NEWRP Cities

Cities.

A lot of this world's population is organized in large settlements. Originally, a civilization that prided the exploitation of Parallels above most other resources rose and took over a large portion of the continent, the Kandhrak Empire. As all empires wont to do, after a long time running it collapsed under the weight of it's own fragmenting administration. The south of the continent is thus densely filled with ruins of this empire. Another factor of it's collapse being it's obsession with urban expansion.

Everything had to be a city. By the time they had converted massive spaces into urban areas, they had already exhausted their resources. But at least the newer generations did not have to build a lot, merely perusing the ruins. The new world is based on large, self-sufficient cities and surrounding settlements.

In the north, something similar happened with the Vaana people. Expanding over a large territory, they were not as urbanized as Kandhrak, however this allowed individual settlements to remain on their own, whereas Kandhrak's interconnection caused a lot of the empire to collapse and scatter. Traces of the Vaana remained, even in the later half of Kandhrak's existence, and some people in the north still identify as 'Vaana'.

There is not really a 'sense' of nationality, rather people are identified by their place of origin. Below is a list of important locations:

1. Ignes  -  The Steam City of Pipes

A vertical city, built like a gigantic cylinder. A collection of pipes, and houses built on metal platforms. The structure exists in this form due to the fact that wild beasts roam on the lower level, and thus buildings need to exist at a higher elevation. Some of the steam is let off near the lower levels too, which due to it's...unique nature, has the effect of scaring away the beasts. Buildings connect with hanging bridges, and passage between them requires some agility, which not everyone can handle.

Transportation Dolls are the project of various Doll Makers who build them to carry things like large bags or crates (really, anything heavy). The lower levels are also managed by Dolls, using various Doll Maker and Alchemist-made tools. The higher up one's house, the higher their status in the city, Artists being predominantly Doll Makers and Alchemists, live in the highest levels. It must be noted that the city seeks to meld together Alchemy and Doll-Making, the 'Arts of the future' as they are called, much unlike Orium who relies almost exclusively on the later.

The city's many mechanical systems and wonders work with the power of steam, which is created via the Perpetual Flame, a Defender Spirit that lies underground (while his master, Alchemist Veld Annun) lives in the very top. The Perpetual Flame ideal is houses in a giant hollow space, where the five parallels that cross over Pipe City meet, and convert to water. Thus, an unlimited supply of water is used for drinking (via special piping that takes it from the cave before it is evaporated) as well as to be made into steam for the city, by an imperishable flame.

It is said that due to coming from water that itself is converted from the Parallels, the steam that Perpetual Flame produces is a bit...strange. In the middle levels (above the base pipe level but below the Artist housing) where most of the population lives, the steam spreads like a mist. Inhaling too much of it is said to have...strange effects on people's minds, and as a result, some say on reality itself. Of course, the reports are as unreliable as it gets...which in and of itself lends credence to said theory.

2. Mashu  -  Heliopolitan Ruin

A vast ruin of a large city in the south, once known as the Heliopolis. Hundreds of statues, going from human sized to absolute giants, carrying various gemstones held in their hands, or part of the weapons or tools they wield, or even inserted into the statues bodies. The gemstones absorb light during the day, and release it during the night, lighting up the entire city. Their positioning is calculated so that every area is always lit up.

At the very center, lies a giant statue of a being with long hair, and deer horns protruding from his forehead, as well as the lower body of a horse. He holds his arms out and his face is turned towards the sky. He has a giant gemstone in his chest, and this gemstone provides light for the entire central district of the old Heliopolis. The main district then provides some lighting to the areas surrounding it. IT was said that this place was reserved for the rulers of Heliopolis in ancient times.

Nowadays, the lower levels are infested with wild beasts, so the central district, which is built upon elevated ground, is the only inhabitable area. Mashu is fundamentally a large mining operation brought on by a famous alchemist, specializing in gemstones, Cromman Dies. He is currently financing the mining to locate the fabled jewel that is used to create the Face of the Sun, a fabled alchemical task of ages long  past. While mining has progressed to the depths, even discovering a number of ancient Kandhrak ruins, nothing has yet come to light of the gem.

