Community Worldbuilding Project [Ishka: Urban and Urbane]

[jagadaishio]

Well, playground, it's time for another community world building project. This time, let's make it urban-themed. The idea that I had was for a city that started as a small town in the very bottom of a deep canyon and, over time, layer after layer was added until the entire canyon was filled up to the top, leading to a vertically-built city where even the deepest parts of the undercity are inhabited. The city would have expanded into the rock walls of the canyon too, and it would have been ruled over by so many different cultures at different points in its history that many layers would have very different architecture than the rest of the city.

Now, the trick is in making this city of multiple millions of people its own distinct campaign setting. Something to make it cut off (or largely cut off) from the rest of the world. This could be anything from an impenetrable force wall to being trapped shifted to its own demiplane to forced isolation by mages holding a border to physical isolation.

Aside from that vague framework, I have nothing else thought up for this setting. So, playground, what are your ideas? What do you think?

[Limos]

Well I could see a lot of conflict with the various tunneling races if their excavations have gone too deep and impacted clans of Druegar or Kobolds.

For residents of the city Dwarves seem like a very obvious choice, and Elves seem very unlikely. Unless possibly you made the city an organic growth. More like a hive than a city.

Lots of tree roots forming the lower layers. That would also explain the upward growth of the city, if it was literally growing. They would weave the branches together in each upper layer to form the floors, maybe plaster it together to make solid walls.

As the city grows the canopy closes over each layer and they move up, leaving behind a warren of organic homes in each lower gallery.

That would make a good home for Fey, lots of Gnomes, and Elves. Maybe even Banshrae. They have always struck me as insectile and would make a good Hive resident.


What started as a hidden grove in the bottom of the canyon has grown out of control and become a massive hive of Fey.


On a different subject, I recently started a campaign setting of my own, and you guys seem to be good at this. Do you think you could take a look and tell me what you think?

Warbreaker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120312)

[50cr4t3s]

Ok here are some jumbled ideas i have to make the ultimate macro-city. It would have to heavily impact the history of the city but here goes.

the city starts out as a small fishing village on the river banks at the bottom of a canyon. Precious metals and minerals are discovered in the canyon walls, so the villagers start to mine the canyon. The wealth of the mines attracts the interest of people abroad and the population of the village spikes as people immigrate.

The hollowed out parts of the canyon walls are thus converted into houses and shops to accommodate the growing population. Eventually, the miners reach the top of the canyon walls and the city extends over the cliffs of the canyon above.

Bridges are erected to help citizens commute between neighborhoods on either wall of the canyon. These bridges continue to expand and expand to accommodate the increased traffic, until the bridges themselves become neighborhoods, with there own dwellings and businesses.

All the while this is happening on the surface, miners have continued to dig deeper and deeper into the canyon. The oldest of these mines, directly beneath the original village, unexpectedly opens a massive cavern and connected network of caves. The caves are full of even more riches then their previous mines, so the digging continues.

As the miners dig, once again the tunnels and caves behind them are annexed as new sections of the city. While the city continues to expand below the canyon, massive skyscrapers are erected along the cliffs of the canyon, even as the city expands out horizontally.

After much horizontal expansion, the city reaches the lake at the end of the river. The creatures living in this lake reach an agreement in the city. In exchange for not being forced out of the lake, and a large monetary settlement, the city will be allowed to expand onto the lake.

the city constructs buildings on supports that extend to the bottom of the lake, and skyscrapers built on the water become a new luxury of the city. Beneath the water, the cities best craftsmen construct entire communities at the very bottom of the lake.

The next development of the city was perhaps the oddest. As more and more powerful mages were draw to this city over time. Their magic began to react with the natural magical forces of the canyon, and the amazing destiny of the city.

The reactions created a number of permanent Planar Gates throughout the city. Seeing an opportunity, the citizens poured through the gates and began to colonize the other sides. These colonies were not really new cities, but rather extensions of the original city through the gates.

With the wealth of their massive mines, and a half dozen planes at their disposal, the leaders of the city looked upward. The scoffed at their "skyscrapers" and said "we can do better." They began to construct towers of a size and scale never seen before. Towers so tall, their tops require magic to keep them full of air and keep the vacuum of space at bay.

A city of this size would no doubt be the fiscal and cultural center of the world, with a citizenry of almost every intelligent race.

[jagadaishio]

The hollowed out parts of the canyon walls are thus converted into houses and shops to accommodate the growing population. Eventually, the miners reach the top of the canyon walls and the city extends over the cliffs of the canyon above.

So, would the mines have been capitalist ventures and the depleted mines would have been sold back to the city by the businesses, or would the mines have been a community venture and would have therefore been converted automatically? Or would the community have used something of an eminent domain clause to snatch up the depleted mines once they stopped producing?


After much horizontal expansion, the city reaches the lake at the end of the river. The creatures living in this lake reach an agreement in the city. In exchange for not being forced out of the lake, and a large monetary settlement, the city will be allowed to expand onto the lake.

the city constructs buildings on supports that extend to the bottom of the lake, and skyscrapers built on the water become a new luxury of the city. Beneath the water, the cities best craftsmen construct entire communities at the very bottom of the lake.

What would the reason for this aquatic expansion have been? Would there be some kind of vital or valuable resource there on the lake? If not, wouldn't it have been more efficient to just build on the shores and have a community for the water-breathers on the lake bed without the floating buildings?


The next development of the city was perhaps the oddest. As more and more powerful mages were draw to this city over time. Their magic began to react with the natural magical forces of the canyon, and the amazing destiny of the city.

The reactions created a number of permanent Planar Gates throughout the city. Seeing an opportunity, the citizens poured through the gates and began to colonize the other sides. These colonies were not really new cities, but rather extensions of the original city through the gates.

It seems like it would make more sense for the gates to only open at certain times of the day, week, or month. It would create a massive rush-hour in the gate districts, and it would also limit the flow of commerce between the regions. I think that would be a necessary balancing factor in the development of the city.


With the wealth of their massive mines, and a half dozen planes at their disposal, the leaders of the city looked upward. The scoffed at their "skyscrapers" and said "we can do better." They began to construct towers of a size and scale never seen before. Towers so tall, their tops require magic to keep them full of air and keep the vacuum of space at bay.

A space tower? That seems a little... extreme. Maybe a tower that just expands a little ways past the cloud level, where those at the top of the tower would literally be able to look down at the storms raining misery on the proletariat below. If it actually stretches into space, you would think that at some point some mad wizard would disintegrate part of one of the central supports and have it go crashing down so hard that the canyon would become a crater.

[50cr4t3s]

In response to your first question:
That would depend greatly on the type of government ruling the city. If the city is heavily capitalist, then the mines would probably be privately owned and sold back to the city at cheap rates. If the city is feudal, then the mines are owned by the cities lord anyway. If it's a Communist government, the mines already belong to the cities people. It all really depends on the government. And if we follow your idea that the city has had different regimes in power at different times, it may have been all of the above.

To your second question:
To be honest, I don't have a reason for he aquatic expansion beyond "It would be awesome and make for some interesting game play perhaps." As far as resources in the lake, that really depends on the geography of the area. Although one possible reason for the expansion into the lake may have been a lack of sufficient space on the shores of the lake.

To your third question:
A recurring phenomenon of gates opening and closing is perfectly acceptable. However, this places barriers between the city and the settlements on the other planes, making them essentially separate cities. In order to be truly considered parts of the main city, they would have to be constantly connected.

To your last question:
Yes this is a bit extreme, but not much more so than the idea of a city that spans such a large landmass and multiple planes. Like I said, I was simply throwing out ideas, so the height of the cities towers are absolutely not a deal breaker.

[kopout]

or disintegrate a support and have the magic that keeps it up still hold the top in place miles above the canyon floor.

[BRC]

What tech level do we want for this city?

Truely large-scale cities require some sort of Industry that needs more people than space. Historically, it was largely factories that could use large numbers of unskilled laborers that led to the rise of large cities.I propose somthing similar here. Whether you want to use steam power (Perhaps a portal to the plane of water, opposite from a portal to the Plane of Fire, generates enough steam to power and entire factory district). Either way, there should be somthing that takes alot of unskilled labor.



Also, here is an idea I had for this city. Horizontally, it's divided by district, but vertically it's divided by social class. So there is a (or multiple) "Market District" That goes all the way from the top to the bottom. At the very top, it's a high-class mall, where merchants sell the finest goods to the richest denzens of the city. From there, you can go straight down, until you reach the bottom, which is a filthy bazzar where toothless traders try to cheat each other out of a few coppers while exchanging the roughest of goods.

Now, perhaps in some areas of the city, this is reversed. Maybe there is a district full of sentient undead. Where the poorest, free-willed zombies and commoners with the Necropolitan template, live on the surface, while at the bottom vampire lords and liches smart enough to work within the city laws live in obsidian palaces.

[50cr4t3s]

I like your idea of varying social levels for different parts of the city, but i don't think it need be a vertical structure.

If we keep the buildings on the lake idea, this could be a high class neighborhood, but then so could the towers high above, and perhaps a palace in one of the the deep caverns.

I think we can take this idea one step further. In addition to varying social status in different districts, different regions of the city could have varying tech levels. An example would be a district of the city that has the gates to the planes of fire and water like you suggested using steam power, but the Undead district you proposed would utilize negative energy as the basis of it's tech.

BTW: I love the idea of an Undead district. I'm a big Necromancy fan.

[Owrtho]

Well, first, I'd note that you should have first tried bumping the older community worldbuilding project to see if there was still any interest in it before starting a new one. That said however, I'll comment on this one:

I don't really care for the idea of the bridges and skyscrapers idea myself. I would see it being something more like this:

After the mines that were level with the canyon floor began extending upward, some miners began complaining about always having to walk back down whenever they wanted to take a break for food or a drink. One of the more inventive tavern owners near the canyon walls happened to hear this while they were having a meal at his establishment. From this he had an idea. He spent a large sum of his money to have additions built onto his tavern adding a third story common room, and built a walkway to the cavern wall and had a passage opened to the nearest mining tunnel. The venture paid off and soon he had much more business than before and began expanding to better accommodate the large number of miners who enjoyed not having to track back though a number of tunnels to the level below. Other businesses noted his success and soon began imitating his idea. Soon even the stores not near the canyon wall began making pathways that linked to the pathways of the closer buildings. Over the course of the year such pathways formed a spiderweb across the entire community extending from one side of the canyon to the other. Despite this though, you could only get to the upper level through the buildings that had levels there or the mines. Seeing this, a somewhat wealthier miner had his house extended to the upper level passageways. Some less wealthy miners who saw this decided to do the same, but had to sell the lower levels of their home to afford it. In this way the first level was formed.
It was not long though until the mines extended higher up the canyon wall. Businesses this time businesses immediately went and expanded higher up. Some new businesses even were built only on the first and second level without a place on the canyon floor. This process continued each time the mines reached a higher level. The first four levels could only be crossed between through buildings and the mines, but the fifth level and up began building stairs between the levels as well. It was not until the tenth level however that the manner of building the next level ceased to be a random spider web of walkways and began to become standardized. Along with this, some buildings and businesses continued to be successful extending from the canyon floor to the highest level, while others went out of business and stopped expanding and still other were started on higher levels and extended up from there.

Edit: Also I seem to have been nijad by a number of posts, so oh well.

Owrtho

[BRC]

I like your idea of varying social levels for different parts of the city, but i don't think it need be a vertical structure.

If we keep the buildings on the lake idea, this could be a high class neighborhood, but then so could the towers high above, and perhaps a palace in one of the the deep caverns.

I think we can take this idea one step further. In addition to varying social status in different districts, different regions of the city could have varying tech levels. An example would be a district of the city that has the gates to the planes of fire and water like you suggested using steam power, but the Undead district you proposed would utilize negative energy as the basis of it's tech.

BTW: I love the idea of an Undead district. I'm a big Necromancy fan.

Heh, thanks. When I designed a city for a campaign, I put an undead community in the sewers, led by the ghost of a paladin named "Andre the Ghoulslayer". The undead in question were all perfectly free-willed, I imagine this being like that. There are no necromancers in this district, the other undead don't like people who want to control them. If need be, just take normal Undead types, and call them free-willed.



Ooh, Idea. "The Order of the Bone Shield". The city has learned how to cope with the unusual needs of it's inhabitants, especially it's undead ones. In a city where there is no room for cemetery's, corpses that are not to be raised are left for a few days, to see if they are going to rise, and if not, the Ghouls take care of them. Vampires must always pay for their blood, and they must provide for the healing and recovery of their "Dinner Partners". And for the most part, these rules work. However, sometimes they don't, which is when the Order of the Bone Shield steps in. The Bone Shields are Paladins, largely undead, who enforce the laws of the undead community, while at the same time protecting them. If a pack of ghouls eats a merchant in the street, or if a vampire decides to drink from an unwilling citizen, the Order arrives to mete out justice. At the same time, if a out-of-towner cleric decides to start waving his holy symbol at some undead miners trying to go about their buisness, or some stake-happy idiot tries to stab a vampire while he's enjoying the opera, the order will defend them as well.

[jagadaishio]

On the topic of varying tech levels, I like the idea. In the factory district, steam power would be very common, as it's what workers use to make mundane goods. In the mage's district, constructs and other animated processes would likely be more common. In places like the negative gate district, various forms of specialized mindless undead serving as transportation, labour, and so on would probably be the most frequent occurance.

As for the progression that Owrtho posited, I like it. As I understand it, the lower levels would be very chaotic and haphazardly designed, with only the upper levels having well-made stairs and bridges. Furthermore, because of the way it was described, the wealth really would be concentrated near the top, since that's where the business would have constantly been moving, leaving only unsuccessful business and poor people in the lower levels (the undead district being the key exception).


Ooh, Idea. "The Order of the Bone Shield". The city has learned how to cope with the unusual needs of it's inhabitants, especially it's undead ones. In a city where there is no room for cemetery's, corpses that are not to be raised are left for a few days, to see if they are going to rise, and if not, the Ghouls take care of them. Vampires must always pay for their blood, and they must provide for the healing and recovery of their "Dinner Partners". And for the most part, these rules work. However, sometimes they don't, which is when the Order of the Bone Shield steps in. The Bone Shields are Paladins, largely undead, who enforce the laws of the undead community, while at the same time protecting them. If a pack of ghouls eats a merchant in the street, or if a vampire decides to drink from an unwilling citizen, the Order arrives to mete out justice. At the same time, if a out-of-towner cleric decides to start waving his holy symbol at some undead miners trying to go about their buisness, or some stake-happy idiot tries to stab a vampire while he's enjoying the opera, the order will defend them as well.

Fantastic! Undead cops! I imagine that they would also have some casters specializing in necromancy and divination for things like Speak with Dead and scrying serving as their forensics team. The paladins would be the ones working the beat.

[50cr4t3s]

The Order is a good idea when dealing with undead. It would go a long way in maintaining a cooperative state. But I think there would still be a major anti-undead sentiment in many parts of the city.

I think it's time we start talking about the governing body of this city. Whatever it started out as, the current government has to be able to keep a city larger than any other in the world from falling into chaos. A feudal system is the standard in most fantasy settings, but i think we as a community are above blindly accepting a king/queen + aristocracy and moving on.

[BRC]

Fantastic! Undead cops! I imagine that they would also have some casters specializing in necromancy and divination for things like Speak with Dead and scrying serving as their forensics team. The paladins would be the ones working the beat.
After writing up that description, I had the idea that each community would have it's own police force that answered to a city-wide "Justicator Corps". The Undead have the Knights of the Bone Shield, A human community may just have The Watch, or somthing. The Mages District has "The Eyes of Justice", ect.

Under this system, each district is somewhat self-governing. How about the entire city is governed by a Legislature, which elects a pair of Consuls, who serve two year terms, being elected on alternating years, ect. Each district has it's own system of choosing it's leaders. One district may use an Aristocracy, while another may be democratic, while another may use some sort of Test to determine it's leadership.

[Owrtho]

Well, the wealthy wouldn't have to go to the top, they just usually would stay with the most recent section of their business. Also the really wealthy businesses would extend through multiple levels, with a few of the elites extending all the way from the canyon floor to the highest level (not many, but likely there would be around 3 to 6 such businesses). In general people might also judge a business by its number of levels. Such as "Oh, I know a really nice 6 level tavern around here." or "This place isn't that good, but whats to be expected from a two level establishment." Even when a business doesn't reach to the top though they tend to be considered better if they manage to maintain more levels. That said, some good businesses would not have many levels. These could be both those that didn't bother/couldn't afford at the time expanding to the higher levels and as such got cut off, or ones that are in the top levels so haven't had the chance to expand any higher.

Also with lower levels being mined out it would tend to go the opposite way, as the caves below the canyon floor would be traveling down as their wealth followed the miners deeper.

On the idea of the gates, I could see it being that there are some regularly occurring gates which have been used to expand the city. If they occur on a fixed schedule (that is at least once every two weeks if not more often, and being open for at least a day at a time), then they wouldn't make it separate cities, it would just require scheduling by the populace.
However I would also see there being random gates that form. These could occur anywhere in the city and go to anywhere else, lasting for unknown periods of time. This has caused many of the better establishments to add dimensional anchor enchantments to their buildings so that they can assure you that a monster or the like won't suddenly be able to show up from a random portal.
Due to this issue, there have also been relatively cheep magical items made that can tell you how long a gate has left to last, allowing for safer exploration without worrying about getting trapped. It has also led to rather expensive devices that look to be ornate door frames that can be placed on a gate and activated to memorize that gate and keep it accessible. However, these cannot be moved or reused. Once set they only work for that gate. They have to parts (one for each side of the gate), and come in two varieties. The more expensive keeps the gate always open. The less expensive will not keep the gate open, but will keep the location memorized and by imputing some magical energy can reopen the gate for varying amounts of time. This second type is often set up around the regular portals and other portals that lead to sections of the city on other planes. Around such public gates, it is not uncommon to find people with magical talent willing to open the gate for a small fee. It is also not to rare to find privately owned gates of this variety. There are even items made for the express purpose of storing magical energy to open these gates when you need to go through them.

[50cr4t3s]

maybe we should scrap (or at least scale back) the idea of randomly occurring gates, and simply create and order of mages, who run a scheduled network of gates in various parts of the city, providing cheap transport to other parts of the city, and to the districts of the city on other planes.

As for the idea of varying government styles in different districts, I like it, but it does present certain problems. What if two districts of the city take issue with how the other runs things? In a system with independently governed districts, the risk of splintering, and inter-city warfare greatly increases. A strong unifying factor is needed. More than a simple representative on a council.

[jagadaishio]

maybe we should scrap (or at least scale back) the idea of randomly occurring gates, and simply create and order of mages, who run a scheduled network of gates in various parts of the city, providing cheap transport to other parts of the city, and to the districts of the city on other planes.

As for the idea of varying government styles in different districts, I like it, but it does present certain problems. What if two districts of the city take issue with how the other runs things? In a system with independently governed districts, the risk of splintering, and inter-city warfare greatly increases. A strong unifying factor is needed. More than a simple representative on a council.

I like the idea of the mage-run gate system. It would be like public transport in modern cities, but facilitated by instant-transport magic. As for the varying government styles, I like the idea of each district having its own style and laws, but being forced to also elect or appoint one official to sit on a unified city council. The council would make decisions which affect the entire city, and would put forth laws more powerful than the ones individual districts put forth.

[BRC]

I picture it working like State vs Federal government in the US. The Dwarven district could, for example, make a law that says "All Goblinoids in this district will be imprisoned and fined', but the council could convene and say "Dwarves, stop being stupid. We Nullify that law". And because the Police Forces must answer first and foremost to the citywide government, they would listen. If things get really bad, and one district really starts acting up, then it's one district vs all the rest, and that won't end well.

[kopout]

I picture it working like State vs Federal government in the US. The Dwarven district could, for example, make a law that says "All Goblinoids in this district will be imprisoned and fined', but the council could convene and say "Dwarves, stop being stupid. We Nullify that law". And because the Police Forces must answer first and foremost to the citywide government, they would listen. If things get really bad, and one district really starts acting up, then it's one district vs all the rest, and that won't end well.
but a coalition of "federation " of districts could conscionable cause a civil war.

[50cr4t3s]

fair enough

I imagine some initial hostilities as the city expands, some gang violence all the way to maybe a civil war or two. But since this setting would be the city in what would essentially be it's final form, all the major conflicts would all be in the past, and the system would be stable.

Although, this doesn't preclude the presence of tension between certain districts (i.e. the undead district and a district belonging to celestials)

[jagadaishio]

but a coalition of "federation " of districts could conscionable cause a civil war.

And it has. More than once. Who could forget the time the temple district marched on the necropolis or the time when the dwarves raised their axes against the entire city in defense of the Goblin Imprisonment Act? They all get resolved pretty quickly, though, if not in a bloodless fashion.

[BRC]

Maybe we should start thinking up districts. Like this
Names: The Necropolis
Other Names: Shambletown. Boneville. Gravecity.
Government Type: Lichocracy.
Police Force: Order of the Bone Shield.
The Necropolis is ruled by a lich named Graveborle the Uncaring. He has been "Alive" so long that he no longer has any interest in actually running the district. Instead, he appoints ministers to handle things for him, so the powerful undead in the district are always trying to figure out how to interest him so he picks their candidate of choice. Interesting novelties, especially books, are prized in the district as they are the best way to attract his favor. Each minister serves for a decade, or until Graveborle is convinced to dismiss them from service and choose somebody to replace them. They are currently represented on the council by the vampire Lord Charles Marche.
...ect. I only described their government here, but a full description would include other interesting aspects of the District.

[jagadaishio]

Maybe we should start thinking up districts. Like this
Names: The Necropolis
Other Names: Shambletown. Boneville. Gravecity.
Government Type: Lichocracy.
Police Force: Order of the Bone Shield.
The Necropolis is ruled by a lich named Graveborle the Uncaring. He has been "Alive" so long that he no longer has any interest in actually running the district. Instead, he appoints ministers to handle things for him, so the powerful undead in the district are always trying to figure out how to interest him so he picks their candidate of choice. Interesting novelties, especially books, are prized in the district as they are the best way to attract his favor. Each minister serves for a decade, or until Graveborle is convinced to dismiss them from service and choose somebody to replace them. They are currently represented on the council by the vampire Lord Charles Marche.
...ect. I only described their government here, but a full description would include other interesting aspects of the District.

I like it. I also think each place should have its own gate station, appropriately themed to the region. The Necropolis would have the Shadow Station with a gate to the Negative Energy Plane. The mages' district would have a gate to the Astral Plane, and maybe a massive trading area around it. A bazaar of the bizarre of sorts.

[50cr4t3s]

Name: Primordium
Other Names: The Beginning, The First District, The Ancient City
Government Type: Seat of the City's Ruling Council
Police Force: Eternal Guards
As the city grew larger and larger in the canyon, a group of mages thought it would be prudent to preserve part of the original city before it was lost in the massive network of bridges, tunnels, and towers. They transported the entire original village into an extra dimensional space, in order to preserve it. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain. After the last of the mages died, a new order of mages decided to expand upon the original village, to make it a more fitting place to house the City Council. The extra dimensional space is now a city in it's own right, with some of the most beautiful architecture in all the city. It is guarded by an order of immortal warriors (not undead) who have pledged to guard Primordium, and the council members, for all of eternity.

what do you think? Go or No Go?

[Owrtho]

Not so sure about the Primordium. For one thing by the time mages would have started taking an interest in the city it would already have been too late. I could however see the original village being renovated to be the council center with extra-dimensional additions added on due to the inability to expand.

Also, not sure about the details, but I could see something along the lines of The Cut-throat Alliance. The alliance, as it is commonly called refers to a network of the underground agencies, many based in the less savory districts, and their smaller branch offshoots. While there are many different underground agencies, almost all belong to the alliance, mainly for the benefits it grants. Among other things, the alliance has a general rule of not interfering with other members 'buisness'. While very little enforces it, it is seen as a mutual arangment, and has other groups in the alliance more willing to render aid. They also have set up a network of secret gates between they're various bases. This can make catching thieves, and cut throats rather difficult to catch as you chase them into a building only to find they aren't anywhere inside and aren't on the level above or bellow (the went through the small 3' by 3' gate behind the false pannel on the wall that has now been closed for the rest of the day, and are now in a different district). While certaintly not on the best terms, the alliance has caused a spread of crime through many parts of the cities. Often even in the better districts members can be found near the edge or in more rundown buildings. They are however frequently hunted by the council of the city and its various law enforcement groups.

Owrtho

[BRC]

Looks good. Though I don't like the idea of it being "A city unto itself", it should be a small district, and most of the people that live there work directly for the government, often as bureaucrats.

Another Organization: The Streetbuilders.

The City is constantly falling apart, being torn down, and being rebuilt. Most of this work is done by private construction firms, but some work can only be tackled by the Streetbuilders. Since the city is built on top of the city, which is built on top of more city, one pillars worth of disrepair can cause a disaster. The Streetbuilders are in charge of preventing such disasters, and ensuring the physical stability of the city. They are a massive organization, employing everything from common unskilled laborers to expert mages. Most of the time, they are too busy making sure everything dosn't fall apart, but sometimes enough things get fixed that they can devote resources and manpower to large-scale construction projects, often at the whim of the director at that time. For the most part, these projects are abanoned halfway through when money runs out, or when the number of nececssary repairs becomes too great for the Builders to spare workers, and the city is dotted with half-built architectural wonders, though a few projects are finished.

The current director is a dwarf named Modrin Klackgradle.

[50cr4t3s]

Here are some ideas for other organizations in the city.

The Eyes:

The Eyes are the most complex and efficient network of spies to ever see you when you're sleeping and know when you're awake. The organization was started by a particularly brutal regime in the cities history. One which intended to keep an eye on it's citizens to ensure a rebellion could never be organized. The Eyes consist of an unknown number of informants, hundreds of undercover agents, and dozens of powerful scrying mages. After the fall of the tyrannical regime that started the eyes, a massive effort to shutdown the order was organized by the new government. But while many operatives were found and executed, the order was never fully disbanded, and the effort was eventually given up. Some how, The Eyes still send reports to the City Council on activity within the city, despite the Council's public opposition to the organization. If you can find them, the information they collect may even be for sale. For those willing to pay the price.

The Holy Hands of Saint Merkiel:

A coalition of clerics and holy-men from dozens of religions, who have banded together for the common good. "Temples" of this guild can be found all over the city, offering affordable healing to any who ask for it. The guild is essentially serving as the hospitals of the city, and have at least one "temple" per district, with multiple ones in more heavily populated districts. They are highly vocal in their opposition to the existence of the Necropolis inside the city, holding protests and pressuring Councilmen to propose legislation on a regular basis. The guild has set up a controversial establishment within the Necropolis, offering its undead inhabitants "A Chance at Redemption." (you can guess what that means) The building has sparked a heated debate in most areas of the city over undead rights.

I'm going to have to leave this thread for awhile. I'll be back later to see what happens.

[Owrtho]

Some more on the alliance.

Alliance Holes: These are places where alliance members seems to be able to just disappear into. The more notable ones tend to be buildings that are owned by alliance members (normally they tend to be normal business owners who don't mind making some money on the side helping underground organizations and getting some protection from them) that are designed with places to hide alliance members or have gates designed to help them escape. They usually have a few other alliance holes they are linked to, and will have different gates to go to different ones. The gates are usually small (often less the 4' by 4'), and can be activated and deactivated on command (usually unique to the gate). many now have the ability to be closed and made unusable for a set number of days. It is also not uncommon to have other features tied to them such as being able to make a changeable room's door slam shut and lock when used (just in case there are guards close behind and you want to throw them off). Some alliance holes even have gates built into the doors of some rooms so that if opened the right way it makes a gate until closed.
When alliance holes first started being found, it was considered a highly punishable offense to own one. However, the alliance realized this and stated having alliance holes made in the homes and businesses of those who opposed them, as well as random businesses. Due to this, the punishment for having alliance holes has gone away, though attempts are made to record where they are (a feat made more complicated by fake ones being made as well).

Alliance Builders: Alliance builders are the ones who make alliance holes. it tends to be a rather lucrative job, though is rather risky as it has come to be treated as a crime as bad or worse than murder depending on the area (by the government, not as much the people). Alliance builders usually work as builders or mages for other groups. However, every so often either at the alliances command or at the request of the owner of an alliance hole, they will make the workings for an alliance hole in one of their jobs. The builders work the physical parts into the construction, while mages (if contacted in the case that a real one is being made and not just a fake), will come by later and add the enchantments to make it work.
This has lead to it being almost impossible to tell what places might have alliance holes or not. It also makes it much worse if you make the alliance want you dead, as you never know where you can go without worrying about cut-throats coming after you. Even in a locked room you might suddenly find a panel sliding away for a group of alliance member to come finish you off. It is also for this fact that alliance builders and knowing alliance hole owners will rarely go back on their deal with the alliance.

Owrtho

[jagadaishio]

Name: The Steamworks
Other Names: The Clanks, Factory District, Rustland
Government Type: Unions/Merchant Leaders
Police Force: The Merchant Agents

The Steamworks is the generic name given to the various steam-powered factory regions scattered throughout the city, nestled away in the old caves. Their industry is powered by vast steam turbines, fueled by permanent elemental fonts. They are the source of almost all modern technological advances and house the best craftsmen of the city. Most of the structures in this area of the city are made of riveted metal, and they rust extremely quickly in the steamy, humid climate, leading to its nickname of Rustland.

There is a constant competition between the unions of the Steamworks and a council of the most powerful merchant managers in the region, always vying and competing with each other to be recognized as the district government. They do this by trying to win the favour of the Merchant Agents; those that do so are virtually guaranteed of being the official governing body for as long as they can maintain that favour. The Merchant Agents are a skilled police body which both maintains the peace in the district and ensures that the industry remains profitable and efficient. Proposing new plans for increased efficiency is a good way to win favour from the Agents.

The rapid rusting that occurs in the Steamworks means that the Streetbuilders spend an inordinate amount of time keeping the Works together.

[50cr4t3s]

New Organization: Humans First

Much knowledge concerning the original village that started the city has been lost to the passage of time. Whether it's the truth or a fiction, this faction believes that the original village was an exclusively human settlement. They see the multitude of other races that now flood the city as usurpers of their birthright. They believe that the city should be ruled by the race that had the foresight to settle in the canyon eons ago. They despise non-humans in any form, be they Undead, Gnolls, Elfs or Dwarfs. They are considered a small radical group by most in the city, but those in the know believe they may have more influence on the Council then most would think. Most members of this radical group keep their membership a secret, but many are quite vocal about their beliefs.

I figured we needed a good ol' fashioned hate group in the city

[jagadaishio]

How about this. Occasionally, raiders of an unknown persuasion or a random monster will spill out of one of the temporary, randomly-occuring gates. The monsters will rampage and are almost always put down by some sort of peace-keeper. The raiders spill out, gank stuff, stab people, and retreat back into the gate just as it closes. They have been captured before, but they all seem to die shortly after the closing of the gate. No two seem to be alike - while all having the same basic abilities, they all are structurally quite different, with different dental patters, eye count, finger count, limb length, skin colour and texture, and so on.

Defeating a raider party or putting down a gate beast is a good way to earn a bit of prestige in the eyes of law-enforcement organizations.

[BRC]

How about this. Occasionally, raiders of an unknown persuasion or a random monster will spill out of one of the temporary, randomly-occuring gates. The monsters will rampage and are almost always put down by some sort of peace-keeper. The raiders spill out, gank stuff, stab people, and retreat back into the gate just as it closes. They have been captured before, but they all seem to die shortly after the closing of the gate. No two seem to be alike - while all having the same basic abilities, they all are structurally quite different, with different dental patters, eye count, finger count, limb length, skin colour and texture, and so on.

Defeating a raider party or putting down a gate beast is a good way to earn a bit of prestige in the eyes of law-enforcement organizations.

Hrmm, Okay. That sounds good.

You know what, let's just say that the fabric between the planes is weak in the City, for some reason. Thus explaining the random portals, the Raiders and Monsters, and even the high number of Free-Willed undead (Portals to the Negative Energy plane are fairly common, leading to free-floating negative energy that seeps into and animates corpses.)

[Vadin]

Oh goodness! How did I miss this last night? (Oh, right...that was a damn crazy party)

Can anyone cite a list of things that are:

Generally Agreed Upon, Specifics Included

Generally Agreed Upon, Specifics Undecided

Proposed Ideas, Awaiting General Consensus

Ideas On Hiatus Until They Fit

Scrapped Ideas


Also, having read through the first few posts, this sounds great for World of Darkness- urban, intrigue, combat-optional, madness!

[Strawman]

The Civil Servants-

This is a powerful organization that spans the entire city. To become a member, you must be Lawful Neutral. The Civil Servants are essentially bodyguards for all the other city organizations, like the Street Builders, who are not able to defend themselves.

The Civil Servants are not a police force, but rather a bodyguard service. Policing is generally left to each district's own system, like The Order of the Bone Shield.

---------

Also, I can see a lot of interesting conflict between The Holy Hands of Saint Merkiel and The Order of the Bone Shield. Whenever an undead commits a crime in one of the Holy Hands' hospitals, the Holy Hands will want to take care of it themselves. When The Order of the Bone Shield shows up a lot of tension will build.

[BRC]

Here's another Citywide Organization
The Municipal Investigators
With the city so divided, Criminals seem to have it easy. Since the various districts have their own, often rival, police forces, all A criminal needs to do to escape arrest is move from one district to another. At least, until the Municipal Investigators get involved. They do not personally make arrrests, preffering to determine the location and nature of the criminals, then leave the actual arresting to the police. However, when that's not an option, the Investigators will make the arrests personally, which usually causes problems as the local police get offended by the "Munnies" doing their job for them.

The Munnies are the standard enemies of the Cutthroat Alliance. When Alliance involvement is proven, the Investigators always take the lead personally, not trusting the local police to be uncorrupt or competant enough to help against the Alliance.

[50cr4t3s]

Oh goodness! How did I miss this last night? (Oh, right...that was a damn crazy party)

Can anyone cite a list of things that are:

Generally Agreed Upon, Specifics Included

Generally Agreed Upon, Specifics Undecided

Proposed Ideas, Awaiting General Consensus

Ideas On Hiatus Until They Fit

Scrapped Ideas


Also, having read through the first few posts, this sounds great for World of Darkness- urban, intrigue, combat-optional, madness!

Well we've haven't really Agreed upon anything yet. But we have come up with several ideas which we're running with for the time being. Including the Necropolis (and subsequently The Order of the Bone Shield), The Alliance (a criminal syndicate), and the randomly occurring planar gates throughout the city. We've got some other organizations and locations we're tossing around, such as the Steamworks, Primordium, etc.

