City Generation - Revels

Last time, we determined that Belltown, the former entertainment district, was an unconscious plagiarism on my part, being a Seattle neighborhood with the same specialty. Since I was already considering making Belltown a neighborhood rather than a full-blown district, this clinched it for me. As of now, Belltown is retconned as Revels, a neighborhood within Sagelights. Now that we've established where exactly Revels is, let's figure out what it is.

Revels is the main neighborhood for entertainment of all kinds:

• theater
• visual art
• music
• dance
• prostitution

and is dominated by:

• Prometheans, Pariahs, Leovites, Kipmen, and Dead-Blooded

Religion: Religion is not a big deal in Revels, but superstition is. There are beliefs associated with success in the theater, and things that will spell failure. These events are usually not ascribed to any particular deity, thought of as "curses" or "boons from the theater fairies."

Government: Most of the governing in Revels is done by various high-class patrons -- Prometheans making up the majority, with Sky-Carvers a close second and Sons of Light a distant third. Plagiarism is a serious crime in revels, but also a profitable business. When one theater puts on a successful play (or dance show, art show, concert, etc.), other theaters instantly find a way to copy the show -- stealing the script, recording it with Lightcatchers (magical cameras) and Soundcatchers (magical audio recorders), etc. They then reproduce it nearby, usually at a lower price. It is always a race against time for the plagiarists to make up their investment and cease production before the copyright police shut them down and confiscate their profits. Some shows have lost their official provenance, and are often the object of fierce rivalries -- and sometimes physical battles -- over who has the right to produce or display the work. 

Culture: The culture in Revels is dominated by theatricality. Art and creativity are serious business, and plagiarism is a serious crime (see Government). Fashions are fantastical and over-the-top, inspired by theater costumes, and often daring in terms of both propriety and the "rules" of fashion.

Examples of fashion:

• Promethean Harlequin: A jester's motley with cloth interspersed not with alternate colors, but bare flesh, and an illusionary flame in the mouth.
• Explorer Chic: Lots of leather and rough fabrics -- a stylized version of rough-and-tumble explorer-wear.

All kinds of art are popular, from high-class to low-brow. Some of the most popular:

• Theater: Tragic romances, screwball comedy, adventure stories (with more action than would be possible without magic).
• Musical theater/Dance: Epic opera, Broadway-style musicals, ballet, jazz dance.
• Visual art: Abstract sculpture, hyper-realistic painting, multimedia performance art
• Music: Baroque orchestral, rock-and-roll quartets, throat-singing

Here, I was looking for seemingly unrelated and paradoxical artistic styles, emphasizing the openness and strange esotericism of the City. I do consider giving things a little more of a theme, as most cultures gravitate towards a particular style of art during a particular period of time.

Prostitution is a matter of course in Revels, from streetwalkers to escort services to long-term sexual "leasing." There is no shame in the profession, practicing it or partaking in it -- though this may not be true once the client returns to their district of residence. Sylvennis, Council Heights, and Templedowns in particular take a dim view of prostitution.

The Thousand Tastes 
Description: Prostitution, orgies, sumptuous feasting
Theme: You can get anything you want here, so long as it’s filthy
Aspect: Desires Unbounded
Face: Rebec lev-Shivrael – Leovite Madame Willing to Sell Her Girls Out For a Solu

The Cup-and-Ball 
Description: Low-rent whorehouse catering to the lower classes
Theme: When you’re here, you’re slumming… no matter who you are
Aspect: Filthy in More Than One Way
Face: Leopona Bofia-per – Pariah Madam Will Protect Her Girls Even From the Big Boys

Nox Theater 
Description: The biggest theater in the City, center of opera, dance, and stagecraft (literally)
Threat: A Niontian [sentient, evil shadow] is hiding his dark murders backstage
Aspect: Sumptuous Pleasure Hides Dark Secrets
Face: Predjan Ziljovije – Grate-Scratcher Theatrical Manager Without a Dramatic Bone in His Body

Thanks for coming to Revels with me. Next time, we'll head to the Factorium, the center of manufacturing for the City.

City Generation - The Crux

Last time, we took a look at Solura, the financial district that took some of the defunct Tradespoint's characteristics. Now we'll examine the Crux, the center of tourism and travel -- and now that Tradespoint is gone, trade. What do we know about the Crux?

• The center of Crossrealm travel.
• A lot of those operating, if not residing, in the Crux will be Outlanders, visitors bringing goods from other Realms.

Okay, what comes next?

• Crossrealm trade, travel, and tourism dominates the economy.