The miners dig down and some of them even live underground, directly beneath the central district, where the gemstone is said to be located. Other than Cromman's men, explorers, nomads and wanderers have made their home here. The light of the central district is strong enough to keep monsters away, and they earn their stay by performing various services for the miners, who are often too busy to take care of themselves. The city is not too concerned with the outside world, but there is plenty of influx to keep it's population growing: While the gemstone of legend is not yet found, the mining operations uncover many other gems, all very fetching quite the price on their own.

3. Okhtov  -  Waterfall of Ink.

The city from which the greatest share of Calligraphist black ink comes from. Okhtov is built atop the head of a giant Octopus, which lives within a vast basin, in the northwest. There are two parts to the city, the inhabited area and the Ink Processing Plant. The inhabited area is itself separated into two categories, the ones built around the tentacles and the ones built atop the head. The octopus needn't sink underneath the surface, due to it's nature of course. Having become an ideal at an early age, it has transformed from an extraordinary animal, to an immortal and wise being, that can survive without food or sleep.

Other than the absolute authority of the octopus, the ones who built houses atop his head, are the Calligraphists and their families, who make use of the ink in their work. They are not the only Calligraphists out there, of course, but they do have the largest source of ink available. Even they must defer to the wisdom of the Octopus, who has developed the ability to speak via telepathy, over the years.

The tentacles are for the simple folk who make a living by fishing in the basin, and from processing the ink on their work days. Due to the new ink-extraction and processing technologies however, a lot more people have been coming in, necessitating the building of new houses: these were made out of decommissioned ships, altered into living spaces, and tied to the octopus.

From the edge of the basin, the octopus lets out ink like a waterfall, which is connected into the Ink Pond, surrounded by factories and structures meant to take the ink apart and process it for calligraphy use. The rest of it flows away with a parallel that is called the Color Parallel. The ink that goes with it, is split into several streams, and it's color is altered for each. The Color River flows, to Pictan.

4. Pictan  -  Forest of Color

A sprawling jungle, built on medium sized platforms, all rising at different altitudes. A city of 'platforms' as to say. The entirety of it is covered in green. The first painters to come here, made use of the Color Parallel to obtain colors and paint on the trees, bringing them together to form houses. Indeed, the land of Pictan is inhabited by people who live in freakishly large trees, that connect between one another with rope bridges and the like. The display of technology outside ones house is forbidden.

Inside the houses, there do exist imported alchemical and doll maker inventions, and each family is allotted a portion of the hollowed out trees, created via Painting several smaller trees into a fusion. Conditions tend to be good, even if the adoption of a vegetarian diet is necessary. Wild animals tend to avoid the area, and there are no fish in the Color River. Of course, sometimes hunters and Painted Men go and bring back food of different natures.

The main population involves Painters, Painted Men and farmers. Farmers are self-explanatory, even if farming in Pictan requires some distance from the living spaces, and special 'tiles' as the locals call them are reserved for farming. These are usually near the river. Painted Men are people who chose to wander out of Pictan as they enter adulthood. The Painters paint their bodies, to give them a special boon of their request and they wander out, to other cities, where they retrieve a Color Pump from a Doll Maker. The Color Pump is an item needed for the extraction of paint from the Color River. With modifications from their makers or Painters, they can be used as weapons.

Thus, Painted Men are both the workers who master the art of extracting and mixing color with precision, and also the defenders of the city, firing fiery bursts of color at whoever seeks to invade it. When in excess, some Painted Men chose to undertake a second wandering out, to retrieve unique loot or goods from the world beyond: food, relics, stories and so on.

5. Artemia  -  Center of the World

The old center of Kandhrak was composed of a large fortress, underneath which no less than twelve parallels met at a single point. The sheer power coming from this, shot upwards and tore a gateway in the sky, unto the realm of ideas. It is believed that the twelve parallels from the realm of Ideas, have a hand in this too, as they always mirror the ones in the material world. Unsurprisingly, this structure managed to survive the fall of Kandhrak, and endures to this day. It's potent light was enough to draw in quite a few people, and the state of the ruins in the center of Kandhrak was good. This is how Artemia was formed, in the days following the fall of Kandhrak.

