Post by Kai on Jan 31, 2010 11:33:44 GMT -5
Asherah
The centrally located, northernmost city on Earth, Asherah is affectionately known as the ‘city of ice’, due to the severity of its winters. Although the three ‘summer’ months the city enjoys are quite temperate, any time between September and May is, in Mother Nature’s opinion, a perfect time to drop a blizzard upon the city. (This is not to say that the city is constantly under an icicle assault, but the blizzards, when they come, are quite ferocious.) Its northern location and proximity to the ice continent ‘Xeros’ (whose breathe freezes the nearby northern peninsulas) combined with the adjacent Sea of the Aurora and being smack dab in the middle of a flood plain between the rivers Nyxma and Ophelia all contribute to wind shear and the severe weather patterns that appear during the winter months. The western ‘cup’ formed by the Halcion mountain chain can ‘catch’ blizzards rolling in from the Sea of the Aurora and hold them over the entire flood plain for weeks at a time. The record low temperature recorded in Asherah is a frigid -80 degrees F (-62.2 degrees C), though the ‘deep winter’ temperatures tend to hover around the freezing mark. Winter sports dominate the outdoor physical realm, and Asherah’s inspiration (for its artists, writers, ect.) comes from their bi-annual ‘saturation’ by Earth’s Aurora Borealis.
As mentioned, the ‘race to space’ is Asherah’s current primary concern and the city funds the research and development through taxes and a number of ‘philanthropic’ donations. The former takes the form of property taxes, sales taxes, and specific ‘luxury’ taxes (which are, really, just ‘added on’ sales taxes.) The latter comes in the form of donations from the major industries of Asherah and, occasionally, the profits from city-wide ‘holidays’ – an idea put into practice at the behest of Miranda Fowler, Premier of Asherah from 1010 to 1016. ‘Holidays’ are generally one or two day public events, usually with an emphasis on shopping, and are usually sponsored by a short list of patron organizations (which thusly flavor the form of the festivities.) Asherah’s primary industries include the export of unique sea products (harvested from the Sea of Aurora; note that this is not seen within the city very strongly as most processing takes place on-ship or at mobile processing plants that operate along the coastline of the Sea of Aurora), military equipment (focusing on personal armor, defensive shielding, and anti-missile systems), thermal wear, construction insulation, communication software and hardware, ‘ice ink’ (a unique substance discovered beneath the ice plains of ‘Xeros’ that is popular for use in tattoos in just about everywhere except Asherah; it glows a faint blue for up to ten years after being ‘inked’ and is cool to the touch), and the manufacture of ‘teleport crystals’, which serve as the ‘batteries’ to the teleport devices that have become a part of every tower city citizen’s daily lives. Additional income for the city comes in the way of judicial fees and criminal fines, and specific ‘tithing’ from the various brothels within the city’s red light district. (Asherah is one of three tower cities with organized legal prostitution.) The city is also well-known for its high quality medical care, particularly in the area of infectious disease (thought to be, in part, due to the ‘sterility’ of the frigid environment.)
Additional Notes:
-Asherah has three ‘Star Spires’, each dedicated to different elements of space exploration development. Three ‘Star Spires’ is the third most among the eight cities.
-The official adult age in Asherah is 18. This covers legal voting status and the obtaining of one’s ‘passport’, the earliest an individual can choose to enter the military, as well as the legal drinking and ‘influencer’ (which includes a various list of substances) purchasing age, and is also the age required to become registered with a brothel.
-Asherah is actually built upon the ruins of a series of historically important cities and, as such, has an expansive set of “catacombs” beneath it. The city originally grew up as a technology-harvesting center, and this may partially explain the city’s current leading status in the ‘race to space’, despite there being no official activity in the ruins in over 300 years.
-Asherah’s coat of arms features a non-descript raptor as its primary animal symbol. Unofficially identified, the majority of citizens believe it to be some kind of falcon. As a result, sports team names and military unit designations are all avian in nature. (Falcons, hawks, eagles, sparrows, ect.) The city’s official flower is the ‘Blue Ring Geranium’, an incredibly tiny flower (an average man could easily fit over 100 of the flowers in a single hand) that, somehow, survives the harsh environment around Asherah quite well. It is called the ‘blue ring’ because it is striped with various blue shades, though the individual rings can only be seen with the aid of a microscope. It is extremely toxic and should not be handled without the aid of protective gloves.
