Community Worldbuilding Project [Ishka: Urban and Urbane]

[BRC]

Stuff

I pictured the Firefighters as being locally organized and managed because they might need to be mobilized quickly, though I supposed they could use the same Omni-portal system as MI and the gatekeepers (mind you, MI only really uses it in extreme situations, like if a major crime JUST got reported and they want to get investigators and officers in the area ASAP. The Omni-portals disrupt normal city traffic and cause problems when used. Nobody minds if the Gatekeepers or the Firefighter's use them, because their jobs are highly time-sensitive, they need to get there and contain the fire/gate raiders quickly. But Most of MI's work occurs at a more sedate pace.)

Yeah, that could work, the Great Fountain detects fires (Or fires are reported to it), local Fire brigades and the Fountain's magic work to contain the blaze, meanwhile a group of Firefighter's suit up, use the Omni-portal to jump to the nearest portal, and rush towards the blaze.


As for the Stations, Perhaps there are three Lines, each with 13 Stations on them. Considering the Marker just needs to be moved up or down by one every time the Station shifts, (except when it reaches the top or bottom of the Pillar and needs to be dropped to the bottom/moved to the top) I don't think Automating is really necessary, but I suppose it could be done.


Urban Legend: The 14th Station
A very common Urban Legend in Ishka, that at one point, one of the Station's simply vanished and did not appear at it's intended spot. A new one was built (How this happened within half an hour, or without shutting down the entire network and causing a massive disruption of city life that would surely have been in the history books is never brought up), but the 14th station is gone, except when it isn't. Rumor has it that sometimes Station 14 (Why it would have that number, since it was apparently one of 13 stations before it vanished is also not brought up) returns from where it went, taking it's place in the lineup for half and hour. At this point the storyteller remarks how the cousin of a friend of a guy at a bar a friend of theirs met once SAW station 14 appear. Stories Differ, sometimes they claim that the station is dead quiet, full of the spiderweb covered bones of it's passengers. Sometimes the Station is full of horrific demons. Sometimes it's the source of the Gate Raiders. One version of the story holds that Baltin and Kenrik are inside Station 14 (Even though Kenrik was hacked to bits by the Holy Swords, and is currently buried in his temple in the Necropolis. If this is brought up the response is generally along the lines of "That's fake, he just vanished the same day as Baltin and Merkeil, but the council hushed it up"), continually dueling for the soul of the city. Usually Station 14 is said to have returned to where it came from when the Switch occurs, but some stories hold that it replaces one of the existing stations, sending it and it's passengers who knows where for centuries (Once again, The Council apparently hushes it up).

[waterpenguin43]

We have already covered power.
A combination of the Steamworks and magic set in place ages ago by the Academy is what provides the city power. but it doesn't extend down to the lights in your house. If you want lights in your house, buy a item of light with a command word, or just light a candle.

oops.... Sorry!

[mr.fizzypop]

Do you have a compendium for Ishka? This seems pretty interesting, but I don't have the time to read through each post.

[BRC]

Silverscale started compiling stuff Here, but we've added stuff since then.

[Owrtho]

Silverscale started compiling stuff Here, but we've added stuff since then.

For Ishka will NEVER die! apparently (not that I'm complaining, it is quite awesome)

Anyways, I like the station ideas. What districts do they show up in (I expect some of the main ones like a few in steam works, 1 or 2 in necropolis, temple etc. but likely none in Ravenshome (no one builds anything there, it just shows up when no ones looking, and city works aren't among the things that do that, though I could see some claiming that station 14 is usually trapped there))?
Also, likely part of the issue is that being rarer (and usually more devastating), accidents with the stations are bigger new than those with most other transport.

Also, another idea:
Pipe Serpents (Pipe Wurms, Pipe Worms, Steam Serpents, etc.)
No one is quite sure how they originated, though most agree it was likely in the steamworks. All thats known is the first ones found were in a rundown section of the pipe works that the street builders were sent to fix, having heard it had broken down awhile back (due to it not being pressing and other issues taking precedence, they only then were getting around to it). The first couple few climbed up into the masses of pipes and simply didn't come back. The next went more cautiously, realizing something must have happened to his companions. He let out a single scream and was never seen again. The last of the group thought to take a peak inside, before reporting it, and lost his left arm for the trouble.
Soon after a number of street builders, MI agents, and a few spellcasters showed up to investigate the issue. After a few of the more combat inclined member disappeared in the pipes, they decided to start disassembling the area to catch the perpetrate rather than risk more men. What that found was a nest of pipe serpents.
The pipe serpents are about 15 foot long and 2 foot wide serpents made of pipes and other scraps of metal with steam and water flowing through parts of them. They have a pair of limbs near their neck that are quite strong, though lack digits. A few of the serpents however seemed to be partially organic.
Almost immediately upon reaching them the battle was joined. No longer in the twisted confines provided by the pipes, the serpents lost the advantage they had had, still they were strong.
It came as a complete surprise however when after about an hour of fighting, one of the more notably organic serpents ate a builder and almost immediately after stopped fighting and caused all the others to halt after a making a few groaning noises and hissing. It then turned to MI and the builders and began apologizing profusely for its actions and those of its brethren, saying that it hadn't understood what it was doing before.
As it turned out, as they ate the pipe serpents integrated the food into their being, and as a result, eating enough people caused them to gain human-like personalities (or whatever race they'd eaten). They also after having eaten enough meat would shed portions of pipe.
After the issue was resolved, it was decided the pipe serpents would be given a chance to prove themselves trustworthy. Under the direction of the one that had become awakened, the others soon repaired section of the steamworks, taking advantage of their long flexible forms to maneuver in ways that people couldn't and repairing the pipes with ease.
By the end of the year, they were made into a small devision of the street builders specializing in the steamworks repairing pipes in areas that couldn't be easily accessed. On occasion new ones were found as well (in a few cases too late for the people in the area, though it did provide a few more task masters to manage the ones not yet awakened). It was determined that criminals couldn't be used to awaken them due to their personalities being largely based on their food, though some magical means of awakening them were found.
In time the pipe serpents became a part of the city, though rarely seen outside of the steamworks. They are also generally mistrusted by most, even though most are awoken by magic any more (only occasionally will people who are soon to die decide to let themselves be eaten), people tend to think of the stories that they awaken by eating people (it also doesn't help that they are frequently used as boogieman to get children to behave). Also, while most work for the street builders, they don't all. Some work in other places as well.

Their natural language is called Steam speak, and consists of groans made by grinding metal and hisses made by releasing steam.

Awakened Pipe Serpent 3.5 Racial Traits
Medium Construct [Living] [Fire] [Water]
Living Construct Subtype (ex): Serpents are constructs with the living construct subtype. A living construct is a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex enchantments or the binding of an elemental to the body. Pipe Serpents are living constructs that combine aspects of constructs, elementals, and living creatures, as detailed below. Note that some features are different from most, noted by *s

Spoiler

Show

A serpent derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the class it selects.

Unlike other constructs, a serpent has a Constitution score.

Unlike other constructs, a serpent does not have low-light vision or darkvision.

Unlike other constructs, a serpent is not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities.

A serpent is immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain.

A serpent cannot heal damage naturally.

Unlike other constructs, serpent are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects.

As living constructs, serpent can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a serpent can be healed by a Cure Light Wounds spell or a Repair Light Damage spell, for example, and a serpent is vulnerable to Disable Construct and Harm. However, spells from the healing subschool and supernatural abilities that cure or cause hit point damage by means of positive or negative energy provide only half their normal effect to a serpent.

