The City

The City is the (currently) unnamed hub of the Dark Mod setting.

The city is a vast, sprawling port city, built atop a hill at the mouth of a river. The city has been around for a dozen centuries at least, and has been founded and then rebuilt many times during the last thousand years. It is home to many powerful nobles and merchant families, who have gained wealth through ocean/sea trade.

The city was once a flourishing trade city on the edge of the empire, but that empire has been in a long decline and is now concerned primarily with protecting the distant capital from rampant invasions. Our city has been largely left to rule itself since then, and has lucrative trade (legal and illegal) with enemies of the old empire, many of whom would prefer to simply conquer the city and make it their own. The city has fought several fierce naval battles over the years to keep that from happening.

The city is isolated from overland travel because of the vast wilderness that surrounds it. This wilderness is full of pagan tribes and dangerous creatures. Most travel to the city comes by riverboat, from the sea, or along specially guarded 'Builder Roads'.

The city is vast and sprawling. Most who live there go their whole lives without seeing just how expansive it is. Having been built and rebuilt over a thousand years, much of the city is a confusing maze of narrow streets and alleyways.

Each time the city grew beyond its defensive walls, a new wall was added, encircling a new district. After a thousand years, there are now more than a dozen walled districts, each connected like a honeycomb to the others. While some districts grew and prospered and were modernized over the years, others did not.

Because districts were built and rebuilt over time, the older districts atop the hill have a city beneath the city. Subterranean crypts and passages abound, and are used as secret highways or meeting places for societies of Necromancers and thieves.

There is a saying in the city, "Wealth rises to the top" (or "Shit floats to the top", depending on who you ask). Both refer to the fact that the wealthier and more modern districts lie atop the hill overlooking the ocean. The Builders' Grand Cathedral, the City Council Chambers, and the Guild Halls of the Inventor's Guild are all located there. The further you go from the hill and the port districts, the poorer and more foul the districts tend to get.

Districts of Note: One district on the coast began to flood at high tide four decades ago, and is now half submerged. It has become a haven for smugglers, thieves, and Pagans, who prefer to stay away from the city watch and builder patrols.

About two decades ago, a deadly plague erupted in a district on the opposite side of the river. In a panic, the people quarrentined the entire district, barring the great gates and walling up the exits. People moved away from homes close to the walls, leaving them abandoned. To this day the district remains walled up. It took a decade for anyone to even consider opening the district again, but the fear of releasing the plague once more--not to mention the stories of damned spirits seeking vengence--have kept that from happening. The area surrounding the district continues to be virtually abandoned as well, lived in only by the desperate or those seeking sinister privacy.

Main Page > Universe > The City