Asherah: City Districts
1. Veracity: The central district of Asherah, known as Veracity or V-District, is the home to the city’s three Star Spires (simply designated Alpha, Beta, and Gamma), the Lionel building (where the city’s Parliament meets), the Jameson C. Calhoun building (the city’s court house), and a spread of smaller buildings that house pieces to the city’s wireless net infrastructure. Being the city’s heart of government, it is the most security -heavy district of Asherah, featuring both civilian police forces and military patrol teams. Although V-District is connected via teleport hub to more districts within the city than any other, it is rare (and considered suspicious) for citizens to visit it. Veracity is also believed to have many entrances and exits to the expansive layers of ruins that lie beneath the city.
2. Almond: The northwestern district of Asherah is actually named after the individual who founded the city, explorer/archaeologist Leona Almond, not the oh-so-yummy when roasted and (actually) quite rare (naturally grown, not replicated) nut. This district has no identifying theme of building-type, and is home to three massive stadiums (only one of which is not a dome) that host the city’s professional sporting events, six different ‘museums’ (two history – one ‘ancient’ and one ‘current’, technology, botanical – which is essentially an indoor garden, zoological –a zoo, though many of the specimens are holograms, literary – a library of the ‘old school’ type, no electronics here, everything is in paper form), and is the location of the major medical research and development laboratories. Ironically, the district is not home to the city’s actual hospitals. There are a few residential buildings in Almond district as well.
3. Cress: The western district of Cress is the primary residential district in Asherah. While there are small shopping areas within some buildings, nearly every single building in the district is residential. The key exception to this is the Asherah branch of the International Vocational Organization. The IVO (or ‘ee-vo’) is a global conglomerate responsible for archiving and distributing knowledge across the globe and functions as the school system for all of Earth, from pre-kindergarten classes all the way through ‘university’ and ‘master’ level classes on any and all subjects. It is a neutral organization and has an enormous single building ‘branch’ in every city with the stated purpose of ensuring that every city is on equal standing when it comes to education and access to knowledge (though this is not completely possible; every city has its secrets.) Additionally, the extreme southwestern section of Cress is the unofficial ‘red-light’ district, home to Asherah’s brothels (such as La Rosa Blu) and a handful of bars. The Cress district also has the ‘Western Set’ teleport hub, which is located on the western perimeter of the district, outside the city wall, that allows for initiating the journey towards the island city of Kestral. (Possibly the most difficult of journeys from Asherah, as it requires traversing some of the Halcion mountains.)
4. Opera: With a name like ‘Opera’, one might be inclined to expect that Asherah’s southwestern district was home to the majority of the city’s entertainment venues and, as luck would have it, one inclined as such would be sorely mistaken. Why, exactly, the district was named ‘Opera’ when it is Asherah’s medical ward one can only guess (the records of its naming simply show that it was named Opera, with no rhyme or reason given) but, regardless of the name, Opera District is the home to all of Asherah’s hospitals (there are 7, each with a different set of specializations), a handful of medical research and development labs (with the newest featuring zero-gravity chambers – the first of their kind on Earth - for experimentation on practicing medicine in space), a few straggling residential buildings (reserved for the severely and/or terminally ill), and a small restricted section of buildings that are isolated for military medical training. Most everything in Opera district is colored white, which makes for a very stark, sterile environment, particularly following a heavy snowfall.