The unusual physical constructions of serpent makes them vulnerable to certain spells and effects that normally don't affect living creatures. A serpent is affected by Repel Metal and Chill Metal as if he were wearing metal armor. The iron in the body of a serpent makes him vulnerable to Rusting Grasp and other spells that damage metal.

A serpent responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A serpent with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his hit points are less than 0 and are greater than -10, a inert is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions.

However, an inert serpent does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable.

As a living construct, a serpent can be raised and resurrected.
* A serpent does need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but he can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as Heroes' Feast and potions. A serpent needs to eat at least twice times as much as a human, at least 1/3 of which must be metal with a hardness of at least 10, and 1/3 of which must be meat. They cannot eat food which is not metal or meat.

Fire Subtype (Ex): A creature with the fire subtype has immunity to fire. It has vulnerability to cold, which means it takes half again as much (+50%) damage as normal from cold, regardless of whether a saving throw is allowed, or if the save is a success or failure.
Water Subtype (Ex): Creatures with the water subtype always have swim speeds and can move in water without making Swim checks. A water creature can breathe underwater. Serpents can breathe air as well.
+2 Strength, -2 Charisma. Serpents are strong, however, their nature tends to cause them to be mistrusted.
Variable Build (ex): Due to the nature in which a pipe serpent incorporates its food into its body, it may end up with a higher concentration of metal or meat. When a pipe serpent has been eating mainly meat for at least 2 consecutive days (more than 60% of its food) it gains a +2 racial bonus to Dexterity and a -2 racial penalty to Constitution due to the flexible but fragile nature of flesh. They also will gain a 20ft bonus to their climb speed. However, if they have been eating mainly metal instead, they gain +2 Constitution and -2 Dexterity. Under this case the pipes making up their body provide protection. The pipes provide a +4 armor bonus. This plating is not natural armor and does not stack with other effects that give an armor bonus, such as Mage Armor.
If a serpent eats approximately equal amounts of metal and meat (no more that 59% of either), they gain no bonus or penalty to Dexterity or Constitution and gain a +5ft bonus to their climb speed and a +1 armor bonus.
Speed: 30ft, 10ft climb, 10ft swim. Pipe serpents can move at about the speed of a person. They are also skilled at climbing. Due to their nature they are also able to swim passably well.
Long (ex): A pipe serpent is about 15 feet long, as such they may occupy up to 3 squares, or 1 square. It also counts as one size category smaller for fitting through holes. In addition, when grappling an opponent, a serpent may use its body to wrap around the opponent rather than hold them with its limbs. This requires the serpent to only be occupying one square, and can only be used on opponents of the same size category or smaller. While grappling an opponent in such a manner, a serpent is unable to move, but may still attack as if it wasn't grappling. It also occupies the same square as the opponent.
Steam Powered (Ex): Due to having boiling water and steam in place of blood, a pipe serpent is immune to environmental damage from heat. In addition, it is treated as always being under the effects of the heat metal spell as if on the second round of its effect (the metal is hot). If the heat metal spell is cast on it, it is treated as making it searing for the duration of the spell. This deals no damage to it but can harm creatures in contact with it for a full round.
Light Fortification (ex): When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored on a serpent, there is a 25% chance that the critical hit or sneak attack is negated and the damage is instead rolled normally.
Confined Advantage (ex): When fighting in an area where at least one of the dimensions is less than 5' wide, a pipe serpent gains a +5 bonus to initiative, and a +2 bonus to AC, attack rolls, and damage rolls. If multiple dimensions are less than 5' wide, and additional bonus of the same amount for each other dimension less than 5' wide.
Metal Claws (Ex): Due to lacking hands, a pipe serpent can only use specially made weapons costing 3 times as much. They also have a -5 penalty to resist being disarmed. In addition any attacks made with the weapons cause an automatic 1d10 chance of becoming disarmed.
However, their claws can be enchanted as both natural and manufactured weapons. A serpent has two claws, each deals 1d8 damage 19-20x2 critical and can deal piercing or slashing damage. The count as light weapons for feats and abilities like weapon finesse, and may be treated as natural weapons or duel wielding manufactures weapons for the sake of abilities (must choose which for each attack). In addition, if a pipe serpent feeds on the same type of metal for at least a week (must make up at least 70% of the metal they eat), their claws will come to be made of that metal. They must continue eating that metal afterwords though (at least 30% of their weekly intake).
Jaws (Ex): A pipe serpent has a natural bite attack that deals 1d10 damage x3 critical. The bite attack can count as either a natural or manufactured weapon for the sake of spells and abilities. Their bite is able to ignor the hardness of metal. Due to this it gives a +4 bonus to attack against creatures using metal armor or made of metal (this can't exceed the AC granted by the metal armor). Their jaws always count as being the same material as the serpent's claws. It counts as a secondary attack. In addition, a pipe serpent can devour a dead or helpless creature of a smaller size category than itself in one round, or a creature of the same size category in 3 rounds. This provokes attacks of opportunity.
Self Recovery (Ex): Whenever a pipe serpent eats at least 3 servings of meat or metal within a consecutive rounds, it can recover 1d3 hp per three servings.
[B]Builders (Ex): Serpents gain a +4 racial bonus to Craft (Blacksmithing) checks due to their work in the steamworks.
Automatic Languages: Awakened pipe serpents start speaking Steam speak and Common. Awakened pipe serpents with a high intelligence score may pick from the following bonus languages: Ingan, aquan, draconic, auran, terran, infernal, elven.
Favored Class: Artificer. A multiclass serpent's artificer class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

(note, the race may be subject to change, as I was rushed while typing it).

Owrtho

[jagadaishio]

Here is the third installment of my repeatedly-promised elemental races.

Air Elementals

A gaseous air elemental that's looking around for something very quickly.

Air elementals don’t have the same sorts of problems with the material plane that water and fire elementals have. Sure, it can be a bit claustrophobic at times, but most immigrants find that a fine price to pay for the amount of interesting things that they have a constant exposure to. On their own plane, there is relatively open space as far as the eye can see. While there are occasional islands dotting the void, the Elemental Plane of Air tends to be, at large, so open, so wide-spread, and so empty that it makes sprawling farm communities look like a tightly-packed block of apartments by comparison. It is, in fact, empty that how far you can see is determined by little other than how far you can look. This fact of their plane’s nature is what drives most air elementals to the tightly-packed, somewhat claustrophobic Material Plane. There’s simply more things to do in a given area – it is entirely less boring then the Elemental Plane of Air.

One common factor among all air elementals is that they weigh almost nothing at all. Even the heaviest of tangible air elementals feels hollow or featherweight, while the typical gaseous air elemental literally weighs no more than the air that it's comprised of. Furthermore, wind always has an exaggerated effect on air elementals. A tangible air elemental's hair might whip around their face wildly in even the slightest of breezes, it drifting lazily in the air on even still days. A gaseous elemental might be pushed back twice as far from a powerful gust of wind as its compatriots.

Because of their light form, most elementals wear the lightest clothes possible, finding heavy things far more oppressive than a normal creature would. Indeed, a tangible elemental forced to wear boots might drag their feet, barely able to lift them off the ground and quite unable to engage in any acrobatics. When unburdened, air elementals can whip through the air and across the ground with such speed and agility that few could possibly keep up.