My advice, read the whole thread. I know what you're thinking, but we've had alot of good ideas pop up here, and it's worth your time to check it out.

[Strawman]

These are some of the ideas proposed so far. These are just very brief summaries, and do not go into the finer details of each idea that might make it more interesting. I may have missed some ideas (accidentally, so no offense intended). I am also going to refrain from posting the ideas about government right now, as it will be easier to figure out once the majority of districts and organizations are made. Also, everything here is just a list of ideas, and the ideas are still being discussed and are not finalized.

City Premise-


What once started as a small settlement at the bottom of a canyon has grown into a city. As the city grows, it expands upward along the canyon walls, making layer atop layer. Giant trees grow along with the city. The city has grown tall enough that there are parts of it atop the canyon, where people live on gigantic bridges. The city also expanded onto and into a nearby lake, and it has a very tall tower. There are portals in the city that lead to various planes (the exact nature of the portals is still being discussed).


City Problems-


Tensions between districts and organizations are always high.

Occasionally raiders comprised of various monsters will come through the city’s portals and wreck havoc.


Districts-


Lake District- this district has buildings floating on the lake, as well as underwater structures.

The Mages District- has a gate to the Astral Plane, and a bazaar of bizarre things.

The Necropolis- an undead community led by a lich named Graveborle the Uncaring. Graveborle appoints ministers to run the district. Interesting novelties are valuable in this district as powerful undead use them to get the favor of Graveborle. Has a gate to the Negative Energy Plane.

Primordium- A district available through one of the city’s planar gates. It was original made from the spot that the city started on, but now is a luxurious spot that houses the city’s council.

The Steamworks- Actually several locations, The Steamworks are steam-powered factory regions scattered throughout the city. They are powered by permanent elemental fonts and provide most of the technological advances in the city.

The Tower- There is a very tall tower in the city. How tall exactly is undecided so far, but the thing is big.


Organizations-


The Civil Servants- a citywide organization that serves as bodyguards to other city organizations. Made entirely of Lawful Neutral individuals.

The Cutthroat Alliance- they are a guild of criminals that is wide spread underground, especially in less savory districts. The alliance uses small secret gates to travel and escape, making the organization extremely hard to pin down. Law enforcement agencies frequently try to destroy, or at least curb the activities of, the C.A.

The Eyes- they comprise a spy network. The Eyes were started by a previous regime, but managed to survive when more recent regimes tried to shut them down. Currently they continue to provide the city council with reports on the city, and The Eyes can provide information at a price.

The Eyes of Justice- a policing organization in the Mages District.

The Holy Hands of Saint Merkiel- A coalition of clerics and holy-men from numerous good religions that have banded together. This guild has temples/hospitals in every district of the city, more so in heavily populated districts. The H.H.O.S.M. are enemies of The O.B.S.

Humans First- this is an organization that believes the city was founded by humans (a matter not up for dispute amongst the city residents). They are essentially a hate group that wants non-humans to either be kicked out or kept from running the city. Some members are secretive, others vocal, and the organization has a not insignificant influence on The Council.

The Merchant Agents- they police The Steamworks.

The Municipal Investigators- a citywide organization devoted to investigating criminals that evade local police forces. The M.I. are enemies of The Cutthroat Alliance.

The Order of the Bone Shield- they are a citywide organization that polices the undead.
The O.B.S. (or O.O.T.B.S.) also defends undead from people attacking them without good reason. They are enemies of The H.H.O.S.M.

The Streetbuilders- they are a massive citywide organization that employs everyone from unskilled laborers to expert mages. They spend most of their time repairing the infrastructure of the city, but occasionally start a large-scale construction project. These projects are most often left unfinished.

The Watch- they are a policing organization in a human community.

[Renrik]

Ideas!

1.You could have it cut off from the rest of the world by a time anomaly of some sort. I'm not sure what kind, but it could work out.

2.The Necropolis should have significant influence because it is the only safe place to store dead bodies, which there are sure to be a great deal of. Storing dead bodies elsewhere would present a public safety hazard from disease, and just be unpleasant, and land is probably at a premium, considering people are living on bridges. So, any cultures that don't cremate their dead would have to hand them over to the Necropolis. Indeed, they may even have to pay a fee. There are probably some who don't hand their dead over to the Necropolis. These bodies, especially in poorer areas that house workshops (specifically, alchemical workshops), are beneath magical districts, or are near dumping sites, may have wild undead as a result of improperly dumped bodies. Since randomly created undead due to magical pollution are usually mindless, these would probably be hunted by the Order of the Bone Sheild and the Hands of Saint Merkiel.

3. There would need, also, to be some kind of laws governing the fulfilling of certain needs in undead. Perhaps some humans get paid to act as donors, or a grisly black market exists of fodder children kidnapped or sold into victimization by their impoverished parents.

4. Where does the living population's food come from? High-level wizards with conjurations spells can only do so much, and land would be at too much a premium to allow agriculture within the city, though certainly a number of gardens could exist at the rare patch of unpaved ground. I have three solutions:
a. The outskirts of the city give way to huge expanses of plantations where agricultural laborers work for the land owners, probably some of the same people who are involved in the steamworks. The crops are sold to the wealthy merchants and make their way through the city.
b. Demiplanes devoted to agriculture, privately owned. Again, a permanent agricultural class remains.
c. Trade with other planes- the city just produces finished goods and must rely on other entities for all its food needs through trade.

I would guess there to be a mixture of the three.

7. Organization: The Collective
It's more than a union, it's a particularly strong one, and then some. It's name is awful, and can be changed, of course. Basically, this organization is put in to provide drama and tension in the steamworks, and so the DM can easily explore some socialist ideas in-game. The Collective is your standard-issue fantasy communist organization, bent on overthrowing the capitalists and installing a network of worker's councils to oversee the production of goods in collectively owned steamworks factories. Bend them as you see fit- they've got branches. Their primary activities include distributing their philosophies, holding rallies, performing strikes, bombings and assassinations of the merchant class, sabotaging capital to preserve jobs, occupying factories, and organizing unions. Unlike most unions, the collective includes members of the agricultural labor force, too.

8. Organization: The Wild
Not everyone likes the city. It's a depressing, dehumanizing place, far removed from the natural way of life. In a city, everything is created, planned, and defined by sentient standards, meant to fit into sentient goals and expectations, held by systemic order and made to conform to predictable sentient law.
Not everyone is happy with this arrangement. The Wild represents a kind of network, or perhaps more of a series of cells, of people bound by a common philosophy: the city is a blight and must be destroyed. Anti-consumerist and anarchic (of the luddite, primitivist strain) to a fault, these people do not appreciate the destruction of the once vibrant living community of the canyon with the unsustainable monoculture that is the city. They reject the idea of 'civilization', pointing out that the only thing that really separates us from the animals is that they don't ruin their own habitats and they don't fight wars. The scoff at the notion of 'progress'- progress assumes a goal, and the only foreseeable result of this reckless use of the earth is the annihilation of the entire living community. This is not a goal the members of the Wild support.
The Wild, whose members are alternately known as Ludds, is by turns both a friendly and supportive community and a guerilla warfare campaign on civilization. Among their own, Ludds try to carve out little and restore some balance to their surroundings. Most of the world, however, only knows of the Wild through their attacks on merchants lords, factories, the street builders, and others. Some members of the Wild also hate magic (other than that of druids and their ilk), though others see it as a part of the natural world. Most members of the Wild are refugees from non-city areas who are disgusted with their new surroundings, or are converts to the ideology, usually after visiting an area not covered in cobblestones. Their membeship includes, naturally, plenty of druids, rangers, barbarians, and shugenjas, among others. Most refuse to work a regular job, and so instead scavenge the city and squat wherever they can. As a result the average Ludd looks like a grimy homeless person- which is yet another reason, in addition to the poor law enforcement and deterioration of the buildings, they live in some most depressed areas of the city.

9. Not all, but some, of the gates to other planes may have a fort on the other side to protect from these monster attacks and establish a trading post.

10. A pleasure district of some kind, not sure. I don;t want to flesh it out (pun intended) right now.

[BRC]

Concerning Corpses in the City, my idea was that, when somebody dies, they either buy expensive property to use as a gravesite or, as is much more common, they sell the corpses to one of several firms in the Necropolis, who sell the corpses to ghouls.

[Renrik]

The earlier idea of part of the city being a tangle of trees could work out interestingly. It could be a source of a good deal of the food, and a point from which the Wild movement spread and in which Ludds seek their refuge.

Otherwise, you'd have to have the elves be some kind of urbane aristocracy with no nature connection. This way, they can be both and still retain a cool superior air, while giving the city some extra variety.

What if some of the trees in that district were sentient, ancient beings who allowed their inhabitants to live on them in exchange for safety from the city?

What if the groves of nonsentient trees were continually growing into poorer areas while other groves were being cut down to make way for development? I don;t suppose there would be many abandoned areas, of course- though the necessary network of mycelium (mushrooms) in any forest could have taken over some of the mining shafts and sewers under and around the tree district, and be the home of a thriving myconid community.

There can also be a giant's district, maybe called 'Gulliver's Heights'? Well, maybe something less... you know.

How do dragons fit in? Maybe some of them lair in the deeper tunnels. Maybe some roost in the high towers.

[kopout]

concerning dragons I have an idea where a pair of dragons are arguing over the section of territory that the village was in. in order to resolve it the decide to play a game of skill in the lair in question. knowing that dragon games routinely last decades they ward their lairs and take a contingent each of their kobold guard. in a cave several mials away from the village and a hundred feet up the wall they set up to play, in forming the kobolds that it is their responsibility to fetch refreshments as needed. 270 years later after a spectacular game the loser is banished and try to leave the cavern however the entrance is now deep in side the city, in the kobold district to be precise. Realizing that fighting their way out would get them killed the dragons wisely decide stay put.

[Strawman]

Some ideas about rules regarding the undead- enforced by The Order of the Bone Shield.


1. A member of the Undead may not be killed or attacked unless that member has threatened harm on another being. The exception to this is during a consensual duel that allows for kills.

2. A member of the Undead may not come within five feet of a child of a species without the permission of at least one parent of the child. If an Undead breaks this rule, it counts as a threat when considering rule 1.

3. An undead may not make use of a corpse without the permission of those responsible for the corpse’s care. Corpses that no one is responsible for belong to whoever first claims the corpse.

4. Civilians in public places may not use devices that produce an equivalent to natural sunlight. This is to protect members of the Undead who may be hurt by sunlight.

5. Non-sentient members of the Undead may be destroyed if they are impeding business or damaging property. This is due to non-sentient members of the Undead being thought of as property. If the owner of a business has entered into a prior agreement with a controller of undead concerning the undeads’ behavior, this law does not apply.

Of course, members of the Undead that are citizens must abide by the same laws as all other citizens, and are protected by those same laws. Some of these laws overlap with The O.B.S. rules, but general opinion in the O.B.S. is that ignorant people need to be reminded of the rights of undead.


I like the dragon idea. Perhaps the dragons bicker and squable alot, but generally work together so that organizations in the city do not take their land and rights away. Also, worshippers of a dragon god may have built a temple between the dragons' lair and the city. This would explain why the city did not discover and interfere with the dragons in the last couple hundred centuries.

[BRC]

Concerning the Order of the Bone Sheild, and the Holy Hands. How about this, part of the rivalry is due to the fact that both organizations are an oddity amongst the city police forces. While the Bone Shields serve primarily as the Necropolis's police, they are also responsible for enforcing the laws concerning undead throught the city, as well as with hunting down criminals whose undead nature makes them unique from most (A couple Zombies can be hunted down by normal cops. A Vampire, or a Ghast or somthing similar, requires the Bonesheild's expertise).

The Hands are another oddity, in addition to being the Temple district's police, they are in charge of protecting Temples and Clergy members throughout the city. Oftentimes Supersitious citizens who are afraid of or threatened by an Undead, will ask their local cleric for assistance. Oftentimes, the cleric will move in to assist, bringing the Hands with them, and therefore running into conflict with the Boneshields.

[puppyavenger]

Very interesting idea's, but one thing, how does the city defend itself?

Because a single catapult shot, dropped or thrown boulder, or hell just something heavy dying above it would kill hundred and wreck thousand of homes.


So you need either
a. the worlds most uber-awesome mega-magically-improved-military
b. they're some kind of universally recognized mega-Switzerland
or c. they're isolated in a way that makes attacking them impossible.

[Vadin]

Name: The Area's Official Name
Other Names: Clever or derogatory codenames- think about it from the perspective of other districts
Government Type: More Specific Than 'Aristocracy'
Police Force: Common Name That Describes Their Quirks

Description of the area's inhabitants, social dynamics, architecture, culture, and any other relevant bits of information


I'm a fan of this format. And ho! First jump into this project.

Name: Customs and Immigrations
Other Names: Foreigner's Corner, Little Gateville, CnI
Government Type: Under the direct control of the city council, this is the one area that sends no representative there
Police Force: The Social Inspectors

In CnI, there are large gates to other planes. Not one-way gates or gates that allow travel between to points in the city, but an array of several gates to small inhabited cities on other planes. It is here that immigrants to the city must pass through if they wish to achieve legality, and it's the Social Inspectors (commonly referred to as the SI) who decide this. If they think you speak proficient enough Common, have enough wealth, and have some useful talent, they'll let you stay. If you can't prove you're worth it, however, they'll send you right back through the way you came without a second thought (and you don't get your warp fee back, either).

The Social Inspectors have gotten in trouble with the past for denying certain kinds of visitors more often than others, but there is often little anything beyond a direct decree from the city council can do to stop immigration discrimination.

Some of the most frequently used gates are the ones from the Elemental Chaos (home to many genasi and the raw elemental forces that power the Steamworks), the Astral Plane (classy illithids and less class giths and ganks find their way from here), and Celestia (common immigrants are aasimar, rogue leonals, and other 'less-than-divine' visitors who can't quite take the rigors of perfect living anymore).



Food was mentioned much earlier. The idea that most appealed to me: the land at the top of the canyon is controlled by Farm Lords who grow, alongside huge amounts of grain for the majority of the city, rare fruits for the wealthier citizens. They also train some of the best chefs in the city- a party thrown by a Farm Lord will have the best hors d' oeuvres and the finest wines.

[Strawman]

Very interesting idea's, but one thing, how does the city defend itself?

Because a single catapult shot, dropped or thrown boulder, or hell just something heavy dying above it would kill hundred and wreck thousand of homes.


So you need either
a. the worlds most uber-awesome mega-magically-improved-military
b. they're some kind of universally recognized mega-Switzerland
or c. they're isolated in a way that makes attacking them impossible.

I figure that the layers of the city have to be constructed fairly tough, to support skyscrapers and factories. A single catapult would probably only do as much damage as it would to a normal city.

As far as a full-scale attack on the city, maybe there is some history to that.
Fifty years ago, a small nation attacked the city because it had a known Necropolis. They managed to destroy a sizeable portion of the city, which killed many and disrupted the flow of the city for decades. The city, in response, banded together just about every organization and every district and went to war. They used the more advanced technology available in the city, its huge population, and a suprisingly patriotic attitude towards the city to utterly devastate the small nation. Afterwards a few of the more evil parts of the city even turned the masses of dead in the small nation into an undead army. That army stood around the city for years, until it was decided by the city that the "message was sent" to the world's nations. As records are sketchy, people to this day debate whether the undead army was destroyed or hidden.

Since then, nobody has messed with the city. The worst to happen is the occasional infiltration and internal attack, but the Customs and Immigration organization catches most of those.

[Owrtho]

I'd also expect a number of farms for subterranean plants that put to use some of the used up mine caves.

Also, thought I'd note that the Cutthroat Alliance (at least as I'd intended it) is more a conglomerate of the majority of the crime groups in the city (likely around 80% of the organized groups and 50% of the more small time or solo criminals). It has allot of infighting (which while discouraged isn't cared about by most), but tends to work together mainly to protect its members from authorities. Even uniting to take out people who are thought to threaten the alliance. Also they set up networks for use of their members in escaping, hiding, information gathering, etc. Many of the more shady businesses also tend to be members of the alliance.

Owrtho

[Vadin]

Are we going with coastal mining, or grounds up from a canyon? I've been looking at this as the latter, like if someone made a city in a narrower version of the Grand Canyon.

[Owrtho]

Based on what seems to be the current idea it is the latter. Also it might not be narrower than the Grand Canyon.

Owrtho

[BRC]

So, Does the City have a name, or is it simply "The City"?

[Vadin]

It needs a name. A name that sounds vaguely insectoid and reminiscent of beehives and ant colonies. A name that sounds wild and extraplanar and full of awa. A name that sounds postively otherworldly. A name that sounds like a land of opportunity and rolls of the tongue with minimal effort.

Ideas?

[BRC]

It needs a name. A name that sounds vaguely insectoid and reminiscent of beehives and ant colonies. A name that sounds wild and extraplanar and full of awa. A name that sounds postively otherworldly. A name that sounds like a land of opportunity and rolls of the tongue with minimal effort.

Ideas?

Just off the top of my head
"Iska"

[jagadaishio]

I'm feeling the name Iska, but it may need a tweak or two.

Iska? Isaka? Iskia?

As for Customs and Immigration, I like the idea, but I think that the gates there should only be opened when enough of a critical mass is present in one of the extraplanar cities is sufficient to afford its opening. The Immigration gates, in turn, would be able to open to any city on that plane which they're affiliated with, instead of just one city. The reason for this is that other places in the city which have permanent or recurring gates as just an extension of the city itself. The Bazaar of the Bizarre in the Mage's District extends onto the Astral Plane as something of a massive market protected by a fortress, and the Necropolis has a gate that opens into a sort of gated community (pun!) for rich liches, vampires, and mummies who can afford a mansion there.

These gates always open to the same place. The ones at Immigration do not. In fact, it may be many years before a given city will have a new wave if people ready to emigrate from it. In this way, the Immigration gates don't lead to an annexation of planar territory like the others have.

On the topic of war and city vulnerability, I like the idea that the city has been attacked, proved quite vulnerable to it, and responded with overwhelming force. It would have happened long ago, so that it has become canonized in legend. The attacking force in question should be one that, by worldwide standards, is actually incredibly large, but compared to the city is little more than a small town - its entire population could be fit inside a single district.

Name: The Grove District
Other Names: The Woods, Little Wilderness, Faerietown (like Little Italy and Chinatown, respectively), the Groves
Government Type: Each ethnic group major enough to be recognized sends a single representative to a sort of elder's council. The council then picks a single trusted representative for their entire district. Notable ethnic groups are the Lycanthropes, who almost always have a Werebear on the council, the Treants, the Greater Fey, who usually post a Dryad, the Myconid, the Sprites, and the Druids. Other ethnic and political groups come and go. The Wild has been trying to get a seat on the elder council for years, and has yet to do so.
Police Force: The Rangers. The rangers (not all of them being actual rangers, of course) roam the levels of trees in their Groves, stopping any sort of exploitation of nature, keeping balance, and (when forced to) enforcing the laws of the city. There have been many a time when the rangers have ignored a crime because they didn't feel like enforcing it, and then arrested someone for harvesting green wood instead of dead wood.

I like the idea of Grove Districts, which would be single districts in the sense that the Steamworks is a single district. Throughout the city, there would be areas that massive groves grew, their branches growing higher than the top of the canyon and spilling out to make a massive canopy in those districts (most districts would not have that canopy cover). This would be the district of the city where plant creatures, some sentient animals, nature fey, druids, and most of the Wild tend to make their residence. The Steamworks and their residents tend to dislike the Groves, feeling that they waste too many resources that could be used for industrial and mercantile purposes. Indeed, the relatively slow trickle of darkwood out of the Groves keeps them well funded, artificially inflating the cost of darkwood, when a team of lumberjacks sent in to clear the place out could provide enough darkwood for a century in a single day.

I think that fact that the Holy Hands were proposed as something of a net of free hospitals, and not as a police force, needs to be brought up. They offer free healing in every district, but have no real enforceable powers. The reason why they're so at odds with the Necropolis is because they offer their positive energy powers in the Necropolis as well, where they're little more than a euthanasia clinic. To the citizens of the Necropolis, this would be something like a fully-staffed abortion clinic offering their services 24/7 for free. Some of the citizens just ignore it as long as they don't actually try to force it on anyone, but a lot are up in arms about it. They would likely face discrimination from the Bone Shield (who should actually carry shields of bone intricately inscribed, like functional versions of modern police badges) who trump up every charge possible against employees there who break even the most minor of laws.

I don't think that there would be a Kobold District, per se. Rather, there would be a "dragon district." There would be half-dragons, young dragons, dragonborn, kobolds, and all manner of other sentient dragonkind there. Pseudodragons would swoop through the skies catching birds in the same manner as the falcons that roost on skyscrapers in modern cities. In this district, there would be a truly massive temple, probably called something like the Temple of the Ancestors, which housed these Ancient dragons in their game. Now it serves as something of a palace for them, and they see amassing wealth through trade to be a new game, as in the past they had amassed it through raids. They are the de facto leaders of the district, and perhaps the two richest beings in the entire city.

Name: The Draconic Heritage Collective
Other Names: Dragonland, Dragon's Roost, Slayer's Hell
Government Type: A consulate of two ancient dragons
Police Force: The Dragonfire Brigade (The brigade is comprised exclusively of Dragonfire Adepts of a variety of races)

Way back in the day, a pair of ancient dragons (one red and one gold) decided to settle their difference in a rousing game of strategy. The loser was to be banished, and the winner to hold dominion over the loser's lands. Both brought with them a contingent of kobold worshippers, who were to serve and provide for them as they played in an isolated cave in a canyon wall, miles down river from and above a tiny human fishing settlement. Centuries later, at the end of their game, they emerged from their cave to find a massive, opulent temple built around their cave. Around the temple had been built a district dedicated to those with draconic ancestry of some kind. The dragons, whose game had come out to be a ties, set about on a new game (one so vast and infinite that it couldn't possibly be won or lost). The dragons started playing the markets, becoming merchant kings, and possibly the two richest beings in the city (if not the richest organization as a whole). To this day, they rule as consuls of the district, appointing one of their followers to represent them in the city-wide council.

I agree with all of the suggestions concerning agriculture. Plantations on the outskirts, farms in demiplanes, planar import, and converted caves. The waterfront is also a huge source of seaweed, fish, and other water borne foods. Furthermore, the Grove Districts provide a steady flow of fruit to the city. A large portion of the agricultural labor force (unlike the skilled mechanists in the Steamworks) is made up of mindless undead.

I think that the city would either be narrower than the grand canyon or have massive pillars of stone breaking it up like the grand canyon.

On the topic of the tower, I think that its origin would likely have been that a wealthy business man found a massive deposit of mithral in a part of land that he had purchased. Rather than sell it to craftsmen, he used it as the building material for a massive tower. The tower's base is where the opening of the old mine is, and the tower itself extends up beyond the clouds. Indeed, because it converted the mine that its material came from into actual carved-stone, finished rooms, it extends nearly as far below the surface as it does above. The business man has actually had a great deal of success with the tower, renting out space to wealth individuals as apartments and to successful business as work places. The stone rooms below serves mostly as warehouses, stock rooms, and vaults. They are so heavily warded that it is considered suicidal to try to steal from them. The base of the tower rests in the Steamworks, and it technically governed by them. The building's owner is adamantly of the anti-union stance. It's rumoured that he may also be involved in Alliance works.

I like the idea of the Gulliver Heights, but I'll let someone else flesh those out.

[BRC]

I imagine that keeping the Grove District trimmed and navigable is one of the major jobs of the Streetbuilders. As neighboring districts probably don't like giant branches growing into their houses. And inside the Groves, people who can't walk on trees and arn't expert climbers still need to be able to get through. This probably attracts alot of attention from The Wild.

The Civil Servants can't be everywhere, so brawls between Wild members, and off-duty Streetbuilders are probably pretty common. Neither are really trained fighters for the most part, though the Streetbuilders are probably skilled enough at swinging heavy things around to hold their own.

Edit, Also, a District
The Commons
Other Names: Plainville, the "In Between", NorCo/SoCo
Government: Aristocratic Republic
Police force: The Watch
The Commons is the largest of the city's districts, and in fact spreads throughout the city. Filling in the pieces between the other districts. It's population is largely human, but there are enough non-humans there so they don't attract attention.

The District used to be ruled by a noble class, but after a few uprisings they adopted a more democratic stance. Elections are held, but only those with noble blood can hold major office. The District is actually split into two separate districts, the North Commons, and the South Commons, mainly for political reasons. However, North and South commons are politically and culturally similar enough that they don't need separate entries.



I figured we could use a nice "Normal" District, that the other districts stand out against.

Double Edit: How about "Ishka"

[jagadaishio]

I like Ishka. If nobody opposes it, I'll changed the thread title to include it.

[Renrik]

So, I have two district ideas that I don't want to flesh out right now, but I guess I could do one or the other a bit later. There's the pleasure district (Hedon?) and Gulliver's Heights. Maybe there would also be a kind of a smallsville of sorts, the antithesis of Gulliver's heights, or perhaps small humanoids would just live alongside medium-sized ones, and tiny ones would carve their houses more or less between and among human-sized ones.

I don't care much about the name, and shall not weigh in upon it.

I'm not so sure about the commons. It seems too... well, common. I mean, we could rather easily just make a number of different merchant and craft districts that people live in. But if we do have a common district, I'm not sure it should be called the commons. That name seems to me to mean more of an area which is collectively owned by the community.

I like the idea of the groves, though I still maintain there should be at least one of the groves that contains a massive sentient tree. I don't know why, but it's sticking on me. I also maintain, as before, that the tunnels under the groves should be overgrown with roots, mycelium, and myconids.

On the subject of of subterranean plants providing some food, I think we must remember that the most common such source in fantasy settings-mushrooms- would not work for that purpose. Mushrooms are not a plant, but a fungi, and are not autotrophic. Because they cannot produce, they cannot be the basis of the food chain as they are in so many campaigns. I suggest that there is another type of plant, one that is not photosynthetic, but is instead thermosynthetic or chemosynthetic. That is, they grow from heat or from certain chemicals, such as sulfur. Phosphorus already increases plant growth, and we've found evidence of purely chemosynthetic plants on earth. Now, these plants grow around noxious vents in the mines or, if thermosynthetic, around volcanic areas, the dragon lairs, and the steamworks. These plants then, along with the roots of the groves, form the host for the parasitic mycelium, which produces edible mushrooms, including huge groves the type of which are found in all good fantasy.

Of course, this, even combined with the groves, couldn't feed the whole city, so there still need to be the trade, the plantations around the canyon, and maybe the demiplanes.

The inclusion of mindless undead in the labor force of the Grove's orchards would probably anger sentients who would otherwise get those jobs.

[Strawman]

"Officially" The Rangers are enemies of The Wild. They control their actions much like The Order of the Bone Shield controls the actions of criminal Undead. Unofficially, many of The Rangers either do not mind, or secretly support The Wild.

Whenever someone is not involved with The Wild, and they want to spread nature irresponsibly, The Rangers crack down on them hard. They have less sympathy for nature-vigilante individuals because their methods are ineffective, and lead to the entire city hating The Grove.

The Commons will be a great place for DMs to put in their own ideas that do not fit anywhere else in the city. Maybe another alternate name; The City Plains.

As far as the city's name... Canyon Ishki, Canyon Iskia, Ishtown, Ishatown, The Canyon, City of the World... My favorites so far are "The City of Iskia" and "The City of Ishka." Although, just Ishka is good too.

[jagadaishio]

On the topic of mushrooms being unable to grow in barren underground environments, that is entirely true. The thing is, they wouldn't be barren. We have the largest city ever sitting on top of this place. Where do you think that the city's waste - both fecal and just regular trash - goes? Underground compost heaps, grove roots, and the fertilizer for the plantations.

As for the commons, they're not really an actual district. They're more the lack of a district. The occasional buffer space between real ones. I like the idea. I don't think that it would have any sort of a formal name, though.

As for sentient beings being angered by the taking of the jobs by the mindless undead, I must suggest that even if 50% (a hefty donation) of the HD limit of every sufficiently-high-level necromancer was devoted the cause of raising and harvesting crops, it still wouldn't be sufficient to do it all. Nowhere close, really. Rather, they would be around to do simple, repetitive, mindless (hur hur) tasks like walking down a row and depositing a seed every few feet. Sentients would be needed to do anything that requires even the slightest modicum of thought or improvisation. That's a lot of things.

I like the idea of the mediums and smalls pretty much coexisting. Large and huge would probably do the same, and so would tiny and smaller. Anything larger than huge would be uncommon enough to just have to try to make do with a custom house and the inability to fit through the doors or in the rooms of most common establishments. I like the name Gulliver's Heights, and the name Smallville. Of course, there would be people of all manner of sizes in every area, it's just that those would be specially tailored for quite large and quite small beings, respectively.

As for the enormous sentient tree, I would suggest that the tree be the person that gets chosen to represent the treants in the grove pretty much every single time. It could even have a massive building constructed across its branches that serves as the meeting ground for the elder council. I think that the myconid would live in the caves all around, but try whenever possible to live in the caves in the groves. They would very likely have various edible fungi as their primary source of income, much to the boon of the city at large.

[BRC]

The Commons are represented as a District, just because there is enough of it that the people arnt' going to let themselves go without some sort of government.
I think some sort of "Commons" is neccessary, someplace for a DM to have things happen in without being overloaded with detail. A sort of "baseline" for the rest of the city.

[Strawman]

Rather, they would be around to do simple, repetitive, mindless (hur hur) tasks like walking down a row and depositing a seed every few feet. Sentients would be needed to do anything that requires even the slightest modicum of thought or improvisation. That's a lot of things.


I like this idea. The non-sentient undead farmers would be like tools, or at best farm animals.

Does anyone have any estimations for how big the city is? I figure we should start trying to come up with base numbers for the following things:

How deep is the canyon?
How high does the city rise above the canyon's top?
How high is that one big tower?
How big is the lake and the lake developement?
How long and how wide is the canyon?
How far do tunnels in the canyon go (both sideways and depthwise)?
How big are the underground caves?
How tall is each layer of the city? This can vary from layer to layer, but a good min/max level should be determined.
What is the city's overall population?

I figure the size and population of extra-planar parts of the city can be determined once they are fleshed out more.

[Vadin]

I like this idea. The non-sentient undead farmers would be like tools, or at best farm animals.

Does anyone have any estimations for how big the city is? I figure we should start trying to come up with base numbers for the following things:

How deep is the canyon?
How high does the city rise above the canyon's top?
How high is that one big tower?
How big is the lake and the lake developement?
How long and how wide is the canyon?
How far do tunnels in the canyon go (both sideways and depthwise)?
How big are the underground caves?
How tall is each layer of the city? This can vary from layer to layer, but a good min/max level should be determined.
What is the city's overall population?

I figure the size and population of extra-planar parts of the city can be determined once they are fleshed out more.

Let's see...average humanoid, call it 6 feet tall. Roughly three feet of bracing below. About 4 feett minimum headspace on open streets. 13, maybe 12 minimum, double and add a little more to that for the wealthier people so they can have attics and maybe even basements...

Minimum height of a layer: 12 feet
Maximum heigh of a layer: 30 feet

[jagadaishio]

Let's see...average humanoid, call it 6 feet tall. Roughly three feet of bracing below. About 4 feett minimum headspace on open streets. 13, maybe 12 minimum, double and add a little more to that for the wealthier people so they can have attics and maybe even basements...

Minimum height of a layer: 12 feet
Maximum heigh of a layer: 30 feet

Not counting Gulliver's Heights and Smallville.

[Renrik]

Right, I suppose growing mushrooms on the waste would work out, provided the waste is deposited within the mycelium-networked zones (which would be anywhere there is vegetation of any type)

I like the idea of the commons as kind of blank spaces/buffer zones that the DM can flesh out.

I'll also agree on the undead thing. As an agricultural worker, I can vouch that there are tasks that a mindless corpse would be less than capable of performing in my field (pun intended). I guess it would be the idea of undead laborers growing the food that would piss people off more than anything, but hey, most people don't actually want to work in agriculture. It's not fun- well, it is for me (at least in comparison to working indoors), but still.

Though, on labor disputes, I can still imagine workers getting angry about undead and constructs being used the same way real-life workers got angry at machinery during the industrial revolution. Any addition of capital to a venture without a corresponding increase in the consumption of raw materials and thus increased total production, tends to lead to decreased labor.

So, who wants to flesh out Gulliver's Heights and Smallville?

[BRC]

District Idea: The Academy
Other Names: Scholarville, Magetown. Wizland.
Government: Magocracy
Police Force: The Custodians.
The Academy is one of the two major magical districs in the city. Unlike the Mages District, which is home to many independent practitioners, the Academy is one institution. Though Magic is it's focus, the Academy studies all the sciences, and it's magical students are highly encouraged to study at least one other science. The lower levels are for Novices and Apprentices, containing living quarters, classrooms, recreation areas, library, workshops, ect. The layers above those are more of the same, but designed for older, more advanced students. This pattern continues until the very top layers, the "Searchers Circle", where the ultimate graduates spend the rest of their lives in study. Though experimental labs and research happens throughout the district, once you become a "Searcher", the implication is that you know so much that, anything else you might learn about your science, you will probably have to discover for yourself.

Most Students leave the Academy upon reaching adulthood, often moving to the Mages District, but some stay, pursing Knowledge for Knowledges sake, For these individuals, their education never ends. Most become assistants for a Researcher, though some become Professors, or find some other position in the Academy.
The Academy is patrolled by a force known as the Custodians. Their numbers are actually quite small, but if need be, they can have Academy Wizards prepare for combat and join their ranks, or summon creatures to assist them in combat.

[Renrik]

So let's see what we've got for districts so far:

The Primordium- Demiplane accessible from founding point of city, holds city council.
Lake District- Floating buildings and underwater structures.
Steamworks- Factories powered by elemental fonts, scattered
Grove- Wooded areas, scattered.
The Tower- A massive mithral tower
Gulliver's Heights- Giant's district
Smallville- Antithesis of Gulliver's Heights
The Academy- One of the magic districts
Mage's District- Another magic district, has gate to Astral Plane.
The Commons- Well, common.
Dragon Heritage Collective- Site of two dragon lairs and lots of dragonkin.
Customs and Immigration-Holds numerous portals.

Also, we have the idea that there are at least some buildings on huge bridges stretching over the canyon, that there are communities of myconids in the caves and abandoned mines, that these mines and caves form extensions of many of the districts. We also have some fields around the city.

[50cr4t3s]

1. Someone earlier referred to the Holy Hands of Saint Merkeil as a policing organization at odds with the Order of the Bone Shield. I proposed the Holy Hands an organization with a completely benevolent agenda. The are opposed to the Necropolis and the Undead who live there, but they do not police or fight the Undead. They're a health services organization, nothing more.