A gigantic city-state (The concept of a nation only really exists in Artemia), divided in Districts, and outside it's walls, various other settlements that have not been conquered or subjugated, yet pay tribute to Artemia. The end result is a powerful nation, mightiest in the world, some say. Artemia is handled by two greater organs, houses in two towers, to the left and right of the Parallel Pillar. The Left Palace, is reserved for Speakers, who act as representatives of each district and sometimes, Autonomous Provincial Speakers are invited to participate. Due to the nature of Speaking as an Art, the meetings are often observed by the public. The function of this Palace is to decide on legislation, budgets and other measures necessary.

The Right Palace of Judgement is not looked upon so warmly, of course. Handled by seven Judges, who appoint various officers to carry out investigations of cases where the law is breached or requires interpretation, they and their direct subordinates decide on how to act on the above matters. The rule of the law is harsh in Artemia, and escaping punishment is difficult. Wealth is of course very useful to have, but more so, a good reputation, especially near the center of the city is something quite precious. As mentioned before, Speakers are rather popular and numerous in Artemia, as the possibility to elevate oneself in society grows with being a Speaker.

What is also quite common, especially in the military are Performers. Various became quite popular in Kandhrak's late days, and the ones who settled into Artemia from the nearby areas, grew to adapt a combat style based around such dances: fast moving, aggressive and evasive, making Artemian battle-Dancers a menace to deal with, especially with how they strike fear into the hearts of their opponents with their motions. Musicians are also well known, and the ones who partake in battle make use of one of the Ideas in Artemia to wield weapons mixed with musical instruments (a flute-spear is incredibly impractical, but with the reality-warping Ideas, everything is possible). Producing frightening tunes in the field of battle, most armies would scatter and flee in the face of the Artemians. Magicians oddly enough are not spotted all that much, even if in recent years, their tendency for unpredictable and large-scale illusions has been made use of in a set of rather frightening victories.

The power of Artemia (And Kandhrak in it's day) is due to the Parallel Pillar of course, the pure light that descends from the world of Ideas, giving the Artemian parallels power, and making the ideas that are birthed and grow in Artemia, extremely powerful. The Parallels in Artemia are said to be closer to those from the world of Ideas, rather than the ones existing materially.


6. Organnat  -  Mountain of the Eternals

Mount Organnat is the tallest in the continent. The Orimman people (predating Kandhrak. The name for Oriate, comes from them) called it
Athre-Alomin, The One Who Embraces The Sky. The west and east sides of the mountain have been carved, and cities, built each in layers of half-rings, the Arts supported by each side, locked in long conflict, connected through stairs and a rather labyrinthine system of passages have been erected. A tunnel connects the two cities, through the mountain. The structure (carving and tunnel) has existed since ages long past, and settlements have been built for a long time. Nobody knows just how this structure was created however.

The western city is built 'around' a set of large pipes, pointing upwards. At the bottom of it lies a massive instrument, much like an organ. Attempts at playing it have been numerous, but none have truly produced a satisfying sound. The city serves as a home to a lot of Musicians, Doll-Makers and even a population of Dancers , originally sharing the effort of playing the gigantic organ properly, but eventually leaving that to start working on the perfection of musical instruments, and the development of new ways to create sounds.
Dancers like this city due to the opportunity to dance to new sounds, and of course the appreciative audiences. Fame as an artist or developer is an important factor of making it big in this side of the mountain, as is being a wealthy patron.

The eastern city is built in the opposite sense. While the western Organnat is convex when observed from outside, eastern Organnat is concave, an 'inward' half-ring. This is due to the presence of the Pond of Black Tears, a massive lake of black ink , that the city surrounds and rises above. The lake itself never rung out, but the ink is highly acidic and requires considerable processing. Inkmen (largely Calligraphists) made this city their home, however with the invention of Alchemy, transmuting black ink to a different color became possible, so rich Painters purchasing the right equipment, came to the city. Wealth is more important in Organnat, as the richer businessmen who are in Ink-processing, hire Painters and Calligraphists to work exclusively with their ink, in effort to promote it.

Both cities are as observed from outsiders, quite similar in their view and administration, a single Mayor, as well as a city council with the majority of the real power, made from the richer instrument-developers or ink-processors.

7. Morphe-Orium  -  City of Progress  -  /  -  City of Dreams  -  Morphe-Selene

The City of Dreams. Morphe was once an Orimman city of great importance, Khaf-Khud-Menem. A wonder of ancient technology and architecture, it took one hundred years for the Orimman to surround the city in walls of Pure Oriate. The city is the largest center of advancement for Oneironauts and Doll-Makers. Originally Morphe-Orium was a fairly ordinary city, that accepted all sorts of people behind the safety of it's Oriate walls. However at one point a mysterious Painter called Luna came over and tricked the city by painting a night-sky above the city, so accurate that everyone thought it was the real thing.