Tangible Air Elementals
Heavies, Walkers, Touchers

A typical walker.
Walkers are the densest and heaviest that air elementals tend to come. These are the people that lived on and around the few islands while on the Elemental Plane of Air, and as such are solid beings infused with the essence of the element of air. Walkers are extremely light - the average eight year old could probably pick one up with one arm and a little trial and error. They are not, however, weightless, and cannot fly. Walkers tend to have skin ranging in colour from snowy white to the dark gray of a sky before a storm - usually somewhere near the middle. Their hair tends to be cloud-coloured, from puffy white to the angry black of a thunder storm. Their eyes are almost always blue - a bright, almost electrical blue that shines in the light with iridescent colours. Walkers tend to wear the minimum amount of clothes necessary for safety - be that safety from the environment or from the people that might offend if they were less clothed. They find clothes and armor heavy and oppressive and will endeavor to wear as little as possible. Walkers sometimes develop grooves in their skin shaped like whorling air currents.

Tangible Air Elemental 3.5 Racial Statistics
Medium Humanoid [Air]
+6 Dexterity, -4 Strength, -2 Wisdom. Walkers are impossibly quick, but they have slim, light frames almost impossible to exert force with. Walkers tend to be rash and inattentive, easily distracted and constantly moving.
Speed: 40ft.
Featherweight Body (su): Walkers have a quick, light body, and this has a number of effects. First, they take a -8 on all checks to avoid Bull Rushes and Overrun attempts. Second, their carrying capacity is half that what a person their strength normally would be. Third, all armor check penalties are doubled, after all other modifiers to ACP are applied. Their light body also gives them a number of benefits. First, they are treated as being constantly under the effects of the Jump spell with a caster level equal to their character level. Second, they gain a Dodge bonus to AC equal to their Intelligence Modifier. This bonus is lost if the walker wears medium or heavier armor or carries a medium or heavier load. A walker gains a +4 bonus to resist being tripped when Dexterity is used to resist.
+4 racial bonus to Jump, Spot, and Tumble checks.
+2 racial bonus to Balance, Climb, and Move Silently checks.
Automatic Languages: Tangible air elementals start speaking Common and Auran. Tangible air elementals with a high intelligence score may pick from the following bonus languages: draconic, aquan, ingan, terran, elven, halfling.
Favored Class: Scout or Monk. A multiclass tangible air elemental’s scout or monk class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

Tangible Air Elemental Pathfinder Racial Statistics
Medium Humanoid [Air]
+6 Dexterity, -4 Strength. Walkers are impossibly quick, but they have slim, light frames almost impossible to exert force with.
Speed: 50ft.
Featherweight Body (su): Walkers have a quick, light body, and this has a number of effects. First, they take a -8 on all checks, AC, and CMD to avoid Bull Rushes and Overrun attempts. Second, their carrying capacity is half that what a person their strength normally would be. Third, all armor check penalties are doubled, after all other modifiers to ACP are applied. Their light body also gives them a number of benefits. First, they are treated as being constantly under the effects of the Jump spell with a caster level equal to their character level. Second, they gain a Dodge bonus to AC equal to their Intelligence Modifier. This bonus is lost if the walker wears medium or heavier armor or carries a medium or heavier load. A walker gains a +4 bonus to CMD resist being tripped.
+4 racial bonus to Acrobatics, Climb, Perception, and Stealth checks.
Automatic Languages: Tangible air elementals start speaking Common and Auran. Tangible air elementals with a high intelligence score may pick from the following bonus languages: draconic, aquan, ingan, terran, elven, halfling.


A walker racer who already knows that she's going to win the race.

Gaseous Air Elementals
Drifters, Fogs, Clouds, Airheads

A drifter taking a nice, evening glide around town.

Gaseous air elementals are transparent. They look, at their most substantial, like vaguely-shaped humanoids made of thick fog. Most tend to look like they're made of thin, coiling smoke, though. Drifters love the sky. Most try to get housing at the tops of the tallest buildings. When camping or homeless, many will just sleep drifting among the clouds. Drifters weigh no more or less than simple air, and are only slightly more tangible than it. Drifters have a hard time affecting solid matter, rather than just flowing around it when they try to touch it, so those wealthy enough will often hire and aid to go about carrying their items and money.

Gaseous Air Elemental 3.5 Racial Traits
Medium Elemental [Air]
+6 Dexterity, Strength 1, -4 Constitution. Drifters are quick, but their bodies are insubstantial and can exert very little force on their surroundings.
Speed: Fly 60 ft, perfect maneuverability.
Insubstantial Form (ex): A drifter is little more than gas and vapor. Drifters are treated as if under the effects of a permanent Freedom of Movement spell. Drifters may flow through any sized opening as if under the effects of the Gaseous Form spell. A drifter is subject to the effects of wind and cannot enter water as if it were under the effects of the Gaseous Form spell. Drifters gain Damage Reduction 5/bludgeoning as their body's air currents need to be disrupted significantly for them to be damaged. This damage reduction stacks with damage reduction gained from any other source.
+4 racial bonus on Spot checks.
Automatic Languages: Gaseous air elementals start speaking Common and Auran. Gaseous air elementals with a high intelligence score may pick from the following bonus languages: draconic, aquan, ingan, terran, elven, halfling.
Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass gaseous air elemental’s rogue class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

Gaseous Air Elemental Pathfinder Racial Traits
Medium Elemental [Air]
+6 Dexterity, Strength 1, -2 Constitution. Drifters are quick, but their bodies are insubstantial and can exert very little force on their surroundings.
Speed: Fly 60 ft, perfect maneuverability.
Insubstantial Form (ex): A drifter is little more than gas and vapor. Drifters are treated as if under the effects of a permanent Freedom of Movement spell. Drifters may flow through any sized opening as if under the effects of the Gaseous Form spell. A drifter is subject to the effects of wind and cannot enter water as if it were under the effects of the Gaseous Form spell. Drifters gain Damage Reduction 5/bludgeoning as their body's air currents need to be disrupted significantly for them to be damaged. This damage reduction stacks with damage reduction gained from any other source.
+4 racial bonus on Fly and Perception checks.
Automatic Languages: Gaseous air elementals start speaking Common and Auran. Gaseous air elementals with a high intelligence score may pick from the following bonus languages: draconic, aquan, ingan, terran, elven, halfling.

Gaseous Air Elemental Feats

Spoiler

Show

Forceful Winds [Drifter]
Prerequisites: Insubstantial Form racial ability, Character Level 5+
Benefits: The drifter's base strength doubles, going from 1 to 2 or from 2 to 4, for example.
Special: This feat may only be taken once.

Gale-Force Winds [Drifter]
Prerequisites: Insubstantial Form racial ability, Character Level 10+, Forceful Winds feat
Benefits: The drifter's base strength doubles, going from 2 to 4 or from 4 to 8, for example.
Special: This feat may only be taken once.

Hurricane-Force Winds [Drifter]
Prerequisites: Insubstantial Form racial ability, Character Level 15+, Gale-Force Winds feat
Benefits: The drifter's base strength doubles, going from 4 to 8 or from 8 to 16, for example.
Special: This feat may only be taken once.

Tornado-Force Winds [Drifter]
Prerequisites: Insubstantial Form racial ability, Character Level 20+, Hurricane-Force Winds feat
Benefits: The drifter's base strength doubles, going from 8 to 16 or from 16 to 32, for example.
Special: This feat may only be taken once.

Untouchable Winds [Drifter]
Prerequisites: Insubstantial Form racial ability, Character Level 10+
Benefits: The DR 5/bludgeoning granted by the Insubstantial Form racial ability is changed to DR 5/-. This DR stacks with DR gained from any other source.