2. I don't think the commons should be referred to as a singular district. Rather, I think we should work with the idea of several Residence districts. Small districts with nothing more than dwellings, a small shop or two, and a tavern. These districts would have different names for each districts (i.e. Southern Hills, Shore View, etc.). I propose these boring names, because i have this image in my head of these districts as the boring suburbs.

3. I'm not crazy about the name "Ishka." Maybe I'm alone here, and if I am then I'll shut up. I just think we can do better.

4. I think this district would be pretty cool.

Location Name: Stadel
Other Names: Out Town, Lost Land, The Lost District
Government Type: King of Stadel
Police Force: Stadel Guard

Long ago, when the city was still fairly new, an entire district of the city vanished. Merchants travel to this district one morning and found it simply gone, with nothing left in its place. Mages and scholars spent months of sleepless nights pondering the fate of this district, but in the end, no answer was ever discovered. Many attempts to build on the site of the district were made, but no matter how stable the structure, or how powerful the magic, it all vanished in the blink of an eye. The city continued to grow, and the gap in the city was closed so as to prevent further loses.

Less then a decade ago, citizens were shocked to wake up one morning, and as mysteriously as it had appeared, the district had returned. Unfortunately, time had not stopped for this lost district, and their newest generation believed they were under attack when they found themselves suddenly in the center of a vast and never ending city. A small battle ensued, quickly put down by the forces of the city. It ended with the "King" of the district surrendered and swore loyalty to the City Council.

Little is known about what happened to the district. But tales from it's inhabitants described growing up with their district surrounded by a dark and terrible void from which no one had every returned. Their ancestors had apparently survived only by the wit and cunning of their most noble family, the Stadel. Their ancestors had renamed their home in honor of these heroes. They even went so far as to make the Stadel family the monarchs of there small land.

The inhabitants are distrustful of the rest of the city, and will rarely speak with outsiders. They keep to themselves and have little to do with any of the cities organizations (even the Alliance).

[Owrtho]

I'd say the layers would likely average about 2 stories tall myself (with some variation). Also in one of the early posts about how the layers formed I'd said the first was third story additions to the buildings.

However, what we should do (and is likely more important than actual height of the canyon) is determine the number of layers.
Also, I'd note that we need to figure out what is used for lighting in the lower layers. After all, after about the first 2 or 3 layers sunlight will likely be rather rare. I'd suggest magic lighting myself. Possibly designed so most turn off at night (leaving only a few so that its not totally dark and people can still get around). Might be somewhat different in some districts though.

Edit: Hmm, 5 people nija'd me. Also I'd point out that individual districts are not they're own layers. They're just sections of layers (usually occupying a few layers vertically).

Owrtho

[BRC]

1. Someone earlier referred to the Holy Hands of Saint Merkeil as a policing organization at odds with the Order of the Bone Shield. I proposed the Holy Hands an organization with a completely benevolent agenda. The are opposed to the Necropolis and the Undead who live there, but they do not police or fight the Undead. They're a health services organization, nothing more.

I thought the Holy Hands were the police force for the Temple district.
How about this, The Holy Hands are, as described above, a group of clerics who provide healing services and run hospitals. Their more militant counterparts are the Holy Swords, who police the temple district, guard the Holy Hands, and don't get along well with the Bone Knights. Also, because of their association with the Holy Hands, many people consider them part of the same organization, just with two different names. So some of the hostility the Holy Swords (Some of whom are rather Knight Templaresque, and may stray from their "Bodyguard and Police work" duties) generates get's taken out on the Holy Hands. L

[Owrtho]

Also, we have the idea that there are at least some buildings on huge bridges stretching over the canyon

Isn't almost everything built on pathways stretching across the canyon? I thought the idea we were going with was that each layer had been built across the entire canyon each time the mines went up a new level. Also they wouldn't be much of bridges it seems.

Owrtho

[Renrik]

In the vein of using fungus to solve our problems, I'd like to suggest bioluminescent molds in the lower layers as a partial solution, along with the magical light.

I suggest 5-8 layers, with maybe one or two sublayers, for a great big ridiculous city, but most of the districts span more than one layer, and there is more sunlight directly hitting the Lake district because there's a thinning out of buildings around there.

Now, assuming this canyon was carved by a river, I can only assume that this river is now filthy as all hell, and the lake must be upstream of the rest of the city. I think areas near portals to the water elemental plane might have a higher property value for clean water.

[Owrtho]

Huh, I would suggest 20 to 40 layers myself. Would give it more of an epic city adventuring type feel.

Owrtho

[50cr4t3s]

I thought the Holy Hands were the police force for the Temple district.
How about this, The Holy Hands are, as described above, a group of clerics who provide healing services and run hospitals. Their more militant counterparts are the Holy Swords, who police the temple district, guard the Holy Hands, and don't get along well with the Bone Knights. Also, because of their association with the Holy Hands, many people consider them part of the same organization, just with two different names. So some of the hostility the Holy Swords (Some of whom are rather Knight Templaresque, and may stray from their "Bodyguard and Police work" duties) generates get's taken out on the Holy Hands. L

I like this idea.

as for how the city was built upward in the canyon. We actually hadn't reach a consensus on how this was done. We've go it narrowed down to two basic ideas though.

1. Once the mines up the wall reached about three stories, businesses started building multiple story establishments to cater to the workers in the mines.

2. The mines up the wall progress well past three stories without issue, and once residences and business were placed on either of the canyon walls, bridges were built over the city below to allow people to cross the canyon quickly.

In either of these scenarios, the end result was the same. Standardized layers of the city were eventually erected as the mines in the canyon walls grew higher and higher till the city spilled over onto the cliffs over the canyon.

This is interesting in that we actually needn't decide. In either of these scenarios, the lowest parts of the city would eventually have had to have been rebuilt in order to support the immense weight of the layers above them. The manner in which the city rose up the canyon, could actually be a focus of historical debate amongst the cities scholars.

[jagadaishio]

Isn't almost everything built on pathways stretching across the canyon? I thought the idea we were going with was that each layer had been built across the entire canyon each time the mines went up a new level. Also they wouldn't be much of bridges it seems.

Owrtho

I was under that distinct impression as well. The only real difference between on a bridge and not on a bridge is that some buildings are built close enough to the edges that they can be anchored right to the rock walls. Most buildings, though, are suspended somewhere in the middle.

Name: The Vault
Other Names: Prison, The Pokey, The Clink, The Hole
Government Type: The Warden. The Warden, an supposedly immortal construct of vast intellect and magical prowess, is the sole governor of the Vault. It rules with a merciless iron fist, and communicates remotely with the city's council instead of going in person as the district's representative.
Police Force: The Guard. The Guard is made up mostly of sentient and mindless constructs, animated by the Warden to police the Vault. They are absolutely loyal to the warden, and follow its edicts without question.

With all of the people in the city, the criminals need to go somewhere. When a suspected criminal is arrested, they're put to trial. If convicted, they are either fined, given some sort of probationary punishment, or sent to serve a certain term in the Vault. There is no death sentence. The vault is a massive extradimensional space constructed by the Academy, staffed by an immortal workforce of constructed. Beings there are kept in solitary confinement in sections of the vault based on how much of a potential threat they could be to others.

People serving short sentences for petty crimes are allowed a lot more time out of their cells. People serving life sentences rarely see anything other than the blank face of a construct. Rumours about that sinister acts are performed on lifers, using them for magical and surgical experimentation, among other things. These rumours are unsubstantiated, but whether that's because lifers are in for life or because they're false is unknown.

[Strawman]

Let's see...average humanoid, call it 6 feet tall. Roughly three feet of bracing below. About 4 feett minimum headspace on open streets. 13, maybe 12 minimum, double and add a little more to that for the wealthier people so they can have attics and maybe even basements...

Minimum height of a layer: 12 feet
Maximum heigh of a layer: 30 feet

There might have to be some exceptions for factories and things of that nature. I imagine the places that power the city will be huge. However, those could all be inside tunnels and caves, and not actually part of the layers of the city. It might be interesting to have a few layers reserved for and policed by tiny species. Those layers would be rare, and between 1 and 3 feet tall.

Also, the population of the city has been described as at least that of a small nation. Think about it in terms of a city in our world with skyscrapers. 20 layers (or a mix of skyscrapers and multiple story buildings) across 450 square miles (rougly the size of New York City) would have around 8.5 million inhabitents (if they were all human anyway). Do we want the population to be more than that and if so, should there be more layers, more square miles, or both?

[50cr4t3s]

I think that we're thinking about the size of this city in the wrong way. This city is MASSIVE. Parts of it are extra-dimensional in nature, it extends deep into the earth beneath it, it extends across a vast stretch of land beyond the canyon, its towers pierce the highest clouds, and it transcends the very planes.

A person could spend many, many lifetimes and never see half the city. Many of the people have probably never left their own districts.

The city is huge beyond the size of any city in the DnD universe and in the real world as well

[jagadaishio]

I agree. This city would be larger than the Tokyo/Yokahama area, LA, London, New York, Mexico City, and Moscow all put together. This would be the city to end all cities.

[Crafty Cultist]

idea: the chambers
other names: exile's cavern, the hole
government: anarchy
police force: the sentinels
the chambers are a group of mined out tunnels and caverns where dangerous criminals are sent. The sentinels make sure no-one leaves but other than that, no law exists. the chambers are an unpleasant subject that are rarely talked about among the city's other inhabitants.
what goes on there is unknown, but its no doubt unpleasant for most involved. the sentinels are lead by commander Tergan, a dwarven warrior of no small skill who has foiled every escape attempt in the last three decades. the council representative leutenant brigg is often requesting more funds for their efforts

btw: the chambers are warded against extadimensional travel

[BRC]

I was under that distinct impression as well. The only real difference between on a bridge and not on a bridge is that some buildings are built close enough to the edges that they can be anchored right to the rock walls. Most buildings, though, are suspended somewhere in the middle.

Name: The Vault
Other Names: Prison, The Pokey, The Clink, The Hole
Government Type: The Warden. The Warden, an supposedly immortal construct of vast intellect and magical prowess, is the sole governor of the Vault. It rules with a merciless iron fist, and communicates remotely with the city's council instead of going in person as the district's representative.
Police Force: The Guard. The Guard is made up mostly of sentient and mindless constructs, animated by the Warden to police the Vault. They are absolutely loyal to the warden, and follow its edicts without question.

With all of the people in the city, the criminals need to go somewhere. When a suspected criminal is arrested, they're put to trial. If convicted, they are either fined, given some sort of probationary punishment, or sent to serve a certain term in the Vault. There is no death sentence. The vault is a massive extradimensional space constructed by the Academy, staffed by an immortal workforce of constructed. Beings there are kept in solitary confinement in sections of the vault based on how much of a potential threat they could be to others.

People serving short sentences for petty crimes are allowed a lot more time out of their cells. People serving life sentences rarely see anything other than the blank face of a construct. Rumours about that sinister acts are performed on lifers, using them for magical and surgical experimentation, among other things. These rumours are unsubstantiated, but whether that's because lifers are in for life or because they're false is unknown.
It's a nice idea, but I don't think it should be the only place Criminals are sent. I imagine petty crimes are kept local, as the standard Bars and Lock are enough to handle most criminals. I don't think John Q Pickpocket is worth the effort it would take to imprison him in the Vault.


Which isn't to say the Vault isn't used. Big time criminals, and pretty much any criminal picked up by M.I. (which are the same thing. M.I. dosn't bother with small timers) do get sent there.

Also, the penalty for crimes depends on which district has jurisdiction. Some districts do have the death penalty, others do not. The Municipal Investigators, who gain jurisdiction over major criminals or criminals that try to flee between districts, does not have the Death Penalty however, so they send all their guilty criminals to the vault.

[jagadaishio]

It's a nice idea, but I don't think it should be the only place Criminals are sent. I imagine petty crimes are kept local, as the standard Bars and Lock are enough to handle most criminals. I don't think John Q Pickpocket is worth the effort it would take to imprison him in the Vault.


Which isn't to say the Vault isn't used. Big time criminals, and pretty much any criminal picked up by M.I. (which are the same thing. M.I. dosn't bother with small timers) do get sent there.

Also, the penalty for crimes depends on which district has jurisdiction. Some districts do have the death penalty, others do not. The Municipal Investigators, who gain jurisdiction over major criminals or criminals that try to flee between districts, does not have the Death Penalty however, so they send all their guilty criminals to the vault.

I did mention that the petty criminals are just let go. Most people who do get sent to the vault are only serving five to ten. It is a jail megaplex, and before their trials people aren't sent to the vault, they're held locally. The Vault is only for convicted criminals sentenced to a moderate or major term of stay. That's still tons of people, of course.

[BRC]

I did mention that the petty criminals are just let go. Most people who do get sent to the vault are only serving five to ten. It is a jail megaplex, and before their trials people aren't sent to the vault, they're held locally. The Vault is only for convicted criminals sentenced to a moderate or major term of stay. That's still tons of people, of course.
Maybe the Vault should also house the headquarters for M.I. It's well-protected, and if the investigators need to ask somebody they caught some questions, hey, they're right there.

[Crafty Cultist]

QUOTE]Name: The Vault
Other Names: Prison, The Pokey, The Clink, The Hole
Government Type: The Warden. The Warden, an supposedly immortal construct of vast intellect and magical prowess, is the sole governor of the Vault. It rules with a merciless iron fist, and communicates remotely with the city's council instead of going in person as the district's representative.
Police Force: The Guard. The Guard is made up mostly of sentient and mindless constructs, animated by the Warden to police the Vault. They are absolutely loyal to the warden, and follow its edicts without question.
[/QUOTE]

sorry, i didn't notice their already was a prison district:smallredface:

I guess i'm thinking of a section without laws that no-one has the manpower(or has been bothered) to get under control where the worst of the worst gather

[Strawman]

I've sketched (badly) a couple very very basic images of the city. These are just what the city might be, and I figure that they could be useful in discussing what we all want the city to look like. Considering how big the city will be, you can just ignore the distances drawn on the pictures. Feel free to be critical of my art skill as well. :smallbiggrin:

Of course, the real city would have way more buildings, and they would be smaller relative to the city. Very basic drawing.

http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af3/Strawman111/canyoncitybirdseye.jpg

http://i988.photobucket.com/albums/af3/Strawman111/canyoncityside.jpg

[jagadaishio]

I like the idea of a lawless ruined area, but I don't think that they would just deposit people there.

[Renrik]

I think the lower tunnels and maybe some poorer districts could pretty much fit the bill of a cut-throat society.

Which wouldn't technically be anarchistic, or lawless, by the definition of what law and anarchism is, but whatever.

I don't think we would need to flesh out the area too much except for specific people or establishments.

[50cr4t3s]

New Location (this location was mentioned before, but no one wanted to flesh it out, so I'll toss out some ideas here)

Name: Hedon
Other Names: The Pleasure District, The Flesh Market
Government Type: Madam and Master (independently expensive)
Police Forces: The police forces of this district have no actual name. Violators of the law in Hedon are captured and sold into the flesh trade until the debt of their offenses has been paid.

Hedon is a district devoted entirely to indulgences of the flesh. It is located in a cave below the city, with a wide entrance revealing a spiral expanse that continues deep into the earth. At the entrance to the District the shops include hundreds brothels catering to nearly every species. As people continue down the spiral, the cave contains shops catering to thousands of tastes that many might find "devient." As the districts continues down the spiral one begins to see shops catering to tastes viewed by all but the most depraved and vile individuals to be absolutely disgusting. Hedon is publicly denounced by nearly every Councilmen, yet despite this, Hedon is one of the greatest economic forces in the entire city.

[Strawman]

I like the Hedon district.

Will the city's laws allow slavery? And if so, what makes a person inelligable to be made into a slave? I imagine some districts will be against all slavery, and will simply not stand for any kidnapping off their population by slavers from other districts.

A couple of districts-

Name: The Art Community
Other Names: Bardnest, pretension-ville, party district.
Government Type: Oligarchy made of rich art patrons.
Police Forces: The Watch (if they have time). Law enforcement is poor in this district.

The Art Community mainly houses bards and bardic schools. There are also less spectacular artists there, and the patrons who commission their art. This is a small community with little wealth outside the patrons. However, much of the city’s culture and local color comes from this district. People will often come to this district for festivals, parties, and plays.

Name: The Monastery
Other Names: The district where time has stopped, purity-town, the awful lawful.
Government Type: The head abbot/abbess both rules this district and reports to the council.
Police Forces: Individual residents take care of themselves.

The Monastery is where monks, paladins, and other quiet lawful types go to meditate. Very little goes on here, except for the training of monks. It is the quietest part of the city, and it has the lowest crime rate. People may come here for quiet, for spiritual advice, or to convince one of the monks or paladins to help them with some good and lawful quest. The Monastery is located in the cave farthest from the city. The tunnel connecting the cave and the city is long and dark. This district is poor, mostly by choice of its residents.

[BRC]

A Note: some of these districts sound more like places that happen to be part of other districts. Like the Monestary mentioned above could probably be mixed in with the Temple District. The Academy might as well be merged with the Mages district.

[Renrik]

The art community should be a former Steamworks workers neighborhood that got gentrified. Ha. Pretensionville.

I don't think the monastery would be a district i its own right, or send a representative to the council, but it wouldn't be part of the temple district. Maybe it's near the seedier part of the tunnels. That could make things interesting.

[jagadaishio]

Name: The Mithral Heights
Other Names: Wingtown, The Clouds, Snob Heights, The Skydocks
Government Type: The Highest. Those who can afford it and live in the Heights pay their way onto a small committee which charges an exorbitant entrance fee. One of them is then chosen (they really just bribe bribe their way) into the great position of the Highest, who has the greatest authority over the Falcons and the rest of the committee.
Police Forces: The Falcons. The Falcons are a private paramilitary force funded by the richest of the rich people who live in the Heights. They're all equipped with the best of magical equipment and standard-issue flying devices and extremely finely crafted bows.

The Mithral Heights is the name of the district made up of the airship skydocks, floating platforms, and housing the surrounds the Tower, suspended in mid air. This district's population is largely made up of the richest of the rich, airmen, and aerial species. As such, the district ranges from very rich to very poor. The rich ones are the only ones with actual power, though, so that hardly matters as far as the rest of the city is concerned.

[jagadaishio]

I like the Hedon district.

Will the city's laws allow slavery? And if so, what makes a person inelligable to be made into a slave? I imagine some districts will be against all slavery, and will simply not stand for any kidnapping off their population by slavers from other districts.

A couple of districts-

Name: The Art Community
Other Names: Bardnest, pretension-ville, party district.
Government Type: Oligarchy made of rich art patrons.
Police Forces: The Watch (if they have time). Law enforcement is poor in this district.

The Art Community mainly houses bards and bardic schools. There are also less spectacular artists there, and the patrons who commission their art. This is a small community with little wealth outside the patrons. However, much of the city’s culture and local color comes from this district. People will often come to this district for festivals, parties, and plays.

Name: The Monastery
Other Names: The district where time has stopped, purity-town, the awful lawful.
Government Type: The head abbot/abbess both rules this district and reports to the council.
Police Forces: Individual residents take care of themselves.

The Monastery is where monks, paladins, and other quiet lawful types go to meditate. Very little goes on here, except for the training of monks. It is the quietest part of the city, and it has the lowest crime rate. People may come here for quiet, for spiritual advice, or to convince one of the monks or paladins to help them with some good and lawful quest. The Monastery is located in the cave farthest from the city. The tunnel connecting the cave and the city is long and dark. This district is poor, mostly by choice of its residents.

The Monastery is certainly just part of the Temple District and not a district in its own right. That Art District, on the other hand, is probably not its own district. Rather, it's more likely part of one of the market districts - a small neighbourhood within it.

[Renrik]

God, I want to play in this city.

[jagadaishio]

God, I want to play in this city.

Isn't that the point of a worldbuilding project?

[Renrik]

I suppose it it.

[Strawman]

Good point about The Monastery. I suppose that could be the nickname for a Place of Interest in The Temple District.

I still think that the Art District might be good as its own district. It could have circuses, stadiums, large stages, huge public sculptures and statues, museums, art markets, and entire buildings that have been painted with giant frescos and graffiti. Also, a big art community would be the best way to decide who the best artists were on a social level. Rich people who want to appear impressive would appreciate and cultivate an easy way to find and discern the best artists. This way they would not have to go artist hunting throughout various parts of the city.

It could also be an Entertainment District. All the art, plus colliseums, fighting pits, strip clubs, etc.

Also, The Falcons should have a secondary duty of scouting the airspace around the city. That is, when the rich people at Mithral Heights aren't having them catch every lowly pickpocket to muddy their doorstep.

[jagadaishio]

Good point about The Monastery. I suppose that could be the nickname for a Place of Interest in The Temple District.

I still think that the Art District might be good as its own district. It could have circuses, stadiums, large stages, huge public sculptures and statues, museums, art markets, and entire buildings that have been painted with giant frescos and graffiti. Also, a big art community would be the best way to decide who the best artists were on a social level. Rich people who want to appear impressive would appreciate and cultivate an easy way to find and discern the best artists. This way they would not have to go artist hunting throughout various parts of the city.

It could also be an Entertainment District. All the art, plus colliseums, fighting pits, strip clubs, etc.

Also, The Falcons should have a secondary duty of scouting the airspace around the city. That is, when the rich people at Mithral Heights aren't having them catch every lowly pickpocket to muddy their doorstep.

I like the idea of an Entertainment District a lot more, especially if it has all manner of other entertainment. It, of course, isn't as successful as Hedon, but it is a lot more family-friendly. I agree entirely on the Falcons.

[50cr4t3s]

Location
Name: The Collected Colleges
Other Names: The School, The Book Stacks, The Nerdland
Government Type: Merit based council of Experts
Police Force: Law Enforcement Network (devices mounted on every street corner and in every building are capable of immobilizing criminals until the Watch arrive)

The Book Stacks are the home of the most intelligent and best educated people in the city. These men and women are called upon by nearly every organization in the city, from the Streetbuilders and Merchant Agents to the Alliance and The Eyes, consult the Collected Colleges when they need the opinions of experts. The Collected Colleges have apparently made discoveries that allow technology to rival magic, but since magic is so much cheaper, these technologies have not spread to much of the city. The Steamworks owe much of their success to the developments and discoveries of Nerdland.

[BRC]

Location
Name: The Collected Colleges
Other Names: The School, The Book Stacks, The Nerdland
Government Type: Merit based council of Experts
Police Force: Law Enforcement Network (devices mounted on every street corner and in every building are capable of immobilizing criminals until the Watch arrive)

The Book Stacks are the home of the most intelligent and best educated people in the city. These men and women are called upon by nearly every organization in the city, from the Streetbuilders and Merchant Agents to the Alliance and The Eyes, consult the Collected Colleges when they need the opinions of experts. The Collected Colleges have apparently made discoveries that allow technology to rival magic, but since magic is so much cheaper, these technologies have not spread to much of the city. The Steamworks owe much of their success to the developments and discoveries of Nerdland.
The Collected Colleges sound like they could easily be combined with the Academy.

[Owrtho]

Just a thought I had for a district.

Name: Ravenshome
Other Names: That district, the place, that place, the district, place of the stone ravens, That place where those bloody bird statues are always watching everything you do
Government Type: Marital?
Police Forces: The Sentinels

No one is quite sure where it came from. One popular theory is that the place used to be the home of a powerful spellcasters who had somewhat better defenses than needed. Others say that it was always there and just hadn't been noticed until later. Still others say the Sentinels came with raiders from a random gate in the distant past. None the less, that the place exists can't be denied.

People who enter that district will quickly notice the abundance of raven statues, most of which are slightly larger than a human (usually the first notice it with the large pair that sit on either side of every way in and out). People who are there for more than a few minutes will notice the feeling that the statues are watching them, and don't seem to stay in the same place. Asking the residents will just get the answer that they're the sentinels. Thats about all that is known about them. It has been noticed though that while no one has ever seen them move, they do seem to do so, as sometimes they will show up where it is known there weren't any before, or not be where you just saw one. Similarly covering them will always result in the cover having somehow come off as soon as you aren't looking. Attempting to break them will result in it wither being intact again as soon as you look away, or it and the rubble missing when you look back again.
It is also noted that wherever you go, the statues are there. Even inside the buildings and homes, any room one enters there will always be one of the statues there. Due to this, the place is not very popular to live. The reason people will go there to live however is that it boasts the lowest crime rate of any place in the city. Something attributed entirely to the sentinels. No one is quite sure what they do, but people who break the law seem to have a high tendency to disappear the next time they go somewhere alone. Those that don't, usually the one with only smaller crimes, will usually find the place suddenly become dark, and the next time they can see they will find an ornate raven tattoo on their left hand and arm (its head on their hand and its wings extending up their arm). Looking closely one can see their crimes listed in over 100 languages making up the lines of the wings (which are proportional to their crimes and the severity of them in length). While normally harmless, if they try to cover it, they will feel a burring pain, after which they will find the mark has bled through what they used to cover it and the wings will be longer under the charge of avoiding justice. Some have tried going so far as to cut off their arm, which will have similar result with the whole mark showing up at the point they cut the arm off and the wings much larger under the charge of preventing justice. The mark is also noted to grow with every crime the person commits. No one is quite sure what else the mark does, but some have noticed that the statues that are around the person will frequently have red gemstones in their eyes, and that once the mark gets too large the people seem to vanish.
Due to this, criminals tend to avoid the place, and when they must enter are quite well behaved. Some have thought that if they leave they can remove the mark only to find that if they're mark is too large they can't seem to get past the sentinels at the exits of the place, and always seem to become disoriented and take a wrong path whenever they get too close. Others have tried having the mark dispelled or having it removed like a curse. None have been found to be effective, instead they will cause the mark to grow and a stone bracelet with a raven head carved in it will grow out of the persons arm, seeming to match up with the mark. These are found to be irremovable in a similar way to the mark, and are believed by many to be smaller portable versions of the sentinels. This has even lead to the theory that those who disappear are actually turned into sentinels. For such reasons those who are marked are often avoided by other criminals.
Those who have tried to use magic for crime in the district will also quickly find that the sentinels seem to be able to form an anti-magic field between three or more of them. Oddly enough, they seem to be able to function just fine inside the fields, or at least are believed to be able to (considering no one has ever seen them do anything). Their marks also seem unaffected by anti-magic fields, to the general dismay of their bearers.
Outside the sentinels, there is no government in the district. None seem to be able to gain any control over them, nor can they figure out why they are there or uphold the rules they do. The laws of the district are displayed on a pillar that was made in the center after the actions of the sentinels were found. The laws have been mainly determined by what people do before disappearing and what the marks say. Every so often someone will find a new offense that causes a mark to be found on them and it will be subsequently added to the list.
Also, while there is no real proof, there are some that would swear the district has been gradually getting bigger, and the sentinels at the exits have been getting further and further from the center over the years. Though most dismiss the idea as paranoid.

Owrtho

[50cr4t3s]

The Collected Colleges sound like they could easily be combined with the Academy.

The Collected Colleges are not supposed to be an actual school. It's really more of a home/office/lab for established experts in their respective fields. While the residents may continue their education at places like the Academy, the Collected Colleges is a forum of geniuses, not a school.

[BRC]

The Collected Colleges are not supposed to be an actual school. It's really more of a home/office/lab for established experts in their respective fields. While the residents may continue their education at places like the Academy, the Collected Colleges is a forum of geniuses, not a school.
What I mean is that the Colleges may be part of the Academy District. Within the Academy grounds, even though it's not technically part of the Academy.

[50cr4t3s]

What I mean is that the Colleges may be part of the Academy District. Within the Academy grounds, even though it's not technically part of the Academy.

Actually, in a city as large as the one we're making, the Academy District would actually have to have several satellite campuses throughout the city. The Collected Colleges would probably just be a neighborhood set-up by the Academy to house retired professors, associates, etc.

[BRC]

Actually, in a city as large as the one we're making, the Academy District would actually have to have several satellite campuses throughout the city. The Collected Colleges would probably just be a neighborhood set-up by the Academy to house retired professors, associates, etc.
Idea: When it was first founded, the Academy was much smaller. As the City grew, they soon found their current facilities insufficient for the large number of students they now found themselves faced with. The new Academy was built, and the old grounds were left abandoned for awhile, until abunch of old professors who still remembered the origional building, had it turned into what eventually became the Collected Colleges.

[Strawman]

I think that the official name for the unnamed district should by The Unnamed District. :smallbiggrin:

I think that there should be some way to uncover the mystery of the district. Perhaps a difficult quest offered by a concerned politician or a collector of secrets. Also, children who grow up in that district must develope some serious issues.

On a more general note, has anyone had any thoughts about what deities are in this setting. Will it borrow from an existing setting or have its own pantheon(s)?

There could even be a single deity or a pantheon that exists specifically for the city, given its huge size and population. The Steamworks god, whose avatars are made of pipes and steam. Hmmm... or not.

[50cr4t3s]

Idea: When it was first founded, the Academy was much smaller. As the City grew, they soon found their current facilities insufficient for the large number of students they now found themselves faced with. The new Academy was built, and the old grounds were left abandoned for awhile, until abunch of old professors who still remembered the origional building, had it turned into what eventually became the Collected Colleges.

I approve of this idea. It's an excellent compromise.

[BRC]

I approve of this idea. It's an excellent compromise.
You go to the Academy to Learn, you go to the Colleges to be Smart.

[Renrik]

I think that the official name for the unnamed district should by The Unnamed District. :smallbiggrin:

I think that there should be some way to uncover the mystery of the district. Perhaps a difficult quest offered by a concerned politician or a collector of secrets. Also, children who grow up in that district must develope some serious issues.

On a more general note, has anyone had any thoughts about what deities are in this setting. Will it borrow from an existing setting or have its own pantheon(s)?

There could even be a single deity or a pantheon that exists specifically for the city, given its huge size and population. The Steamworks god, whose avatars are made of pipes and steam. Hmmm... or not.

I think the DM gets to choose the secret of the district and how to find it out.

As for Gods? I don't know. We could make our own Gods or we could allow the DM to fill it in.

[Owrtho]

I think that the official name for the unnamed district should by The Unnamed District. :smallbiggrin:

I think that there should be some way to uncover the mystery of the district. Perhaps a difficult quest offered by a concerned politician or a collector of secrets. Also, children who grow up in that district must develope some serious issues.

Well, mainly I left the name black since I couldn't think of a suitable one. The other names such as that district and that place would be due somewhat to its infamy, especially among criminals (sorta like, "Where's Bob? Haven't seen him recently." "I heard he went to that place. With his kleptomania odds are he isn't coming back.").
As said, its up to the DM if the secret can be found and if so what it is. And yes, kids are likely to have issues from growing up there. And there are likely quite a few people in the city who are rather paranoid of raven statues as many of the residents of the district are people who thought they'd try raising they're kids where there isn't and crime (of note). They usually don't stay more than a few years, due to not being able to take the statues everywhere, but there ends up being a good number people who remember spending a few years there as children. Then there are the ones who spent all they're youth there. They tend to have it worse...

Owrtho

[BRC]

I bet the knowledge that almost anything you do could be in violation of some obscure law that you forgot about, or that they havn't put on the pillar yet, doesn't help much.

[Owrtho]

Yah. I'd also think it could be interesting if there were some rather odd ones. Like: When closing a door from inside a room with 6 other people in it and no other open doors, you must first trace a line from your left shoulder to your right shoulder with your right thumb and then nor your head to the left.

And then have some somewhat less odd things like how you must act when first entering someones home or the like. Due to such things it would be clear what people happen to have grown up there by certain little quarks they have.

Owrtho

[BRC]

You know what, lets call it "Ravenshome". Stick it right next to the necropolis...
Or did I just make a gratuitous Half-Life 2 Reference, because I think I did.

[Strawman]

I wonder how undead would act if they decided to visit or live in Ravenshome.

Also, perhaps Ravenshome should stay unnaturally clean and structurally maintained. I doubt that many city-wide organizations will want to enter Ravenshome regularly. Instead, the ravens, or something, maintains the district. This would increase the appeal of living there.

And if anyone decided to get rid of their trash by dumping it in Ravenshome and assuming it will just go away, bad things happen.

[Owrtho]

Good idea. I changed the name to Ravenshome. Also I had sorta imagined it as being rather clean. Also normally bright except around the perimeter. I'd think it would have magical lighting.
I would expect it to be surprisingly well maintained, and I kinda see it as having more stone buildings than most other places (also the lack of vandalism helps things last longer, and when it occurs it quickly goes away. Sometimes with the one who caused it). I could see some idiot trying to dump trash there too:
"Hah, now my trash is out of the way and time to go back to my district." few minutes later "Man, I coulda sworn this was the way out. Wait where am I. Now that I think about it these statues really are kinda creepy. I can't help but feel like they're watching me. Wait, there wasn't a statue there a minute ago. Hey, why'd all the lights go out. Someone Hel..."

Edit: Also I could see one of the rules being something like not lying about the products one sells. This would mean that Ravenshome would be a good place to go to avoid getting ripped off in the markets as you wouldn't need to worry much about people trying to sell false products.

Owrtho

[Renrik]

I wish there to be at least one establishment that travels through the city, perhaps blinking out and reappearing at vacant lots elsewhere on a semipredictable schedule. A magic shop would be an obvious choice and would work well, but a number of other buildings would be interesting. What if it were a crowded apartment complex? This apartment complex occasionally blinks out and appears in the next place in line. The people inside have some kind of very limited control over it, kind of like petitioning the building to move or not move. It would wreck havoc on their ability to hold a job, though. They would all have to be employed in home industries, probably with a couple of merchants or merchant collectives in their that buy from one district and then sell to the next. I imagine they would stop in The Necropolis, The Grove, Hedon, Gulliver's Heights, and a number of others.

[Strawman]

Some Places of Interest-

Name: Crystal Observatory
District: Mithral Heights
Description: Crystal Observatory is a huge telescope in Mithral Heights. Several rich professors from The Academy own Crystal Observatory. The telescope uses crystal lenses. The owners are always willing to spend their riches for better crystals that could allow them to see just a bit farther into space.

Name: The Copper Junkyards
District: The Steamworks
Description: Each Steamworks has a massive pile of junk and scrap metal. This pile is called a Copper Junkyard. Poor inventors and builders come here for supplies. The Wild uses the Copper Junkyards as examples of everything wrong with the city. Every now and then a rust monster emerges from a Copper Junkyard and attacks someone.

Name: Holy Ground
District: The Temple District
Description: The Holy Hands and The Holy Sword refuse to sell their fall comrades to the Necropolis. It is expensive, but they maintain their own graveyard.

Name: The City Forge
District: The Steamworks
Description: All of the giant pipes and machines in The Steamworks have to come from somewhere. Extraordinary craftsmen make them in The City Forge. It is a monstrously huge forge that many people cannot work in due to the extreme heats. Most of the people who work in The City Forge are old tough dwarves.