The power of ideas made it all so, of course, and this sky replaced the real one, whenever night came. That was not all, of course, Luna's sky came with two potent abilities: making those who sleep dream rather vividly, and then make those dreams manifest. This caused a great disaster to the city, when the first Dreaming happened, and everything was sundered by the manifestations. Old Morphe sunk to the ground, and the city had to be rebuilt wholly. The new Morphe was made with extensive help from Doll Makers from all over the world, and the great alchemist Ios. The end result was a vast interconnection of bridges and large building platforms, each neighborhood placed in a circle, with the Orium Academy, the center of Morphe located at the center. Bridges then connect to wherever possible, many-layered structures, with the old Morphe visible underneath.

Whenever night comes, the city transforms, the old buildings rising, the new ones shifting, and an odd, bizarre mix coming to be due to the work of Ios, who managed to transmute the Moon that Luna painted, into a portal leading to the world of dreams. The city that comes to be, from the altering Morphe-Orium, is Morphe-Selene, the city of dreams. This brought about the appearance of Dream-folk as well, who were manifested from dream fragments, people made from partial memories, manifested bizarrely in dreams. This was seen as an advantage, by a Doll Maker named Khoram, who journeyed far into the world of dreams, beyond the borders of Morphe-Selene, and returned with a sentient Doll, called Zoe.

The first and only doll who had proper self-awareness and agency, indistinguishable in her character from a woman. While Khoram passed away, Zoe accrued influence and power, becoming mayor of Morphe, and by extension, president of the Orium Academy. She guides the research into the world of dreams and it's consequences, while the administration of the city is fairly lax. Most of the citizens are Doll Makers or Alchemists, who work to further science, technology and research into the unknown, with a focus on mechanical engineering and the research of dreams.

The city is an odd one, that the words of others do not do justice to. The only ones with a proper knowledge of it are the few who have experienced firsthand.

8. Soma-R  -  Garden of Tranquility.

The Northern ranges are the northernmost reachable area of the world, where hurricanes, lightning storms, blizzards and all sorts of nasty Ideas, congregate to make passage impossible. Armies of the Vaana have tried to charge the peaks, as has Kandhrak at a certain point, yet nothing came out of it. In the Northern Ranges, lie three strange areas however, the Soma. Soma-F, Soma-N and Soma-R. Their creation is shrouded in mystery, temple complexes, with pure water, and growth of various rare plants. Unfortunately, Soma-F and Soma-N were locked off in a terrible earthquake, two centuries ago. Access to them is still difficult, as they are also situated higher up in the mountains.

Soma-R invites vast numbers of Gardeners. A grand mountain valley, where the cold does not reach. Tall towers, inhabited, with various abandoned research areas underground, with knowledge on the many plants of the world, and especially the unique species growing on Soma. The Gardeners have made it their center, and it is a must-go for any of them to consider themselves serious practitioners of the Art. The population of Soma has no real administration, although this is due to the type of people to live in it, the Soma monks.

Before becoming accessible via the invention of airships, Soma was an isolated, monastic community, of monks who sought to live a life of integrity, attaching themselves to a singular teaching and embodying it, so that upon the end of their life, they may ascend as Ideas. The monks are inviting to newcomers, and enjoy conversation, which makes this place perfect for Speakers who wish to hone their knowledge, skills, and obtain insight on a philosophy unknown to most of the world.

Painters also visit Soma-R, and frequently delight with their talent, especially as some of the flowers growing there are used in the production of unique colors. Unlike Gardeners however, Painters find themselves with more options of choice, and thus there is not so much of them. There is a small population of Dancers as well, who seem to try and learn the monks techniques, originally too a Dancer art, that was applied for defensive and evasive combat. Many Dancers are after all, subject of harassment in other societies.