Unbreakable Winds [Drifter]
Prerequisites: Insubstantial Form racial ability, Character Level 20+
Benefits: The DR 5/- granted by the Insubstantial Form racial ability is changed to DR 10/-. This DR stacks with DR gained from any other source.

..::||::..

At first glance, I like the look of the pipe serpents

Are their claws basically like those of a praying mantis? I see that they don't get any sort of special bonus to crafts checks; should they? If they eat enough living things, will their claws become bone? It seems like they should have some kind of serious resistances to heat, given that their native habitat is steam pipes. Some of the text still has the word 'suit' in it instead of serpent. I can understand them having ingan and terran as bonus languages. Maybe aquan. Not auran, though. Shouldn't there also be an option under Variable Build for having a balanced diet of meat and flesh, giving them neither penalties nor bonuses to Dexterity and Constitution? After all, there is a 20% gap between the percents listed. You didn't list any actual stats for the claws of a serpent. Also, it seems like they should have a bite as well.

[Silverscale]

@BRC: I like the idea you have for the Stations. It gives a relatively cheap way to move about the city without taking up too much space like a "subway" system would. My only concern is that I might have them moving around more than just every 30 min otherwise it could conceivably take you 12 hours just to get to work and by the time you get there, you have 30 minutes before the stations start moving back.
*Shrug* that may or may not be a problem as most people probably wouldn't live that far from where they work.

@Jagadaishio: I love what you have so far for the Elementals, can't wait to see what you bring out for the Earth Elementals.

@Owrtho: 1-No, Ishka will never die. 2-Your Pipe Serpents are cool. Maybe I missed it somewhere but how was the first one created?

[BRC]

@BRC: I like the idea you have for the Stations. It gives a relatively cheap way to move about the city without taking up too much space like a "subway" system would. My only concern is that I might have them moving around more than just every 30 min otherwise it could conceivably take you 12 hours just to get to work and by the time you get there, you have 30 minutes before the stations start moving back.
*Shrug* that may or may not be a problem as most people probably wouldn't live that far from where they work.

Well originally I had them switching every five minutes. Because of how they work, you never have to worry about people Missing a station, (Only missing a specific one, which most people don't care about as much), since there is always a Station at every spot. Jagagadisho upped it to 30 minutes.
@orthro: Steam Serpents sound cool, but need some more fleshing out, esp concerning their place in society. Is it possible for them to become awakened without eating abunch of sentient creatures. If they eat too many non-senetiants (like cows) do they go back to an animal like state?

Yeah, Ravenshome does not have a Station. A common theory concerning Station 14 is that it went to the same place the Ravens send people.
Edit: Ishka will never die.

[kopout]

Garbage beast

Medium Construct
Hit Dice:11d10+20 (80)
Initiative:-2
Speed: 30 feet (6 squares)
Armor Class: (), touch, flat-footed
Base Attack/Grapple:+8/+15
Attack:Slam +14 melee (2d10+7 plus tetanus)
Full Attack:2 Slam +14 melee (2d10+7 plus tetanus)
Space/Reach:5' /5'
Special Attacks:Tetanus
Special Qualities:Construct traits, Ruble repair, Oozing escape, Tetanus
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +3
Abilities: Str25, Dex 7, Con-, Int1, Wis11, Cha1
Skills:Urban Survival +8
Feats:
Environment:Poor urban areas
Organization:Solitary
Challenge Rating:
Treasure: Standard
Alignment: Always true neutral
Advancement:12–18 HD (Large); 19–33 HD (Huge)
Level Adjustment:-

As you enter the steam works you see a hunched humanoid figure digging through a scrap pile.It turns its head to look at you with a grinding crunching sound and regards you dimly with eyes made out of glass shards before return slowly to the scrap metal.

Description/background/characteristics
Garbage beasts are constructs that form spontaneously out of trash and ambient magic. although not mindless they poses only an animal intelligence. the will ad choice bits of trash to there bodies to grow many show a magpie like preference for shiny things.They can easily be tamed and are frequently used as guards or beasts of burden in the steam works and slums earning them the nickname "poor man's golum".
Combat
Wild garbage beast rarely initiate combat instead lumbering along peacefully adding garbage to themselves and only fighting back if attacked. Tamed individuals will fight if ordered to or in defense of there master.
Ability descriptions

Ruble repair(ex)
When in an environment rich in debris (such as a junk yard or dump) a garbage beast may tack a free action to repair 1d10 worth of damage per round.

Oozing escape(ex)
A garbage beast may deform its body in order to squeeze through an opining as small as one foot square or through a grate at a speed of 25 feet.

Tetanus(ex) Disease, Fortitude DC 15 incubation period 1d3 days, damage 1d4 Dex.

[jagadaishio]

The stations moving every five minutes would work fine too if the shops are more generic; the only reason I suggested the half-hour time was for the sake of regulars who might have specific places they like to visit while at the stations. In that case, the theoretic maximum number of stations per line for an equitable number of stops is 145, with the other possible numbers being 72, 36, 18, and 9 stations. The table below shows how long it would take a station to get back to its stop #1, or, in other words, how long it would take to ride a station in a full loop around its line. It also shows how many shiftward and homeward loops the stations will make in a day. That means that if you could shiftward and homeward loops together, it makes twice as many loops; this shows how many it makes in one direction.

{TABLE]

Stations

|

Time

|

Number of Loops
9

|

45 min.

|

16
18

|

1.5 hr.

|

8
36

|

3 hr.

|

4
72

|

6 hr.

|

2
145

|

12 hr.

|

1

[/table]

I strongly urge there to be a balanced number of stops, otherwise shift workers at the station, be it in the shops or workers of the stations themselves, wouldn't be able to get off at the same stop at the same time every day. That would be a very bad thing, because it might leave a worker stranded three districts away from where they live. For the sake of the employees, it really needs to be one of the above setups.

Given the time involved and the number of districts we have, I would suggest either 18 or 36 hours. That leaves a very reasonable amount of time for a loop, and lets hit it a fair number of districts, not to mention the number of loops per 13 hour period it would have. I imagine that there would also be express stations which only have 9 stops and just get you to the general area you want to go.

Do you buy a seasonal pass for the stations, or do you pay a tiny fare each time you get on board?

So far I like the look of the garbage beast. These would be lumbering creatures of the scrap yards of the Steamworks and the various small dumps that can be found throughout the city, right? Even working off the idea of the Hole, I imagine that some people wouldn't bother shipping their trash across the city and would instead just make neighborhood dumps. As we add more monsters, it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that rust monsters would be terrifying predators to the native inhabitants of the Steamworks.

[BRC]

The stations moving every five minutes would work fine too if the shops are more generic; the only reason I suggested the half-hour time was for the sake of regulars who might have specific places they like to visit while at the stations. In that case, the theoretic maximum number of stations per line for an equitable number of stops is 145, with the other possible numbers being 72, 36, 18, and 9 stations. The table below shows how long it would take a station to get back to its stop #1, or, in other words, how long it would take to ride a station in a full loop around its line. It also shows how many shiftward and homeward loops the stations will make in a day. That means that if you could shiftward and homeward loops together, it makes twice as many loops; this shows how many it makes in one direction.

{TABLE]

Stations

|

Time

|

Number of Loops
9

|

45 min.

|

16
18

|

1.5 hr.

|

8
36

|

3 hr.

|

4
72

|

6 hr.

|

2
145

|

12 hr.

|

1

[/table]

I strongly urge there to be a balanced number of stops, otherwise shift workers at the station, be it in the shops or workers of the stations themselves, wouldn't be able to get off at the same stop at the same time every day. That would be a very bad thing, because it might leave a worker stranded three districts away from where they live. For the sake of the employees, it really needs to be one of the above setups.

