Atalus
Atalus was the site where the first nexus tower was built,
and it used the power it gained from this invention to conquer
half the continent. While the city has fallen far from its
former glory - its territories have shrunk to a small
protectorate surrounding the city itself - it remains the
largest city in the known lands, and the intrigues planned in
its halls of power have often repercussions in far off
lands.
Atalus has been built over numerous times as new rulers came to
power and tried to remake the city in their own
image. Consequently, the city's catacombs and sewers are vast
and mostly unexplored. Many of these are flooded, since the land
itself that Atalus is built on seems to be slowly sinking into
the waves.
Industries
Life and Society
Government and Politics
Groups and Organisations
Religion
Important NPCs
Geography and Neighborhoods
The city is centered on a grouping of five hills. The wealthiest and most influential people live on or near the top of those hills, while the poorer people dwell in the valley and the river delta below. The most desperate live in the slums that are at nearly the same elevation as the ocean. As these districts tend to be flooded on a regular basis, most people who can afford to will move somewhere else.
Asquine Hill: This is the tallest of the hills of Atalus, and it boasts the tallest nexus tower of the city as well. For this reason, it serves as the main center of the city's magical community, and numerous colleges and universities of the magical art cluster around it. Further down are the shops of individual mages, alchemists, and dormitories for the student, who can get quite rowdy after having drunk too much alcohol. Sensible people who aren't mages themselves avoid this area after dark.
The Doglio: This hill serves as the main center of worship for the city. Temples and cathedrals from all major religions of the Known Lands - and quite a few from minor religions - sit on the slopes of the hill and jockey for influence among the crowd.
Faustine Hill: This hill houses the major center of government, such as the Palatio, the residence of the Doge, the Council Hall, and numerous embassies from other city-states. Also noteworthy is the Plaza, an open place where the citizens have the ancient right to speak their minds freely about anything without fear of reprisal of the law - a right of which the citizens of Atalus are happy to indulge in at every opportunity, and at the top of the voice. The Doge throughly approves of this practice, and presumably has several people permanently stationed nearby to take notes...
Gavarine Hill: This hill is mostly covered by the stately manors of the "old money" families of Atalus, especially those of the patricians. While the neighborhood seems peaceful at the surface, the feuds and intrigues that are hatched behind the walls of the estates are vast and passionate enough to shatter entire kingdoms, and outsiders get involved in these on their own risk.
Lake Sculla 63 years ago, the single biggest recorded manifestation of Shaprat, the Last City, ocurred here - and Sculla Hill, the Sixth Hill of Atalus and a residental area for the upper middle classes, was gone. Even parts of the bedrock vanished, and the ocean quickly rushed in to fill the hole.
Now only Lake Sculla remains, and is almost constantly shrouded in a grey mist that seems to distort sound and vision. Its waters are almost pristine - strange for such a large city with a huge and inefficient sewer system - and the fish in it grow to enormous sizes. But only the most desperate among the natives will willingly eat them, believing the lake to be cursed. A local superstition claims that the fish are the reincarnated souls of those unfortunates who were captured by Shaprat.
Novoregio: Rather than renovating parts of the old city for their domiciles, many members of the merchant class preferred to raise entirely new islands out of the water when they became rich. To be sure, the cost for the magic involved in this was staggering - but this was seen as just another proof that they had made it big. The trend caught on among the upwardly mobile, and despite the scorn from the patricians on the Gavarine Hill, the part of Atalus now known as Novoregio has some of the most spectacular displays of wealth known to mankind. Unfortunately, this is all too often combined with the most spectacular displays of bad taste known to mankind as well, and it hasn't helped matters that many of the merchants try to outdo each other in the height of their dwellings. This has lead to the nickname "City of Spires" for this neighborhood...
Qural Hill: This is the theatre and entertainment district - the part of Atalus where both the rich and the poor go to see, be seen, and be entertained. From glamorous opera houses to tiny theatres, from vast dance halls to decrepit brothels, there is something for everyone and every taste, no matter how outrageous - or illegal.
Important Sites
The Circus: This gigantic structure, nearly a mile in diameter, dates back to the height of the Atalan Empire, when gladiatorial battles were held in it. While the days of legalized blood sports are long past (illegal blood sports are another matter, however...), it still functions as a giant stage for all sorts of public games, shows, concerts, sports events (such as the traditional chariot races, bull dancing, and jousts), and anything else a wealthy patron might wish to stage. Since the spectators are often too far away from the center to notice all the details with their unaided eyes, parts of the action on the stage is often displayed by large-scale íllusions above the crowd.
These events are free to the public, an ancient privilege of the citizens of Atalus, and any attempt to charge money for admittance would lead to riots. However, there are other ways to make money from the Circus - merchant hawk their foodstuffs, souveniers, and other goods, and pickpockets work the distracted crowds.
Regional History
Adventuring in Atalus
Adventure Seeds