5. Ophelia: The southern district of Asherah is named after the river that makes up a portion of its protective wall, in the same manner as the north/northeastern district of Aurora. Ophelia district is the primary commercial hub in Asherah, with nearly all of the buildings chock full of shops, small bars and coffee shops, and restaurants. The majority of the major clubs (such as Paradiso) are also located within Ophelia district, offering the majority of focus for nighttime gallivanting for the youthful citizens. The flavor of the majority of items for sale in Ophelia are ‘imports’, supposedly originating from other cities. The river Ophelia is the milder of the two rivers and is the most popular one for civilian fishing and (during the temperate months) water-sports and activities. This is, of course, one of the ‘weak points’ in Asherah’s perimeter defense; since access to Ophelia is granted by an expansive gap in the city’s wall, defense is left up to patrols and mounted turrets. Though not as much of a problem when the river is flowing, in the deepest parts of winter, the river freezes over and this gap could theoretically allow monsters or (in the past) enemy troops an ‘ice bridge’ right into the city. Opehlia District also holds the transportation hub responsible for initiating the journey to Mirror Lake and/or Central City.
6. Lazlo: The southeastern district of Asherah has a dual identity. Primarily, Lazlo District is Asherah’s ‘technology center’, containing the heart of the city’s net infrastructure (which feeds into those contained in Veracity District), all of the space-tech research and development that takes place outside of the Star Spires, the majority of the computer hardware and software research and development, and all of the civilian-accessible commercial computer retail establishments. Additionally, Lazlo District features a host of ‘internet cafes’, despite access to the net being ubiquitous anywhere in the city. Much of the tech-focus establishments are found in the southern and western sections of Lazlo, closer to Ophelia and Veracity Districts. The ‘other face’ of Lazlo district is military in focus: Central Command, all intra-city training facilities, military barracks, military ‘airport’, and all of the military’s research and development facilities are hosted here as well. Additionally, Lazlo District is the only district within Asherah where civilians can purchase self-defense items, which allows the city to strictly control which citizens are armed and which are not. Some of the military establishments also bleed over into the eastern district of Evergreen. Lazlo District also holds a transportation hub responsible for initiating the journey to Champagne.
7. Evergreen: Evergreen District is the ‘bread basket’ of Asherah. Nearly every building within the district is dedicated to the growing, creation, care-taking, replication, processing, and packaging of the city’s food supply. Whereas the medical ward of Asherah, Opera District, is stark white, Evergreen, as the name suggests, is predominantly emerald green. Additionally, the caretakers of Evergreen District have made a serious effort to decorate the exterior of the district with as much green plant life as they can manage (that can survive the harsh conditions of the city’s winter months.) On the surface, it would appear that most civilians have little reason to visit Evergreen District, seeing as how commercial grocery stores are more than prevalent in Ophelia District. However, being so close to the source, Evergreen District is home to the ritziest, most expensive, and high class restaurants in the city. The Emerald Palace, in particular, is known globally for being one of, if not THE best restaurant on the planet. The prices, of course, keep most citizens away from it. The cheapest item on the menu will dock one’s pocketbook by a cool 1500 credits. Luckily, there are some more ‘reasonably’ priced establishments contained within the district, but the prices still outclass anything found in any of the other districts of the city.
8. Aurora: Aurora is the largest of Asherah’s city districts (spanning the north and northeastern sections of the city) and functions as the manufacturing hub of the city over a wide-range of materials. As a rule, if an item or material isn’t made or found in another district in Asherah, one can find it in Aurora District. (That is not to say that items found elsewhere can’t also be found in Aurora, of course.) As a result, Aurora is also the ‘working’ district of the city. A side effect of the high concentration of ‘factory’ buildings is that it is also the most ‘polluted’ district in the city. Aurora is always covered by a silver sheen of mist, though this is only seen/commented on by the populace during fair weather when it is actually visible. Additionally, Aurora District is Asherah’s secondary commercial hub, with a host of ‘mall’ like buildings close to the center of the city. Less ‘flash’ and more substance, the shops in Aurora District tend to feature ‘wholesale’ prices, and most shops cater to individuals that buy in bulk. Aurora District is also home to the Asherah military’s naval facilities (along the bank of the river Nyxma), the city’s morgue and cemetery buildings (with a key identifying feature being that the ‘cemetery’ buildings function like crypts, preferring to build ‘down into the earth’ – and therefore the ruins beneath the city – as opposed to ‘up towards the sky’) and also the city’s prison facilities. The prison facilities are, of course, located along the perimeter, as far away from the general populace as possible.
