Home. The steaming of the tar roofs in the summer heat is the earliest smell you remember. Some say that this was the first city, built by the Angels thousands of years ago, before they left and the world began to rot. You're currently living near the dockyards, east of the scar. The city is home to millions, and you make up a single spec of life in that petri dish. The eastern docks are one of the seedier pieces of the city--home to crooked merchants, thieves, drug runners, and the disgruntled poor.
The heart of the city lies a few miles inland, across thousands of shacks, warehouses, and stone-walled taverns and shops. The ground slopes increasingly upwards as the city climbs even higher, one and two story buildings giving way to fading towers and eventually to The Ring. Surrounding the houses of nobility is a set of 6 towers, wrought of white marble and bound in rusting steel. Since time immemorial these towers have stood, and the rich of the city built their homes among them.
Anyone who's anyone around the docks is "friends" with Sebastion Fontaine. The myteriously young Seb owns and operates a large set of underworld-friendly establishments in the area, as well as acting the part of loan shark. This includes your favorite haunt in the area (pick one):
- The Dockside Doxy (bar and whorehouse)
- The Anvil (a smithery and minor artificery)
- Mr. Margusto's Magical Manticore (a dive bar)
- Lawrence and Son's Traders
- The Gaslamp (a bar)
The city is made of of two halves, devided by a great river known as "The Chasm". The western half is newer and far more liberal than the "old city" on the east bank. The west tends to be richer due to newer and cleaner industries. Is is smaller, barely half the size of the eastern piece.
The city ends up looking a lot like instanbul:
Eedy borders the steelworks to the north and the fishery to the south. Most of the ships coming through are of older build, and carry people, spices, small goods, and items of the arcane. The northern portion of the docks was recently refit to handle newer large cargo ships for bearing ore to and from the steelworks.
The eastern docks are also home to thriving smuggling trade, and (with the right contacts) one can find almost any good they desire.
Newly built steamcranes tower over the wide berths of the west side of the scar. High tech steamworks constantly load and unload construction goods from the stream of ships southern trade ships.
While officially the ring refers to the six towers surrounding the wealthy district, among the common people it is used to mean that entire area. Low walls have been built between the towers, with guarded gates being the only entrances to the rich quarter. Within, the houses rise 3-6 stories above the streets, which are swept daily. The whole area reeks of wealth and privilege.
The Grey line is one the the Great Lines, and runs north-south along the eastern side of the Chasm. It starts at Storm Watch in the north, and runs through The Steelyards, The Eastern Docks, The Fishery, The Arsenal and ends at Dust Watch in the south.
The official seat of power for The City. The Crown encompasses the royal family, as well as a small set of governers close to them. It also has an elite standing army for defense of the bloodline.
Tasked by the Crown directly to keep the city from being overrun by sickness and disease. The Plage Guard has total authority at any time. Public opinion on them is scared but appreciative.
The Arcanum encompasses both the mages themselves, as well as their keepers and the various groups responsible for distributing goods.
The functional government of the city. The magistrate runs the city watch, public transportation, utilities maintenance, etc. They employ mage hunters (both internally and hiring outside contractors). The magistrate is highly corrupt, with many vying for power.
The are numerous criminal organizations throughout the City, all intertwined and constantly shifting in power.
Smokeless powerder has not been discovered, so all firearms are loud and obvious. That said, black powder technology is relatively advanced. Jacketed bullets are the norm, and revolvers are extremely common.
Some fancier weapons use steam to drive cycling the bolt and the hammer (similar to gas-powered modern firearms). These allow close to automatic fire in a compact package, though they tend to be impractival because of the amount of smoke they produce.
The weapons of the old world are still very popular, due to their low price and high-reliability. Street children often use cheap or makeshift bows to hunt dogs, sewer rats, and other animals. Many citizens will carry knives with them at all times, and it is not uncommon to see swords or axes worn openly in the seedier parts of town.
These use small steam-cores to built up high pressures and then release them to throw a projectile at similar speeds to powder weaponry, but with much less noise and no lasting visual effect. They tend to be more expensive, and require build up time before firing. As one goes up in price it tends to cycle faster, be lighter, or have a higher maximum pressure. The most powerful guns in the realm are steam based.
Replacing crossbows in many circles, spring guns use cranks or steam cores to tension high strength springs, which then can throw a variety of projectiles. The springs are not tensionable by hand, due to how compact and high-tension they are. These guns are quieter and smaller than crossbows, and can be kept tensioned for long periods before degrading.
Some more advanced spring guns achieve consistent medium to high cycle rates by rotating through barrels while re-tensioning the springs with steam-cores after firing. The Plague Guard is known to have a set of these miniguns on their sky ships.
Rumor on the streets is that there have been sightings of these mysterious firearms within the City. Without an obvious source, these rifles project arcs of lighting for extreme distances. There is no known dealer.
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