Given the time involved and the number of districts we have, I would suggest either 18 or 36 hours. That leaves a very reasonable amount of time for a loop, and lets hit it a fair number of districts, not to mention the number of loops per 13 hour period it would have. I imagine that there would also be express stations which only have 9 stops and just get you to the general area you want to go.

Do you buy a seasonal pass for the stations, or do you pay a tiny fare each time you get on board?

I imagine stores in the Stations are fairly generic. Generally the Customers arn't sticking around for long enough to really develop an attachment to any one store, and when your stop comes up you get off. Primarily it's the Ishkan equivilant of Fast Food, workers get into the station, grab a Roast Donask sandwhich, fill their thermos with bad coffee, and eat it on the way to work. Other stores generally sell newspapers and magazines, simple clothing (ooh, I've been meaning to get a new hat), maybe the odd Bookstore. Picture the type of stores you see in Airports.

Ticket Sales are outside every station, but they are not part of the Stations (To prevent the clerks from blinking away in the middle of a sale), and they are a separate line from the entrance.
You can buy a one ride ticket, though most people buy packs of 10 or 20 to speed things up for later. You can also buy a week, Month, or yearlong pass. However, passes are so cheap that most employers hand them out with paychecks as a standard employee benefit (it's generally a good idea to make sure your employees can get to work).
To prevent long lines at the entrances, all you have to do is flash your pass or quickly hand your ticket to the no doubt bored clerk sitting there and walk in. As such, it's easy to get free rides by flashing an out of date pass, but there is always a chance the clerk will actually check your pass, rip it up because it's expired, and fine your pants off.

[Renrik]

On public transportation, I know its almost irrelevant, but I had posted on here somewhere a large house that moved from district to district unpredictably.

[Owrtho]

Alright, lets see.

At first glance, I like the look of the pipe serpents

Are their claws basically like those of a praying mantis? I see that they don't get any sort of special bonus to crafts checks; should they? If they eat enough living things, will their claws become bone? It seems like they should have some kind of serious resistances to heat, given that their native habitat is steam pipes. Some of the text still has the word 'suit' in it instead of serpent. I can understand them having ingan and terran as bonus languages. Maybe aquan. Not auran, though. Shouldn't there also be an option under Variable Build for having a balanced diet of meat and flesh, giving them neither penalties nor bonuses to Dexterity and Constitution? After all, there is a 20% gap between the percents listed. You didn't list any actual stats for the claws of a serpent. Also, it seems like they should have a bite as well.

Yes, their claws are basically like a preying mantis.
I forgot about bonuses to checks, they likely should gain a bonus to some kind of craft check.
Their claws don't become bone. Part of the minimum amount of metal they have to eat goes into keeping their claws metal.
Well, actually as they have the fire subtype they're immune to fire (and likely heat, which I should add). They also have the water subtype. The reason for these is they actually lack blood, and instead have what equates to an internal boiler and water in place of a heart causing boiling water and steam to flow through the pipes (and veins) that make up their body. That said, perhaps they should gain the immunity to poisoning and such standard living constructs get.
I thought I'd gotten all of the instances of suit replaced. Though on that note, you still said liquid in the one part of the 3.5 drifter racial traits (talking about how they can move through things).
I'd initially planned for a balanced diet as well, but as I said, I was being rushed and missed some parts. I also meant to give them a faster clime speed when they have the dex bonus, and some armor when they have the con bonus.
I did mention that the claws act as long swords, though I'll add in actual stats for them. I should also add in a bite attack I suppose.

Your Pipe Serpents are cool. Maybe I missed it somewhere but how was the first one created?

It seems I missed mentioning that in the description. The actual manner they were created is unknown, but there are theories. On is that some wizard did it and it escaped. The more likely one however is that they are a byproduct of all the magical energies in Iksha acting on broken pipes and the like in the steamworks. Many also think (likely correctly due to their nature), that the energies being released from the portals to the planes of fire and water play a part in their creation. Some even go so far as to think that minor unintelligent elementals from those planes make them up, after infesting sections of pipe. As things stand however, people are unsure. If there were elementals in them, they've all merged by the type a pipe serpent is formed and can no longer be recognized. As for if the energies were intentionally channeled into the first ones or not, no one knows.
It is however known they can make more of themselves. This is done by them taking cast off pieces of pipe and metal that they make when they eat, and twisting them together in a general form. They then impart some of their energy and steam (usually this takes small donations from a number of them, though an individual can do it given enough time), and eventually it will form into a new one. In the process the pipes will reassemble themselves as well into the proper layout, though this tends to be unique to each one.
I'd also note that they almost all are rusty due to predominantly being made of iron that is constantly exposed to steam and water (also many integrate parts of broken pipes into themselves).

Steam Serpents sound cool, but need some more fleshing out, esp concerning their place in society. Is it possible for them to become awakened without eating abunch of sentient creatures. If they eat too many non-sentients (like cows) do they go back to an animal like state?

Well, Well, their place in society is for the most part as special devisions of the street builder, restricted mainly to working on pipes and the like which they can bend with ease. Most people who don't have regular contact with them mistrust them. Only the awakened ones are actually given rights. Those that aren't awakened are usually kept under control by the awakened ones.
They can be awakened by magical means, but it is fairly costly so only is done occasionally any more (initially it was done for a fair number until they had enough to keep the others under control). Anyone however can get enough money and pay to have one awakened (this is usually done by awakened ones though). Once awakened, a pipe serpent can technically go anywhere and work anywhere, but most stay in the steamworks for a number of reasons.
First, they are provided with metal to eat (most of it is scrap they find while working, but still). Second, they find the climate and confined spaces more comfortable. Third, the people outside the steamworks are often rather mistrusting of them and rude.
They won't cease to be awakened by eating non-sentient meat. Even before being awakened they aren't actually unaware like animals. Rather, they lack a mindset similar to humans and see most any other creatures as little more than prey. When they eat them though they gain some of their knowledge and understanding, thus they become awakened (at least from a human's point of view). Easing cows or the like would simply help them to understand a cows mindset, which tends to be rather simple. As such it doesn't interfere with their understanding of things.

Edit: I updated the stats for the Awakened Pipe Serpents.

Owrtho

[Silverscale]

On public transportation, I know its almost irrelevant, but I had posted on here somewhere a large house that moved from district to district unpredictably.

Yes. The Block. The thing with The Block is that it moves around at random and I imagine it doesn't even move every day or even every week. The timing is random, the locations are random. People who don't feel like paying for a ticket and/or don't care where they go or how fast they get there, are the only ones likely to hitch a ride with The Block. The residents of course, have made a life of traveling around the city.

@Jagadaishio & BRC: The Stations are looking awesome. I would Imagine that in each district there is one Major Station that is on the Express Loop, and once you are in your district of choice, just walk over to the Local Loop.

[Owrtho]

Also, forgot to mention it, but while pipe serpents are mistrusted by the populace at large, when it comes to crimes the awakened ones are generally treated as being rather low on the suspect list (even the unawakened ones aren't that high unless it's a disappearance due to their not placing value on material goods in general). That isn't to say though that they won't be seen as suspects if there is evidence they might be (they're just rather lower on the list).
Also, while most are awakened by the city (using a spell or slight variation thereof that has been worked over the years to generally cause a personality making an mostly honest and productive citizen, even if there is variation on their personality). There are however some that awaken on their own (by eating people) who's' personalities are somewhat of an amalgamation of their victims'. Also, some alliance groups are said to catch unawakened pipe serpents and feed their members that fail to perform to them (in hopes of gaining a more useful member). However such a practice is rarely done enough to be generally accounted for, due to both the difficulty of capturing pipe serpents and the effect of moral that feeding members to them has (not that there haven't been more than a few accidental cases where a few alliance members fleeing from authorities accidentally ran into an unawakened pipe serpent and got eaten).

