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eponymous_en-
nui

Avatar: Piercing Jewelry

[the abyss]

Level 10 Emo Kid

“Gloomy Gus”

The City

    ”What do you mean, ‘which city?’ There’s only one.” -Captain Vitruvius, Vermillion City Guard

The City is huge.

Most men of the City live and die within these grey stone walls, their whole lives never knowing the feel of a summer’s breeze against their face, or the freedom of the rain falling on the Great Plains. For him, sunset is invariably heralded by the ringing in of the Curfew, when the guards close the city doors; moonrise with the ringing in of the First Watch, after which any man, woman or child found outside his or her house would be subject to martial law.

The City has no name. Oh, it had a name once, but it was consumed by Plinius the Elder during the Dragon Wars, along with most of its history. It is as varied as it is large, and some say that not all of the City’s twisting streets exist fully in this world. Walk far enough down the alley between the King’s Way and Cacelli’s Avenue, they say, and you may walk right out of this plane. But drunk men say many things, of course, and not all of them false.

The City is alive. It learns, it sleeps, it dreams. It is worshipped by beggars and madmen, by the forgotten and the abandoned. Its flesh is granite, its blood gold, its heartbeat etched on girdled stone. Books can be burnt, names can be sold, men can forget- but stone never lies. The City never forgets.

 

Architecture

    ”De minimis non curat praetor.” -Anonymous graffiti on Heironeous Temple wall

The City was originally made up of three towns, each seperated a fair distance from each other. Over the course of centuries, as each town expanded and developed, they eventually met and merged into one another. Today, nobody remembers anything about the original towns, save for the fact that they used to exist.

Most of the city’s housing and store districts are utilitarian in design, made up of rows upon rows of two-storied concrete buildings. In the more affluent sectors, granite or blue basalt tends to be used instead and may even reach three or four storeys. The temples, however, display a wide variety of styles depending on the gods being worshipped; from Heironeous’ romanesque fortresses to Boccob’s doric columnades and Wee Jas’ gothic cathedrals.

Nobility tend to live within the Castle, a sprawling gothic castle complex in the eastern sector of the City. Originally the centre for one of the three founding towns, the Palace grew as the town did, with new wings and courtyards constantly being added to the original building. For this reason, no complete map or blueprint of the Castle exists, only that of individual wings and sections. Artisans and masons came and go so often in the Castle that they eventually established a small village within the Castle grounds itself for these workmen; subsequently, there is almost always some work to be done in the Palace, be it maintenance, repairs or the addition of yet another wing.

 

Transportation

    ”Ne’r trusted ‘em Circles. ‘eard too many stories ‘bout ‘em, ‘bout them that went in and ne’er came out the other side. In me ‘ine of work, when yer ne’r knows what yer be carrying, I ain’t takin’ no chances. Giv’ me a ‘orse and I’ll cross this ‘ere City for yer anyday in a week, tops.” -Trecoll Lightfoot, halfling courier

Due to the size of the City, the 93rd Mage Council had made it mandatory for permanent Teleport Circles to be installed every mile out from St. Cuthbert’s Square, the arbitarily-declared centre of the City as far as anyone can make out. “All Ways lead to St. Cuthbert’s,” as a street saying goes, “and St. Cuthbert’s leads everywhere else.”

Designated as Waycircles, each Teleport Circle is designed to teleport anyone who steps onto it to a fixed location known as a Waystation. Waystations serve as a particular district’s interchange by not only housing all of the district’s Waycircles, but also holds a collection of Teleport Circles that lead to other Waystations in other nearby districts. By changing from Waystation to Waystation in this fashion, a savvy traveller may cross the City in less than an hour.

Unsurprisingly, Waystations have developed into bustling centres of trade and commerce, each offering a wide range of services; in many of the larger Waystations- notably Baymont Courts, the Fieldwick Circle and Kord’s Crossing- the faithful of Fharlanghn have even set up shrines that the devout traveller may pray at for a safe trip.

To use any Waycircle, the traveller must have a valid trigger item on his body or the circle will simply not activate. This usually takes the form of an amulet costing 50gp, valid for a calendar year (not from time of purchase), and can be purchased at St. Cuthbert’s.

 

Conventional Travel

    ”St. Cuthbert’s leads everywhere else except where you want to be.” -Folk saying

The Waycircles have been in use for over 60 years, with less than 20 reported deaths in that whole time period as a direct result from circle-use. However, there are still many who are fearful of the Waycircles and would rather travel in a more conventional fashion. For these people, horses are still the preferred mode of transportation, and many taverns are situated at strategic points along the main roads to cater to these people.

The nobility and their entourage, when they ever have reason to leave the Castle, travel exclusively by horse-drawn carriages. They see the use of Waycircles as not only dangerous, but also vulgar. However, because nobles rarely have cause to leave the Castle grounds, any sighting of a noble is rare enough to warrant entire sections of the City holding celebrations centred around such events.

To navigate around the City by foot or on horseback for any extended period of time is an especially daunting task. To plot a course to any place outside the immediate district requires a map and a successful Knowledge (Local) or Intuit Direction roll at DC 5, +5 per district pbuming through, +7 per district if you’re trying to avoid the main roads. Each district takes approximately a day on foot and half a day on horseback, though some (such as St. Cuthbert’s Square and Baymont Courts) are notably larger.

 

 

eponymous_ennui edited this message on 11/10/2007 8:25AM
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