The City

The City is the unnamed hub of the Dark Mod universe.

It is a vast, sprawling port city, built atop a hill at the mouth of a river. The City has been around for several 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 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 capital from rampant invasions. It has been largely left to rule itself since then, and has lucrative trade 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 Pagans and dangerous creatures. Most travel to the city comes by riverboat, from the sea, or in convoys along specially maintained 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 fell into decline.

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. The streets of today are the sewers of tomorrow.

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 hills overlooking the ocean. The Builders' Grand Cathedral, the City Council Chambers, and the Guild Halls of the Inventor's Guild are all situated high above the festering smog and peculiar odours below. The further you go from the hills and the port districts, the poorer the districts tend to get.