[BRC]

...did nobody pick up on the Half Life 2 Reference, you know, Ravenholm? With the Zombies?
Did I need to say "A cleric named Grigori lives there" or something?

[Renrik]

Sorry, never played Half-Life.

[Owrtho]

Nor I.

Also, I notice that we haven't done much of figuring out where the districts are in relation to each other or the approximate sizes of the districts (layer number and area). Might be a good idea to do so.

Owrtho

[Strawman]

I've cooked up some numbers. Let me know what you think.
Total population of city: 3,375,100,000.
Population of city(Canyon layers): 3 billion.
Length of Canyon: 400 miles.
Width of Canyon (average): 2000 feet.
Height of Canyon: 1600 feet.
Layers in Canyon: 40.
Average Height of a layer: 40 feet.
Height of the big tower (starting from top of city): 1000 feet.
Population of big tower: 100 thousand.
Number of extraplanar settlements: 50
Average population of extraplanar settlement: 50-100 million
Size of lake: 80 square miles. Between 10 and 500 feet deep.
Population on and in lake: 300 million.

If the average district contained 100 million people, there would be about 30 districts total. The average district size would around 13 miles long, with a presence on all 40 layers. Of course, this is just the average, and each district varies in its own way. Mithral Height, for example, is certainly not on the lower layers.

I think that if we are going to decide which districts go where, we should base that on historical and geographical reasons. Steamworks may be placed near the lake when possible, as water will be easier to obtain. The Temple District certainly will not be next to the Necropolis. The whole process would be a lot easier to go about if we came up with an exact idea of what the canyon’s geography was before the city was founded.

[BRC]

Is it wrong that we are nowhere near done with the setting, and I already wrote a short story set in it?
Graveyard Shift

Graveyard Shift
The Steamcart clattered along the deathly quiet streets, the Column and Road crest on it’s side proclaiming to all that it belonged to the Streetbuilders. Not that it could have belonged to anyone else. Such vehicles were rare outside of the Steamworks, and even then it wouldn’t be driven by a kobold, with a young human in the passenger’s seat and an ogre in the back. And even if such a group came together under other circumstances, they wouldn’t be escorted by a pair of steely-faced and suspicious-eyed Civil Servants
The Kobold spoke first. “Something the matter kid?”
“I just don’t like being here. I don’t feel safe.”
“The Necropolis is perfectly safe. The Bonesheilds will come down hard on anybody who tries to mess with us, and we’ve got the Civil Servants here in case they do.”
The Kid, whose name was Patrid, knew all these things to be true, but they gave him no confidence. He had grown up near the temple district, he’d volunteered at the Hands hospitals, and listened to the sermons. When possible, he always tried to attend services at the little all-purpose chapel that abutted the Streetbuilders barracks where he now lived. Because of this, he had trouble with the idea of trusting the undead, even those that belonged to the Order of the Bone Shield, and while the two Civil Servants certainly looked tough, he doubted they could do much against the shambling horde of flesh-hungry ghouls he expected to rush them from the shadows at every moment.
“Geeze kid, lookatcha. You were just fine on last weeks Trimming Job in the Oakgrove, and we all know what can happen on those. Besides, you get along just fine with Rattle”.
“Rattle’s not like these undead”. Patrid gestured at some of the zombies walking on the street outside the window.
“Of course not. He’s a skeleton. These guys are more similar to you than he is. At least they’ve still got flesh on ‘em”.
The Kobold, whose name was Kritlid, stopped the steamcart and checked his map. He didn’t want to admit to the kid that he’d felt the exact same way on his first job in the Necropolis. Perhaps less so, since his eyes were better in the dark, but not that much. He’d just have to get over it. The Streetbuilders served the city, not just the parts they liked. He’d feel better once the job got started, one he had something to do.
Kritlid stopped the cart in front of a derelict looking house and checked his map again. This was the place. He was about to tell everybody to get out and get started, but instead he turned to the human sitting next to him.
“Kid, you ever done a 470 before?”
Patrid shuffled through his memory. 400 jobs were for small groups, but he knew that from the team in the cart. His mental index came up blank. Then he remembered that the Ogre had brought his sledgehammer.
“A Demolition job?”
“Close, Demolition/repair. This building has some load-bearing pillars that are starting to crack. I don’t need to tell you what happens if they fail, especially with the new developments being built on the upper layers. What’s going to happen is this, Tark’s gonna knock out a pillar with his hammer, then we’re going to assemble the mold around it and pour the concrete. Now we’ve already got some reports of subsidence on the layers above, so we’ll want to be quick about it. Surveyor reports say we should have more than enough time to replace the pillars before things start collapsing on our heads, but that’s no excuse to dally once Tark’s done his thing. Now get out of the Cart and start unloading.”
As the Civil Servants took up their positions on either side of the doorway, the Streetbuilders began to haul their equipment inside. Patrid dropped the mold piece he had been carrying with a yelp when he witnessed somebody step out of the shadows.
Kritlid glared “Hey, you, get out of here. Streetbuilders at work yaknow.”
The figure, whose face was obscured both by the darkness and by a hood spoke, but without the
trademark rasp of the undead. “My apologies, I was merely interested in which pillars were scheduled
for replacement”. The figure gestured towards the red X’s the surveyor team had left on some of the pillars.
“Well you’ve seen. Now Git!”
“As you wish”. And with that the Figure slipped into the street.
“Who do you think that was?”
“A squatter probably, I dunno and I’m not interested. He wasn’t supposed to be in here and he knew it, but he also knew we weren’t going to go through the trouble of doing anything about it, which we aren’t. Now get those molds built”.
It took them ten minutes to assemble and place the first of the molds, getting it positioned around the first of the pillars. One everything was to his satisfaction, Kritlid gave the signal, and Tark hefted his hammer, smashing into the massive support pillar, and emerging from the other side.
“Nice swing Tark!” Patrid squealed, only to be cut off by the ogre’s grunt.
“Wasn’t me. Dis tings hollow”
Six eyes at varying heights off the ground looked in confusion at what, according to the records, was five feet by five by ten feet of mortared brick. Instead, they saw only one layer of brick, minus the hole the ogre’s hammer had made.
What was more disconcerting was what was inside. A Halfling, with a knife in his chest, lying slumped against the wall. A bottle of wine clutched in his hand.
“Hey, what’s the big idea!” the Halfling rasped.
Kritlid screamed a draconic word that translates to "Sleeping on rocks". Tark dropped his hammer, it punched a hole in the floor and interrupted a heated debate on the nature of life between two ghouls downstairs. Patrid simply fainted.

…To Be Continued, Maybe.

[Vadin]

Is it wrong that we are nowhere near done with the setting, and I already wrote a short story set in it?

On the contrary, that's excellent! The more like that the better!

Excellent adaptation of Poe, by the way. Just wonderful.

[Owrtho]

I'd expect that the layer height would be closer to 30' than 40'. Also, I'd say that none of the districts would likely span all the layers, and most would only be 5 layers or less (with a few larger ones like Necropolis). Also I take it you didn't factor in the caverns? Anyways, pre-city geography could be useful, but likely isn't that important in most cases as the city has likely overridden most of it by now.

As for the short story, that would be quite the opposite of bad.

Owrtho

[Strawman]

You know a setting is good if you enjoy simply reading stories that take place in it. Nice work BRC.

I forgot about the tunnels and whatnot.

Number of tunnels and caves: Uncounted, but estimated in the tens of thousands.
Population of tunnels and caves: Estimated 300-600 million.

[Renrik]

Another possible district, albeit perhaps a small one.

Name: Ungul
Other Names: Hoofs Heights, The Donkey Path, Animal Farm
Government Type: Tribal federation of centaur tribes, in which other
Police Forces: Various tribal forces enforcing unwritten but commonly understood law.

This town, which borders heavily on one of the Grove areas, is constructed entirely to fit the needs of four-legged inhabitants, and is as such inhabited primarily by centaurs, bauriars, unicorn, and their ilk. It has a certain resemblance to the grove, albeit with less trees, in that it is not all cobblestones and houses. The centaurs founded the district and maintain control over it, though other races therein increasingly demand representation in their government. They don;t push too hard, though- they'd rather live here unrepresented than live elsewhere with a vote, and the centaurs aren't particularly oppressive.

Now, to flesh out another district that needs it:

Name: Gulliver's Heights
Other Names: Bigtown, the Tall Heights,
Government Type: Thranething, a council made of representatives of each of the giant races living in the district, with speaking, nonvoting places for ogres and other non-giant big guys. How the selection works is left to each race. The Thranething chooses its representative for the council, currently a wealthy merchant named Jonyrhing 'Little Jon' Rhutthym, a fire giant of great size.
Police Forces: Mountain Guard, a force made up of various giant races, but with a disproprotionate number of Stone Giants and Fire Giants. Answers to the Thranething.

The giants in Gulliver's Heights tend not to venture into the uncomfortably cramped areas of the rest of the city, instead allowing little folk who would seek their company to brave the broad streets of Bigtown. Different parts of the district are dominated by different races of giant, and the clouds above it are stationary- they're part of the district, too, and the home of cloud and storm giants. The district has a few guest rooms in cupboards, closets, and such, for medium and small visitors. One curious bylaw of the community is that it is illegal to cultivate beans within its limits.

Smallville needs to be fleshed out at some point, too.

By the way, we need to have a post to set summarize everything we've got so far- the organizations, places of interest, etc.

Now, I think the entertainment district would have a thriving shapechanger community. So would Hedon, now that I think about it.

I imagine flying creatures would live just about all over the place, particularly in the first couple of layers from the top and the cloud cover. I suggest one of the top layers includes a tower, not nearly as large as the ridiculously huge one, that contains a flock or several flocks of raptorans.

[BRC]

Oh snap.
Graveyard Shift pt 2


Gordon Tordely consulted the address on the slip of paper and moved to put his glasses back on, only to remember he didn’t need them here. He was one of the lucky ones. He’d been found early, with a decent amount of cash on him, and by somebody who brought him straight to the Office of New Awakenings. As such, he’d been able to afford a tattoo of gentle repose that stopped the rotting before it began, which let him pass for human most of the time . But it couldn’t help his eyes. Nothing short of an illusion would make his eyes look anything but dead, and he didn’t feel like paying for something he could cover up with a pair of glasses. Besides, it was useful when he needed to unnerve a suspect. Still, he preferred to hide what he was.
But here, in the Necropolis that wasn’t a problem, so he left the glasses off and walked to the building, its “Work Zone” sign was covered up with one that read “Crime Scene”. A pair of Skeletons stood outside in black armor, wielding nasty looking maces and carrying shields of bone. He nodded to them and walked in. A Ghoul in a black cloak pinned with a clasp that looked like the shields outside was sniffing around.
“Hey there”, Gordon searched for a name, and made a guess “Chim?”
“It’s Chris, but nice try.”
“Alright Chris. Tell me what’s going on here.”
“A Streetbuilder team was in here, they knocked in the wall and found a secret room with a recently dead halfling”.
“Where’s the body?”
“Ran off as soon as they cracked it open. Knifed one of the Streetbuilders on the way out, we sent him to the Holy Hands, he should be fine.”
Gordon sighed. In a city where any fresh corpse could rise again, cases like this weren’t half as unusual as detectives would like, which brought up the question of why he had to handle it.
“Okay. Why did you call M.I. in. Why am I here”. It had been in the initial report, but Gordon had barely read it, and had forgotten pretty much everything about it on the way in.
“Suspected Alliance activity”
Oh boy, this was getting better and better wasn’t it. The Cutthroat alliance was the slipperiest band of criminals in a city full of them. Actually, being the most anything in a city like Iska was an achievement, considering it’s population was comparable to that of many nations. Either way, anytime the Cutthroat alliance was suspected to be involved with a crime, it instantly fell under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Investigators.
“All right. What makes you think ‘Alliance’”.
“The Streetbuilders said the corpse was fairly fresh, which means the murder happened recently, but their foreman said the brickwork is old, so the pillar wasn’t replaced recently. No signs of hidden doors or panels, which means magic. Big magic, which means Alliance”.
At this point Gordon accepted that this case did indeed fall under his jurisdiction, and was therefore his job to solve, unless he could pass it off to somebody else when he got back to headquarters. Either way, he was officially out of excuses to get out of here and go back to his book. Resigned to an investigation, Gordon looked around the scene.
The room was mostly barren, except for the stuff the Streetbuilders had brought in. A wheelbarrow stood to one side, it’s concrete now solidified past usefulness. A hole in the floor, some molds for the Concrete, a little bit of blood on the ground, and a scattering of bricks.
The hollowed out column itself proved even less useful at first sight. It seemed completely barren of everything except dust. Which is, in itself useful.
Gordon looked closely, there were two patches where the dust was lighter. One was definitely where the Halfling had been lying, but the other was been distinctly rectangular. Something, about a footacross either direction. He made a note of these things, then he reached and put on his glasses. Not the normal ones he used to hide his clearly dead eyes. The special ones with crystal lenses and silver frames that he’d bought from a fast-talking sorcerer in the Magic district. Technically, it was a business expense, but Gordon couldn’t find “Form 8b” or whatever the pencil pushers at Headquarters said he needed to fill out and then get approval from, at which point Gordon lost track. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the system was deliberately set up to be as difficult and confusing as possible.
Oh wait, he did think that.
He mumbled the words the sorcerer had taught him, then mumbled them again. Then he tried again, finally feeling the distinctive tingle as the magic on the glasses took effect.
A few seconds later, he began to see glows through the glasses. The faintest bit of necromancy from where the Halfling was. Some Abjuration on the square spot of less dust, and, ah, there it was. Conjuration on one of the walls. In a familiar pattern too.
“Yup, that’s an alliance door alright. I think this is everything I’ll get from this site, but send me your notes. You said they took the Streetbuilder to the Hands?”
“Yeah, Saint Radlen’s Mercy, on the outskirts of the Necropolis”.
Gordon Sighed. The Hands were okay, even though they always looked at him like some sort of sick freak, but they hung around with the Holy Swords, who always seemed about two inches away from chopping off your head and dumping holy water down your neck, but Gordon supposed it was unavoidable.
With a sigh Gordon took off the silver glasses and started for the door. He had a feeling that he should pull a flask out of his pocket and drink it, to fortify himself for what was to come. But then he remembered that M.I.’s were prohibited from drinking while on duty, and that he was physically incapable of getting drunk anyway. So instead Gordon just walked out into the unlit streets and tried to think of a way to get somebody else to handle this nightmare of a case.

[Owrtho]

Lol, poor M.I. having to deal with those slippery alliance members. I'm rather looking forward to finding out what happens next. Also, I'm just curious, but is this going to be just a small story that just shows things in the city, or more of a city legend story? Either way, keep up the good work.

Owrtho

[50cr4t3s]

New Location
Name: The Hunting Ground
Other Names: The Jungle, The World in a Box
Government Type: None
Police Force: None (occasionally the Rangers try to reassert control over this district, with no success)

As the city grew, and began to incorporate more and more species into it's citizenry, it became apparent that many of these species had a physical or psychological need to hunt. These citizens obviously couldn't roam the streets for prey, and so a district was built. Backed by the combined wealth of many rich adventurers, The Hunting Ground was built as an enormous big-game park for citizens who wished to hunt and kill for food or sport. The park was originally populated with only mildly dangerous animals, but many adventurers who hunted for sport were not satisfied with easy prey. With the help of the Cut-throat alliance, highly dangerous animals were smuggled into the Hunting Ground. The first of these creatures were quickly hunted down and killed, but the hunters demanded even more challenging prey. Finally, the Alliance smuggled in creature too powerful for these hunters. The Hunting Ground soon became overrun with the most terrifying creatures imaginable. The owners of the district begged the Rangers of the Grove (the most experience and capable hunters in the city) to bring the Hunting Ground under control. The Rangers refused at first, but when the creatures started to escape the Jungle and spill into the city proper, they reluctantly agreed. After months of trying to cull the monsters of the Hunting Ground, the Rangers advised the City Council to have the street builders seal the Hunting Grounds forever. The Hunting grounds remain sealed to this day, The only exceptions to this are the occasional attempts by the Rangers to retake it, and the rumors that the Alliance will grant people access for the right price.

[Strawman]

I imagine breaking the seal on The Hunting Ground will be The Wild's highest priority. They may even have some of their own people trapped in The Hunting Ground from when it was sealed up. Those people would try to secretly kill off The Rangers who try to clear out The Hunting Ground.

I can't imagine The Wild would imprison beasts in the city, so it is a good idea that The Alliance originally built The Hunting Ground. Maybe back when it was made, The Wild didn't exist yet.

Also, The Hunting Ground will make for a great plot hook if the players are a nature-based party.

Graveyard Shift is great. It introduces so much of the city, and provides so much flavor. It's the kind of story that would be on page 10 of a hardcover DnD book, so that players get the feel of something before reading all the little details.

[Renrik]

Yeah, Graveyard shift is excellent.

[BRC]

The Hunting Ground looks great. It should probably be in what was once a grove district.

Also, Graveyard Shift

The Halfling huddled in an alleyway. He shouldn’t have stabbed the human, he realized that now. It was the outfit. The Face had been wearing that outfit. He didn’t know the Faces name. He felt he had known that name once, but did not now. All he knew was the Face, staring at him, that was the last thing he knew before the Hammer. He wished he knew The Face’s Name. He wished he knew his own name.
As his mind reached into the foggy, death-clouded memories, the word “Quick” floated up, and the Halfling decided that it was his name.
Quick stumbled through the streets of the necropolis, wondering why he knew, really knew, knew in the same way he knew he had hands. Why did he know that he could get through any of the locks on that street in less than five seconds.
__________________________________________________ ____________
Gordon made sure his glasses were on before he approached the hospital. He was still technically in the necropolis, but here on the outskirts the living were actually in the majority, and he didn’t feel like aggravating the Swords any more than necessary.
As he walked towards the engraved doors, an armored figure with a Red and White tabard stepped to block his path.
“You hide your nature, but I see you for what you are, Dead Thing. If things were as they should be, I would strike you down right now, for you are a-“
“Can it. You’re on guard duty, not a crusade, and I haven’t done anything aggressive, so if I see so much as an inch of steel, I’ll have you brought in for Assaulting a Municipal Authority”.
Gordon reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. “Detective Gordon Tordley, Municipal Investigations, I’m on the job, so move it”.
The Sword grumbled and stepped aside, allowing Gordon entry to the Hospital.
__________________________________________________ ______________
The Grindly Arch (Fig 2), can only have a maximum width of 10 feet before it loses structural integrity. However, at a five foot width, it can support considerable weight depending on the materials used (Table 3).
Patrid was about to read table 3 when he heard a knock on the door. He looked up to see one of the clerics that had treated him standing in the doorframe. Behind her was a pale looking man in a rumpled leather coat, battered hat, dark glasses, and a grey shirt.
“Are you okay Patrid? This is Detective Tordley, he wants to ask you a few questions about what happened”.
There was something odd about the way the detective walked, but Patrid couldn’t quite put his finger on in. The detective looked down at the book he had been reading.
“Studying?”
“Yeah. I’m supposed to take my Apprentice Engineer exams in a month. Rattle lent me this book, he’s an engi-”
“Well good for you. I hope you pass. Now, I need to know what happened with the Halfling”.
“Um…”
“Start with a description. You got the best look at him”.
“He was…um…short, with dark hair, he had a knife in his chest, and then…”
“He stabbed you with it, I know that part. What’s next”.
“He ran really fast, I mean, I passed out, but I heard that he got away before the Civil Servants could grab him, and…um…”
“Do you remember what he was wearing?”
“No, not really, it all happened so fast.”
Internally, Gordon sighed. This wasn’t helping. It always happened “so fast”. A golem could stumble into a crowded room, stab somebody twenty times with a butter knife, then stick around to talk politics for twenty minutes, and everybody would say “it all happened so fast”.
“There were two people with you. Where are they now?”
“Well Tark couldn’t fit into the hospital, Kritlid stuck around for abit, but now they’re both back at the barracks probably”.
__________________________________________________ _______________
Tark is an ogre name, and Kritlid sounded like a kobold. Halflings didn’t get along well with either of them. Prejudices like that tend to survive the transition between life and undeath. So why did this Halfling stab the human, and where did this speed come from? Even accounting for the surprise, the civil servants at the door should have had time to block it. This also didn’t seem like blanket aggressiveness some undead feel towards the living. This Halfling had the presence of mind to pull a knife out of it’s own chest, use it, then flee. If he was mindless or semimindless, he probably would have just started trying to pummel the ogre with his fists. Something was definitely off here.
After confirming that the useless kid didn’t remember anything else, and would work with an M.I. sketch artist, Gordon left him to his studies. He doubted the other witnesses would be any more helpful, and the sketch artist would probably end up with something completely useless. He contemplated calling in sick, but then remembered that he couldn’t get sick, on account of the whole undead thing.
__________________________________________________ _______________
The Man who had been lurking in the building stepped out of a wall and approached the table.
“We’ve got a problem. The Streetbuilders found Quickfinger. It looks like M.I.’s involved”.
“Have they identified the body?”
“Not likely, it ran off on them”.
The room was silent for a minute.
“… Sometimes I hate this town.”

[Strawman]

Edited to make story more congruent with what was already established about The Wild.

I came up with a story involving the wild. Some people say this is how The Wild got started, while others say that it merely boosted their ranks.

Before the city was made, there was a large lake downstream of the river flowing through the canyon. As the city grew, it became a dam for the river. This caused the slow formation of a lake upstream of the city, and the slow draining of the lake downstream.

Many of the original lake's inhabitants moved to the new lake. In the process, they became accustomed to the city, and the new lake was assimilated into the city.

Eventually the old lake became a barren desert. The stubbon people who stayed at the old lake grew to hate the city. Many of them decided to infiltrate the city and destroy it from within, so that nature could reign supreme once more. They formed an organization, The Wild. Since then, The Wild has become an organization that has people from many different places, and from all walks of life. Their ideologies have also become more diverse.

Some people from the old lake stayed in the desert, strange people that survive as well in water as they do in a barren wasteland. The citizens of the city avoid the desert, and travellers coming to the city through the desert often go missing.

[jagadaishio]

Graveyard Shift is made of all kinds of sparkling (gritty) win.

I agree about the hunting ground being some kind of converted grove district. It would probably have been bought out from those living there by the original corporate sponsors with the promise that it wouldn't be converted into city or building materials or in any other way destroyed. I imagine that the rangers that they send in would face huge casualties but, in return, would not only see the equivalent of 'combat pay,' but would also be paid a certain amount if they bring back a piece of what they killed based in the danger it posed (CR squared times an integer?).

I like the layout of Gulliver's Heights. I picture the stable clouds of the cloud and storm giants to be something of massive floating palaces (the sort of place where even the help is richer than the visitors). Is the Mountain Guard less of a police force and more of a paramilitary law force? It seems like it would be that way to me. Oh, and I found it fantastic when it was mentioned that guest rooms would be in cupboards and closets. Even a cupboard of a colossal creature would be massive, especially by the cramped apartment standards that most of the city faces. I feel like even if it isn't one of those most populous districts, it would be one of, if not the, largest district in terms of area covered. It would also have to have fewer, thicker layers with much heaver (adamantine?) supports.

Changelings, Doppelgangers, and the like would flock to Hedon and the Entertainment District, but most shapechangers I think would not.

I imagined that most aerial races, like the raptorans, would tend towards Mithral Heights. That's kind of the point of the place. Airmen from airships and the falcons, aerial races, and rich people would be the people who live there. Fliers that live elsewhere in the city would probably just try to be on the top layer or two of their respective district. Fliers too poor to live where there's open sky would probably have much higher rates of depression and erratic behaviours, and would likely be the poorest of the poor. Cure Mental Wounds, anyone? In all realism, though, they would probably go to the healing hands frequently for Calm Emotions, just so that they can relax every now and then even without soaring.

Districts
The Necropolis: A district of undead, policed by the Order of the Bone Shield, who are involved in capturing and punishing undead criminals and rogue mindless undead city-wide. Contains a gate to the Negative Energy plane, where rich undead build homes. Bodies from the rest of the city are sold to the Necropolis for labor and dietary needs of its citizenry.
Primordium: The seat of the city's ruling council, a pocket dimension in the original village from which the city was founded.
The Steamworks: A steam-powered industrial district. It is actually made up of a number of unconnected sites scattered throughout the city. Most of the city's technological advances, refined metals, and other manufactured objects come off of a Steamworks line. There is enormous conflict and strain between merchant managers and unions in the district. The steamworks hold gates to the elemental planes of both fire and water to allow for infinite steam power.
The Mage's District: A district set up by and for magic users. It has a gate to the astral plane, around which was constructed the Bazaar of the Bizarre. All manner of constructs and magical items come from this district. Those who need to commission a magical service need only come here to find it.
Customs and Immigration: A district that has a number of artificial gates which open to a variety of planar cities periodically to let in waves of new citizens. Potential citizens who aren't useful, who are impoverished, or who don't have a useful skill are turned away.
The Grove District: A district whose layers are made up of massive living trees. Rangers, druids, fey, treants, and other nature beings make their homes here. The Streetbuilders have to work almost constantly keeping the various groves navigable by walkways in the branches. The Groves export large amounts of fruit and edible fungi to the rest of the city.
The Draconic Heritage Collective: A district of beings with dragonic blood built around a temple dedicate to two ancient dragons (one red, one gold) within. The ancient dragons started a game of strategy against each other centuries ago. They have since become players of business and are the two richest individuals in the city.
The Commons: Not so much a true district as the place in between districts. Tends to house lots of housing with only a few shops or taverns. The suburbs of the city. Is policed by volunteer neighbourhood watches and the occasional M.I.
The Academy: A massive macro-school of all manner of higher learning. Mages, mechanists, and other scholars are trained here. Most move on to the district of their profession (the Mage's District and the Steamworks respectively for the listed examples) when they finish their training. Some, however, remain to study new concepts and make breakthroughs of their own. Such individuals lead a life of learning.
Lake District: A district of floating buildings with prime apartments and underwater communities for water-breathers. Is a massive source of fish and edible water-borne plants.
Stadel: A district which vanished suddenly and existed in a void for centuries. One day it returned as suddenly as it vanished, having apparently survived the void by the skill and guidance of the Stadel family. After returning, they fought a short battle with the rest of the city before being comforted. To this day they are largely isolationist and xenophobic.
The Vault: An extradimensional prison where convicted criminals serve their sentence. It is policed and wardoned by constructs. It is rumored that terribly magical experiments are perpetrated upon the people jailed for life.
Entertainment District: A district of theatres, musicians, artists, and performers. People go here for family-friendly and though provoking entertainment. They also go here to see people gutted by each other in gladiatorial fights. It's a very popular district.
Temple District: A district of temples, hospitals, and academies for paladins, clerics, and other clergy. People go here to worship and receive aid from their organizations. The temple district at large publicly denounces, and would have made war to if not for the law, the Necropolis. A portal to the positive energy plane exists here.
Mithral Heights: An elitist community of aerial races, airmen, and rich people built around a massive mithral tower. There are many floating islands and air docks that make up this community. They are policed by a privately hired force of magically-aided flying archers known as the Falcons.
Hedon: A red light district built in a spiral pattern in one of the larger cavern networks of the city. The deeper down the spiral that a person goes, the more perverse and disturbing the wares offered becomes. Most people can't even bring themselves to walk all the way to the bottom. There are technically no layers in this district, as it is a spiral. People found to be committing a crime are captured and sold into slavery in this district until they pay off their debt.
Ravenshome: A district full of raven statues. Those that break major laws disappear. Those that break minor laws have their offenses appear in a tattoo on their arm, listed in over 100 languages. Those that conceal their tattoo feel pain, and concealing their offence is added to the tattoo as a crime. Those whose tattoos get too large disappear. Anywhere you go in the district, there is always at least one raven visible. The crime rate in this district is incredibly low, and people who grow up here almost always end up with some sort of mental or emotional issues.
Collected College: A sub-community of the Academy, its purpose is as a lab and research ground for professors and other people who make their own education their life instead of a career.
Ungul: A small community attached to one of the groves designed around the needs of four-legged creatures of the city. It was designed and built by centaurs, and it is still administered by them to this day.
Gulliver's Heights: A district built by and for the creatures of size large and larger of the city. It has stable clouds above it for cloud and storm giants. They mostly keep to themselves, but tend to keep cupboards or closets converted to (massive) guest rooms for any miniscule, medium or smaller guests. It is the largest district, if not the most heavily populated.
The Hunting Ground: A corporately sponsored hunting grounds for big game hunters and creatures that have a biological or psychological need to hunt. The Alliance smuggled in more dangerous creatures for bored hunters. Some of the creatures were too dangerous to successfully take down, and the grounds grew overrun with dangerous creatures. It was sealed off from the public, and grove rangers frequently make raids to try to regain control, gaining combat pay and a bonus based on the danger of creatures they take down. The Alliance still smuggles in skilled or stupid hunters and the Wild seeks to release the seals, allowing the dangerous creatures to return the city to a natural state.

Organizations
Cut-Throat Alliance: An organization that makes crime a business. Comprised of 80% of the organized criminals and 50% of the disorganized criminals in the entire city. Potentially the most powerful single organization, they have hidden teleportative gates throughout the city for their agents to use for a variety of purposes.
The Streetbuilders: A municipal organizations of builders, their primary purpose is to make sure layers don't collapse down on each other, an almost constant task. When they finish repairing everything, they're given a public building task. Most such buildings are unfinished when the Streetbuilders are called back to their repair work, and sit unfinished forever.
The Eyes: A now illegal network of divination aided and amazingly skilled spies who keep track of everything going on in the city. Founded under a former regime, and since outlawed, they still report to the city's council, who do not publicly condone their actions. For the right price, they can provide amazing information.
The Holy Hands of Saint Merkiel: A coalition of healers who have set up hospitals in every district in the city. They publicly, vocally oppose the existence of the Necropolis and undead in general. They take no hostile actions, but offer euthanasia to any undead that enter, much to the dislike of the Necropolis's residents.
Humans First: Humans first is a speciest organization which exalts humans and wants all other races to get out. They hold that the original village was a human village, and therefore only humans deserve to be residents. They are often ignored, in spite of rumors that many policy-making officials are secretly members.
Civil Servants: A public bodyguard service for other public service organizations like the Streetbuilders. They are not a police force. Their sole task is to protect their charges.
Municipal Investigators: An organization to handle trans-district criminals, the Alliance, and other such criminals. They serve principally as investigators, and rarely perform arrests, but will do so if needed. They are called in on every Alliance-suspected crime.
The Collective: A communist pro-union organization in the Steamworks. The unions don't official endorse it. Its actions tend towards protest, sabotage, and even attack on the merchant managers.
The Wild: A neoprimitivist organization made up of druids, rangers, and other pro-nature organizations. Their long-term goal is to return the area covered by the city to a state of nature. They seek to break the seals around the Hunting Grounds and let nature do its work on the rest of the city.

Other
Random Gates: Random gates will sometimes appear throughout the city for random amounts of time. Magical devices which provide a countdown for the gate's disappearance and devices which hold open the gates are (relatively) common.
Gate Raiders: Occasionally, bizarre or random-looking humanoids will spill out of a random gates, stealing, killing, and retreating back into the gate just as it closes. Those that are captured die shortly after the gate closes and, as such, current policy is to just kill them outright. No two look alike. Sometimes a marauding monster will spill out instead of raiders. People looking to get on the good side of local police are well-advised to put down such monsters - if and only if they have sufficient skill to.
Crystal Observatory: An observatory built in the Mithral Heights by professors from the Collected College. They are always looking for new, better crystals to use as lenses, and are willing to pay exorbitantly for them.
Copper Junkyards: The various scrapyards of the Steamworks. Poor tinkers and mechanist will go here for raw materials, and it is seen as the ultimate sign of the waste and corruption of cities by the Wild. Rust monsters tend to live here, much to the chagrin of anyone walking past with a particularly delicious piece of metal on their person.
Holy Ground: The holy graveyard in the temple district. They refuse to sell their dead to the necropolis, and therefore maintain this expensive burial ground with the tithes of their congregations.
The City Forge: The single largest forge in the city. The truly massive machines that the rest of the Steamworks often need for their jobs are forged here. It is staffed almost exclusively by tough, old, skilled mechanist dwarves.

We still need Smallville and still need to flesh out the communities of the tunnels.

[Renrik]

I came up with an origin story for The Wild.

Before the city was made, there was a large lake downstream of the river flowing through the canyon. As the city grew, it became a dam for the river. This caused the slow formation of a lake upstream of the city, and the slow draining of the lake downstream.

Many of the original lake's inhabitants moved to the new lake. In the process, they became accustomed to the city, and the new lake was assimilated into the city.

Eventually the old lake became a barren desert. The stubbon people who stayed at the old lake grew to hate the city. Many of them decided to infiltrate the city and destroy it from within, so that nature could reign supreme once more. They formed an organization, The Wild.

Others stayed in the desert, strange people that survive as well in water as they do in a barren wasteland. The citizens of the city avoid the desert, and travellers coming to the city through the desert often go missing.

I was thinking of the Wild as less of an ethnic, homogeneous group and more of a loose, diverse ideological network, kind of anarcho-primitivist in nature, like the radical forest defenders in the pacific northwest. I mean, I like this story, but not as an origin. Maybe just as a group of people that bolstered the Wild's membership.

[Renrik]

We can probably put in another twenty or so districts before the city is full, with corresponding legions of organizations, places, and characters of interest.

[BRC]

I was thinking of the Wild as less of an ethnic, homogeneous group and more of a loose, diverse ideological network, kind of anarcho-primitivist in nature, like the radical forest defenders in the pacific northwest. I mean, I like this story, but not as an origin. Maybe just as a group of people that bolstered the Wild's membership.
It works as an origin story for the Wild, somthing that happened long long ago. Currently, it's as you described, a loose organization of people with similar opinions.

And maybe that's just the story the Wild tells of it's origins that nobody else believes.

Also, another 20 districts is kind of pushing it as complexity goes.

[Renrik]

I see your point. Good point.

[Strawman]

Oh, I didn't mean to imply with the story that it was a homogenous group. I'll edit the details.

Organization - Shadow Martyrs

This organization is basically a guild of thieves and sneaky types that are good aligned. They try to improve the city through stealing from bad people, giving to poor, and ambushing evil people. Paladins are not fans of them, and many people do not trust them. The Shadow Martyrs try to have a presence in every district. Many thieves who do not want to be spies for a government or a member of The Alliance decided to join the Shadow Martyrs. They enjoy etching their symbol in the wall of any place where they did a good deed. Their symbol is a balrog with a dagger in its back. The Shadow Martyrs typically wear a cloak designed to blend in with cobblestone roads.