The centrally located, northernmost city on Earth, Asherah is affectionately known as the ‘city of ice’, due to the severity of its winters. Although the three ‘summer’ months the city enjoys are quite temperate, any time between September and May is, in Mother Nature’s opinion, a perfect time to drop a blizzard upon the city. (This is not to say that the city is constantly under an icicle assault, but the blizzards, when they come, are quite ferocious.) Its northern location and proximity to the ice continent ‘Xeros’ (whose breathe freezes the nearby northern peninsulas) combined with the adjacent Sea of the Aurora and being smack dab in the middle of a flood plain between the rivers Nyxma and Ophelia all contribute to wind shear and the severe weather patterns that appear during the winter months. The western ‘cup’ formed by the Halcion mountain chain can ‘catch’ blizzards rolling in from the Sea of the Aurora and hold them over the entire flood plain for weeks at a time. The record low temperature recorded in Asherah is a frigid -80 degrees F (-62.2 degrees C), though the ‘deep winter’ temperatures tend to hover around the freezing mark. Winter sports dominate the outdoor physical realm, and Asherah’s inspiration (for its artists, writers, ect.) comes from their bi-annual ‘saturation’ by Earth’s Aurora Borealis.
As mentioned, the ‘race to space’ is Asherah’s current primary concern and the city funds the research and development through taxes and a number of ‘philanthropic’ donations. The former takes the form of property taxes, sales taxes, and specific ‘luxury’ taxes (which are, really, just ‘added on’ sales taxes.) The latter comes in the form of donations from the major industries of Asherah and, occasionally, the profits from city-wide ‘holidays’ – an idea put into practice at the behest of Miranda Fowler, Premier of Asherah from 1010 to 1016. ‘Holidays’ are generally one or two day public events, usually with an emphasis on shopping, and are usually sponsored by a short list of patron organizations (which thusly flavor the form of the festivities.) Asherah’s primary industries include the export of unique sea products (harvested from the Sea of Aurora; note that this is not seen within the city very strongly as most processing takes place on-ship or at mobile processing plants that operate along the coastline of the Sea of Aurora), military equipment (focusing on personal armor, defensive shielding, and anti-missile systems), thermal wear, construction insulation, communication software and hardware, ‘ice ink’ (a unique substance discovered beneath the ice plains of ‘Xeros’ that is popular for use in tattoos in just about everywhere except Asherah; it glows a faint blue for up to ten years after being ‘inked’ and is cool to the touch), and the manufacture of ‘teleport crystals’, which serve as the ‘batteries’ to the teleport devices that have become a part of every tower city citizen’s daily lives. Additional income for the city comes in the way of judicial fees and criminal fines, and specific ‘tithing’ from the various brothels within the city’s red light district. (Asherah is one of three tower cities with organized legal prostitution.) The city is also well-known for its high quality medical care, particularly in the area of infectious disease (thought to be, in part, due to the ‘sterility’ of the frigid environment.)
Additional Notes:
-Asherah has three ‘Star Spires’, each dedicated to different elements of space exploration development. Three ‘Star Spires’ is the third most among the eight cities.
-The official adult age in Asherah is 18. This covers legal voting status and the obtaining of one’s ‘passport’, the earliest an individual can choose to enter the military, as well as the legal drinking and ‘influencer’ (which includes a various list of substances) purchasing age, and is also the age required to become registered with a brothel.
-Asherah is actually built upon the ruins of a series of historically important cities and, as such, has an expansive set of “catacombs” beneath it. The city originally grew up as a technology-harvesting center, and this may partially explain the city’s current leading status in the ‘race to space’, despite there being no official activity in the ruins in over 300 years.
-Asherah’s coat of arms features a non-descript raptor as its primary animal symbol. Unofficially identified, the majority of citizens believe it to be some kind of falcon. As a result, sports team names and military unit designations are all avian in nature. (Falcons, hawks, eagles, sparrows, ect.) The city’s official flower is the ‘Blue Ring Geranium’, an incredibly tiny flower (an average man could easily fit over 100 of the flowers in a single hand) that, somehow, survives the harsh environment around Asherah quite well. It is called the ‘blue ring’ because it is striped with various blue shades, though the individual rings can only be seen with the aid of a microscope. It is extremely toxic and should not be handled without the aid of protective gloves.
