heads with razor-sharp teeth. They are dangerous and unpredictable, but their speed is greatly appreciated.
Eventually, the caravan arrives at the Great Steppe. The landscape is largely flat and yellow-red soil. The wind carries a fine, powdery dust that gets into everything. It's very dry here.
The caravan sets up camp in the shadow of an ancient steppe ship. So many of these old ships are lost, scattered across the grasslands. Most are never recovered. The few that are recovered always end up in the possession of the Crimson Caravan. They're too massive and too valuable to abandon.
The Great Steppe is a dangerous place. The wind and dust devils are unpredictable and can shift without warning. It's also easy to lose a trail in the sea of grass. Everyone stays close.
You and the Caravan Master set out to scout for potential leads. You scan the endless sea of grass for some sign of another human presence. You travel for miles without luck. Everything is still and quiet.
The wind begins to pick up. Then, it picks up more. You've been in dust devils before, so you know to get down low. The Caravan Master does likewise. The wind is ripping past you now. It's hard to keep your footing.
Then, the entire sea of grass starts moving.
It's very rare, but sometimes, the steppe sea turns against you. It starts with a gentle shaking. The shaking becomes more violent. The sea of grass begins to ripple and churn. The ripples become waves. The grass waves like the ocean. It becomes hard to keep your footing.
The Caravan Master grabs your hand. He shouts something, but the sound is lost in the wind. You see his lips moving, but you can't hear him. He looks concerned.
The sea of grass is now a storm. You can't see anything.
You hold on to tufts of grass for dear life. For what seems like an age, the wind whips around you. All you can hear is the roar of the storm. It lifts you up from the ground for a few terrifying moments. But then, eventually, it subsides. When you get up and look around the Great Steppe, you see that it has been transformed.
The sea of grass is now a field of purple flowers, gently swaying in the breeze. The storm has passed.
You and the Caravan Master pick yourselves up off the ground. There's a brief moment of confusion, as neither of you can work out where the hell the caravan is. But then, you see them. They're picking themselves up off the ground not too far away from you. Everyone seems to be fine. Your cart is another matter. It's been destroyed by the storm. You lost several provisions, including your spare waterskins.
The Caravan Master walks over to you. "Alright, Aleph? You seem to have come out of that one pretty well."
You nod.
"I'm fine, Caravan Master. What about you?"
"I'm good. Just a few scrapes and cuts. Nothing major."
You look around the field of purple flowers. The storm has passed, but the air still feels electric.
"So do we keep journeying onward? What is west of the Great Steppe?" you ask.
"Nobody knows, really. The Black Portals are the only landmarks. Beyond that, it's just more steppe. And then, far far away in the West, there's the Island Clusters and the Oldest House."
You nod, impressed at the vastness of the Steppe.
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