Some members of the Shadow Martyrs claim that their actions are the only thing keeping The Alliance from ruling the city. No one knows enough about either organization to verify the claim.

Organization – Cave Knockers

This organization is mostly comprised of dwarves. The organization designs where a new tunnel goes, and makes sure it is safe. They also regularly do maintenance on older tunnels. This organization is required for two reasons. One is that the Street Builders have a different set of skills for maintaining a city. The other is that when making tunnels, the occasional ancient evil or burrowing monster is uncovered. The Cave Knockers are tough and well equipped for a surprise enemy.

Many groups try to build tunnels without the permission of the Cave Knockers. For this reason the Cave Knockers have to regularly map out the tunnel system to make sure there are not extra tunnels. The maps are available to buy, or steal, from important members of the Cave Knockers.

Oh, and for those that don’t know, knockers are mythological creatures from Northern Europe. They were said to warn miners of cave-ins by knocking on the wooden support beams. That’s where the organization’s name comes from.

[50cr4t3s]

1. I'm also not crazy about that origin for the Wild. I really like parts of it, but other parts kinda stick out. One example, a desert near the city would not remain one for long, as the city easily has the resources and tech to irrigate it and turn it into a highly developed area. Again I think parts of the origin are good, but it needs more work. Also, I too thought of them like the radical forest defenders in the pacific northwest.

2. In the interest of adding to our district count.
Name: The Dark City
Other Names: The City of Midnight, Underland, Downtown
Government Type: Aristocratic Republic
Police Force: The Dark Army (A standing army supported by the aristocrats who maintain martial law in this district.)

As the mines of the great city continued down into the earth, it was only a matter of time before the City came face to face with the elves of the Underdark. The first miners to encounter the Drow in these deep caverns never returned to the surface. The city sent M.I. agents to investigate the disappearances, and they quickly learned of the miners fate. A brutal war was fought between the Underdark and the surface. However, by this time the City was already so massive, its forces simply overwhelmed the unsuspecting Drow, until they were trapped in their own city with the enemy closing in. The Matriarch of the Drow refused to surrender. She planned to fortify herself within a fortress she had instructed her most powerful mages and skilled craftsmen to build at the city's center, where she was confident she could outlast the will of these invaders. It became clear to many nobles of the Drow, that the Matriarch had limited room in her fortress, and would take only a small number of nobles with her. Outraged by here strategy, a large number of Drow nobles defected to the City and attack the Matriarch's forces. The coup was quick and bloody, but the Matriarch did escape with a small circle of nobles to her fortress. To this very day, the Dark Army besieges this fortress in a never ending vigil.

The remainder of the Drow agreed to be annexed by the City. Most civilians have left the Dark City district in the many years since the siege began, and it is mostly inhabited by the Dark Army and their families, and the few Drow too stubborn to be uprooted. What used to be the civilian quarters of the city have been converted into employee housing used by mining corporations for their deepest expeditions, and much of there former merchant district has been converted into a large branch of the Steamworks.

[Renrik]

I imagine the Collective would be rather big fans of the Shadow Martyrs, even if not every Collective member is, strictly speaking, good aligned.

[Owrtho]

I think it would be fine to have 20 or so other districts. After all, this is a large city. Also many people likely won't travel to most districts. I'd also note that the most districts likely don't play a huge role in the most people's lives. While necropolis, the temple district, and the entertainment district (as well as maybe a few others) are important to the general running of the city, only a (relatively) small group will be likely to go to Primordium, the Lake District, Mithral Heights, Ungul, etc. Largely this is because these tend to be more residential districts (not that they don't have shops, businesses, etc. but they exist more to cater to a specific group). As such there could be around 20 more without too much complexity (then again 10 more could be enough with others left up to the individual DM).

Also, for two other district ideas:

Name: Everdark
Other Names: The lightless district, the dark place
Government Type: Council with members chosen by the main groups as they see fit
Police Force: The Lurkers

Everdark is a place mainly for nocturnal creatures. As such any form of light is not allowed in public. This tends to mean that people who lack the ability to see in the dark must usually get magical help or a guide. The Lurkers are a police force that focuses on stealth. Members are generally so good at hiding that even those who see easily in the dark are likely to miss them. As such it is no uncommon for newer criminals in the district to find they are attempting to commit a crime only a few feet from a Lurker.

Name: Shadowgate
Other Names: The place of shadows
Government Type: not sure, someone else decide
Police Force: The Shades

Bordering on Everdark, it is hard to say which is darker. Shadowgate is noted for its large number of gates to the plane of shadows. And due to the general populace and decor, it can often be hard to tell when you accidental step through one. The large number of gates are usually marked, though occasionally a new one appears or one closes. This is in part due to the citizens taking advantage of them to populate both the material plane version and the shadow plane version of the district. As such when trying to find a location it is often important to check which plane it is on. While light is allowed, unlike in Everdark, it is rare to see the inhabitants using it, and there are no streetlights. The Shades are a rather normal (if somewhat shady) police force, with the exception that all members much be able to freely cross between the material plane and the plane of shadows.

Owrtho

[jagadaishio]

I like the idea of the Shadow Martyrs, but I think that it should be taken in a different direction. It should be made up of people disenfranchised by the Alliance who seek to gain reparations from them with vigilante activities. They steal and break knees of Alliance members, keep a cut for themselves, and then distribute it to other victims. Most victims aren't willing to stand up and fight, though, so they make do with what they can, trying to take back the city, or at least resist, on a case by case basis. They would, of course, by hunted by the M.I. as a small but pervasive inter-district vigilante organization.

I cannot imagine Everdark and Shadowgate being two different places, and I cannot imagine them being placed anywhere other than in one of the underground areas. It's just too convenient for them to be there than anywhere else. I could see it being in some sort of massive cavern beneath or bordering on the Necropolis. That, or in one of the caverns connected to the Dark City.

The Cave Knockers I like. I imagine that they would be closely aligned with the Streetbuilders.

[Strawman]

I like the idea of the Shadow Martyrs, but I think that it should be taken in a different direction. It should be made up of people disenfranchised by the Alliance who seek to gain reparations from them with vigilante activities. They steal and break knees of Alliance members, keep a cut for themselves, and then distribute it to other victims. Most victims aren't willing to stand up and fight, though, so they make do with what they can, trying to take back the city, or at least resist, on a case by case basis. They would, of course, by hunted by the M.I. as a small but pervasive inter-district vigilante organization.


That's a cool way to go with it. It's a lot less generic than the original idea.

[50cr4t3s]

new organization
Name: The Gatekeepers

Ever since the first gate to unleashed the strange and mysterious raiders opened, the Gatekeepers have been looking for them. Although they keep a small presence in the city to assist local police in defense against the raiders, the majority of the Gatekeepers and not even in the city. Gatekeepers organize themselves into patrols, searching the multiverse for the origin of the plague that haunts their great city. Patrols leave the city for months, sometimes years, return to resupply and leave to continue their search.

Gatekeepers sign on for a certain number of patrols (depending on destination and length of the patrol overall), after which they are given the option to leave or sign up for a new patrol. It is considered a great community service to have gone on patrol with the Gatekeepers, and adventurers wearing a Gatekeeper membership ring rarely pay for their own drinks.

[Vadin]

new organization
Name: The Gatekeepers

Ever since the first gate to unleashed the strange and mysterious raiders opened, the Gatekeepers have been looking for them. Although they keep a small presence in the city to assist local police in defense against the raiders, the majority of the Gatekeepers and not even in the city. Gatekeepers organize themselves into patrols, searching the multiverse for the origin of the plague that haunts their great city. Patrols leave the city for months, sometimes years, return to resupply and leave to continue their search.

Gatekeepers sign on for a certain number of patrols (depending on destination and length of the patrol overall), after which they are given the option to leave or sign up for a new patrol. It is considered a great community service to have gone on patrol with the Gatekeepers, and adventurers wearing a Gatekeeper membership ring rarely pay for their own drinks.

So, they're out searching the multiverse for who/whatever it is that creates the spontaneous portals into the city? I like it. A great idea for a campaign: heroic tier- do errands for the big guys to appease informants, paragon tier- go out and find informants and search for new leads, epic tier- deal with eldricht horrors and ancient monsters that can offer new insight into how these gates can be stopped, tracked, and created.

[Owrtho]

I cannot imagine Everdark and Shadowgate being two different places, and I cannot imagine them being placed anywhere other than in one of the underground areas. It's just too convenient for them to be there than anywhere else. I could see it being in some sort of massive cavern beneath or bordering on the Necropolis. That, or in one of the caverns connected to the Dark City.

Well, they're adjacent because of their similarity. However, they are distinct districts in that the Everdark lacks all the gates to the plane of shadows, and as such lacks some of the other things resulting from them. The main reason it was set up as a separate district was due to the fact that while at first many nocturnal creatures were attracted to Shadowgate, most soon decided they'd rather not live there. Largely due to the fact that the plane of shadows tends to have some rather, less desirable side effects. As such those who didn't want to deal with said side effects just moved over to just outside they're influence and set up Everdark. Also, no reason they can't be in caves. There's already atleast one district in caves (I'm talking bout you Hedon).

Owrtho

[Strawman]

Well, they're adjacent because of their similarity. However, they are distinct districts in that the Everdark lacks all the gates to the plane of shadows, and as such lacks some of the other things resulting from them. The main reason it was set up as a separate district was due to the fact that while at first many nocturnal creatures were attracted to Shadowgate, most soon decided they'd rather not live there. Largely due to the fact that the plane of shadows tends to have some rather, less desirable side effects. As such those who didn't want to deal with said side effects just moved over to just outside they're influence and set up Everdark. Also, no reason they can't be in caves. There's already atleast one district in caves (I'm talking bout you Hedon).


Perhaps the district should be Everdark, and Shadowgate is a place of interest inside Everdark.

[Renrik]

I'm not sure that Everdark is needed, but could instead have its roll filled by the Shadowgate district, the lower areas of the city, etc., unless we choose to have Everdark be a specifically upper class district for darksighted creatures (I think specifically nocturnal creatures could live anywhere, and simply move about at night).

I am reminded, however, of a district I had intended to create.


Name: Ether. (Poe's Hollow, Phantom Reach, Claud's Hamlet, 2 others)
Other Names: Ghost Town, The Haunting, Casper's Booville.
Government Type: Minimalist government of elected officials, who run the Wraithwatch, collect a small tax for infrastructure repair, and
Police Force: Wraithwatch, a force of elite already-dead guards utilizing ghost touch weapons.

The Aether does not take up any space in the city, instead being a confederation of small, spread-out districts that borders transistively on the Necropolis, the Commons, and other regions. The district is home to the ghost and ethereal population of the city. The districts are mostly around permanent gates to the ethereal plane, and have long-distance portals between them on a hub-spoke system centering on Poe's Hollow.

Notable inhabitants include:
Bloody Marian, the ghost of a Merkielite sister who ironically became an undead after her death (by murder), apparently as punishment for failing to guard the children in her charge from a marauding ghost. She cannot rest until she avenges their death personally. Unfortunately, their death has already been avenged. Hence, Bloody Marian is stuck forever in undeath, She is deeply depressed by this, especilly given her religious convictions. She attempts whenever possible to care for children. Whether to play her as the kind suffering mother of ghost children (whose parents are restfully dead), or as a malignant crazed threat to living children, is up to the DM.
Commodore Vleigenhoek- The ghost of an interplanar skyship captain. Whoever gets the joke first gets to flesh him out.

Does anybody want to take care of Smallville?

[Strawman]

I think the Wraithwatch should be an elite division of The Order of the Bone Shield.

Name: Smallville
Other Names: The Mansion, The Hive, Littltetopia
Government Type: Council of Elders
Police Force: Splinter Squad, a force made of small and tiny members. Getting into the higher ranks of Splinter Squad typically requires the ability to fly.

In Gulliver's Height, an evil giant had a huge amazing mansion. He kept many small and tiny creatures as prisoners, often eating them. One day the prisoners staged a revolt. They killed the giant, and turned the huge mansion into a district capable of holding millions of small and tiny people.

Since then, other Smallvilles have opened up in various parts of the city. The preferred method is still to turn an existing building into accomadations for huge populations.

The Spintler Squad has vowed never to let the giants of the world take advantage of the little people.

[50cr4t3s]

Everdark needs to be a location in Shadowgate, or vice-versa. Districts in the city should be completely unique, and these two areas are just too similar. They would work much better as one district.

Here's an idea for a new location, not a district, just a place of interest.

Name: The Sleeping Army

During a forgotten war between the City and a now dead nation, a vast army was constructed for the city. An army of calm, emotionless constructs that cut across the battlefield impervious to the weapons of the enemy. They were better soldiers than the best estimates of their creators. The war ended with these soulless warriors burning this rival nation to the ground. Every man, woman, and child dead so that they may never pose a threat to the City ever again. After the war, there was a cry to destroy the army, but the City rulers at the time believed that one day there may be an enemy so terrible, that they would be forced to call upon this army again. A deep cave was selected, a vast and yet uncolonized cavern, and the army was placed there to sleep until called upon to defend the city again.

Today, the warriors stand in rank and file, motionless, sleeping the eons away. A man can walk up to one and curse at it all day, and it will not stir.

But they are still vigilant.

If any weapon is brought into the cave of these soldiers, thousands of eyes turn to the carrier of the weapon and speak the one word they know: EXTERMINATE!!

For this reason, the only people to come to this cave are those on the run. Whether one is trying to hide from the law, or the lawless, the Sleeping Army offers protection for the defenseless, without judgment.

There has been a cry from criminals and law enforcement alike to have the army permanently disassembled, but the City Council fears the army's wrath should they consider this a threat. And so the Army remains, never leaving the cave, waiting for the day when they are needed. But most hope it will never come.

[jagadaishio]

I would imagine that bulettes would be a very real problem that the Streetbuilders and Cave Knockers would often have to deal with. Rust monsters too. What other monsters do you think would be similar plagues of the city?

[AgentPaper]

Wow, once again you guys have made a truly spectacular setting. Reminds me a lot of Ravinca, but different enough to be interesting in it's own right, for sure. For a name, Isvar (or Ishvar or Isavir or whatever) isn't bad, but it kinda reminds me of Istar. A lot. Enough that I'd probably end up just calling it that if I had a campaign around this.

I'd recommend having the name be something simple, perhaps even the same name that it had when it was first made. Maybe even something misleading and simple like "Fisherton" or "Riversend". Most of the residents probably don't even bother calling it anything but "the city", but in official documents and when interacting with other cities and such, they call it by it's old name.

[Strawman]

Name: The Sleeping Army


I like it. Is it a reference to Hellboy 2, or is the similarity in plot a coincidence?

[Renrik]

I can imagine a number of different creatures that could work as nuisances. I don't have my monster manual in front of me, so I'll write some down later.

[Renrik]

Let's see...

Chokers are always a great nuisance. They can lurk around the entire city- really, anywhere they can get to through the caves and tunnels, which is most of the place. Getting strengled isn't fun to anyone.

Ankhegs are another obvious choice, both in the Groves and anywhere else they can get a nest. The outlying farmlands would have an ankheg problem without the occasional nest eradication.

Gelatinous cubes could roam about the city, especially the water and sewage infrastructure.

Carrion crawlers probably prey on the mindless zombies in the necropolis and threaten the other corporeal undead. The OBS will have to hack them up.

Rogue constructs around the steamworks, maybe?

Have we got an organization devoted to killing nuisance monsters in the city yet?

[puppyavenger]

I would imagine that bulettes would be a very real problem that the Streetbuilders and Cave Knockers would often have to deal with. Rust monsters too. What other monsters do you think would be similar plagues of the city?

well with a gate to the Underdark and a large under-water district, Aboleths Beholders or mind flayers starting up cults and luring food from the city might be a problem. along with the fact that with all the negative energy in the Necropilous, there's probably a noticeable chance that anyone who dies down there is going to rise on their own and have to be controlled or destroyed.


just tossing random idea's

[Strawman]

I cooked up an artifact, and an item description for it that has alot of the city's history in it. Let me know if it's good enough to use, if it needs changes, etc.


Artifact: Founder’s Fishing Rod

This fishing rod functions as a +5 quarterstaff.

It grants the bearer the extraordinary abilities to breathe underwater and walk on top of water.

The bearer can also cast Control Water at will as a 20th level caster, and Summon Monster IX (Elder Water Elemental) twice a day as a 20th level caster.

The bearer is immune to all spells and damage from water based spells.

Story - A fisher owned the Founder’s Fishing Rod before it was an artifact. That fisher was extremely talented and gained fame in a small fishing town at the bottom of a canyon. When she died, the town kept her fishing rod on a pedestal. Eventually the town grew into a mining community. An enterprising mage came to the town to gain riches.

That mage was named Ishkar Bolt. He was a lonely man, and like most people who came to the town to mine, the fishing community disliked him. In order to get their approval, he decided to honor the famed fishing rod by giving it a powerful enchantment. The plan failed. However, when a couple of dragons nearly destroyed the town with their underground duel, Ishkar was able drive the dragons further underground with the fishing rod and his spells. Ishkar became a hero.

The townspeople renamed their town “Ishkar,” and for many years Ishkar performed the role of the town’s guardian. Ishkar saved many miners. One of those miners was so grateful that he became a financial partner with Ishkar. They used a combination of fourth generation miner know-how and magic to find the best ores around.

Their biggest find was a massive vein of mithril. They were rich overnight. The miner took his share and left for richer pastures, and his name has since been forgotten. Ishkar used the mithril to reinforce the city that was starting to grow around the town. He remained an important figure in the city for many years and was known for always carrying around the fishing rod that he used to save the town.

As he grew old, he decided to do one final act for the city. He used all of his remaining mithril to build a gigantic tower. After Ishkar died, he was put in a grand tomb near the top of the tower. Inside the tomb his perfectly preserved corpse holds on to the fishing rod.

[Renrik]

I like it, but it almost seems a bit silly. I like that it isn't a cliche sword or some stupid thing like that, but at the same time a fishing rod seems a bit strange. I think that the peculiar occurence of so many portals should also play a massive role in the city. I've thought the city to be at the junction of some kind of interplanar ley line hub. That said, I do like the idea. Maybe if it were a net instead...

[50cr4t3s]

I cooked up an artifact, and an item description for it that has alot of the city's history in it. Let me know if it's good enough to use, if it needs changes, etc.


I gotta say, I'm not crazy about the city history in the story. I kinda imagine most details from the period when the city was beginning are lost and forgotten. I think it should stay this way, because it allows for DMs to adjust things for there campaigns. I like the idea of a mysterious past shrouded in myth, but if that's too cliche, I'll concede to the community consensus.

[Strawman]

How about a spear (used for fishing) instead of a fishing rod. The parts about the city's history will be mostly removed. Instead, it is only known that the spear belonged to someone in the town before there was a city, and that the mage who built the big tower chose to enchant the spear and carry it around with him.

[50cr4t3s]

New Location
Name: Galdren
Other Names: Farmland, The Fields, The Big Farm
Government Type: Communal Representative Council
Police Force: Walkers

At first glance, Galdren appears to be the largest district in the city. This is not actually the case. While Galdren has the largest single footprint of any district, it is a district on a flat expanse of land on the cliff overlooking the canyon. One of the only districts placed on only one layer, Galdren is proud to be one of the very few farmlands in the city to be planted in natural soil, and cultivated by real farmers (most farmers in this district are very vocal in there opposition to undead labor). These farms stretch from the edge of the canyon out to as far as any mortal eye can see.The residents of this district organize themselves into smaller communes within the district so that farming families can pool resources and cultivate more land. Once a month, these communes send a representative to a meeting of all the commune representatives, where they discuss the status of the crops, share new techniques, and yearly choose a representative to send to the City Council. Galdren is covered by a vast network of pipes, built by the Streetbuilders, that irrigate the entire district with clean water directly from the elemental plane of water. The farmers here have serious objections to the concept of undead labor, seeing it as a threat to their livelihood and way of life. The policing force of this district, the Walkers, is more of a neighborhood watch program than an actual guard. Those with the title of Walkers, are those who are considered qualified to handle dangerous criminals when the community has identified them.

more details to follow later (possibly)

[Strawman]

A district and an organization.

Name: Annark
Other Names: Town in Flames, Chaos, Land of the Lost
Government: None (Anarchy).
Law Enforcement: None (Many residents hire Perfect Warriors).

In any city there are people who hate the structure and restrictions. For those people, the favored district is Annark. It is a district without rules or government, and there are many incarnations of Annark throughout the city. They do not have a representative for the City Council. There is an unspoken agreement that the Council will not enforce citywide laws inside Annark, and residents of Annark will abide by the laws if they are outside their own district. The unstable nature of Annark means that a branch of it may close at any time, and another may rise if a part of another district becomes overly chaotic.

Organization: Perfect Warriors

This organization is a mercenary group available for hire by anyone. They are as good as the next mercenary group, but use the name Perfect Warriors as a marketing ploy. Any member of Perfect Warriors may refuse a job for personal reasons, as they work by commission. The only enemies that the Perfect Warriors refuse to go up against are the Law Enforcements agencies of various districts. Residents of Annark often hire the Perfect Warriors as bodyguards or as a localized police force.

[Renrik]

I like the farming communes. The fact that their government type is just short of libertarian communism (they're representative in wider district meetings, as opposed to direct or consensual, but these district meetings seem to lack the power to set policy and seem more of a skillshare/open forum that elects a necessary represntative) is fun, too. It's as if the district itself is an example of agricultural anarcho-syndicalism or collectivism. I suggest most individual communes use the participatory economics model for decision making.

[Renrik]

I don't like Anarrk. I mean, it's not, strictly speaking, anarchistic. There's a prevalence of violence, domination, and submission. It's not so much anarchism as, well, authoritarianism. Authoritarianism that is fractured and not dominated by a single authority, but not anarchism. The important thing to remember is that civil wars and similar strife aren't caused by a lack of government, but by too many governments in one place trying to force their will on people by violence.

But I raise an objection to the idea that a district is in need of a government to function. Indeed, a community made entirely of people who don;t want to live by laws would probably be a remarkably peaceful and open place, where people realize that the right to decide one's life is inalienable, and so refuse to press their will on others or to have others press their will on them, but where the rule of mutually voluntary agreements and consensus rule the day. It's not like laws are the only thing stopping us from killing each other. We don't kill each other because we don't want to.

I like the idea of the district, but not as an anarchist district. It's more of a district of extreme struggle and turmoil, which is the opposite of anarchy.

But I guess I don;t really want to get into an argument on the merits of anarchism and the nature of violence, authority, and freedom. So if ya'll want to have the district, I shall raise no further objection.

[Strawman]

Oh, I was just trying to make a district that didn't have a form of government or law enforcement. I used the term anarchy, but I only meant it in one of its most basic ways, a lack of authority or government, and I wasn't aware of alot of the ideas about what an anarchistic state entails. I didn't really mean to imply that it would have excessive violence, rule by force, or whatever.

The alternate names that make the place sound bad are not used by the residents (except ironically). They are used by people like paladins and monks who feel that without an authority a place must by terrible.

I figure each incarnation of Annark (or whatever the name should be) would be different. If one was populated by mainly chaotic evil residents, it would be terrible. If it was populated by chaotic good or neutral, it would be a great place to live, but where people would get really annoyed if someone tried to develope authority or (on a very small scale) a class system. If the residents were mostly neutral (not chaotic or lawful) they would just prefer to handle their lives on a person-to-person basis, without a government. The last group would most likely have found the other district's governments to be impersonal and unable to handle the needs of individuals.

Also, the Perfect Warriors would have a rule for themselves that they will never act as a law enforcement force in Annark. They would only act as bodyguards, and only for people that hired them. If all the residents on a street hired them jointly to serve as a "police force", the Perfect Warriors would only serve as bodyguards, defending employers from harm, and not enforce laws made by their employers on other people. Of course, not every incarnation of Annark would have a need for the Perfect Warriors at all.

Sorry if the original post gave a misleading impression about what I figured the district would be like.

[Renrik]

I know, I'm just an ideologue whose pet peeve is the use of anarchy to mean disorder. Your usage is the most properly accepted term, but I'm just annoyed that it is. The problem is that there's two definitons of anarchy: The one used by anarchists and the one used by everyone else.

I like the new idea. Lawless zones. Certainly, an Anarrk inhabited by mostly chaotic evil beings would be less than fun. I approve.

[BRC]

I imagine each incarnation of Annark would be fairly small, and probably surrounded by a police cordon of some kind, so as to discourage criminals from escaping justice by Fleeing into Annark.

[Owrtho]

Would that mean that Ravenshome which lacks a government would technically be an Annark?

Owrtho

[Renrik]

Not to mention the barricades of citizen's militias inside Anarrk applying self-defensive threatened violence on the city guards (i.e., making sure they don;t invade and press law, in case the city decides not to go for Anarrk anymore). Though invading Anarrk would be an awful idea. Probably ridden with people who know how to fight, know the area well enough to launch guerilla wars, and, in the absence of government, have formed the kinds of networks, voluntary groups, and cells that would be unpleasant for an invading force.

Now, I imagine the Collective and the Wild would still manage to take refuge in there when they could, maybe some other revolutionary types. Humans First, perhaps?

Now, we need to name the remaining two subdistricts in Ether. We've got Poe's Hollow, Claud's Hamlet, and Phantom Reach, but we need two more. We have to flesh out Commodore Vleigenhoek the ghostly skyship captain.

[Renrik]

Would that mean that Ravenshome which lacks a government would technically be an Annark?

Owrtho

I don't think it would be considered as such.

Does Anarrk get representatives in the city council? I don't think it would.

[jagadaishio]

I like Galdren, but I dislike Anarrk. I think that the concept of Anarrk is silly. If you want lawless zones, then those are just the deepest slums and darkest tunnels where the law-enforcers hate to tread. Communes could form down there, but I don't think that any block or region could fall into anarchy or chaos without the city sending in a ton of cops to stabilize the region again. Furthermore, giving them a fancy name like Anarrk is just as silly. If they would be called anything, they would be called wastelands or no-man's-land. They wouldn't be given a funny-spelled version of anarch.

My point is, I think it's a poor idea at best, and a poorly executed poor idea at worst.

[Renrik]

Good point. It does seem rather incongruous. There could be lawless communes or anarchistic districts, but they would probably have different names. The deep tunnels do fit the bill for the murderous thug zones.

So, we could keep Anarrk and go about it as planned, or just incorporate some of the ideas elsewhere.

[50cr4t3s]

if Anarrk has absolutely no government, and the City has no say in it, then it really isn't even part of the city at all. In order to create a lawless district, you need to have a district so overrun with criminals, that the police simply have no power there. No one reports crimes, no witnesses testify, until you basically have a criminal district. But a district where the city has absolutely no say, even on a superficial basis, can't truly be a district of the city, but an independent community.

[Strawman]

Okay, I'll withdraw the idea of Annark since alot of people think it wouldn't work or it doesn't make sense. Although I don't think the city council would care all that much about forcing a lawless district to obey them, unless the district was somewhere valuable or important. I imagine they have to pick their battles.

Also, I like the idea of places run by criminals in deep tunnels.

I do think that in a city this large there would occasionally be lawless areas that fall through the bureaucracy's grasp. Maybe some lost paperwork means that no one knows whether two streets somewhere belong to the Temple District or the Market District for a little while. Tension and plot hooks ensue.

[jagadaishio]

Okay, I'll withdraw the idea of Annark since alot of people think it wouldn't work or it doesn't make sense. Although I don't think the city council would care all that much about forcing a lawless district to obey them, unless the district was somewhere valuable or important. I imagine they have to pick their battles.

Also, I like the idea of places run by criminals in deep tunnels.

I do think that in a city this large there would occasionally be lawless areas that fall through the bureaucracy's grasp. Maybe some lost paperwork means that no one knows whether two streets somewhere belong to the Temple District or the Market District for a little while. Tension and plot hooks ensue.

Agreed. I just think that the powers that be would try to re-establish order in any important districts and any anarchy zones that are minor enough to not by targeted by police would probably be nameless little communes. Anarchy zones would definitely exist though, no matter how transitory the major ones would be.

[BRC]

Yeah. Rather than any truly lawless areas, I imagine there are simply areas where the police forces are too corrupt or incompetent to really stop criminals from doing much, so the criminals pretty much have a free-reign except for when the occasional M.I. brute squad comes in to quiet things down for a little while, or to chase down some serious criminals hiding there.

[Renrik]

I concur.

Now, what do want for the names of the two other districts in the Ether and the backstory on Commodore Vleigenhoek?

[jagadaishio]

Name: Redmere
Other Names: Cinder, The Smokes
Government: Martial Tribunal
Law Enforcement: The Element Guard, Fire Platoon

Redmere is the citadel on the Elemental Plane of Fire. It is built of bricks of solidified fire, and all of its inhabitants are either naturally immune to the effects of fire, gain healing from fire, or have some sort of acquired, likely magical immunity to fire. The sole job of these soldiers is to tour the city's extended holdings throughout the plane and make sure that the gates from the elemental plane of fire to the city are safe and clear. It is because of the Fire Platoon that fire elementals don't flood the Steamworks and wreck havok in the city. Aside from that, the occasional trading party reaches Redmere, though these parties are few and far between. Though originally the Fire Platoon saw much action when Redmere was first built, the elementals have learned to avoid the city's holdings, and this is therefore considered to be a relatively boring post. The elementals know the fortress as Cinder.

Name: Aquarane
Other Names: Current, The Wash
Government: Martial Tribunal
Law Enforcement: The Element Guard, Water Platoon

Aquarane is the citadel on the Elemental Plane of Water. It is constructed of riverine and all of its inhabitants have the ability to breath water and either some sort of natural or acquired immunity to high-pressure environments. This is considered to be the worst assignment for members of the Elemental Army, as not only do members of the Water Platoon see less action than any other detachment, their daily responsibilities consist of clearing the much away from the gates to the city broken up only by the rare, uneventful patrol around the city's water holdings. Aside from the weekly exports of riverine, the fortress sees a fair amount of trade, but almost all of that is through-traffic to the city proper, carrying supplies of all manner of rich resources of the plane. The occasional Lake-dweller will visit Aquarane, but the reverse is more true. The elementals know the fortress as Current.


Organization: The Element Guard

The Element Guard was formed when the inhabitants first started exploiting the permanent portals that connected to the elemental planes, be they the naturally-forming ones so common in the city or the artificial ones made for industry and agriculture. The purpose of the guard was to secure the extraplanar territory surrounding the gates to make sure that the workers on the other side were safe and the industry remained efficient. Organizations which use protected gates pay a tax to the city which goes to the pay of the Guardsmen.

Guardsmen are paid highly, and when the organization was new they saw much danger in exotic and impossible planar locales. In modern times, though, these chunks of territory have been fortified and stabilized to the point that a position in the guard is considered to be stable and lucrative but boring. Guard members are famed for their extreme drinking and partying when in the city proper, which they do to relieve the oppressive boredom than anything else. It's said that the deepest layers of Hedon cater almost exclusively to bored Guardsmen.

[Strawman]

I like the elemental districts. I think Aquarane would get more trade than just the riverine. The city's residents who live underwater in the lake would probably enjoy visiting and trading with Aquarane.

[Renrik]

I concur. The elemental plane of water has numerous resources to be exploited.

[jagadaishio]

Name: Aerodyne
Other Names: Draft, Breezeland
Government: Martial Tribunal
Law Enforcement: The Element Guard, Air Platoon

The Air Platoon is considered one of the more fun positions in the Element Guard for a number of reasons. The first is that a ton of extraplanar airship traffic comes through it. Some stop there on the way to other planar locales, and some are going through to moor at the Tower, but all of them carry exotic wares and interesting passengers. The Guard sees to it that ships are protected from elementals and that the portals providing fresh air to deep tunnels and the upper floors of the Tower remain unimpeded. It's a common occurrence to need to chase rogue elementals away from the massive pumps, both to protect the pumps and to keep the elementals from getting hurt by being sucked in. The average member of the Air Platoon uses a longspear, a long bow, and a whip with either some sort of natural flight or a magical effect. Air elementals are usually chased away with long poles rather than lethal force. Many Falcons are former members of the Air Platoon and vice versa.

Aerodyne is a massive fortress of wood, paper, and clothe anchored in a massive fog bank in the elemental plane of air. The natives of the plane know the citadel as Draft.

-----

Fair enough on the point of Aquarane. I'll fix that.

[BRC]

District Ideas that don't have time to flesh out right now.
A Dwarven District, maybe call it "Buildmountain" or "Greathall" or somthing.
A Goblinoid district, maybe with some orcs and other monstrous humanoids.

Also, I should find some time to write some more Graveyard Shift.

[Strawman]

The dwarven district and the goblinoid district could be in seperate tunnels, but the ends of the tunnels are near each other. They are both exploring a valuable ore vein, but will soon reach each other's tunnel. Or, if the districts are in multiple places in the city, it could be a significant branch of each district approaching each other.

[Vadin]

Things in the Greenskin district: goblins, snotlings (shorter, weaker goblins), orks (not orcs, those aren't as cool or as green), trolls, ogres, hobgoblins, bugbears. Probably a fairly huge district that likes everybody but 'normal folk'. Human, elf, dwarf, or halfing? Then get out! Genasi, azurin, raptoran, half-giant, or fey? Well why didn't you say so?! Come on in!

They turn out a lot of bouncers, builders, and general tough guys, but also a surprising number of clerics. When you live in a place where people can get hurt real easy real fast, mending wounds on the cheap is a lucrative business.

This makes me think that the greenskins might even have their own version of the Holy Hands that doubles as their police force. More like a band of militarized paramedics, the Bouncers will throw you down, toss you out, and rough you up, but they'll be damned if you can't walk on your own two legs to perform some civil service to make up for their services rendered.

[jagadaishio]

The goblin district should have members of all of the goblinoid races in it, and it would end up with a social structure very similar to that of feudal Japan. It would likely have a similar architectural style too. See Races of War (http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Races_of_War_(3.5e_Sourcebook)) for more details on this theory. The point it, they would probably have cramped apartments and tenements with a rigid social structure enforced by the hobgoblins and a massive yakuza from the ordinary goblins. Bugbears would be the elite warriors and ninja assassins used by the hobgoblin upper class.

As for Dwarves, I could see a somewhat isolationist community of miners, magical craftsmen, and tinkers in a vast number of tunnels. Those dwarves that leave home would probably almost always end up in either the Steamworks or the Temple District. Oh, and axes? No tunnel-dwelling race would use a weapon that you need to swing. Dwarves would use longspears, spears, crossbows and, lately, firearms.