Asherah: City Districts
1. Veracity: The central district of Asherah, known as Veracity or V-District, is the home to the city’s three Star Spires (simply designated Alpha, Beta, and Gamma), the Lionel building (where the city’s Parliament meets), the Jameson C. Calhoun building (the city’s court house), and a spread of smaller buildings that house pieces to the city’s wireless net infrastructure. Being the city’s heart of government, it is the most security -heavy district of Asherah, featuring both civilian police forces and military patrol teams. Although V-District is connected via teleport hub to more districts within the city than any other, it is rare (and considered suspicious) for citizens to visit it. Veracity is also believed to have many entrances and exits to the expansive layers of ruins that lie beneath the city.
2. Almond: The northwestern district of Asherah is actually named after the individual who founded the city, explorer/archaeologist Leona Almond, not the oh-so-yummy when roasted and (actually) quite rare (naturally grown, not replicated) nut. This district has no identifying theme of building-type, and is home to three massive stadiums (only one of which is not a dome) that host the city’s professional sporting events, six different ‘museums’ (two history – one ‘ancient’ and one ‘current’, technology, botanical – which is essentially an indoor garden, zoological –a zoo, though many of the specimens are holograms, literary – a library of the ‘old school’ type, no electronics here, everything is in paper form), and is the location of the major medical research and development laboratories. Ironically, the district is not home to the city’s actual hospitals. There are a few residential buildings in Almond district as well.
3. Cress: The western district of Cress is the primary residential district in Asherah. While there are small shopping areas within some buildings, nearly every single building in the district is residential. The key exception to this is the Asherah branch of the International Vocational Organization. The IVO (or ‘ee-vo’) is a global conglomerate responsible for archiving and distributing knowledge across the globe and functions as the school system for all of Earth, from pre-kindergarten classes all the way through ‘university’ and ‘master’ level classes on any and all subjects. It is a neutral organization and has an enormous single building ‘branch’ in every city with the stated purpose of ensuring that every city is on equal standing when it comes to education and access to knowledge (though this is not completely possible; every city has its secrets.) Additionally, the extreme southwestern section of Cress is the unofficial ‘red-light’ district, home to Asherah’s brothels (such as La Rosa Blu) and a handful of bars. The Cress district also has the ‘Western Set’ teleport hub, which is located on the western perimeter of the district, outside the city wall, that allows for initiating the journey towards the island city of Kestral. (Possibly the most difficult of journeys from Asherah, as it requires traversing some of the Halcion mountains.)
4. Opera: With a name like ‘Opera’, one might be inclined to expect that Asherah’s southwestern district was home to the majority of the city’s entertainment venues and, as luck would have it, one inclined as such would be sorely mistaken. Why, exactly, the district was named ‘Opera’ when it is Asherah’s medical ward one can only guess (the records of its naming simply show that it was named Opera, with no rhyme or reason given) but, regardless of the name, Opera District is the home to all of Asherah’s hospitals (there are 7, each with a different set of specializations), a handful of medical research and development labs (with the newest featuring zero-gravity chambers – the first of their kind on Earth - for experimentation on practicing medicine in space), a few straggling residential buildings (reserved for the severely and/or terminally ill), and a small restricted section of buildings that are isolated for military medical training. Most everything in Opera district is colored white, which makes for a very stark, sterile environment, particularly following a heavy snowfall.