Let's lay out a few of the notable species of Outlanders that spend a lot of time, energy, or money in the Crux:

• Emerald Wavedancers: Non-humanoids from a water Realm, the Wavedancers communicate through chameleonic patterns on their skin.
• Fractal Elves: Beings from the Far Realms, who exist in multiple worlds at once in a complex, beautiful – and often deadly – state.
• Holoceners: Near-humans who have no civilization or technology to speak of, but whose raw Crafting talent is unparalleled.
• Ma’ar: Realmshifting six-legged sentient “big cat” marauders, in a cross-world conflict with the Shertasi.
• Memes: Sentient thoughtforms transmitted by speech and thought, infecting their hosts. With host bodies from dozens of Realms, Memes require a large variety of foodstuffs and other support, so the crossrealm trade of the City is perfect for them. 
• Nethermen: Claiming to come from the mythical space between the Realms, nethermen are perfectly human in their physique, but cannot understand a world as stable and immutable as ordinary reality. Their tendency to walk into walls is amusing, but casual murder (expecting the victim to get back up the next second) is less so.
• Niontians: Hailing from the lesser Chthonic worlds, Niontians are living shadows who live by a code of deceit.
• Notional Construct: Sometimes an idea takes physical form. Pure and elemental in their world-view, notional constructs have a tendency towards fighting.
• Scarcity Merchants: Far-Realm beings able to manipulate reality and give a customer exactly what they need -- but charge bizarre and arcane prices, like your sense of humor, one hour out of every week, or the gender of your first child.
• Shertasi: Realmshifting twelve-foot reptilian humanoid imperialists, in a cross-world conflict with the Ma’ar.

Religion: All kinds of belief show up in the Crux -- monotheism, pantheism, atheism, humanism (or more properly, sapientism), and so on. No deity reigns supreme, not even the Light, and the Crux has a number of churches and temples second only to Templedowns. Religious tolerance is higher than anywhere else in the -- if a Crux trader or tavern-keeper turned away clientele based on religion, they would have no customers. In fact, it is from the Crux that some of the City's most popular "cults" have arisen: Kivian Taoism, Practical Theosophy, and the Church of Lies, to mention but a few.

Government: The City's official authority has little influence in the Crux. The Centrum Guild, who manage all inter-Realm travel, also police the district. Their job is unenviable, having to maintain different techniques, prison cells, etc., for Outlanders with inhuman abilities or psychology. For example, Fractal Elves may inadvertently kill dozens as their form shifts through the Realm, or a Netherman might cause gross vandalism, uncomprehending the permanent nature of their actions. Should these beings be prosecuted? If so, how would you imprison a creature who is only partially in our reality and could walk out of prison simply by shifting their weight, or punish someone who has no concept of regret? The Centrum Guild's enforcers must answer these questions, over and over and with innumerable variations.

Culture: The Crux is a melting-pot of innumerable cultures -- every bloodline in the City, along with travelers from Realms both near and far. Because of these mixes, nothing is taboo in the Crux -- it may not be to everyone's tastes, small fringe groups may actually protest or enact violence -- but in the main, anything from monogamy to group sex to ritual sacrifice is acceptable in the Crux (so long as all participants are willing). Food of all kinds appears on every street corner, including many things a human would not recognize as food -- or sometimes, even recognize as physically real, and the same can be said of music, and art forms. There is painting, and then there is Holocener Airbrushing, living sculptures of swirling wind; there is song, and then there is a Memetic Tonal Rondeau, capable of rewriting a listener's mind in whatever way the singer chooses; there is theater, and then there is Ma'aran Hunting Drama, in which the audience becomes part of the chase -- with a significant portion of the theatergoers doomed to be caught and eaten for the entertainment and edification of the others.

For the edification of the readers -- after all, this is meant to be a backstage look at something coming together -- the Outlanders came first. A couple -- the Shertasi, the Ma'ar, the name, at least, of the Niontians -- came from previous work of mine, adapted for this use. The Memes and Fractal Elves came from popular culture (Memes: Pontypool and others, Fractal Elves: drug culture and the idea of multidimensional beings a la Flatland). The Emerald Wavedancers, Holoceners, and Niontians came from wanting to create beings that didn't fit into the traditional "elf/dwarf/halfling" molds, while the Nethermen, Notional Constructs, and Scarcity Merchants came from a desire to go even further, into Realms (pun intended) seldom seen in fantasy roleplaying.

Then when working out the names and basic concepts behind their religions and art forms, I started from something real (Taoism, Theosophy, Rondeaus, audience participation theater), and gave it a twist -- from simply the name (I still don't know what makes Kivian Taoism different from regular Taoism), to the form (living wind sculptures) -- and tried to get inspiration from what little I know of the cultures I've just established (the Ma'ar are obsessed with hunting, and the Memes propagate through language).

And finally, I've always been intrigued by the idea of how law enforcement deals with things distinctly outside the norm, whether in comic book worlds filled with superheroes, to alien worlds, to fantasy worlds filled with magic -- hence the difficulties the Centrum Guild faces.