[Renrik]

Districts
The Necropolis: A district of undead, policed by the Order of the Bone Shield, who are involved in capturing and punishing undead criminals and rogue mindless undead city-wide. Contains a gate to the Negative Energy plane, where rich undead build homes. Bodies from the rest of the city are sold to the Necropolis for labor and dietary needs of its citizenry.
Primordium: The seat of the city's ruling council, a pocket dimension in the original village from which the city was founded.
The Steamworks: A steam-powered industrial district. It is actually made up of a number of unconnected sites scattered throughout the city. Most of the city's technological advances, refined metals, and other manufactured objects come off of a Steamworks line. There is enormous conflict and strain between merchant managers and unions in the district. The steamworks hold gates to the elemental planes of both fire and water to allow for infinite steam power.
The Mage's District: A district set up by and for magic users. It has a gate to the astral plane, around which was constructed the Bazaar of the Bizarre. All manner of constructs and magical items come from this district. Those who need to commission a magical service need only come here to find it.
Customs and Immigration: A district that has a number of artificial gates which open to a variety of planar cities periodically to let in waves of new citizens. Potential citizens who aren't useful, who are impoverished, or who don't have a useful skill are turned away.
The Grove District: A district whose layers are made up of massive living trees. Rangers, druids, fey, treants, and other nature beings make their homes here. The Streetbuilders have to work almost constantly keeping the various groves navigable by walkways in the branches. The Groves export large amounts of fruit and edible fungi to the rest of the city.
The Draconic Heritage Collective: A district of beings with dragonic blood built around a temple dedicate to two ancient dragons (one red, one gold) within. The ancient dragons started a game of strategy against each other centuries ago. They have since become players of business and are the two richest individuals in the city.
The Commons: Not so much a true district as the place in between districts. Tends to house lots of housing with only a few shops or taverns. The suburbs of the city. Is policed by volunteer neighbourhood watches and the occasional M.I.
The Academy: A massive macro-school of all manner of higher learning. Mages, mechanists, and other scholars are trained here. Most move on to the district of their profession (the Mage's District and the Steamworks respectively for the listed examples) when they finish their training. Some, however, remain to study new concepts and make breakthroughs of their own. Such individuals lead a life of learning.
Lake District: A district of floating buildings with prime apartments and underwater communities for water-breathers. Is a massive source of fish and edible water-borne plants.
Stadel: A district which vanished suddenly and existed in a void for centuries. One day it returned as suddenly as it vanished, having apparently survived the void by the skill and guidance of the Stadel family. After returning, they fought a short battle with the rest of the city before being comforted. To this day they are largely isolationist and xenophobic.
The Vault: An extradimensional prison where convicted criminals serve their sentence. It is policed and wardoned by constructs. It is rumored that terribly magical experiments are perpetrated upon the people jailed for life.
Entertainment District: A district of theatres, musicians, artists, and performers. People go here for family-friendly and though provoking entertainment. They also go here to see people gutted by each other in gladiatorial fights. It's a very popular district.
Temple District: A district of temples, hospitals, and academies for paladins, clerics, and other clergy. People go here to worship and receive aid from their organizations. The temple district at large publicly denounces, and would have made war to if not for the law, the Necropolis. A portal to the positive energy plane exists here.
Mithral Heights: An elitist community of aerial races, airmen, and rich people built around a massive mithral tower. There are many floating islands and air docks that make up this community. They are policed by a privately hired force of magically-aided flying archers known as the Falcons.
Hedon: A red light district built in a spiral pattern in one of the larger cavern networks of the city. The deeper down the spiral that a person goes, the more perverse and disturbing the wares offered becomes. Most people can't even bring themselves to walk all the way to the bottom. There are technically no layers in this district, as it is a spiral. People found to be committing a crime are captured and sold into slavery in this district until they pay off their debt.
Ravenshome: A district full of raven statues. Those that break major laws disappear. Those that break minor laws have their offenses appear in a tattoo on their arm, listed in over 100 languages. Those that conceal their tattoo feel pain, and concealing their offence is added to the tattoo as a crime. Those whose tattoos get too large disappear. Anywhere you go in the district, there is always at least one raven visible. The crime rate in this district is incredibly low, and people who grow up here almost always end up with some sort of mental or emotional issues.
Collected College: A sub-community of the Academy, its purpose is as a lab and research ground for professors and other people who make their own education their life instead of a career.
Ungul: A small community attached to one of the groves designed around the needs of four-legged creatures of the city. It was designed and built by centaurs, and it is still administered by them to this day.
Gulliver's Heights: A district built by and for the creatures of size large and larger of the city. It has stable clouds above it for cloud and storm giants. They mostly keep to themselves, but tend to keep cupboards or closets converted to (massive) guest rooms for any miniscule, medium or smaller guests. It is the largest district, if not the most heavily populated.
The Hunting Ground: A corporately sponsored hunting grounds for big game hunters and creatures that have a biological or psychological need to hunt. The Alliance smuggled in more dangerous creatures for bored hunters. Some of the creatures were too dangerous to successfully take down, and the grounds grew overrun with dangerous creatures. It was sealed off from the public, and grove rangers frequently make raids to try to regain control, gaining combat pay and a bonus based on the danger of creatures they take down. The Alliance still smuggles in skilled or stupid hunters and the Wild seeks to release the seals, allowing the dangerous creatures to return the city to a natural state.
The Dark City: A former drow citadel annexed after a bloody conflict in the deepest levels of the mines. The Dark Army of city-loyal drow still besiege the castle of the Queen they betrayed when she attempted to fall back to her stronghold and leave her people to be conquered. Contains housing for the deepest miners, lodging for the Dark Army, and a large branch of the Steamworks.
Everdark/Shadowgate: Either two distrcits or a single one in which Shadowgate is a neighborhood. Everdark is a lightless place for nocturnal and darksighted creatures who don;t want to see the light. Shadowgate has spontaneous portals to the Shadow Plane and is beloved by casters of mysteries.
Galdren: The great fields that stretch as far the eye can see, a source of food for the city. They are run by small collectives which send representatives to central council for wider infrastructure planning. skill sharing, discussion, and electing a representative to the city.
Redmere: A district on the other side of the gates to the Plane of Fire. Trades with the denizens.
Aquarene: District on the Plane of Water, exports riverine and natural resources.
Aerodyne: District on the Plane of Air, a trade hub.


Organizations
Cut-Throat Alliance: An organization that makes crime a business. Comprised of 80% of the organized criminals and 50% of the disorganized criminals in the entire city. Potentially the most powerful single organization, they have hidden teleportative gates throughout the city for their agents to use for a variety of purposes.
The Streetbuilders: A municipal organizations of builders, their primary purpose is to make sure layers don't collapse down on each other, an almost constant task. When they finish repairing everything, they're given a public building task. Most such buildings are unfinished when the Streetbuilders are called back to their repair work, and sit unfinished forever.
Cave Knockers: Keep the tunnels maintained and mapped, and make new tunnels. Sometimes required to fight unexpected threats in their line of work. The Streetbuilders of the caves.
The Eyes: A now illegal network of divination aided and amazingly skilled spies who keep track of everything going on in the city. Founded under a former regime, and since outlawed, they still report to the city's council, who do not publicly condone their actions. For the right price, they can provide amazing information.
The Holy Hands of Saint Merkiel: A coalition of healers who have set up hospitals in every district in the city. They publicly, vocally oppose the existence of the Necropolis and undead in general. They take no hostile actions, but offer euthanasia to any undead that enter, much to the dislike of the Necropolis's residents.
Humans First: Humans first is a speciest organization which exalts humans and wants all other races to get out. They hold that the original village was a human village, and therefore only humans deserve to be residents. They are often ignored, in spite of rumors that many policy-making officials are secretly members.
Civil Servants: A public bodyguard service for other public service organizations like the Streetbuilders. They are not a police force. Their sole task is to protect their charges.
Municipal Investigators: An organization to handle trans-district criminals, the Alliance, and other such criminals. They serve principally as investigators, and rarely perform arrests, but will do so if needed. They are called in on every Alliance-suspected crime.
The Collective: A communist pro-union organization in the Steamworks. The unions don't official endorse it. Its actions tend towards protest, sabotage, and even attack on the merchant managers.
The Wild: A neoprimitivist organization made up of druids, rangers, and other pro-nature organizations. Their long-term goal is to return the area covered by the city to a state of nature. They seek to break the seals around the Hunting Grounds and let nature do its work on the rest of the city.
Shadow Martyrs: Ex-Cuthroat Alliance members and other victims, the good guys in the dark.
Gatekeepers: An organization which is devoted to ending these mysterious raids on the city. Some stay behind to aid the police and guards, but most patrol the multiverse searching for the source of the attacks.
The Elemental Guard: Police force and defensive garrisons of the elemental colonies.

Other
Random Gates: Random gates will sometimes appear throughout the city for random amounts of time. Magical devices which provide a countdown for the gate's disappearance and devices which hold open the gates are (relatively) common.
Gate Raiders: Occasionally, bizarre or random-looking humanoids will spill out of a random gates, stealing, killing, and retreating back into the gate just as it closes. Those that are captured die shortly after the gate closes and, as such, current policy is to just kill them outright. No two look alike. Sometimes a marauding monster will spill out instead of raiders. People looking to get on the good side of local police are well-advised to put down such monsters - if and only if they have sufficient skill to.
Crystal Observatory: An observatory built in the Mithral Heights by professors from the Collected College. They are always looking for new, better crystals to use as lenses, and are willing to pay exorbitantly for them.
Copper Junkyards: The various scrapyards of the Steamworks. Poor tinkers and mechanist will go here for raw materials, and it is seen as the ultimate sign of the waste and corruption of cities by the Wild. Rust monsters tend to live here, much to the chagrin of anyone walking past with a particularly delicious piece of metal on their person.
Holy Ground: The holy graveyard in the temple district. They refuse to sell their dead to the necropolis, and therefore maintain this expensive burial ground with the tithes of their congregations.
The City Forge: The single largest forge in the city. The truly massive machines that the rest of the Steamworks often need for their jobs are forged here. It is staffed almost exclusively by tough, old, skilled mechanist dwarves.
The Sleeping Army: There is a cavern filled with this vast army, made long ago in a terrible conflict and put to rest, to be awoken in a time of need. They attack anyone with a weapon, but some hide among them unarmed.
The Block: This large and crowded apartment building has a peculiar habit of flickering about several districts, appearing in certain vacant lots in each in a semi-predictable pattern, slightly controlled by its inhabitants. Its tenants trade between districts and practice home industries to keep employed. It usually has a number of guests in it who wish to catch a ride to the next stop and see the world.

[Vadin]

Renrik, could you bold all the titles for the districts, organizations, and other groups?

[Renrik]

No. No I could not.

[jagadaishio]

Don't forget the Element Guard. And Redmere really doesn't see much trade at all. It mostly just chases locals away from the gates being used for power in the city.

An excerpt from Races of War on goblinoid cultures:
There are at least three kinds of Goblin. That's important, not only because it means that any group of Goblins has access to a great many opinions and skill sets, but also because it means that the Goblinoid physiology is extremely morphic. And because of this, and because noone really cares if goblins disappear, when a wizard or demon decides to make a new form of super soldier – chances are good that they use Goblins as a base. Heck, you don't see any halflings with rhino horns on their face, and you don't see any dwarves transformed into undead monstrosities with bone-sucking tentacles popping out of their nipples. That's all the dubious pleasure of the Goblin people.

Goblinoids are, as a people, much quieter and more precise about their movements than other races. And this allows them to live in much higher population densities than other races without going mad. And well, they totally do that. Goblinoid settlements are, by the standards of other races, amazingly claustrophobic. Bugbear settlements traditionally make walls out of paper and place living quarters right next to one another to conserve heat. Those not blessed with the bugbear's natural silence find their every action heard many apartments away. Goblins usually dispense with the paper altogether and simply sleep ten to a room. Fortunately for them, goblins do not snore.

While goblinoid societies are classically short on free space, they are also not generally well organized. Goblins live together not because they like sharing, but because they steal from each other so constantly that it's just a waste of time to put walls between sleeping areas. If a goblin needs something, he'll take it and use it. Goblins aren't socialist utopians or anything, they simply don't respect property rights of others. Oddly enough, the end result is pretty similar to Goblins being really cooperative. Hobgoblin society takes it one step further and even has elaborate rules about who has to submit to who and when people have to take their shoes off and how people have to behave in public and everything. They actually are well organized, and their intricate webs of subjugation allow them to maintain high population densities without eating each other.

Goblinoids go to war for really one reason only: they want your stuff. Hobgoblins need constant influxes of new Slaves to keep everything rolling (even Slaves gain in seniority and prestige in time within Hobgoblin social structures so the bottom rungs of society can really only be replenished from captured enemies). Goblins want your shinies and aren't afraid to torch your village to get them. And finally, the Hruggek demands that the Bugbears slaughter your people from the shadows on a fairly regular basis. That's like wanting your stuff, only in this case what they are taking from your lands is the satisfaction of having seen your last breath from the back.
An excerpt from Races of War on combined goblinoid culture:
Getting conquered by the Goblins really has very different effects depending upon which Goblins are in charge when they overrun your defenses. The Hobgoblins have the most intrusive plan – where your people are enslaved and forced to work for and even join the Hobgoblin clans. The Bugbears have perhaps the least disruptive plan, where they simply run into your village and kill and eat anyone they can catch and then go back to their own lands with everything they can carry. The regular old Goblins, on the other hand, mostly want to fill santa sacks with your stuff, and then come back tomorrow and do it again. It's like taxation, only it's set to "whatever they can carry" and you have to pay it "whenever they show up".

Living under the yoke of the Goblins can be anything from an excuse for lots of dangerous random encounters (Bugbears have overrun your nation), to a semi-comic game of fighting semi-organized crime (Goblins), to a role-play heavy pseudo-Japanese setting where the PCs are all ronin or ashigaru or something (Hobgoblins). It can even be more than one of those, in the not-unlikely case that more than one group of Goblinoids is involved. In this case, you're normally going to be forced into a society where Hobgoblins are Samurai, Bugbears are Ninja, Goblins are Yakuza, and you're a serf. This is your chance to do a Kurosawa film from the perspective of those guys in the background harvesting rice with a knife under the disinterested glare of a distrustful Samurai.
An excerpt from Races of War on hobgoblins:
These guys have an incredibly baroque system of laws and an interlocking system of fealties that are actually a parody of Feudal Japan.

[Strawman]

There could be at least one dwarvish clan that originated in the city. The clan would be comprised of dwarves who were exiled from other clans. Now that time has past, some members of the clan want to institute a process of forced exile, but other members disagree.

Also, Organization – Trash Corps

The Trash Corps pick up the trash and bring it to landfills, burn it, compact it, recycle it, etc. They also maintain the sewers (except for its structure, which is left for the Street Builders). They are generally understaffed, although for some reason the richer districts always have their trash collected on time.

Place of Interest – Arcane Sewers

The Mage District contains a great deal of spilt potions, magical waste, and broken objects of a magical nature. When all of these combine and fester in one place, stuff happens, usually bad. That is why The Mage District has a separate sewer/garbage system for potentially dangerous magic waste. This area is sectioned off, and barricaded so that creatures born of the waste cannot escape into the city. A special division of The Trash Corps takes care of the Arcane Sewers. They are required to have arcane magic, and they carry around bags of holding to transport more dangerous waste.

[Renrik]

We had forgotten about the trash! Thanks for the save, Strawman.

[Owrtho]

There was mention of it a few pages back in regards to Ravenshome. It just never really got taken to discussing how it works in the rest of the city as well (it just kinda vanishes there).

Owrtho

[BRC]

Citywide-Government Idea
The Council of Ministers.

The Council of Ministers is appointed by the Grand Council, and consists of the directors of the various citywide departments. Each seat has two chairs, one for the minister themselves, and one reserved for their second, usually the director of some powerful organization Their


The Minister of the Interior: the head of the bureaucracy that runs the Streetbuilders, the Cave Knockers, and the Trash Collectors. The second seat is held by the High Engineer of the Streetbuilders.
The Minister of Justice: Heads the bureaucracy that inspects and coordinates all the police-departments, primarily the city-controlled ones (Like the Elemental Guard, the Vault Wardens, and M.I.). The second seat is held by the M.I. Director.
The Minister of Magic: Part of the bureaucracy that keeps track of and handles most of the magic items the city controls. Conducts a census on the number and power of spellcasters in the city, and general handles the magical affairs the government needs too. The second seat is held by the Arch chancellor of the University.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs: Handles all relations between the City and the world outside. The second seat is held by the current leader of the Merchants Guild.
The Minister of War: Theoretically, this seat would be held by the Commander of the City's armed forces. However, because the city lacks a standing army, this seat is held by a bureaucrat who leads a small department that keeps track of the city's preparedness for war, and would, in the event of a conflict, become the top commanders of the city's army. They are almost never consulted.

The Minister's Council has no actual voting power, instead serving to run their departments and advice the Grand Council on various issues.

[UserShadow7989]

I have an idea for an organization: "The Peacekeepers" (Edit: Alternately known as "The Peace". The latter can be used to prevent confusion with or the false assumption of affiliation with the Gatekeepers.)

The city's massive size, variety of cultures, and large number of violent and intolerant organizations makes it's social structure unstable, and the possibility of civil war or riots high. As people grew concerned for their livelihoods and the possibility of getting caught in a war zone, they scrambled to find a way to prevent disaster. Eventually, people from all over the city banded together to found The Peacekeepers.

The Peacekeepers are lead by the original founders and people they hand pick, who only contact the members and issue orders through magic. The identity of the leaders and how many there are is known only to the leaders themselves. When sending a message, they suggest methods with which to accomplish the goal. Judging by their suggestions, they are most likely Neutral Good or Chaotic Good.

The Peacekeepers work as intermediaries or buffers between groups that share hostilities to reduce the odds of a sudden riot. They also send anonymous tips to police organizations in an effort to solve hate crimes. The members often hire and work alongside bounty hunters to hunt down criminals and gangs that threaten to cause chaos, and even donate to help cover the cost of paying bounties.

Some Peacekeepers work behind the scenes, using blackmail or other unsavory means to force violent groups to back down or a crooked politician's retirement. Few even murder to accomplish their goals. This is not the Peacekeepers as an organization's doings, but that of individuals. Most of the group's members are disgusted by the very idea, and do not see the perpetrators as real Peacekeepers. The leaders also frown on these actions, sending members to capture and turn in the murderers when alerted.

Because of the extremists among their number, the public view of the Peacekeepers can vary wildly; From heroes keeping the city from falling apart to bloodthirsty hypocrites who only care about their own safety, and everything in between. Several policing forces are only held back from shutting them down by the lack of evidence connecting the extremist members' crimes to the group's agenda.

Hate groups see the Peacekeepers as enemies, and many will refuse to provide services to or even attack someone they identify as or suspect of being one. Most criminals don't care about the group's existence, so long as they don't get in the way.

Because of the negative and even violent views some have of The Peacekeepers, there is no symbol or uniform identifying the group and it's members have a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy about membership. Many will work their way into small social groups when looking to recruit, and will study it's members carefully before deciding if they should extend an invitation to join.

Peacekeepers work individually or in small groups so as to not attract attention. This is also so one member's discovery won't lead to a large number of Peacekeepers being identified by hate groups, as well as making it harder for spies to weasel their way in. This secretive and criminal like behavior only reinforces the distaste for the group from law agencies.

The members can be of any alignment. Most are Good and leaning towards Chaos, but Evil members working to prevent a war they could get caught in and Lawful members trying to capture lawbreakers are within it's ranks as well. The leaders are unknown, but are likely Chaotic Good or Neutral Good.

(Edit)Humans First, The Wild, and the Cut-throat Alliance are all in opposition with The Peacekeepers. While not in direct opposition, the Peacekeepers attempt everything within their power to keep organizations known for quarreling with each other from doing anything drastic and try to keep inter-district strife to a minimum (e.g. they try to keep the Temple District and the Necropolis out of one another's business).

That was a lot of typing. Did I forget anything that should be included, or not clarify something well enough?

[Renrik]

I dig the council of ministers, and the Peacekeepers look good to me.

Now, we might need more groups for the Peacekeepers to oppose. They'd definitely dislike Humans First,and maybe some of the police forces in the more racially defined districts, like Gulliver's Heights and Ungul (since Ungul has a segregated social structure).

I'm not sure if they'd dislike the Wild. We've got the Wild involved in so much stuff, it's almost better if they didn't.

[jagadaishio]

I think that the Peacekeepers would definitely oppose Humans First, the Wild, and the Alliance. They would also try to keep law-abiding organizations from attacking each other and keep interdistrict strife to a minimum. They would, for example, engage in acts to keep the Necropolis and the Temple District out of each other's business.

As for the council of ministers, I like it.

I think that the Trash Corps would employ certain monsters in the disposal of trash. Rust Monsters would handle metal scraps, while Otyugh would be able to handle all manner of organic trash and sewage. The Otyughs' own waste would then be used as fertilizer. What other monsters do you think would be put to work disposing of trash?

[SlyGuyMcFly]

I'm just popping in to say that I'm loving this setting. I can't think of any other cool additions to make, but I can help with formatting! :smallbiggrin:



Districts
The Necropolis: A district of undead, policed by the Order of the Bone Shield, who are involved in capturing and punishing undead criminals and rogue mindless undead city-wide. Contains a gate to the Negative Energy plane, where rich undead build homes. Bodies from the rest of the city are sold to the Necropolis for labor and dietary needs of its citizenry.

Primordium: The seat of the city's ruling council, a pocket dimension in the original village from which the city was founded.

The Steamworks: A steam-powered industrial district. It is actually made up of a number of unconnected sites scattered throughout the city. Most of the city's technological advances, refined metals, and other manufactured objects come off of a Steamworks line. There is enormous conflict and strain between merchant managers and unions in the district. The steamworks hold gates to the elemental planes of both fire and water to allow for infinite steam power.

The Mage's District: A district set up by and for magic users. It has a gate to the astral plane, around which was constructed the Bazaar of the Bizarre. All manner of constructs and magical items come from this district. Those who need to commission a magical service need only come here to find it.

Customs and Immigration: A district that has a number of artificial gates which open to a variety of planar cities periodically to let in waves of new citizens. Potential citizens who aren't useful, who are impoverished, or who don't have a useful skill are turned away.

The Grove District: A district whose layers are made up of massive living trees. Rangers, druids, fey, treants, and other nature beings make their homes here. The Streetbuilders have to work almost constantly keeping the various groves navigable by walkways in the branches. The Groves export large amounts of fruit and edible fungi to the rest of the city.

The Draconic Heritage Collective: A district of beings with dragonic blood built around a temple dedicate to two ancient dragons (one red, one gold) within. The ancient dragons started a game of strategy against each other centuries ago. They have since become players of business and are the two richest individuals in the city.

The Commons: Not so much a true district as the place in between districts. Tends to house lots of housing with only a few shops or taverns. The suburbs of the city. Is policed by volunteer neighbourhood watches and the occasional M.I.

The Academy: A massive macro-school of all manner of higher learning. Mages, mechanists, and other scholars are trained here. Most move on to the district of their profession (the Mage's District and the Steamworks respectively for the listed examples) when they finish their training. Some, however, remain to study new concepts and make breakthroughs of their own. Such individuals lead a life of learning.

Lake District: A district of floating buildings with prime apartments and underwater communities for water-breathers. Is a massive source of fish and edible water-borne plants.

Stadel: A district which vanished suddenly and existed in a void for centuries. One day it returned as suddenly as it vanished, having apparently survived the void by the skill and guidance of the Stadel family. After returning, they fought a short battle with the rest of the city before being comforted. To this day they are largely isolationist and xenophobic.

The Vault: An extradimensional prison where convicted criminals serve their sentence. It is policed and wardoned by constructs. It is rumored that terribly magical experiments are perpetrated upon the people jailed for life.

Entertainment District: A district of theatres, musicians, artists, and performers. People go here for family-friendly and though provoking entertainment. They also go here to see people gutted by each other in gladiatorial fights. It's a very popular district.

Temple District: A district of temples, hospitals, and academies for paladins, clerics, and other clergy. People go here to worship and receive aid from their organizations. The temple district at large publicly denounces, and would have made war to if not for the law, the Necropolis. A portal to the positive energy plane exists here.

Mithral Heights: An elitist community of aerial races, airmen, and rich people built around a massive mithral tower. There are many floating islands and air docks that make up this community. They are policed by a privately hired force of magically-aided flying archers known as the Falcons.



Organizations

Cut-Throat Alliance: An organization that makes crime a business. Comprised of 80% of the organized criminals and 50% of the disorganized criminals in the entire city. Potentially the most powerful single organization, they have hidden teleportative gates throughout the city for their agents to use for a variety of purposes.

The Streetbuilders: A municipal organizations of builders, their primary purpose is to make sure layers don't collapse down on each other, an almost constant task. When they finish repairing everything, they're given a public building task. Most such buildings are unfinished when the Streetbuilders are called back to their repair work, and sit unfinished forever.

Cave Knockers: Keep the tunnels maintained and mapped, and make new tunnels. Sometimes required to fight unexpected threats in their line of work. The Streetbuilders of the caves.

The Eyes: A now illegal network of divination aided and amazingly skilled spies who keep track of everything going on in the city. Founded under a former regime, and since outlawed, they still report to the city's council, who do not publicly condone their actions. For the right price, they can provide amazing information.

The Holy Hands of Saint Merkiel: A coalition of healers who have set up hospitals in every district in the city. They publicly, vocally oppose the existence of the Necropolis and undead in general. They take no hostile actions, but offer euthanasia to any undead that enter, much to the dislike of the Necropolis's residents.

Humans First: Humans first is a speciest organization which exalts humans and wants all other races to get out. They hold that the original village was a human village, and therefore only humans deserve to be residents. They are often ignored, in spite of rumors that many policy-making officials are secretly members.

Civil Servants: A public bodyguard service for other public service organizations like the Streetbuilders. They are not a police force. Their sole task is to protect their charges.

Municipal Investigators: An organization to handle trans-district criminals, the Alliance, and other such criminals. They serve principally as investigators, and rarely perform arrests, but will do so if needed. They are called in on every Alliance-suspected crime.

The Collective: A communist pro-union organization in the Steamworks. The unions don't official endorse it. Its actions tend towards protest, sabotage, and even attack on the merchant managers.

The Wild: A neoprimitivist organization made up of druids, rangers, and other pro-nature organizations. Their long-term goal is to return the area covered by the city to a state of nature. They seek to break the seals around the Hunting Grounds and let nature do its work on the rest of the city.

Shadow Martyrs: Ex-Cuthroat Alliance members and other victims, the good guys in the dark.

Gatekeepers: An organization which is devoted to ending these mysterious raids on the city. Some stay behind to aid the police and guards, but most patrol the multiverse searching for the source of the attacks.

The Elemental Guard: Police force and defensive garrisons of the elemental colonies.


Other

Random Gates: Random gates will sometimes appear throughout the city for random amounts of time. Magical devices which provide a countdown for the gate's disappearance and devices which hold open the gates are (relatively) common.

Gate Raiders: Occasionally, bizarre or random-looking humanoids will spill out of a random gates, stealing, killing, and retreating back into the gate just as it closes. Those that are captured die shortly after the gate closes and, as such, current policy is to just kill them outright. No two look alike. Sometimes a marauding monster will spill out instead of raiders. People looking to get on the good side of local police are well-advised to put down such monsters - if and only if they have sufficient skill to.

Crystal Observatory: An observatory built in the Mithral Heights by professors from the Collected College. They are always looking for new, better crystals to use as lenses, and are willing to pay exorbitantly for them.

Copper Junkyards: The various scrapyards of the Steamworks. Poor tinkers and mechanist will go here for raw materials, and it is seen as the ultimate sign of the waste and corruption of cities by the Wild. Rust monsters tend to live here, much to the chagrin of anyone walking past with a particularly delicious piece of metal on their person.

Holy Ground: The holy graveyard in the temple district. They refuse to sell their dead to the necropolis, and therefore maintain this expensive burial ground with the tithes of their congregations.

The City Forge: The single largest forge in the city. The truly massive machines that the rest of the Steamworks often need for their jobs are forged here. It is staffed almost exclusively by tough, old, skilled mechanist dwarves.

The Sleeping Army: There is a cavern filled with this vast army, made long ago in a terrible conflict and put to rest, to be awoken in a time of need. They attack anyone with a weapon, but some hide among them unarmed.

The Block: This large and crowded apartment building has a peculiar habit of flickering about several districts, appearing in certain vacant lots in each in a semi-predictable pattern, slightly controlled by its inhabitants. Its tenants trade between districts and practice home industries to keep employed. It usually has a number of guests in it who wish to catch a ride to the next stop and see the world. A red light district built in a spiral pattern in one of the larger cavern networks of the city. The deeper down the spiral that a person goes, the more perverse and disturbing the wares offered becomes. Most people can't even bring themselves to walk all the way to the bottom. There are technically no layers in this district, as it is a spiral. People found to be committing a crime are captured and sold into slavery in this district until they pay off their debt.

Ravenshome: A district full of raven statues. Those that break major laws disappear. Those that break minor laws have their offenses appear in a tattoo on their arm, listed in over 100 languages. Those that conceal their tattoo feel pain, and concealing their offence is added to the tattoo as a crime. Those whose tattoos get too large disappear. Anywhere you go in the district, there is always at least one raven visible. The crime rate in this district is incredibly low, and people who grow up here almost always end up with some sort of mental or emotional issues.
Collected College: A sub-community of the Academy, its purpose is as a lab and research ground for professors and other people who make their own education their life instead of a career.

Ungul: A small community attached to one of the groves designed around the needs of four-legged creatures of the city. It was designed and built by centaurs, and it is still administered by them to this day.

Gulliver's Heights: A district built by and for the creatures of size large and larger of the city. It has stable clouds above it for cloud and storm giants. They mostly keep to themselves, but tend to keep cupboards or closets converted to (massive) guest rooms for any miniscule, medium or smaller guests. It is the largest district, if not the most heavily populated.

The Hunting Ground: A corporately sponsored hunting grounds for big game hunters and creatures that have a biological or psychological need to hunt. The Alliance smuggled in more dangerous creatures for bored hunters. Some of the creatures were too dangerous to successfully take down, and the grounds grew overrun with dangerous creatures. It was sealed off from the public, and grove rangers frequently make raids to try to regain control, gaining combat pay and a bonus based on the danger of creatures they take down. The Alliance still smuggles in skilled or stupid hunters and the Wild seeks to release the seals, allowing the dangerous creatures to return the city to a natural state.

The Dark City: A former drow citadel annexed after a bloody conflict in the deepest levels of the mines. The Dark Army of city-loyal drow still besiege the castle of the Queen they betrayed when she attempted to fall back to her stronghold and leave her people to be conquered. Contains housing for the deepest miners, lodging for the Dark Army, and a large branch of the Steamworks.

Everdark/Shadowgate: Either two distrcits or a single one in which Shadowgate is a neighborhood. Everdark is a lightless place for nocturnal and darksighted creatures who don;t want to see the light. Shadowgate has spontaneous portals to the Shadow Plane and is beloved by casters of mysteries.

Galdren: The great fields that stretch as far the eye can see, a source of food for the city. They are run by small collectives which send representatives to central council for wider infrastructure planning. skill sharing, discussion, and electing a representative to the city.

Redmere: A district on the other side of the gates to the Plane of Fire. Trades with the denizens.

Aquarene: District on the Plane of Water, exports riverine and natural resources.

Aerodyne: District on the Plane of Air, a trade hub.

[Strawman]

If they can be controlled, anything that can cast disintigrate would be perfect for the sewers. Maybe some giants are members of the Trash Corps, and they compact items into an amorphous blob (1 item for the disintigrate spell).

[Owrtho]

I'm just popping in to say that I'm loving this setting. I can't think of any other cool additions to make, but I can help with formatting! :smallbiggrin:

Thats helpful, though I thought I'd point out you accidental left out the districts after Mithral Heights. Also, just a thought, but it might help to alphabetize the districts.

Owrtho

[jagadaishio]

If they can be controlled, anything that can cast disintigrate would be perfect for the sewers. Maybe some giants are members of the Trash Corps, and they compact items into an amorphous blob (1 item for the disintigrate spell).

Gelatinous cubes. They could each rest in 10x10x10 metal cubes with 5' diameter pipes leading to it. Certain types of refuse, like leather and bone, would be dropped down to the trapped cubes which would digest the especially durable organic trash.

[UserShadow7989]

I think that the Peacekeepers would definitely oppose Humans First, the Wild, and the Alliance. They would also try to keep law-abiding organizations from attacking each other and keep interdistrict strife to a minimum. They would, for example, engage in acts to keep the Necropolis and the Temple District out of each other's business.

I agree. Should I edit that in?

TBH, I made the Peacekeepers to open up quest/plot hooks, such as investigating a Humans First member's strange behaviour, or the disappearance of a prominate political figure supporting (insert race) rights in a more biggoted area, or even as a potential employer looking for a group to help track someone suspected of being a mass murderer/connected with a large gang/mafia. Plus the anonymous leaders and their way of communicating could also lead to a quest to find someone posing as the leaders and ordering members to do horrible things.

I have to say that so far, The Necropolis is the district that intrests me most. Of course, it's the one that's been fleshed out the most, so that may change when the others get more detail.

[jagadaishio]

I agree. Should I edit that in?

TBH, I made the Peacekeepers to open up quest/plot hooks, such as investigating a Humans First member's strange behaviour, or the disappearance of a prominate political figure supporting (insert race) rights in a more biggoted area, or even as a potential employer looking for a group to help track someone suspected of being a mass murderer/connected with a large gang/mafia. Plus the anonymous leaders and their way of communicating could also lead to a quest to find someone posing as the leaders and ordering members to do horrible things.

I have to say that so far, The Necropolis is the district that intrests me most. Of course, it's the one that's been fleshed out the most, so that may change when the others get more detail.

If you want. Agreed on the Necropolis, but they may just be due to the fantastic Graveyard Shift that BRC has been penning.

[BRC]

Oh, one minister I forgot
Minister of the Treasury: keeps track of the budget and the city's funds. The second seat is held by the president of whatever is the largest bank in the city at that time.

Edit: I can see some interesting interactions between the Peacekeepers and M.I. Both are citywide organizations, so their jurisdictions might clash, especially considering how secretive parts of the Peacemakers are.

[UserShadow7989]

Edit: I can see some interesting interactions between the Peacekeepers and M.I. Both are citywide organizations, so their jurisdictions might clash, especially considering how secretive parts of the Peacemakers are.

I can see some MI members not liking the Peacekeepers. The Peacekeepers is run by and is mostly comprised of Neutral good and Chaotic Good people, but some members use illegal means to accomplish goals (something the higher-ups and most members frown upon), and with their secracy some parts of MI may consider the Peacekeepers as nothing more then another group of extreamists. The Peacekeepers have no connections to any part of the government (so much of what they do falls under vigilantism), and there's plenty reason to suspect the group of unlawful conduct, on top of all that.