5. Ophelia: The southern district of Asherah is named after the river that makes up a portion of its protective wall, in the same manner as the north/northeastern district of Aurora. Ophelia district is the primary commercial hub in Asherah, with nearly all of the buildings chock full of shops, small bars and coffee shops, and restaurants. The majority of the major clubs (such as Paradiso) are also located within Ophelia district, offering the majority of focus for nighttime gallivanting for the youthful citizens. The flavor of the majority of items for sale in Ophelia are ‘imports’, supposedly originating from other cities. The river Ophelia is the milder of the two rivers and is the most popular one for civilian fishing and (during the temperate months) water-sports and activities. This is, of course, one of the ‘weak points’ in Asherah’s perimeter defense; since access to Ophelia is granted by an expansive gap in the city’s wall, defense is left up to patrols and mounted turrets. Though not as much of a problem when the river is flowing, in the deepest parts of winter, the river freezes over and this gap could theoretically allow monsters or (in the past) enemy troops an ‘ice bridge’ right into the city. Opehlia District also holds the transportation hub responsible for initiating the journey to Mirror Lake and/or Central City.
6. Lazlo: The southeastern district of Asherah has a dual identity. Primarily, Lazlo District is Asherah’s ‘technology center’, containing the heart of the city’s net infrastructure (which feeds into those contained in Veracity District), all of the space-tech research and development that takes place outside of the Star Spires, the majority of the computer hardware and software research and development, and all of the civilian-accessible commercial computer retail establishments. Additionally, Lazlo District features a host of ‘internet cafes’, despite access to the net being ubiquitous anywhere in the city. Much of the tech-focus establishments are found in the southern and western sections of Lazlo, closer to Ophelia and Veracity Districts. The ‘other face’ of Lazlo district is military in focus: Central Command, all intra-city training facilities, military barracks, military ‘airport’, and all of the military’s research and development facilities are hosted here as well. Additionally, Lazlo District is the only district within Asherah where civilians can purchase self-defense items, which allows the city to strictly control which citizens are armed and which are not. Some of the military establishments also bleed over into the eastern district of Evergreen. Lazlo District also holds a transportation hub responsible for initiating the journey to Champagne.
7. Evergreen: Evergreen District is the ‘bread basket’ of Asherah. Nearly every building within the district is dedicated to the growing, creation, care-taking, replication, processing, and packaging of the city’s food supply. Whereas the medical ward of Asherah, Opera District, is stark white, Evergreen, as the name suggests, is predominantly emerald green. Additionally, the caretakers of Evergreen District have made a serious effort to decorate the exterior of the district with as much green plant life as they can manage (that can survive the harsh conditions of the city’s winter months.) On the surface, it would appear that most civilians have little reason to visit Evergreen District, seeing as how commercial grocery stores are more than prevalent in Ophelia District. However, being so close to the source, Evergreen District is home to the ritziest, most expensive, and high class restaurants in the city. The Emerald Palace, in particular, is known globally for being one of, if not THE best restaurant on the planet. The prices, of course, keep most citizens away from it. The cheapest item on the menu will dock one’s pocketbook by a cool 1500 credits. Luckily, there are some more ‘reasonably’ priced establishments contained within the district, but the prices still outclass anything found in any of the other districts of the city.
8. Aurora: Aurora is the largest of Asherah’s city districts (spanning the north and northeastern sections of the city) and functions as the manufacturing hub of the city over a wide-range of materials. As a rule, if an item or material isn’t made or found in another district in Asherah, one can find it in Aurora District. (That is not to say that items found elsewhere can’t also be found in Aurora, of course.) As a result, Aurora is also the ‘working’ district of the city. A side effect of the high concentration of ‘factory’ buildings is that it is also the most ‘polluted’ district in the city. Aurora is always covered by a silver sheen of mist, though this is only seen/commented on by the populace during fair weather when it is actually visible. Additionally, Aurora District is Asherah’s secondary commercial hub, with a host of ‘mall’ like buildings close to the center of the city. Less ‘flash’ and more substance, the shops in Aurora District tend to feature ‘wholesale’ prices, and most shops cater to individuals that buy in bulk. Aurora District is also home to the Asherah military’s naval facilities (along the bank of the river Nyxma), the city’s morgue and cemetery buildings (with a key identifying feature being that the ‘cemetery’ buildings function like crypts, preferring to build ‘down into the earth’ – and therefore the ruins beneath the city – as opposed to ‘up towards the sky’) and also the city’s prison facilities. The prison facilities are, of course, located along the perimeter, as far away from the general populace as possible.