Owrtho

[jagadaishio]

I still think that the pipe serpents, which by all accounts chow down on metal, should have some kind of badass bite attack. They need to be able to bite through pipes, crunch down metal, and savor mithril. If they don't have some kind of high damage, hardness-mitigating bite attack, that isn't going to happen. Hell, it could be a low-damage bite attack that is treated as adamantine for the purpose of ignoring hardness (and no other reason). Remember, the reason humans can chomp down on pretzels is because we have strong jaws with hard, enameled teeth. If these guys don't have stronger jaws with harder teeth, they won't be able to do much more than try to swallow iron shavings.

[Owrtho]

Good point. I added a note that they ignore the hardness of metal. I also gave them a bonus to attack against things with metal armor (since it wouldn't make sense that they can bite through mithril with ease but have trouble with some shoddily made half plate).
Also, I'd point out that if they can afford to eat it regularly, they can actually make their claws and bite adamantine.

Owrtho

[Silverscale]

I know it was mentioned way back when we started this project, but has anyone stated out a Dwarven District? I can't remember if we just left it that they just live/work in and around the Steemworks or if we talked about something else that never actually got stated.

Along the same lines I don't remember what we said about Elves.

Also it might be a good idea to get some sort of idea of species demographics for the City. Given the nature of the Ishka, I think it goes without saying that not only are a lot of the more "Exotic" species more prevalent, but Half-breeds are as well. I'd venture to say that there are possibly more Half-breeds then True-breeds.

[BRC]

I know it was mentioned way back when we started this project, but has anyone stated out a Dwarven District? I can't remember if we just left it that they just live/work in and around the Steemworks or if we talked about something else that never actually got stated.

Along the same lines I don't remember what we said about Elves.

Also it might be a good idea to get some sort of idea of species demographics for the City. Given the nature of the Ishka, I think it goes without saying that not only are a lot of the more "Exotic" species more prevalent, but Half-breeds are as well. I'd venture to say that there are possibly more Half-breeds then True-breeds.

Not necessarily. While Half-breeds (esp Half-Elves) are common enough not to attract any attention, and the Allkin (or Mongrelfolk) are a common enough sight (All though the line between "Allkin" and "Half elf with a bit of orc, some dwarf, ect is blurry) most communities in Ishka are fairly insular when it comes to reproduction.
Groups like Humans First like to claim credit for this, but it's primarily a simple result of the cities social structure. The nature of the Districts means that most racial groups are concentrated in certain areas. While they frequently work together, go to the merchant district to shop, the entertainment district to relax, ect, where romance is concerned most people stay pretty close to home. This is because, in a city like Ishka, it's easy to have your identity swept away, so people tend to hold onto their own culture. Most Half-Breeds come from districts like the Temple or Mages district, where the culture is largely defined by something besides Race.

That said, it's rare to find somebody 100% anything, but usually any sign of another race in their ancestry is very slight, and within the standard range (Somebody with abit of Orc in them is bulkier than normal), so they are, for all intents and purposes, human (or some equivilant).

The way I imagined it, demographic wise, is that the city is about 50-60% human,(For these purposes, Undead are counted as whatever they were when alive), with no other races getting past, for example, 10%. Mind you, this number is somewhat inflated due to the presence of the undead, who stick around for quite a while. Since the City was historically Human, most of the Undead are humans.

Of course, a true city census is practically impossible to conduct. It would be fine for most of the city, but once you got to the tangled underworld of the lower layers, it's very difficult.

[Silverscale]

The way I imagined it, demographic wise, is that the city is about 50-60% human,(For these purposes, Undead are counted as whatever they were when alive), with no other races getting past, for example, 10%. Mind you, this number is somewhat inflated due to the presence of the undead, who stick around for quite a while. Since the City was historically Human, most of the Undead are humans.

Of course, a true city census is practically impossible to conduct. It would be fine for most of the city, but once you got to the tangled underworld of the lower layers, it's very difficult.

I don't know if I'd go as high as even 50% human even counting Undead, but I agree they'd still be the minor majority. Don't forget that after a short while, the wealth of Ishka started to attract Everyone, Dwarves, Elves, Dragons, Goblins, Centaurs, Halflings, Giants,.....the Monster Manual.

Anyway I need to get going to work but you get my point.

[Renrik]

I agree. I think humans would be 25-30% of the city, still the largest group but not the absolute majority, especially given the presence of other groups that have large populations due to small size, quick breeding, or crowding (lookin' at you, kobolds). Given that such groups exist, and the planar nature of the plane, 25-30% human would still be pretty impressive.

[Renrik]

Updated and Alphabetized District List

The Districts of Ishka

Spoiler

Show

Name: 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.

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.

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: 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.

Name: The Collected Colleges
Other Names: The School, The Book Stacks, The Nerdland
Government Type: Merit based council of Experts
Police Force: Law Enforcement Networked System (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.

Name: 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. However, North and South commons are politically and culturally similar enough that they don't need separate entries.

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 C&I, 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).

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.

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 tie, 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.
This district includes Half-dragons, Young dragons, Dragonborn, Kobolds, and all manner of other sentient Dragon kind. Pseudodragons can be seen swooping through the skies catching birds in the same manner as the falcons that roost on skyscrapers in modern cities.

Name: Ether. (Poe's Hollow, Phantom Reach, Claud's Hamlet, Casperton, New Arkham, and Barrowfield)
Other Names: The Aether, Ghost Town, The Haunting, 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 Ether 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. Is she a kind suffering mother of ghost children or as a malignant crazed threat to the living?
Commodore Vleigenhoek- The ghost of an interplanar skyship captain.

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. Everdark's notable subdistrict is Shadowgate, near its heart, where the boundaries between the material and shadow planes are thin.

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.

Name: Gobin
Other Names: Gobland, Greenville, Papertown
Government Type: Shogunate
Police Force: Samurai
Gobin started as a goblinoid empire hundreds of miles away from modern Ishka. Back then, it was ruled by a hobgoblin shogunate and dozens of noble hobgoblin clans. Every single hobgoblin was considered part of one of the noble clans, and was considered therefore to be nobility.
Each of the different noble clans had, among their holdings, stretchs of land, a massive working class made up of fast-breeding goblin commoners, a family of bugbears trained in the arts of stealth, assassination, and combat, a stable of worgs, winter wolves, and dire wolves, and a massive lower class of serfs taken from the populace of conquered nations. The modus operandi of Gobin was to conquer a smaller, neighboring nation using bugbear assassins, waves of goblin shock troops, and elite hobgoblin samurai, take the nation's populace as slaves, work them to death, and then start all over again. Eventually all of Gobin's neighbors formed an alliance, crushed the country into refugees.
The disparate, vagrant empire eventually came upon the prospering city of Ishka and tried briefly and unsuccessfully to conquer it before being granted a then-undeveloped stretch of land to turn into a district of their own. Within a single human generation, the goblinoid people had established themselves, a district consisting of a tower-like wooden palace at the center surrounded by wooden and paper houses for the noble clans which are, in turn, surrounded by ramshackle wooden and paper huts, houses, and apartments stacked on top of one another in the goblin slums.
These days, Gobin considers itself a city-state within Ishka. It is policed by hobgoblin samurai, usually accompanied by a gang of goblins and a few trusted bugbear lieutenants. There is a massive goblin-run yakuza who run extortion rackets, steal, rent out bugbear assassins, smuggle, and endorse a small but healthy slave trade. They are considered a subfaction of the Alliance and tithe a small percent of all profits over to the larger criminal organization in return for independent dominion within Gobin. Many individuals of monstrous races, notably orcs, try to settle in Gobin, but end up finding even worse discrimination there, as the goblinoids generally consider non-goblinoids as barely people - certainly subgoblin in status.