I wouldn't call them opposed as Peacekeepers have little reason to dislike the MI. A few members may think MI is doing a poor job, but that's it. Members may even see MI's existance as a blessing. Some members of MI may also believe that the Peacekeepers as an organization hinders crime far more then it causes, and have a favorable oppinion of them. With their shared opposition of the Alliance, they have some common ground to build on. I agree though. Either way they are very likely to cross paths often, and there's plenty of room for both cooperation and antagonism.

(Edit) Come to think of it, they might also get along with the Gatekeepers, as the latter keep monsters and raiders from doing too much damage and protect people, a similar goal to the Peacekeepers who prevent civil wars and interdistrict strife to keep people safe. (/Edit)

On a different note, I like the Council of Ministers.

[Strawman]

Gelatinous cubes. They could each rest in 10x10x10 metal cubes with 5' diameter pipes leading to it. Certain types of refuse, like leather and bone, would be dropped down to the trapped cubes which would digest the especially durable organic trash.

I could imagine more than a few "unexplained disappearances" around those pipes.

Also, here's some Places of Interest.

Lab V – Depending on whether or not the DM decides if the rumors about the vault are true, there is Lab V. This lab is hidden in the vault. It is a place where experiments are conducted on prisoners. Golems guard every room of the lab, and powerful physical and magical restraints are available for all manner of beings. There are machines that produce electricity, stretch limbs, create a vacuum in a closed off room, and all manner of disturbing implements. At first glance the lab looks more like a torture chamber.
Alternatively, Lab V could be a place where prisoners are genuinely rehabilitated as well as possible. The portion of the vault would probably contain a pleasant garden and numerous doctors of the mind. Candidates for the program are chosen for good behavior. The candidates cannot have contact with the other prisoners, as they are deemed bad influences. This leads to rampant rumors about disappearing prisoners. In fact, the other prisoners came up with the name Lab V.
Or, Lab V could be both those things, with the more awful version being an extreme form of rehabilitation.

The Vents – Mithral Heights has a problem with cold temperatures during the winter due to its altitude and separation from most of the city. They may have great fireplaces, but that doesn’t keep their cobblestone streets warm. Their solution is to have pipes coming up from the Steamworks with the hot air. During the winter the residents of Mithral Heights can open vents to let out the hot air and warm Mithral Heights.

The Dorms – A part of The Academy. Fairly self-explanatory, the dorms are a housing location for young students. Although many of the learning establishments have dorms that follow certain school rules, The Dorms are an apartment complex populated and run by students that belong to various learning establishments. Imagine a college dorm without rules, where many of the students know magic. Law enforcement keeps things in The Dorms from getting too crazy, but enough goes on to give low-level characters a challenge.

Racing Track – The Racing Track is a place for various creatures to race each other, and centaur races are the most popular. This place of interest used to be in the Entertainment District, but residents of Ungul moved it to their own district. The residents of Ungul decided that they enjoy racing, they did not enjoy the idea of others profiting from their effort.

[jagadaishio]

Name: Terradome
Other Names: Brick, Mount Metal
Government: Martial Tribunal
Law Enforcement: The Element Guard, Earth Platoon

Terradome started as a mountainous adamantine nugget buried half way into the floor of the cavern in the Elemental Plane of Earth in which it was discovered. After a few centuries of excavating this super-hard material, the miners were left with a perfect, polished sphere of adamanium half-buried and completely hollow after the first two feet. The Earth Platoon, at the time operating out of an isolated network of tunnels, saw this as a great opportunity and acquired the sphere, building a citadel inside out of living crystal, making something of an artificial geode.

Hallways and rooms are lit by luminescent crystal formations, and fantastic sweeping vistas are formed of carefully moulded, carved, and sculpted crystal. The Earth Platoon oversees the prospecting of new caverns for mining crews and the protection of said crews from any elemental onslaughts that may occur. Terradome itself has a thriving economy, in part because they take a small tax on all minerals brought through to the city and in part because the beautiful, almost palatial crystal construction of Terradome is considered a fantastic locale in the city's tourist industry.

Terradome is a favoured position for any Guardsmen with a burrow speed, the earth glide ability, or a love of dark places like vampires. The locale denizens of the region know Terradome as Brick.


Place of Interest: Element Guard HQ

The headquarters of the Element Guard is a large brick building in the Mage's district. Within it are massive libraries of historical texts, cultural texts, and maps of the various elemental planes compiled by generations of arcanists and Guardsmen. The headquarters is regularly staffed only by scholars and officers with other Guardsmen only passing through to and from their posts. The main hall has four massive doors, each carved with the name of the element of the plane it leads to in a hundred different languages. The Water and Fire planes both have environment-controlled airlocks before their gates, but the Earth and Air doors lead directly into the main halls of Terradome and Aerodyne.

[BRC]

I finished another Graveyard Shift installment. I should really put these in the Arts and Crafts forum

The portal Whooshed, and Gordon appeared in “Detectives Square”. The massive edifice of the M.I. offices filled up one corner of the square, and took up a good piece of space directly above it as well. The other four sides were largely taken up with living quarters, warehouses, bars, and other things the detectives needed to make it through the day.
Gordon could hear a bell ringing, and was almost bowled over as a column of hobgoblins in riot gear rushed past. He was about to shout something when a voice answered his question preemptively.
“Gate raiders in the Steamworks, heavy team is moving in to contain before they cause too much damage”.
Gordon looked down, a gnome was standing there grinning behind a pair of blue-tinted glasses.
“Hey Ollie”
“Hey Gordon, why the long face?”
Off in the distance, a Wizard obviously on loan from the Academy teleported the riot team away with a Pop. The two detectives started walking towards the big double doors that led into the Municipal investigations central offices.
“Bad case, looks like the Alliance killed some poor halfer, left him inside a pillar. Then, when some streetbuilders find him, he reanimates and runs off. I don’t suppose you’re free to give me a hand with it?”
“Ooh, nice try Gordon, but next time wait until I’ve agreed to tell me about the corpse running off. Besides, I’ve got my hands full”.
“Doing what?”
They were inside now, and Ollie smelled the distinct scent of a fresh pot of coffee and took a sharp left. Gordon followed.
“Robbery case up in the merchant’s district. A bank job, real slick too. Four guys walk in and start brandishing weapons, collecting wallets and things like that. The bank’s got a few trolls on retainer though, and once they show up the perps throw up a fogcloud and skedaddle. When the Trolls get back to the vault they find it opened and empty, they swear they couldn’t have been gone more than a few minutes, and that was a serious safe, one of them custom jobbers the kobolds make, with all sorts of gears and hidden traps and the like. It’s the type of safe a dragon would trust with it’s gold”.
“When did you become such an expert on Safes”.
“When I heard the manager blather on for twenty minutes about all the features on it. He seemed more distraught that they’d gotten through that thing than that the cash was gone”.
“Ouch, so, what are you doing here”
“Putting the rookie they saddled me with to use, having him pull the blueprints from the arc while I grab my tools from my locker.”
“You didn’t bring them with you?”
“Slipped my mind, besides, it gave me a chance to think about what I’m going to do with ‘em on the way back. Good luck finding you’re runaway corpse”.
Gordon grabbed a mug of coffee, it wouldn’t do him very much, but the warmth would be nice, it might help him make some headway on this nightmare.
__________________________________________________ ______________
It was a nightmare. Not the case, Oliver relished a challenge, that’s why he got into the business, and it’s why he spent two years at the Academy so he could get his Occult Investigator certification.
No, the nightmare was this rookie. He was plenty bright, but he was fresh from training, and was going for his Occult certification as well, so he was like a big friendly puppy. Always asking if he could help, wondering what Oliver was doing, asking if he could help. Oliver had a Process, he didn’t mind working with Gordon, who also had a Process. But both their Processes involved very quietly looking at things and thinking quietly. The Rookie (Oliver didn’t find him deserving of a name yet) also had a process (Oliver did not find it worth of capitalization). His process seemed to involve saying “Detective Midersen, look at this!” every two minutes. Oliver did not approve of the rookie’s process.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Detective Midersen!”
Oliver turned around. There was the big human, all elbows and knees, Carrying a binder under one arm and a roll of blueprints under the other. “I found the blueprints for the bank. In addition, I grabbed a copy of the Known Criminal Index, Volume four, safecrackers, lockpickers and-”
“I know what’s in volume four. All right, let me grab my tools and we’ll get back to the scene”.
Junior Detective Rekin watched his mentor with awe. The gnome stood in the safe, softly chanting, eyes closed behind those blue-tinted glasses. He’d sprinked some powder around. Rekin made a note of that. He made a note everytime Detective Midersen took something out of his bag. The Detective hadn’t said what the powder was, so Rekin just wrote down “Powder for spreading (divination aid?).
Detective Midersen’s bag was a constant source of wonder for Rekin. It contained the tools of the Occult Investigators trade. Each object in it was like some priceless artifact, an ancient blade that the Detective used to cut through the lies and find the truth. He would like nothing more than to search through the bag and see just what was in there.
“Detective Midersen”
“What!” The detective sounded testy. He must have found something.
“What have you found?”
“None of you’re business”. A Test. The Detective wanted him to figure it out on his own. The Detective was always doing that, keeping Rekin on his toes. He was considerate like that.
“Well, they obviously didn’t use magic to break in. The safe is warded against that according to those runes, though they might have used magic to get the money out, since it’s not an A.M.F.”
“Alright, very good”. The Detective said that oddly, he must really be concentrating on the spell.
“Also, the criminal was most likely a Gnome, Halfling, or Goblin”
__________________________________________________ _______________
Oliver stopped his spell; he wasn’t picking up much of anything. What looked like a Gust of Wind, which explains how they moved the bills that quickly. They probably held a Bag of Holding or a portable hole or something open to catch most of the bills.
Now, normally he wished the rookie would shut up, but here he had to see what the idiot was babbling about.
“Alright, what makes you say that”.
“The Blueprints sir”. The rookie pulled them out, dropping most of them in the process. “I was looking for a way they got in without going through the lobby, and I found something interesting”. He finally found what he was looking for. “The Ceiling, up there, it’s solid stone except that it’s at the base of a Dormanger type pillar, which means there should be a Streetbuilder’s accesses tunnel at the base. According to the blueprints, the tunnel is built to Gnome standard. It’s the only way they could have gotten in and out without alerting the Trolls.
Oliver threw some dust at the plain stone ceiling and started focusing, and what do you know, transmutation magic.
“I’ll be damned. They busted a hole, then fixed it up, looks like a Stone Shape or something. Which means a two-man job. The caster and the safecracker.”
Oliver took another look at the safe. It’s massive door stood ajar, it’s inside revealing a mess of clockwork that made his brain hurt.
“Rookie, do you got that book of Safecrackers?”
“Yes, I have it right here Detective-”
“Good, Shaddup and look in there for a Rank A small-sized Safecracker known to use strength enhancement, he’d need it to budge that door.”
The rookie started looking through the book while Oliver took another look at the lock. The runes were all in check and glowing softly, but he saw the faintest scratches in the metal.
“Add in that he’s probably got mithril tools, that stuff might not show up in there, but these crackers love their tools more than anything.”
“Here’s one, Krazzlik Gordash, a goblin, his brother’s a sorcerer. He mainly specializes in smaller lockboxes according to this. No mention of tools, but he may have picked up a new set”.
“Nice guess but no. Books out of date, Krazzlik and his brother got caught trying to do a job in Mithril heights. The Brother’s in the Vault, Kraz is feeding the ghouls in the necropolis. What else ya got?”
“Here’s one, Jonathan Quillan, Halfing , suspected alliance member. Last year it was suspected that he pinched an enchanted crowbar from the Streetbuilders, which would let him open that safe door. Alias Johnny Quickfinger”.

[jagadaishio]

Bravo on the latest instalment. I agree, Graveyard Shift really should find its way into the Arts and Crafts forum. It may be a good idea to wait until you're finished with the story, though.

[UserShadow7989]

Place of Intrest: Founder's Museum
Location: Primordium

The Founder's Museum was created shortly after the Primordium was completed. The Museum contains many artifacts and items from the city's history. While there are many recent items relating to big events, the name comes from the handful of items that are believed to be from the city's early days. There is little known of the items that can't be discerned just by looking at them, and even the museum itself doesn't have much information about the items. Founder's Museum lists a name, where the item was found, and several theories about the owners and what they used for it. If these stories are true or just folk lore, and what the items are is up to the DM.

The Museum is patrolled by several constructs, and while there are daily tours the security is tighter then Fort Nox ever dreamed. Alarms that teleport the would-be thief straight into a holding cell when tripped. Very thick walls of admantium. Placement of varrying runes in layer after layer. Constant montioring by five high level wizards via scrying at any time. Several imitations of the items scattered throughout the facility, ensuring that actually stealing what you were looking for is a guessing game. Teleportation is blocked at all times using several redundant layers of enchantments. The building's walls are covered in detection spells and turrets of the highest quality, to deter riots or anyone bold enough to seige it. To top it all off, dozens of constructs patrol the building in perfectly timed shifts and paths that ensure no inch will be unmonitered for even a second. If all else fails, the wizards will raise an alarm, attracting the attention of any and all available Eternal Guards.

Stealing so much as a change purse from an inattentive tourist while in this building will be difficult, to say the least. This may serve as an epic level challenge for an evil party. Beating back a small army of thieves alongside the building's defenses then capturing the crooks responsible is also a quest for do-gooders or mercanaries.

[Strawman]

Some stuff that could be in the museum-
Whether each object is as described or a fake depends on the DM's preference.

A warhammer that was used by one of the Streetbuilder's original members. Possibly an artifact or at least a powerful magic item.

Fossils that were dug up by miners. The fossils might be ressurected, introducing some original or old creatures into the campaign.

The original cornerstone of one of the city's early layers.

A magically preserved painting of a miner's family during the early years of the city.

Preserved weapons from the army of the small nation that attacked the city.

The official directives of an organization (at its conception) on a document signed by the founding members of the organization. A hall in the museum could contain one of these for each organization that is important to the city. Of course, secret or illegal organizations probably would not have one. Some organizations may have lost theirs over time.

The design plans for the big tower.

Paintings of various important events in the city's history.

Sculptures of important people in the city's history.

[Vadin]

Some stuff that could be in the museum-
Whether each object is as described or a fake depends on the DM's preference.

A warhammer that was used by one of the Streetbuilder's original members. Possibly an artifact or at least a powerful magic item.

Fossils that were dug up by miners. The fossils might be ressurected, introducing some original or old creatures into the campaign.

The original cornerstone of one of the city's early layers.

A magically preserved painting of a miner's family during the early years of the city.

Preserved weapons from the army of the small nation that attacked the city.

The official directives of an organization (at its conception) on a document signed by the founding members of the organization. A hall in the museum could contain one of these for each organization that is important to the city. Of course, secret or illegal organizations probably would not have one. Some organizations may have lost theirs over time.

The design plans for the big tower.

Paintings of various important events in the city's history.

Sculptures of important people in the city's history.

Most people think this, and most people are wrong. Nearly every group, legal or criminal, is on register here. No one but the curator and the curator's assistant are allowed to view the Full Index, however.

The museum doubles as a neutral ground for the various groups within the city. Some of the biggest treaties have been secretly negotiated while two seemingly innocent civilians stand observing an exhibit and mumbling between themselves.

[BRC]

City Backstory
Saint Merkel and Saint Baltin

The City is very crowded, and sanitation and health services are often rare. It is not uncommon, therefore, for plagues and disease to be a problem. One such disease later named “Saints Foe”, was especially deadly. It swept through the city, laying waste to vast numbers of people. Some districts or levels barricaded themselves off to prevent contamination, and it was not uncommon for “Purge Squads” to start fires in areas with suspected cases, in order to contain the disease. It seemed as if the city was about to fall into anarchy.
Then, an elderly cleric named Merkel arrived in the city, or maybe he was already there. Nobody is sure, people aren’t even sure which church he belonged to, as most of the good-aligned churches claim he was a member. What everybody does agree on, is the Speech,
Merkel went out and toured the city. He sought out those districts most ravaged by the disease, lending help where he could. Then, he wen’t back to the temple district, and called for every cleric, alchemist, healer, or person who could wrap a bandage to come to the temple square. Once there, he stood atop a simple stage and described what he had seen, and he told the people who had gathered what he intended to do about it.
The next day, the first Holy Hands set out from the temple district, to stop the disease in any way they could.
Meanwhile, some people noticed something. With all the deaths, the population of the necropolis swelled. The Undead could also easily carry the disease, while not being affected by it. Some people put two and two together, and began to suspect that the disease was created by the Undead, to turn the entire city into a necropolis. Fear turned to anger, and before long one of Merkel’s followers, a man named Baltin, was up on the same stage, calling for a crusade. Many people rallied to his banner, and before the council could do anything about it, they had a war on their hands. People from all over the city joined what soon became known as “The Holy Swords”. Many people could not aid the Hands, because they lacked the skills needed to help against the disease, but provided they could swing a club, Baltin had need of them. In the end it got so bad that Gravelbore himself was forced to leave his citadel and take to the field.
Then, suddenly, when things looked their worst, the disease stopped. Some say that Merkel developed a cure, others say that Baltin killed the undead responsible for it, and others say it simply ran out of people vulnerable to it. All that is known is that, suddenly the Holy Hands found themselves receiving no new cases, and the ones still in their care started getting better. Also, after that day, which is currently celebrated as a festival, neither Merkel or Baltin was seen again.
Both movements lost a lot of people. With the disease gone, most simply went back home, though those that stayed to continue Merkel’s work became the Holy Hands. All but the most fanatic members of the Swords left, and those that remained, unable to continue their crusade, made peace with the undead and became the police force of the temple district, and bodyguards for the Holy Hands.
Both Merkel and Baltin, since nobody knew which one of them truly defeated the disease, were both made Saints by every church in the city.

BTW, the Museum gets my Seal of Approval.

[Owrtho]

I think he meant they probably didn't have documents signed by the original founders of most illegal and secret organizations. Not that they don't know of them or have current documents from them.

Edit: Also, BRC, you should remove one of the boths in the last sentence. As it is it sounds kinda odd. That may also be one of the best posts I've ever been ninja'd by.

Owrtho

[Strawman]

The secret documents only the curator has access to sounds cool.

Organization:The Purge Squad

This group is made of fallen paladins from The Holy Swords. Named after the purge squads that fought the same disease as Baltin, this organization takes similarly drastic measures to fight evil. They openly attack evil, and sometimes they attack groups of residents they beleive are allowing evil to continue. They operate mostly in secret, but occasionally a member will try to make himself into a public martyr so that people will accept their cause. The amount of public support gained by this varies, but The Purge Squad are generally considered a criminal and possibly evil organization. They are sometimes described as a hate group against the undead. Both The Purge Squad and The Holy Swords claim that their group is more true to Baltin.

[Renrik]

We've got religious fanatics, racists, communists, primitivist terrorists, and more. Bravo!

I want to make it clear, on the Wild, as we have been using it so much for various things, that they are in addition to being a terrorist group also a supportive network and nurturing society among their own.

[Strawman]

Some places of Interest-

The World’s Restaurant – This massive restaurant is in the Entertainment District. It features meals that contain every potential food ingredient in the world, as well as many from other dimensions. There are even magically preserved ingredients made from extinct animals, sold at extremely high prices. Those ingredients are guarded by high-level Halflings that appreciate a good meal.

Dr. Hope’s Quiet House – This house is in the Necropolis. Just as the Holy Hands offer undead a chance to repent, Dr. Hope offers the living a chance to sell their living bodies for the benefit of their loved ones. Dr. Hope is a lich that will offer a substantial amount of cash for a living person willing to give up their body and/or soul. The cash is given to a recipient designated in advance. If the soul is sold, the amount of money is substantially greater. Dr. Hope makes his customers as comfortable as possible before he takes his payment, a process always done very quickly. (Inspired by a scene in Soylent Green).

Oh, and some more things for the museum-

Paintings of Coliseum Grand Champions (those who have become champion in all coliseums in the city)

Paintings and dioramas of the city at various points during its history (10 levels, 15 levels, mid big tower construction, etc.)

The original “bone shield” wielded by a fallen paladin that fought for undead rights. It is a powerful magic item or artifact.


Some adventure hooks-

1)In a commons area, the streets and buildings have all been covered by moss. The Wild is suspected, but MI determines the moss to be harmless. Several sick residents beg to differ. It would cost time and money to remove the moss, so the city has put the supposedly harmless moss low on its priorities. A sick resident approaches the adventurers to ask if they can help out, as the Street Builders will not be available to help for another two months. If the adventurers accept:

A)They must determine the effects of the moss.
B)They must counter the effects or remove the moss.
C)They must determine who is behind the moss and prevent reoccurrences

This could be an introduction into a large campaign revolving around fighting The Wild.

2)The Bizarre Bazaar has a pet section. Some mischievous kids were seen releasing numerous pets from their cages. The kids and the creatures ran away. Now both are missing. The adventurers must:

A)Find the kids and bring them back safely, so that they can be punished.
B)Find the creatures and return them alive, even the dangerous ones.

[Renrik]

Another idea:

A number of upper-class elves are murdered, with the symbol of a goblin religious group written in blood nearby. The elven community is up in arms, but the goblins deny any involvement, pointing out that the murders are inconsistent with the religion's philosophy and methods. Racial tensions rise and, at the same time, class resentments flare up as goblin labor representatives accuse the wealthy elves of being in league with the Steamworks owners and hoarding the city's wealth. Needless to say, the Humans First operatives who are comitting the murders are thrilled.

[Dragon Elite]

Anyone want another world building project?
Plot hooks


A painting is stolen from the museums.
The adventurers must:
A) Discover who took it
B) Find the painting.
C) Bring back the person responsible

An elf leader has been kidnapped
The adventurers must:
A) Bring the elf back
B) Bring the person responsible back

The gnomes treasury was arsoned
The adventurers must:
A) Take a evaluation of the items left in the treasury
B) Return any and all missing items
C) Bring back the person responsible
:smallfrown:Arson and theft. :smallfrown:

[jagadaishio]

Place of Interest:
Colosseum Gigantica: The largest arena in the city. The arena itself is a demiplane housing nothing but a two-mile-radius arena. The building in the city is a block-sized round building in the Entertainment District with a gate in an archway every ten feet. Events that take place in the Colosseum Gigantica range from gladiatorial matches to sporting events to wizard duels. Whole wars are sometimes even fought by foreign parties using the field as neutral grounds. The purchase of a ticket also provides the purchaser with a pair of binoculars that magically enhance the user's vision to allow the viewing of the entire arena floor; the binoculars are teleported back to a storehouse at the end of the match for which they were purchased. The Colosseum required an enormous investment to get started, but at only one gold per ticket, no matter the event, enough people go to events that its draconic investors have been seeing massive profits from the venture.

Sin: It's rumoured that at the bottom of the spiral that is Hedon is a venue so vile, so perverse, and so despicable that it can only be called Sin. It is supposed to hold things that even some of the most evil of gods would cringe at the sight of, all for the pleasure of the bizarre clientèle that can make it that far. Those who have gone there and come back are all either incurably insane (as the spell) or unwilling to admit that they got that far and weren't repulsed. As such, the place remains little more than a rumor to this day.

Mhol's Theatre Extraordinaire: This theatre sits soundly in the upper levels of the Entertainment District. From the outside, the theatre looks relatively unremarkable. Indeed, until the show starts, it remains quite ordinary. However, once the show begins, it becomes obvious that there is something odd about the actors: there is only one. The whole theatre is manned by a single changeling, all of the lights and stage crew work performed by invisible servants. Mhol himself changes shapes between lines to play each part, conversing with himself. It's said by some that there is nothing more peculiar than watching this charismatic, hyperactive changeling sword fight or act in love scenes with only himself.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Thats helpful, though I thought I'd point out you accidental left out the districts after Mithral Heights. Also, just a thought, but it might help to alphabetize the districts.

Owrtho

Bugger, I had a feeling I'd missed something. Here goes take two, now with alphabetization:



Districts

The Academy: A massive macro-school of all manner of higher learning. Mages, mechanists, and other scholars are trained here. Most move on to the district of their profession (the Mage's District and the Steamworks respectively for the listed examples) when they finish their training. Some, however, remain to study new concepts and make breakthroughs of their own. Such individuals lead a life of learning.

Aerodyne: District on the Plane of Air, a trade hub.

Aquarene: District on the Plane of Water, exports riverine and natural resources.

Collected College: A sub-community of the Academy, its purpose is as a lab and research ground for professors and other people who make their own education their life instead of a career.

The Commons: Not so much a true district as the place in between districts. Tends to house lots of housing with only a few shops or taverns. The suburbs of the city. Is policed by volunteer neighbourhood watches and the occasional M.I.

Customs and Immigration: A district that has a number of artificial gates which open to a variety of planar cities periodically to let in waves of new citizens. Potential citizens who aren't useful, who are impoverished, or who don't have a useful skill are turned away.

The Dark City: A former drow citadel annexed after a bloody conflict in the deepest levels of the mines. The Dark Army of city-loyal drow still besiege the castle of the Queen they betrayed when she attempted to fall back to her stronghold and leave her people to be conquered. Contains housing for the deepest miners, lodging for the Dark Army, and a large branch of the Steamworks.

The Draconic Heritage Collective: A district of beings with dragonic blood built around a temple dedicate to two ancient dragons (one red, one gold) within. The ancient dragons started a game of strategy against each other centuries ago. They have since become players of business and are the two richest individuals in the city.

Entertainment District: A district of theatres, musicians, artists, and performers. People go here for family-friendly and though provoking entertainment. They also go here to see people gutted by each other in gladiatorial fights. It's a very popular district.

Everdark/Shadowgate: Either two distrcits or a single one in which Shadowgate is a neighborhood. Everdark is a lightless place for nocturnal and darksighted creatures who don;t want to see the light. Shadowgate has spontaneous portals to the Shadow Plane and is beloved by casters of mysteries.

Galdren: The great fields that stretch as far the eye can see, a source of food for the city. They are run by small collectives which send representatives to central council for wider infrastructure planning. skill sharing, discussion, and electing a representative to the city.
Redmere: A district on the other side of the gates to the Plane of Fire. Trades with the denizens.

Gate Raiders: Occasionally, bizarre or random-looking humanoids will spill out of a random gates, stealing, killing, and retreating back into the gate just as it closes. Those that are captured die shortly after the gate closes and, as such, current policy is to just kill them outright. No two look alike. Sometimes a marauding monster will spill out instead of raiders. People looking to get on the good side of local police are well-advised to put down such monsters - if and only if they have sufficient skill to.

The Grove District: A district whose layers are made up of massive living trees. Rangers, druids, fey, treants, and other nature beings make their homes here. The Streetbuilders have to work almost constantly keeping the various groves navigable by walkways in the branches. The Groves export large amounts of fruit and edible fungi to the rest of the city.

Gulliver's Heights: A district built by and for the creatures of size large and larger of the city. It has stable clouds above it for cloud and storm giants. They mostly keep to themselves, but tend to keep cupboards or closets converted to (massive) guest rooms for any miniscule, medium or smaller guests. It is the largest district, if not the most heavily populated.

Hedon: A red light district built in a spiral pattern in one of the larger cavern networks of the city. The deeper down the spiral that a person goes, the more perverse and disturbing the wares offered becomes. Most people can't even bring themselves to walk all the way to the bottom. There are technically no layers in this district, as it is a spiral. People found to be committing a crime are captured and sold into slavery in this district until they pay off their debt.

The Hunting Ground: A corporately sponsored hunting grounds for big game hunters and creatures that have a biological or psychological need to hunt. The Alliance smuggled in more dangerous creatures for bored hunters. Some of the creatures were too dangerous to successfully take down, and the grounds grew overrun with dangerous creatures. It was sealed off from the public, and grove rangers frequently make raids to try to regain control, gaining combat pay and a bonus based on the danger of creatures they take down. The Alliance still smuggles in skilled or stupid hunters and the Wild seeks to release the seals, allowing the dangerous creatures to return the city to a natural state.

Lake District: A district of floating buildings with prime apartments and underwater communities for water-breathers. Is a massive source of fish and edible water-borne plants.

The Mage's District: A district set up by and for magic users. It has a gate to the astral plane, around which was constructed the Bazaar of the Bizarre. All manner of constructs and magical items come from this district. Those who need to commission a magical service need only come here to find it.

The Necropolis: A district of undead, policed by the Order of the Bone Shield, who are involved in capturing and punishing undead criminals and rogue mindless undead city-wide. Contains a gate to the Negative Energy plane, where rich undead build homes. Bodies from the rest of the city are sold to the Necropolis for labor and dietary needs of its citizenry.

Primordium: The seat of the city's ruling council, a pocket dimension in the original village from which the city was founded.

Ravenshome: A district full of raven statues. Those that break major laws disappear. Those that break minor laws have their offenses appear in a tattoo on their arm, listed in over 100 languages. Those that conceal their tattoo feel pain, and concealing their offence is added to the tattoo as a crime. Those whose tattoos get too large disappear. Anywhere you go in the district, there is always at least one raven visible. The crime rate in this district is incredibly low, and people who grow up here almost always end up with some sort of mental or emotional issues.

Stadel: A district which vanished suddenly and existed in a void for centuries. One day it returned as suddenly as it vanished, having apparently survived the void by the skill and guidance of the Stadel family. After returning, they fought a short battle with the rest of the city before being comforted. To this day they are largely isolationist and xenophobic.

The Steamworks: A steam-powered industrial district. It is actually made up of a number of unconnected sites scattered throughout the city. Most of the city's technological advances, refined metals, and other manufactured objects come off of a Steamworks line. There is enormous conflict and strain between merchant managers and unions in the district. The steamworks hold gates to the elemental planes of both fire and water to allow for infinite steam power.

Temple District: A district of temples, hospitals, and academies for paladins, clerics, and other clergy. People go here to worship and receive aid from their organizations. The temple district at large publicly denounces, and would have made war to if not for the law, the Necropolis. A portal to the positive energy plane exists here.

Ungul: A small community attached to one of the groves designed around the needs of four-legged creatures of the city. It was designed and built by centaurs, and it is still administered by them to this day.

The Vault: An extradimensional prison where convicted criminals serve their sentence. It is policed and wardoned by constructs. It is rumored that terribly magical experiments are perpetrated upon the people jailed for life.




Organizations

Cave Knockers: Keep the tunnels maintained and mapped, and make new tunnels. Sometimes required to fight unexpected threats in their line of work. The Streetbuilders of the caves.


Civil Servants: A public bodyguard service for other public service organizations like the Streetbuilders. They are not a police force. Their sole task is to protect their charges.

The Collective: A communist pro-union organization in the Steamworks. The unions don't official endorse it. Its actions tend towards protest, sabotage, and even attack on the merchant managers.

The Council of Ministers: Appointed by the Grand Council, it consists of the directors of the various citywide departments. Each seat has two chairs, one for the minister themselves, and one reserved for their second, usually the director of some powerful organization. The current list of ministers is the following:
The Minister of the Interior: the head of the bureaucracy that runs the Streetbuilders, the Cave Knockers, and the Trash Collectors. The second seat is held by the High Engineer of the Streetbuilders.
The Minister of Justice: Heads the bureaucracy that inspects and coordinates all the police-departments, primarily the city-controlled ones (Like the Elemental Guard, the Vault Wardens, and M.I.). The second seat is held by the M.I. Director.
The Minister of Magic: Part of the bureaucracy that keeps track of and handles most of the magic items the city controls. Conducts a census on the number and power of spellcasters in the city, and general handles the magical affairs the government needs too. The second seat is held by the Arch chancellor of the University.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs: Handles all relations between the City and the world outside. The second seat is held by the current leader of the Merchants Guild.
The Minister of War: Theoretically, this seat would be held by the Commander of the City's armed forces. However, because the city lacks a standing army, this seat is held by a bureaucrat who leads a small department that keeps track of the city's preparedness for war, and would, in the event of a conflict, become the top commanders of the city's army. They are almost never consulted.
Minister of the Treasury: keeps track of the budget and the city's funds. The second seat is held by the president of whatever is the largest bank in the city at that time.
The Minister's Council has no actual voting power, instead serving to run their departments and advice the Grand Council on various issues.

Cut-Throat Alliance: An organization that makes crime a business. Comprised of 80% of the organized criminals and 50% of the disorganized criminals in the entire city. Potentially the most powerful single organization, they have hidden teleportative gates throughout the city for their agents to use for a variety of purposes.

The Elemental Guard: Police force and defensive garrisons of the elemental colonies.

The Eyes: A now illegal network of divination aided and amazingly skilled spies who keep track of everything going on in the city. Founded under a former regime, and since outlawed, they still report to the city's council, who do not publicly condone their actions. For the right price, they can provide amazing information.

Gatekeepers: An organization which is devoted to ending these mysterious raids on the city. Some stay behind to aid the police and guards, but most patrol the multiverse searching for the source of the attacks.

The Holy Hands of Saint Merkiel: A coalition of healers who have set up hospitals in every district in the city. They publicly, vocally oppose the existence of the Necropolis and undead in general. They take no hostile actions, but offer euthanasia to any undead that enter, much to the dislike of the Necropolis's residents.

Humans First: Humans first is a speciest organization which exalts humans and wants all other races to get out. They hold that the original village was a human village, and therefore only humans deserve to be residents. They are often ignored, in spite of rumors that many policy-making officials are secretly members.

Municipal Investigators: An organization to handle trans-district criminals, the Alliance, and other such criminals. They serve principally as investigators, and rarely perform arrests, but will do so if needed. They are called in on every Alliance-suspected crime.


The Peacekeepers: An underground organization dedicated to solving the inevitable conflicts that arise due to the vast number of very different cultures the City is home to. They work as intermediaries or buffers between groups that share hostilities to reduce the odds of a sudden riot. They also send anonymous tips to police organizations in an effort to solve hate crimes. The members often hire and work alongside bounty hunters to hunt down criminals and gangs that threaten to cause chaos, and even donate to help cover the cost of paying bounties.

Shadow Martyrs: Ex-Cuthroat Alliance members and other victims, the good guys in the dark.

The Streetbuilders: A municipal organizations of builders, their primary purpose is to make sure layers don't collapse down on each other, an almost constant task. When they finish repairing everything, they're given a public building task. Most such buildings are unfinished when the Streetbuilders are called back to their repair work, and sit unfinished forever.

Trash Corps: The Trash Corps pick up the trash and bring it to landfills, burn it, compact it, recycle it, etc. They also maintain the sewers (except for its structure, which is left for the Street Builders). They are generally understaffed, although for some reason the richer districts always have their trash collected on time

The Wild: A neoprimitivist organization made up of druids, rangers, and other pro-nature organizations. Their long-term goal is to return the area covered by the city to a state of nature. They seek to break the seals around the Hunting Grounds and let nature do its work on the rest of the city.