9. Ishmelem  -  The Bazaar of the Dead

In the old territories of Vaana, more to the south, lies Ishmelem, the land of the dead. It is unknown just what Ishmelem truly is. The Dark Forest surrounds it, a perfectly ordinary, if rather dense expanse of trees. Ishmelem lies at the center, reached through a vast cavern. The inside involves a labyrinthine cavern, that takes days to traverse, but at it's end lies a vast city. The ones observing it say that it lies on the shores of a sea, with stars, the sun and moon sunken underneath. Nobody who enters it comes back with all of their memories intact, and thus people tend to avoid approaching the area.

The general belief is that Ishmelem lies in the border between life and death. A gigantic pillar lies at it's center, with something written in the Primordial Language, believed to be one of the Stories of Legend (sacred stories, elsewhere). The surroundings are one giant markets, with stalls everywhere. Not all of the city is located on a flat plane, some of it is elevated, and reachable by stairs, although this is a minor feature. The traders are bizarre people, who have been compared to Dream-folks, however the correct term is Apparitions.

The Apparition merchants each charge odd prices, some require memories to be given over, some others seek stories or secrets, other demand gemstones, ink, art, some ask for things like 'being entertained'. All sorts of odd prices have been required in Ishmelem. Apparitions are almost never seen outside of it as well, and the place is a difficult one to reach. The Artists visiting Ishmelem are varied, of course, although Magicians and Gardeners seem popular.

Surrounding the cavernous entrance to Ishmelem, a large clearing occupied by a community of Gardeners, who trade seeds with travelers, and use the bizarre climate of the Ishmelem cave to grow new species of flowers. Inside the city, Magicians learn to master the nature of Ishmelem, and use it to charm and confound those on the world above, so they are common down there. Speakers and Musicians seek long lost stories and songs, Calligraphists look to study the Story of Legend, in the Ishmelem central pillar (in fact, developments seem to show that this story details the origin and laws of Ishmelem, but nothing too concrete is found yet), and there is even the occasional Oneironaut, studying this strange world.

Nobody who has ever tried to steal or cause a ruckus, has been seen or heard from after their attempt.

10. Fi  -  The Soaring Wonder

The Orimman called it Arthe-Korat, the Sky City. The Vaana called it Ish-Teram, the House of Teram (the supreme idea of 'everything' or 'all-encompassing' according to the Vanaan people). Kandhrak called it Fi, which meant 'flying' and the name stuck to this day. A city built atop a large, bowl-like structure. Hollow on the inside, a massive tree grows inside of Fi, which pokes out atop, and is highly visible. The tree is preserved by a number of ideas, and even the great heights that Fi flies in, the tree does not suffer anything. The rest of the 'bowl' has various structures built to support life.

While they start descending, starting from the edge and going in, the buildings height goes up, to the tops always match. The rooftops are full of birds, and vegetation also grows there somewhat. The inner parts of the city are darker, of course, necessitating that people come to the upper levels to get sunlight. The city is one of the few to have proper 'kings', the royals residing somewhere within the cover of the vast tree, that itself covers most of the city. Fi is a strange place for artists, all sorts of them living there. Alchemists are almost unheard of, and Doll Makers are barely present.

Speakers, Musicians, Gardeners, are the norm. The people of Fi are decidedly not human. Most of them have wings or stray feathers on their bodies, whereas others are part tree. There are mixtures of both as well, and the royals are said to be something else entirely, even if they are never seen. Nobody remembers how they got to Fi, airships do not fly that high, and the city is inaccessible to any Idea seeking to get people there. Rather, the idea that 'getting to Fi is impossible' permeates the rest of the world. People of Fi however, can descend and then fly back into it with ease. They do not do this often however, so tales from Fi are rare, far and few between. It is believed that there is some way for people to wake up in Fi, however this leaves them devoid of their former life. These people find themselves with wings, of with limbs made of wood, as they wander about the city.

Fi travels between the border of the material world and that of Ideas. Like Morphe-Selene and Ishmelem, reality is a bit hard to get a grip on. People swear they hear voices, speaking in their head, confused whether it is their own thoughts or the words of someone else. Waking up in places you did not remember going to, knowing things you shouldn't... everything like that is common in Fi. People frequently observe how the clouds flare up and show visions, an occurrence that is considered cause for festivity in Fi. The city performs a journey that takes it past the Northern Ranges, and into a realm that radiates pure light, many believing it to be the entrance to the world of ideas. Of course, nobody who has flown into it has come back, thus the inhabitants stay inside, as the light passes.