I have just discovered that Belltown is actually a real place -- a neighborhood in Seattle, that specializes in music and entertainment (but, unlike the City's Belltown, not prostitution). This is the last straw, that tells me I should reclassify my own Belltown as not a full district, but a smaller neighborhood (or neighborhoods) within other districts. Plus, it needs a new name. And thus, next time, join me as we venture into the neighborhood Formerly Named Belltown!

City Generation - Solura

Last time, we finished out examination of the slum Clovenmouthe. Today, we venture across town to Solura. What do we know about Solura?

• The center of business and commerce.
• Ruled by guilds and city and administration 

That's about it. Not much thought has gone into Solura yet. Let's flesh it out. 

• It'll be a business district, with little to no residences.
• It will be dominated by the middle class -- Leovites, Iversdotters, and especially Pariahs.

Religion: The Light has little purchase on Solura's citizenry -- they tend to worship the almighty solu (the citizen's unit of currency). With the large percentage of Leovites among the City bureaucracy would imply a strong belief in the Light. However, due to the status of profit and the influence of the heretical Pariahs and Iversdotters, most of the Leovites who work in Solura are unbelievers or attend church only occasionally. However, the precepts of Pariah philosophical thought are very influential, such as the following:

• Learn all you can, but only share it with your family. 
• Family first, profit second, all else a distant third.
• Enter into a contract cautiously, for no contract should ever be broken.

These ideas have been adopted (some say perverted) away from their original purpose, with most companies and guilds in Solura orienting themselves as a "family" and demanding traditional familial obedience from their employees.

Credit is a relatively new invention in the City (coming in over the last century or so), but it is extremely popular, with numerous guilds and companies offering lines of credit (at least, to the middle and upper classes). The City's official currency is the solu, named after Solura (and the sun), backed by the consortium of guilds, companies, and banks. The solu is roughly (and I emphasize roughly) equivalent to a dollar from about 1900 -- or about $10 currently. The solu is a silver coin with a stylized picture of the sun on it. A half-solu is a large copper piece, a 1/100 solu, or "penny" (plural pence) is a small copper piece. Solu also come in 10, 50, and 100 solu denominations.

Government: While profit is the highest motive, it is meant to be profit for all -- the general wisdom is that if a monopoly develops, the economy will collapse. A consortium of guilds, known as the Free Association of Merchants and Businesspeoples, enforces the concept of free and fair trade, breaking monopolies and governing prices. Of course, the Free Association of Merchants and Businesspeoples  is not perfect, and powerful companies often get preferential treatment, while prices are universally set at a level more beneficial to companies than customers. Working against one's organization -- by helping another, providing information or such, is against the laws of Solura, and enforced by a private police and judiciary force known as the Contract-Keepers. The Contract-Keepers use fines as their primary punishment, with corporal punishment second, exile third, and imprisonment a distant fourth. Their first goal is always to discourage further crime, whether through fines or shame.

Culture: The culture of Solura is fragmented and cosmopolitan. People bring beliefs from all different backgrounds, with only one defining congruence: business. Profit is the watchword, and the most defining ethical concern. Loyalty is an important concept in Solura. Some hold loyalty to their guild, some to their company, some to their administrative department, and some to the City itself -- but all are expected to stay loyal, an expectation usually enforced by ironclad contracts.

Let's look at some interesting Locations:

Department of Levies 

Description: The center for the hard-working tax collectors, who never manage to get any taxes. 

Theme: Due to poor funding and public hatred, the tax collectors never collect any. 

Aspect: Underfunded and Underappreciated 

Face: Eliah lev-Behary – Embittered Leovite Tax Man

The Free Association of Merchants and Businesspeoples 

Description: The center of the main merchant guild of the City.

Threat: A tyrannical mercantile guild forces all traders to belong, with unreasonable fees and rules. 

Aspect: Tyrannical Officials Crack Down 

Face: Zebed lev-Shaluchel – Leovite Administrator With His Boot Coming Down

Guild of Alchemists and Artificers 

Description: Guild of non-Crafter philosophers. 

Theme: The non-Crafters are angry at their uselessness.

Aspect: Second-Class Scientists 

Face: Nari Rona-per – Pariah Philosopher Resentful That Brains Aren’t Enough

The Plentifer Club 

Description: One of the most exclusive gentlemen’s clubs in the City.

Threat: Class and debauchery mix – mostly cigars and bourbon, but they can set up with drugs or prostitutes.

Aspect: Exclusivity Means No Prying Eyes

Face: Michai lev-Cadron – Consummate Host Will Get You Anything

Seat of Judgment 

Description: The main official Court of the City. 

Theme: Very little actual power (as few crimes make it here), but they make up for it with huge egos. 

Aspect: Perceived Importance Much More Than Actual Power 

Face: Ornurius Rallius – Imperious Judge Who Cows No-One

Thanks for visiting the financial district with me. Next time, we'll visit the centerpiece of cross-Realms in The Crux.