Places of Interest:

Arcane Sewers: The Mage District contains a great deal of spilt potions, magical waste, and broken objects of a magical nature. When all of these combine and fester in one place, stuff happens, usually bad. That is why The Mage District has a separate sewer/garbage system for potentially dangerous magic waste. This area is sectioned off, and barricaded so that creatures born of the waste cannot escape into the city. A special division of The Trash Corps takes care of the Arcane Sewers. They are required to have arcane magic, and they carry around bags of holding to transport more dangerous waste.

The Block: This large and crowded apartment building has a peculiar habit of flickering about several districts, appearing in certain vacant lots in each in a semi-predictable pattern, slightly controlled by its inhabitants. Its tenants trade between districts and practice home industries to keep employed. It usually has a number of guests in it who wish to catch a ride to the next stop and see the world.

The City Forge: The single largest forge in the city. The truly massive machines that the rest of the Steamworks often need for their jobs are forged here. It is staffed almost exclusively by tough, old, skilled mechanist dwarves.

Colosseum Gigantica: The largest arena in the city. The arena itself is a demiplane housing nothing but a two-mile-radius arena. The building in the city is a block-sized round building in the Entertainment District with a gate in an archway every ten feet. Events that take place in the Colosseum Gigantica range from gladiatorial matches to sporting events to wizard duels. Whole wars are sometimes even fought by foreign parties using the field as neutral grounds. The purchase of a ticket also provides the purchaser with a pair of binoculars that magically enhance the user's vision to allow the viewing of the entire arena floor; the binoculars are teleported back to a storehouse at the end of the match for which they were purchased. The Colosseum required an enormous investment to get started, but at only one gold per ticket, no matter the event, enough people go to events that its draconic investors have been seeing massive profits from the venture.

Copper Junkyards: The various scrapyards of the Steamworks. Poor tinkers and mechanist will go here for raw materials, and it is seen as the ultimate sign of the waste and corruption of cities by the Wild. Rust monsters tend to live here, much to the chagrin of anyone walking past with a particularly delicious piece of metal on their person.

Crystal Observatory: An observatory built in the Mithral Heights by professors from the Collected College. They are always looking for new, better crystals to use as lenses, and are willing to pay exorbitantly for them.

Dr. Hope’s Quiet House: This house is in the Necropolis. Just as the Holy Hands offer undead a chance to repent, Dr. Hope offers the living a chance to sell their living bodies for the benefit of their loved ones. Dr. Hope is a lich that will offer a substantial amount of cash for a living person willing to give up their body and/or soul. The cash is given to a recipient designated in advance. If the soul is sold, the amount of money is substantially greater. Dr. Hope makes his customers as comfortable as possible before he takes his payment, a process always done very quickly.

Element Guard HQ:The headquarters of the Element Guard is a large brick building in the Mage's district. Within it are massive libraries of historical texts, cultural texts, and maps of the various elemental planes compiled by generations of arcanists and Guardsmen. The headquarters is regularly staffed only by scholars and officers with other Guardsmen only passing through to and from their posts. The main hall has four massive doors, each carved with the name of the element of the plane it leads to in a hundred different languages. The Water and Fire planes both have environment-controlled airlocks before their gates, but the Earth and Air doors lead directly into the main halls of Terradome and Aerodyne.

The Founder's Museum: Created shortly after the Primordium was completed, it contains many artifacts and items from the city's history. While there are many recent items relating to big events, the name comes from the handful of items that are believed to be from the city's early days. There is little known of the items that can't be discerned just by looking at them, and even the museum itself doesn't have much information about the items. Founder's Museum lists a name, where the item was found, and several theories about the owners and what they used for it.
The Museum is patrolled by several constructs, and while there are daily tours the security is tighter then Fort Nox ever dreamed. Alarms that teleport the would-be thief straight into a holding cell when tripped. Very thick walls of admantium. Placement of varrying runes in layer after layer. Constant montioring by five high level wizards via scrying at any time. Several imitations of the items scattered throughout the facility, ensuring that actually stealing what you were looking for is a guessing game. Teleportation is blocked at all times using several redundant layers of enchantments. The building's walls are covered in detection spells and turrets of the highest quality, to deter riots or anyone bold enough to seige it. To top it all off, dozens of constructs patrol the building in perfectly timed shifts and paths that ensure no inch will be unmonitered for even a second. If all else fails, the wizards will raise an alarm, attracting the attention of any and all available Eternal Guards.

Holy Ground: The holy graveyard in the temple district. They refuse to sell their dead to the necropolis, and therefore maintain this expensive burial ground with the tithes of their congregations.

Mhol's Theatre Extraordinaire: This theatre sits soundly in the upper levels of the Entertainment District. From the outside, the theatre looks relatively unremarkable. Indeed, until the show starts, it remains quite ordinary. However, once the show begins, it becomes obvious that there is something odd about the actors: there is only one. The whole theatre is manned by a single changeling, all of the lights and stage crew work performed by invisible servants. Mhol himself changes shapes between lines to play each part, conversing with himself. It's said by some that there is nothing more peculiar than watching this charismatic, hyperactive changeling sword fight or act in love scenes with only himself.

Random Gates: Random gates will sometimes appear throughout the city for random amounts of time. Magical devices which provide a countdown for the gate's disappearance and devices which hold open the gates are (relatively) common.

Sin: It's rumoured that at the bottom of the spiral that is Hedon is a venue so vile, so perverse, and so despicable that it can only be called Sin. It is supposed to hold things that even some of the most evil of gods would cringe at the sight of, all for the pleasure of the bizarre clientèle that can make it that far. Those who have gone there and come back are all either incurably insane (as the spell) or unwilling to admit that they got that far and weren't repulsed. As such, the place remains little more than a rumor to this day.

The Sleeping Army: There is a cavern filled with this vast army, made long ago in a terrible conflict and put to rest, to be awoken in a time of need. They attack anyone with a weapon, but some hide among them unarmed.

The World’s Restaurant: This massive restaurant is in the Entertainment District. It features meals that contain every potential food ingredient in the world, as well as many from other dimensions. There are even magically preserved ingredients made from extinct animals, sold at extremely high prices. Those ingredients are guarded by high-level Halflings that appreciate a good meal.



I think I got it all this time. Added in a few more recent ideas, trying not to change the wording too much. Except The Peacekeepers, which I think I may have trimmed too much.

[Terror_Incognito]

Here is another Place of Interest.

The Hole in the Ground
The Hole in the Ground was discovered by builders converting a second-story shopfront in an apartment. When removing the floor, instead of seeing the room below they saw the Hole.

The hole is exactly 20ft in diameter and appears to be bottomless. It also has the curious ability to prevent all form of flight, both magical and mundane (starting 50ft from the top).

The Hole in the Ground is now a major tourist attraction. For a mere 1 Silver you can look in to hole and for 4 silver more you can drop something into it.

In addition a thriving rope making industry has developed in the area around the Hole to provide for those who wish to climb down.

[Strawman]

The Hole In The Ground might mean that there is no garbage/sewer problem in the city. Everything would go straight there.

[Dragon Elite]

Bu what about the smell from sewage? :yuk: Not so much of a tourist attraction anymore.:smallfrown:

[kopout]

having the rope "brake" would be an interesting way of murder.

[Strawman]

Or a quick gust of wind out of earshot to knock people off the rope. Everyone would assume that they just lost their grip.

I could imagine different versions of the hole could be in a campaign. The original bottomless one is the standard. An alternate would be a hole that used to seem bottomless, but is now quickly filling up with the city's garbage and sewage. Keep in mind that the city has not had to use landfills or anything for decades, and is completely unprepared. That could make for a whole adventure's worth of quests.

[jagadaishio]

Organization: The Guild of Freelancers

The Guild is an organization of generalists. Rather than being specialized, as the Mage's Guild, the Fighter's Guild, and so on, it accepts people of all manner of specialization and skilled generality. When the Guild receives a commission, it posts it on the boards in all of their guildhouses throughout the city, the required specializations and number of people listed at the bottom. The boards are magical and updated in real time, so as soon as someone of a required specialization signs up, the requirements on all the boards change to account for the new individual. The guild is considered a fantastic organization for bored adventurers, and it pays well if infrequently. The guild typically only receives commissions that no other guild is capable of, whether it's because it requires a number of specialities or because it requires a very broad skill base.

[Dragon Elite]

Should we try to make a campaign in this setting?
It would be a good way to see what we need to do.

[Strawman]

I've started working on a campaign, although it's very bare-bones right now. Also, the time limit imposed in it may be way too short.

The Garbage Campaign

Diviners have discovered that the city's bottomless hole is finally filling up. After two months it will no longer be useable as a dump spot for all the city's garbage and sewage. If the city is not prepared by then, it will be very, very bad.

The adventuring party has been commissioned as an Emergency Garbage Task Force, E.G.T.F. They have been given various assignments to complete within a two month time period.

Assist in the creation of landfills and recycling plants.

-Get funding from individual residents of Mithral Heights for the creation of landfills and recycling plants. This would lead to a number of smaller quests, one for each resident being obtained.

-Reduce widespread vandalism in Hedon that is using up all the streetbuilder's time, preventing them from being able to work on large scale projects. A crime lord is causing gangs to use vandalism on government properties in Hedon.

-Convince the dwarven district to give up a new cave they found, so that it can be made into a landfill. You must give them something or perform them a service that they deem equal in value.

-Convince tiny residents of the city to map out all the hidden and forgotten places in the city that might be used as landfills. They have been having problems with another district lately, and would like your help in resolving the matter.


Help establish the Arcane Sewers.

-Convince a high level arcane spellcaster to head up the division of trash corps that runs the Arcane Sewers.

-Monsters born in the Arcane Sewers are attempting to break past the barricades. Quell this dangerous rebellion. Depending on how complex the Arcane Sewers are, this could be a whole dungeon.


Slow the fill of the bottomless pit, thus increasing the time allowed to complete the campaign. These are optional to the quest.

-Convince druids of The Grove and wizards of The Academy to create a fast reproducing subspecies of Gelatinous Cubes. Then devise a way to safely drop the cubes into the bottomless pit.

-Buy high-yield explosives from a prominent gnomish inventor. These are meant to expand the lower parts of the pit. This option is not available during the final week of the campaign; the pit would be too full at that point, and the explosives would be dangerous.


Also, in order to provide a reprieve from a plot-heavy campaign, there is a mandatory concert you must put on. You must help a theatre troupe put together a concert meant to raise awareness of developing a garbage-conscious lifestyle.

Finally, the campaign ends in front of the pit, where a ceremony is held. During the ceremony, a monster emerges from the pit. You must defeat it with the aid of the city's forces and the high level caster you recruited for the Arcane Sewers.

[Terror_Incognito]

I like your ideas for using the hole. I had also envisioned mages and explorers constantly trying to reach the bottom, hence the thriving rope making industry.

I love the mental image of Coruvaan, Grand-High, Exalted Archmage of the Scarlet Sigil being pelted with garbage as he is lowered down the Hole.

[BRC]

Point of Interest: The Warehouse
The Municipal authorities need to store things. Lots of things, so spread throughout the city is a series of Warehouses. However, each of these individual warehouses leads to a single pocket dimension exactly twice the size of all the warehouses combined. With the exception of a few civil servants at the doors, most of the space is unguarded, simply containing vast amounts of raw materials and tools for the Streetbuilders, Trash Corps, and Cave Knockers, as well as Food stockpiled in times of plenty as proof against famine,. However, better guarded sections contain the City Archives, a massive arsenal of outdated weapons (in case the city needs to raise an army), collections of magic items, and even the city treasury.

One feature of the Warehouse is that books and food (in their respective sections) will not rot or decompose.
The space is truly massive, and with the exception of people coming to collect stuff, and a few simple constructs, few people spend much time there, and some far-away areas may not have seen outsiders for centuries. Who knows what could be lurking back there between rows of crumbling bricks or shelves of tomes full of agricultural and tax data.

[Owrtho]

Point of Interest: The Rules of the Ravens
In the center of Ravenshome is a large square pillar 15 feet by 15 feet reaching from the top of the highest level of the district to the bottom of the lowest level of the district. The entire pillar is decorated with ravens, etched in a style similar to the marks that appear on the arms of criminals in the district, and the corners of the pillar are carved to look like the raven statues that can bee seen wherever you go, one atop the other each on a small perch. In the central level of the district, the populace has gone and started carving in blank areas of the pillars, all the rules that the ravens seem to enforce with the mark, and the approximate length of the mark they cause. They have also noted the crimes that seem to cause disappearances among the district such as murder. Every so often when a new rule is found people have it carved in a blank spot on the pillar. Aside from the pillar, the area is known as being where most who move to ravens home to hide from the alliance or other powerful groups move to (at least at first) so that they are able to easily check what the rules are in case they forget.

Owrtho

[Strawman]

I imagine that groups like The Wild and The Alliance will try to raid guarded warehouses. Adventuring parties could help defend the warehouse, or prevent the attack. Or aid in the raid if they're evil.

[Renrik]

I imagine that groups like The Wild and The Alliance will try to raid guarded warehouses. Adventuring parties could help defend the warehouse, or prevent the attack. Or aid in the raid if they're evil.

Or Chaotic.

[jagadaishio]

Or Chaotic.

Because sticking it to the man isn't any more inherently good or evil than the man itself is.

[Strawman]

I've made up the introduction for the Garbage Campaign.

Intro-

The Garbage Campaign

You are standing in your boss’s office. She is sitting behind a wooden desk covered with stacks of paper and scrolls. She quickly makes red marks on documents while she talks to you.

“Hello everyone. I’ve called you here for a very important duty. As you all know, the city uses a bottomless pit for its entire garbage and trash disposal. Recently spelunkers have discovered that the pit is not truly bottomless, and that it will be full soon. If the city does not have a fully functioning alternative garbage disposal method when the pit fills up, all hell will break loose.

“You have been commissioned as an Emergency Garbage Task Force, or E.G.T.F. for short. There are several objectives that you must complete before the pit fills up. This document here lists all of the objectives and sub-objectives.”

The DM hands each player a copy of Document 1A.

“Now, The Academy predicts that the pit will fill up completely in three months. If you have not finished your job by then, it may be too late. The Academy did postulate some ways to delay the pit’s filling up. I included those in the document.

“Oh, about objective three, I’m sorry about that. I don’t think there’s any point to it, but the City Council put it on there.”

Your boss stops doing paperwork and looks up, “The city needs you. You’re all we can spare, everyone else is working on maintaining the city or other garbage related duties. Don’t expect any help. That being said, do you have any questions?”

After the players ask questions, they can decide where to go next. The DM may decide what the player’s boss would or would not know.


Document 1A-
---------------

E.G.T.F. Objectives
The following are a list of duties assigned to you, a member of the Emergency Garbage Task Force.

1. Assist in the construction of junkyards, landfills, and recycling plants.

a. Discover the reason for rampant vandalism in Hedon. The vandalism is using up a considerable part of the Street Builder’s time, preventing them from building landfills as quickly as needed.

b. Recently the Dwarven District discovered a gargantuan cave. Convince them to allow the cave to be used as a landfill, instead of a residential location.

c. Acquire donations from prominent families in the Mithral District. The donations will go to creation and maintenance of recycling plants in the Steamworks.

d. Convince several families of giants and ogres in Gulliver’s Heights to move so that their neighborhood can be turned into a landfill.

e. Organize citizens of Smallville for the purpose of searching the city for unknown planar gates. Any newfound locations that are uninhabited will be used for landfills.

f. Discover the source of dire animals in a giant compost farm in Galdren.


2. Ensure the quality of the Arcane Sewers.

a. Convince one of the city’s more well known arcane magic users to become the new head of the Arcane Sewers. Anyone on the following list would be acceptable.

i. Alabaster Grant, retired guard from The Museum.
ii. Onigh, first half-orc professor of the arcane in The Academy.
iii. Elinor Crinne, talented daughter of Mithral Height’s Crinnes.
iv. Dr. Despair, a lich that was once in the employ of Dr. Hope.

b. Ascertain the safety of Arcane Sewers barricade, and eliminate any potential dangers within the Arcane Sewers.


3. Raise the citizenry’s awareness of the garbage problem.

a. Convince a well-known theatre troupe to put on a play addressing the issue of garbage.

b. Find a large suitable location for the play to be held on a regular basis.

c. Attend the play on opening night and make sure everything goes smoothly.


4. Assist in an MI investigation of a plot by The Wild to derail the garbage effort. The Wild wants the city to fall apart after it can no longer handle its own supply of garbage. Use one of the following methods.

a. Infiltrate The Wild and dismantle their plot from the inside.

b. Discover key members of The Wild and assist in their arrest.

c. Convince The Civil Servants to station a significant amount of guards at all landfills and recycling plants.


I’ve included some ways that you can slow the pit’s filling up - Boss

Some members of The Grove and The Mage District were working on creating a quickly reproducing gelatinous cube. If a few dozen of those were put in the pit, it could considerably slow matters. However, several weeks during the project’s conception, The Wild attacked part of The Mage District. A large amount of the Mage District blamed The Grove, and the project was called off. If you can bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice, you may be able to convince the teams from The Grove and The Mage District to work together again.

Additionally, there is a gnomish inventor that lives on the Lake District. He specializes in high-yield explosives. They are extremely expensive, but you can try to convince him that he should donate some. If the explosives are dropped in the pit, it could widen considerably at lower elevations, increases the space for garbage to fill.

If you can come up with any other ideas on how to slow the pit, you have unlimited access to the pit. Feel free to use your own solutions.

End of Document 1A
-----------------------

[BRC]

Can I just say, I love the idea of a campaign based around finding a place for the city to put it's garbage. It tells alot about the type of setting
"So, in this campaign do we stop a demon cult?"
"Nope"
"Do we slay a dragon?"
"Nope"
"Okay, what do we do"
"Establish landfills"
...
:smallbiggrin:

[Renrik]

How does a city this size funnel all of its garbage towards one area? I think the bottomless pit should be used for the vast majority of the garbage in a specific area, but not for all the city's garbage. There would need to be a complex system of gates leading all the garbage there, otherwise, and with the truly massive size of this city and its colossal population, I don't think it likely that there would be a single place. I think some other ones would exist as well, and part of a garbage campaign should be to expand those ones.

[Renrik]

Though, on the garbage campaign:

Recruit mages to build more gates to allow the flow of organic waste to Galdren to be used as fertilizer, compost, and mulch. Lobby the Streetbuilders to build more infrastructure to help Galdren transport the waste to its new home.

Members of the Grove or even some more pacifistic members of the Wild could help in the mulch scheme.

[jagadaishio]

Idea: what if it turns out that the pit really IS bottomless and the build up is really just due to a blockage part way down? The party's whole campaign would prove (at the very end) to have been for naught, as dropping down a few barrels worth of Alchemist's Acid or a gelatinous cube would have cleared the blockage like a massive dose of industrial-strength, magical draino. Alternatively, the problem with the hole filling up could easily be solved by getting someone to manoeuvre a sphere of annihilation down into the pit. That would dispose of non-recyclables bore quickly than any other method. The point with all of this garbage stuff, though, is that in a magical world where there are Fabricate spells, all organic materials would go to compost and all inorganic materials could be easily recycled. I can't imagine the city having, or needing, a massive dump spot for anything other than the arcane waste that the Mage's District puts out.

[kopout]

OR instant fabrication will create a consumer society that produces massive amounts of waste because that can literally make more out of thin air.

[Strawman]

Okay, I really want the Garbage campaign to work, so I've tried to come up with logical explanations for its validity.

Fabricate spells, and things of a similar nature, can only be cast be spellcasters of a certain level. I imagine that those casters are rare enough that they cannot handle the city's trash load, especially since not many casters would want to spend their days dealing with trash.

The sphere of annihilation actually gave me an idea. Maybe the bottomless pit wasn't found. It was made. A hundred or so years ago, a group of powerful spellcasters decided to solve a bulk of the city's trash problem. He had a large funnel shaped cave dug deep into the ground. At the bottom of that cave, clerics created several Spheres of Annihilation. Pipes and chutes and planar gates from all over the city led to the spheres, made to go away forever. While it did not handle all of the city's garbage, it did substantially ease the strain garbage had on the city's budget.

Then, the other casters made an epic-level spell that would hold the spheres in place permanently. It would also protect the spheres from meddling, destruction, or anything else that could cause the spheres to stop working as intended.

But recently the gods spoke to their clerics and told them of impending disaster. There was something in the void that the Spheres of Annihilation connected to. That something, be it beast or deity, was eating the garbage being sent to it. And it was moving towards the source. The clerics of all deities (other than those who want the world destroyed) immedietly declared that the spheres must be closed. The most powerful mages in The Mage District said that because of the epic-level spell, it would take them months to close the spheres.

Thus, the players must prepare the city for increased garbage in the time before the spheres are closed. It would mean removing from the campaign anything about slowing the filling of the pit. Also, there is talk of the casters making a new solution for garbage after this that will work better, but they are all busy with the potential catastrophe.

The final boss I mentioned in the original outline of the campaign would be a young spawn of the mysterious creature heading towards the spheres. The spawn got through just as the spheres were closing.


Anyway, that's my idea. Is the whole garbage setup and campaign more plausible now?

Unfortunately, in this design there would be no room for splunking in a bottomless pit. I imagine in a city this large there would be caves so large that you could spend a decade getting to the bottom of it anyway.

[Hylleddin]

...

Thus, the players must prepare the city for increased garbage in the time before the spheres are closed. It would mean removing from the campaign anything about slowing the filling of the pit. Also, there is talk of the casters making a new solution for garbage after this that will work better, but they are all busy with the potential catastrophe.

The final boss I mentioned in the original outline of the campaign would be a young spawn of the mysterious creature heading towards the spheres. The spawn got through just as the spheres were closing.


Anyway, that's my idea. Is the whole garbage setup and campaign more plausible now?

Unfortunately, in this design there would be no room for splunking in a bottomless pit. I imagine in a city this large there would be caves so large that you could spend a decade getting to the bottom of it anyway.

How about this:

The city has several naturally occurring not quite bottomless pits that it has been using for garbage disposal. A short while ago, some of the more heavily used ones filled up. The garbage has been rerouted to other pits, but it's only a temporary solution. The people in charge investigated the other pits and found out that they would be full in about three months.

This allows adventures centered on slowing the problem and gives more pits to go spelunking in.

(P.S. Great setting!)

[Renrik]

I think we should use the spheres of annihilation idea, but also have some landfills that be spelunked in, kind of merging the last two posts.

[Dragon Elite]

I agree. Also, maybe a bunch of aberrations around the spheres of annihilation? Transmuted by nothingness?

[jagadaishio]

Well, the bottomless pit is still an important place to dispose of waste, but not the normal material waste from most parts of the city. These would have magical waste, like broken wands and mixed, spilt potions. Someone mentioned a few pages back that we would need a specialized sewer system for the mages; this would be it. This is the only stuff that couldn't really be recycled in any safe way, but enough of it would be produced that they would need some sort of depository locale, in this case, the bottomless pit. And while spellcasters are too busy to cast fabricate constantly every day, a single command word based fabricate item could alleviate so much of the city's waste that every district probably has a material reclaiming facility with two or three fabricators.

So, to summarize. The bottomless pit is for the magical waste from the Mages' District and the Academy. Mundane waste is fertilizer or is recycled. If the bottomless pit is filling, it poses a clear and present danger in the same way an overflow of toxic or nuclear waste would.

[Renrik]

Yes, and the being from beyond the spheres of annihilation is an entropic entity that is feeding off the magic.

[50cr4t3s]

We interrupt this discussion of the Garbage Campaign to bring you a new district idea.

Name: Mere
Other Names: The District of Love, Pompousville, Town on the Water
Government Type: Council of Nobles
Police Force: House Guards

Mere is district comprising of the first few layers of the city built over the great lake. While the upper parts of this district look much like other parts of the city, what sets this district apart from the rest of the city is the lowest layer. This layer of the district is made up of island like expanses surrounding the massive supports for the layers above. The waters between these islands are always full of small boats. During the day, these boats are mostly there fishing, but during the night, the enchantments placed on this layer produce a brilliant display of light and color. This display is considered quite romantic, making a night in Mere one of the biggest tourist attractions across the entire city. The district has such a high cost of living that the only permanent residents of Mere are wealthy families of aristocrats. This high density of nobles has lead to a reputation for the district as pretentious and snobbish. The noble families of this district run Mere by convening in a "Council of Nobles" which determines policy and chooses a representative to their district's seat on the City Council. This districts government has face severe scrutiny from the rest of the city by denying less wealthy merchants and other district residents without noble heritage a say in their district. One of the most vocal groups opposing this district's government is actually the radical group Humans First, who oppose the Council of Nobles due to the high percentage of elf and other none human nobles. They claim that a place so beautiful should be put in more capable hands (human hands). The police force of this district, is actually several different police forces, one for each noble house. These house guards patrol the territory of each noble house and punish criminals based on the laws of each house.

[Owrtho]

Just a thought for the Garbage Campaign, but perhaps to help tie the being feeding off the magic in with the rest of the setting more, it might not be from beyond spheres of annihilation. Rather, the pit for the magic is in fact bottomless and possesses no such spheres. What actually happened is that unbeknownst to the city, a ways down in the pit, one of the random gates opened, and with it came gate raiders. Most of them fell and died as they came into contact with dangerous magic waste, and a few managed to make it back through the gate before they fell, but one (or maybe a few that became merged), happened to fall out and come into contact with a rather bizarre concoction of magical waste that mutated them into a large resilient beast, allowing them to feed off the magic waste. After falling a ways, it managed to catch onto the side of the pit, and began moving up it, seeking more of the magic waste. However, as it progressed upward it steadily grew. It eventually got large enough as to almost block the pit, making the magic waste start to build up faster than it could devour it. This has slowed its progress, but not stopped it. The city likely has yet to realize this is what is going on, and as such just thinks the pit wasn't actually bottomless and is just filling up.

Owrtho

[BRC]

Historical Figure: Kenrik the Fallen AKA Kenrik the Protector AKA Kenrik the Boneguard
During the Era of Baltin's Crusade and the dread plauge, it was traditional for several paladins to receive special titles and duties. Of these, the most important was the title of "Protector", the paladin charged with defending the occupants of the city from evil. Now, this was an unofficial position held up by the churches with no support from the state, but the position of "Protector" was still a powerful one. At the time of the Crusade, the Protector was a paladin named Kenrik. Baltin called upon Kenrik to lead an elite strike force into the Necropolis to establish a foothold there and draw undead troops away from Baltin's main force. However, upon arriving Kenrik found, not sinister undead brewing up plauge cauldrons and feasting on the flesh of the living, but simple working folk, indistinguishable from most of the city's population except by their rotting state. When the time came to give the order to attack, Kenrik halted. He turned towards his troops and loudly proclaimed that these undead were no less citizens of the Ishka than any other, and that it was his duty as Protector to defend them as he would anybody else. His forces didn't listen, instead they attacked him, stripped him of his armor and weapon, left him for dead, and proceeded to slaughter Undead. When the paladins finally left, Kenrik was found and nursed back to health by some undead that had hidden and survived the initial purge. Having been disowned by his own people, Kenrik was taken to the obsidian citadel of Graveborle, who charged him with creating an official force to help defend the necropolis. Before, his emblem had been a shield of steel and gold, now he took up one of bone, and began training those undead that were willing in the ways of the warrior and the paladin. These new undead took up Kenrik's emblem, and began calling themselves the Order of the Bone Shield. Throughout the crusade, the order battled the Holy Swords, serving as their most formidable opponents. Kenrik was a skilled strategist, and he taught his disciples the same. Most of the undead in the district were able to fight, but it took a Boneshield to take command and provide the strategic guidance to make them truly effective.
During the war, Kenrik was slain, many claim by Baltin himself, and his body was hacked to pieces by Baltin's followers in order to prevent a ressurection. However, the Bonesheilds managed to make off with his equipment, most of which stands in their hall in the Obsidian Citadel, though the famed shield itself, along with a replica of the equipment, is kept in the Museum. After the war, the Order of the Bone shield moved from a military force into a policing role, both ensuring the law is upheld in the Necropolis, and protecting the undead and living from each other throughout the city.

Edit: Hrmm, it appears Renrik's name subconsciously influenced my naming choice.

[Renrik]

Other things Humans First may be involved in:

Using political influence to get the city council to designate new landfills in non-human districts.

Framing non-human nobles for scandals and crimes.

Arson in Ungul, Smallville, and Gulliver's Heights.

Working against the Collective and the unions, due to the number of non-human workers.

[Strawman]

I'm reworking the introduction to The Garbage Campaign based on the newer ideas about how garbage works in the city. As the pit only has arcane garbage, the whole campaign will be about establishing The Arcane Sewers, where the arcane garbage can go safely. I'll try to restructure some of the quest hooks that have to do with regular garbage so they can still be used, and I'll expand the arcane section.

Also, I think it would be cool to create a high level campaign where you can play as Kenrik, Baltin, or that cleric who fought the plague. The history around the plague is getting really rich.

A place of interest in Mere-
Letty's Dive Bar - This dive bar is more literal than most. Mostly attended by water breathing creatures, this bar has both and above-water and under-water section. Many of the bored rich folk of Mere enjoy the novelty.

[50cr4t3s]

Idea for important figure
Bretre the Peaceful

Upon the end of the dread plague, neither the Holy Sword nor the Order of the Bone Shield were willing to end their fight outright. Even with Kenrik and Baltin gone, their most devoted followers were determined to achieve a final victory. And so Bretre stepped in to help. Bretre was a scholar who had taught at the academy for many years, and some say he was the most respected member in the Collected Colleges at the time. He approached both groups and convince them to meet him and discuss a peaceful solution. Both sides believed it to be a waste of time, but Bretre convinced them that if they agree to a meeting, then they could claim the moral high-ground by saying they had at least made an attempt at peace.

The meeting was held in a neutral pocket dimension, but even as both sides arrived and entered the people of the city knew the negotiations would fail. No one emerged from the extradimensional space for three days and nights, and a rumor began to circulate that the parties had in fact killed each other. But just after dawn on the fourth day, Bretre and the representatives from both groups emerged, and declared that the fight was over.

To this day, no one knows how this feat was accomplished. Bretre never spoke of how he'd convinced these mortal enemies to lay down arms, and the representatives from either organization claimed to have sworn an oath to Bretre to never speak on it either. It is a mystery that confounds the City's scholars to this day.

Idea for a new organization
Clerics of Passion

The Clerics of Passion, is actually not a religious group in any way, though any member will tell you it is. The founder of this group was a bard by the name of Olliden, who was deeply in love, with love. Olliden loved the very concept of love. He was amazed at how in the whole multiverse, two beings (or more) could come together and share even a brief moment of pure happiness in their lives.

He was determined to bring love to everyone he met. He would travel the city, playing his instruments (he was a master of many) trying to inspire people to chase after their love. His songs could give men and maidens the courage to confess truly profound feelings of passion, a gift he gave without need of thanks or praise. Olliden's message of love touched the hearts of many bards, so much so that a group began to follow him, aiding in his work, and listening to his musings on the nature of romance.

Upon his death, his followers were determined to continue his work, and so they spread throughout the city, inspiring love, where ever they could. The organization has very little structure to it. In fact, the only thing that makes it an organization, is the many lodges it has spread throughout the city. These lodges are places where followers of Olliden's path can meet and share stories of how they have inspired true love in their travels through the city.

[Strawman]

I've made a revised introduction for the Garbage Campaign.

Intro-

The Garbage Campaign

You are standing in your boss’s office. She is sitting behind a wooden desk covered with stacks of paper and scrolls. She quickly makes red marks on documents while she talks to you.

“Hello everyone. I’ve called you here for a very important duty. As you all know, the city put its magical garbage into a large pit deep underground. The idea is that we can avoid dangerous complications of trying to keep so much arcane materials near the city.

The idea didn’t work out well. As it turns out, a planar gate opened up near the bottom of the pit. Letting the trash go into some other plane would be fine, but apparently the trash attracted something to the gate. Clerics all over the city have been getting warnings from their gods that a creature of disturbing strength is trying to get through the gate.

Now we need to close that gate. The city is devoting a significant amount of resources to moving all the trash outside of the pit. Once all of it is moved, the planar gate can be sealed. But all that trash needs someplace to go. That is where you come in. You will be helping the moving of trash, and securing a safe place for all the trash.

“You have been commissioned as an Emergency Garbage Task Force, or E.G.T.F. for short. There are several objectives that you must complete as quickly as possible. This document here lists all of the objectives. Essentially you are helping to build The Arcane Sewers.”

The DM hands each player a copy of Document 1A.

“Now, The Academy predicts that the pit will take three months to empty. Any delay in that will increase the chances of that terrible beast reaching the gate before it closes. “

The players’ boss looks at them sternly, “Make sure that you do not cause ‘any delay.’

“Oh, about objective E, I’m sorry about that. I don’t think there’s any point to it, but the City Council put it on there.”

Your boss stops doing paperwork and looks up, “The city needs you. You’re all we can spare, everyone else is working on maintaining the city or other garbage related duties. Don’t expect any help. That being said, do you have any questions?”

After the players ask questions, they can decide where to go next. The DM may decide what the player’s boss would or would not know. Depending on what objectives they decide to complete first, the DM should adjust difficulty accordingly.


Document 1A-
---------------

E.G.T.F. Objectives
The following are a list of duties assigned to you, a member of the Emergency Garbage Task Force.



a. Discover the reason for rampant vandalism in Hedon. The vandalism is using up a considerable part of the Street Builder’s time, preventing them from building The Arcane Sewers as quickly as needed.

b. There is an old sewer system surviving from before the city became a thriving metropolis. It barely still stands, but we plan on turning it into the basis of The Arcane Sewers. You need to map the sewers out, and clear out any dangers inside them.

c. Acquire donations from prominent families in the Mithral District. The donations will go to creation and maintenance of The Arcane Sewers.

d. Convince one of the city’s more well known arcane magic users to become the head of the Arcane Sewers. Anyone on the following list would be acceptable.

i. Alabaster Grant, retired guard from The Museum.
ii. Onigh, first half-orc professor of the arcane in The Academy.
iii. Elinor Crinne, talented daughter of Mithral Height’s Crinnes.
iv. Dr. Despair, a lich that was once in the employ of Dr. Hope.

e. Raise the citizenry’s awareness of the garbage problem. It will be helpful if teh amount of arcane garbage in the future is reduced. Convince a well-known theatre troupe to put on a play addressing the issue of garbage. Find a large suitable location for the play to be held on a regular basis, and attend the play on opening night to make sure it goes smoothly.