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. The Grove is also home of the Millenium Tree, which wields significant political power.
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.
Throughout the city, there are areas that massive groves grow, their branches reaching higher than the top of the canyon and spilling out to make a massive canopy in those districts. This is the district of the city where plant creatures, some sentient animals, nature fey, druids, and many 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. The Groves also supply a great deal of food to the city.

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.

Name: Hedon
Other Names: The Pleasure District, The Red-light 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

Name: 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.

Name: The Port District
Other Names: Port-town, The Waterfront, Pirates Cove
Government Type: Guild Masters Collective. While each guild in the area runs itself fairly efficiently, the Guild Masters come together once a month to share information and ideas. The Collective votes every two years on who gets sent to the City Council.
Police Force: Ishka Port Authority

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. Contains omniportals.

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.
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.
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.

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: 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.

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 disappeared, 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).

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. There is also ongoing class conflict, with the Collective and other unions agitating for the workers.

Name: Sunset Isle
Other Names: Seaside Resorts, Venugen Lishe Phapile
Government: The Sunset Corporation
Law Enforcement: Sun Guard, divided into 3 divisions. Whitesuits protect the tourists. Blacksuits patrol the servants. Greensuits hunt the Wild.
Sunset Islands was originally named Venugen Lishe Phapile, Islands of Perpetual Beauty in the dialect of hte local elves, for much of history it's only inhabitants were a small community of elves and merfolk. The Islands are surrounded by reefs, preventing regular ship traffic. For much of history, Venugen Lishe Phapile, was a blank spot on sailor's maps, until an Ishkan vessel was driven to shore by a storm. They were rescued by Merfolk and cared for by the Elves. As luck would have it, one of them was a wizard. The next day he used his emergency Teleport scroll (it had been locked in his trunk at the time) and took the crewmembers back to Ishka. But while they were there, the crew was amazed by the island's natural beauty. Upon hearing about the island, somebody remarked that they would pay two hundred gold to see it. This is Ishka, you can guess what happened next. A group Teleported back to the island, it's not clear what happened next, but apparently the Merfolk decided to leave and the Elves agreed to let the Ishkans begin construction. A decade later, the Elves were almost all gone, those that were left seemed to work only as servants. The Merfolk had vanished very quickly. The big change was when the Islands were officially renamed the much more marketable Sunset Islands, from that point, the isolated paradise of Venugen Lishe Phapile was gone for good.
Today the Sunset Islands are a resort, a tourist destination where Ishkans can visit, get a tan, drink some colorful beverages with little umbrellas, go for a walk in the jungles, and go for a swim. While low class Ishkans will never see the Islands unless they are lucky enough to get a job working there. Those Ishkans capable of affording the portal fees, may be able to visit for a day, though most don't bother, a two way trip through the portal is more money than most Ishkans are willing to spend on a day trip. On the Islands accommodations range from the simple hostels, to the extravagant Hotels. Some incredibly wealthy residents even have personal houses on the Islands.
Everything is operated by the Sunset Corporation, founded by the wizard who first crashed on Venugen Lishe Phapile. There is actually a sizeable "Native" population, primarily consisting of the native elves and people hired from Ishka to work for the Sunset corporation. It's been several generations since the Sunset Corporation was founded, so there are actually many people who Don't work for the Sunset corporation, most of them stick to the "Servant's Town", but some cross to Tourist Town and work as pickpockets, or to sell goods without a license from the Sunset Corporation, or, the very worst crime, to serve the Tourists independent of the Corporation.
Order is kept by the Sun Guard, a group of cheerful, white uniformed guards who are visible on every corner to answer questions (Or, more accurately, to repeat the answers the Company made them memorize) and give directions. They are also one of the most brutal police forces in Ishka. Under those pristine white jackets are rather utalitarian shirts of a color designed not to show bloodstains, and those fancy swords they have aren't, as many people think, ceremonial. The Sun Guard make sure that life on the islands is perfect for the tourists and profitable for the company by intimidating or brutalizing anybody who might make it otherwise.
The Biggest problem on the island is the Wild, who hate the idea of actively destroying nature, especially a place as beautiful as Venugen Lishe Phapile. The Wild are said to have a community hidden somewhere in the jungle, the Sun Guard, as well as hired mercenaries and adventurers have looked for it many times, but either reported failure or didn't report back at all. The Wild used to attack tour groups, but Sunset simply started offering tourists armed guards (for a fee). The Wild is constantly trying to upset the Sunset corporation's operation, but their actions are hindered by the need to constantly stay hidden from Mercenaries combing the jungle, and the watchful vigilance of the Sun Guards. As it is, the Sunset Corporation manages to cover up most of the Wild's activities as having other causes (drunk wizards, etc. Since most people can't afford to stay more than a week or so, they believe that any attacks that occur during their stays are isolated incidents, and since the Sunset Corporation carefully controls information about the Islands that gets back to the city, almost nobody knows that behind the massage parlors, restaurants, and hotels is a brutal police state fighting a constant war.

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.

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.

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 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.

[Renrik]

Anarrk and Chambers left out as they were removed, Sphen left out as it has not recieved widespread support, Everdark and Shadowgate merged as decided. Ether's remaining parts named. Port district still needs fleshing if it is being included.

Suggestions:

1. The Collected Colleges should border on the Academy
2. Because there are a north and south commons, I think the canyon and river should run north-south or vise-versa.
3. The Customs and Immigrations officers should also keep watch on other portals to and from the city. However, because they can't keep watch on all them and don't necessarily have the manpower to conduct investigations and raids, quite a few illegal planar immigrants exist in the city. Not having some documentation can prevent you from certain positions, but many of these positions are not available to the majority of immigrants anyway.
4.We need a collection of the ropeball ideas.
5. Are all Goblins oriental-flavored? Or just that one goblin empire?

[BRC]

Anarrk and Chambers left out as they were removed, Sphen left out as it has not recieved widespread support, Everdark and Shadowgate merged as decided. Ether's remaining parts named. Port district still needs fleshing if it is being included.

Suggestions:

1. The Collected Colleges should border on the Academy

Actually, way back when this was addressed.

The Academy was originally a much more modest institution. When it got too big for it's current facilities, they built a new one, the current Academy. The old Academy was bought by a group of Academy Alumni, and was turned into the Collected Colleges.

[Silverscale]

Port district still needs fleshing if it is being included.

Ok here we go then.....

Name: The Port District
Other Names: Port-town, The Waterfront, Pirates Cove
Government Type: Guild Masters Collective. While each guild in the area runs itself fairly efficiently, the Guild Masters come together once a month to share information and ideas. The Collective votes every two years on who gets sent to the City Council.
Police Force: Ishka Port Authority

At the far end of the river from The Lake District, where the river joins the ocean, lies The Port District. This great harbor is protected by a string of islands (that may or may not be the site of a wildlife preserve known as Sphen, this particular point is appearently up for debate at this point).

The harbor is the entry point into Ishka for all maritime based trading routes. Just beyond the docks are all manor of warehouses to store goods before they are moved throughout the city, and Guild halls for all manner of different crafts.

One of the most powerful guilds in the district is The Porter's Guild, for they control the flow of goods not only withing the Port District itself but also out into Ishka.

[Silverscale]

Another thing that's been rattling around in my head but has never been addressed. Given the very high number of people concentrated in the city, Ishka has a much higher than average literacy rate. Even if you don't go into the Academy or one f the Bardic Colleges most Ishkan's would be given enough education to be able to read and write.

My question is how does Ishka take care of educating it's people?

[Owrtho]

I expect that Ishka doesn't handle it. Most likely unless you go to some school, join a temple, become apprenticed in a profession where reading is required, etc. there isn't anything making you learn. Rather, it just is that literacy is such a vital skill if you want to avoid trouble in Ishka that most people teach themselves, get others to aid them in learning, or are taught by their parents. It isn't done by the city because it doesn't have to be. The people will do it themselves.
However, I also expect that because of this, a number of people can read but not write (at least not more than their name).
I'd also suggest that not all districts use the same language (predominantly). For example, the goblin district that is fairly racist might have almost everything marked in goblinoid to help discourage other races with only the few mandatory things written in common.
Also other race focused districts likely have about as much of their native tongue as common. This would mean that many people would learn to read things in their area, but still have some trouble in other districts. Those with traveling jobs however (such as MI) would likely be able to read most of the predominant languages. There would however likely be enough in common in most districts to have a basic idea of that things are.

Owrtho

[BRC]

I expect that Ishka doesn't handle it. Most likely unless you go to some school, join a temple, become apprenticed in a profession where reading is required, etc. there isn't anything making you learn. Rather, it just is that literacy is such a vital skill if you want to avoid trouble in Ishka that most people teach themselves, get others to aid them in learning, or are taught by their parents. It isn't done by the city because it doesn't have to be. The people will do it themselves.
However, I also expect that because of this, a number of people can read but not write (at least not more than their name).
I'd also suggest that not all districts use the same language (predominantly). For example, the goblin district that is fairly racist might have almost everything marked in goblinoid to help discourage other races with only the few mandatory things written in common.
Also other race focused districts likely have about as much of their native tongue as common. This would mean that many people would learn to read things in their area, but still have some trouble in other districts. Those with traveling jobs however (such as MI) would likely be able to read most of the predominant languages. There would however likely be enough in common in most districts to have a basic idea of that things are.

Owrtho

The way I imagine it, there is a spoken language, Ishkan, that is used throughout the city. Everybody, from the richest resident of Mithril Heights, to the lowest alliance footpad in the sublevels speaks Ishkan. Now, there are different dialects and accents of Ishkan, but it's understandable by everybody.

The difference is in written languages. When new cultures arrived in Ishka, they brought their language with them. Now, it was highly inconvenient to go around speaking Elvish or Orkish when everybody else was speaking Ishkan (In fact, other languages don't even have words for alot of the things Ishkan's use on a daily basis. Ishkan has an incrediably complex way of giving directions unique to the city's nature), they tended to keep their written languages. As such, there are many, very different, varients of Written Ishkan. The most common one is known as "Standard Ishkan", but many other versions exist, some of them are merely different spellings with a couple odd characters thrown in, some are totally different character sets. The rules of Grammer and Syntax tend to remain common though, seeing as they are all linked to the same spoken language.

Edit: Yeah, I agree there is no public education in Ishka. There are lots of schools though, and some districts do have public education. The Academy itself is really for people dedicated to becoming intellectuals, but it hosts a large number of smaller schools that people go to if they seek education past basic reading writing and arithmetic (And some don't even get that far. Yet even if they can barely write their name, they tend to be very good at counting money). Most of these schools tend to be trade schools (The Streebuilder's School for Engineers. One of the Steamworks is home to CassandraTech University, founded by the Brass Saint herself, there are several merchants schools around).
For most Ishkans if they seek education past the most basic stuff they seek an apprenticeship. There are lots of Counting Houses in the Merchant's District that employ large numbers of people to count and organize merchandise. The pay is decent, and it helps with reading, writing, and math as you count and log merchandise.

[jagadaishio]

I imagine that there are many basic-level education options available to people, but that education itself isn't mandatory. Most people learn how to read and write in their temple of choice, at "Sunday school" style weekly lessons. Sure, the lessons are always themed based on where they're learning it, but all the basics are there. I think that we also need to take into account certain long-lived races. Elves almost always get around to becoming literate and educated by the time they're adults. The Necropolis is as literate as the Academy just because of how much time the residents have to learn it.

Being illiterate in Ishka would be like someone living in a jungle not knowing which plants are deadly. It just doesn't happen, even if the knowledge is picked up informally.

As for language, I want to venture an entirely different option. Ishkan would have started as a human language spoken by the people living at the base of the canyon. With each new influx of immigrants, be it more humans, elves, or what have you, elements of all of the new languages were added to Ishkan as they integrated. That means that Ishkan is a creole based on Common, but having huge elementals of Elven, Halfling, and even elemental languages mixed in, especially in slang and everyday speech.

Certain races, those bent on not integrating, would have kept their language isolated, meaning that in their neighborhoods their language would be dominant, and Ishkan as a whole wouldn't have elements of it. So, Gobin would have almost everything written in Gobbledegook, the language that the residents speak. The Draconic Heritage Collective would have Draconic as their official language. However, most kobolds would speak Draconic like Catholics speak Latin. Sylvan would be dominant in the Grove districts, where nigh-immortal fey still speak the first-dialect and refuse to walk in the city. Ishkan therefore only bears Sylvan influences second-hand, by means of its elven influences.

So, yeah. Isolationist districts like Gobin and the Grove Districts keep their own languages; everyone else adds theirs to the Ishkan creole. Literacy is high in educated districts, like the Academy, Collected Colleges, and Temple district, as well as in long-lived and rich districts like the Necropolis, Mithral Heights, and the Draconic Heritage Collective. Everywhere else, literacy as at a constant medium, people learning it from church, local schools, over time in trade, and so on. Actual illiteracy, instead of just being a poor but passable reader, would be almost unknown in Ishka.

[Silverscale]

Ok, another topic we have mentioned but not really done anything with is the geography/world outside of Ishka. I posted a few ideas about a week ago and right now don't have time to go searching for them. Granted the vast majority of any campaign would take place within the city but I still think we should breath some life into the world outside the city, at least the most immediate surroundings.

{EDIT}Took the time to go back and find what I had posted earlier....

As to the world outside Ishka and the continent etc....for some reason I've always envisioned The City to take up most of the south-western area of some vast continent. To the west Ishka is bordered by a mountain range, to the north a battle scared waste-land gives way to forbidding frigid tundra, to the east Galdren eventually gives way to vast plains in the north and a forest to the south east. Beyond the Western Mountains is a coastal nation that sends trade to Ishka mostly through the Port District....
....running out of ideas but this should give us a place to start with the world beyond Ishka.

This isn't much and none of it has been made official yet but it's a place to start.{/EDIT}

{EDIT AGAIN}If all or at least most of the inhabitants of Ishka speak Ishkan, that certainly makes trade within the city a lot easier but what about trade with other nations? Is Ishkan close enough to common that it's not really much of an issue, or do traders coming in from other nations have to learn a little bit of Ishkan for when they come into the city?