Saradross
City of Struggle
Saradross isn't an easy place to be and a harder place to live. The class divide of a city is no more clearly stated than this very city, where it is more true to call it two cities that share a river. The white river, named before the industrial boom of the 6th godsbirth, is the most filthy polluted strech of water in all of crudilex. and it is that waste that seperates east end and west end. The city is rife with problems, strife, and crime
much of which the powers that be, mainly the politicians and thieves' guild, do not want resolved. it is a place ripe for adventure and intrigue, but walk carefully as the powers that be here are only interested in what profit they can make from newcomers. there is a saying among it's citizens. "saradross is the place where altruism goes to die."
West end
Far from the Constabulary, removed from the politics in parliament, and exiled across the white river far from the pleasant views, and green parks of the east end lies the slums of west end. monsters, murderers, thieves, warring gangs. there is no shortage of things the people who call this place home have to fear.
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though not everything is pain and squalor on the west end, there are manor homes, and factories. but the former lies abandoned more often than not. and the latter drives men to lives of 16 hour work dies and fills the whole city with a cloud of steam and smoke that never breaks. west end is far from a paradise.
lABORMEN STREET
Factories and there endlessly churning smoke stacks can be found all across saradross, but more than anywhere they are on labormen street. building goods that will be sent across all of crudilex near and far. constructing weapons of war, creating crude fuel, generating electric power, rolling cigarettes. work is never done on labormen. the cry of the lunch whistle and the soot covered faces of the hard working people for which the street is named are constant reminders of how much the people of saradross are willing to sacrifice to survive.
Grave street
The city of saradross is small, but it's population only grows as the years go by. in brighter times this place was a honorable graveyard celebrating the noble people of crudilex. but today it is completely built atop. the tombs, the graves, and the statues that tell the story of those past still stand, but above them are bridges and roadways, houses and hostels. the people of saradross see this a place where the living can survive and have all but forgotten the dead.
there are rumors, though that there is a person who walks these salted streets carrying a grim reminder that disrespecting the dead will not go un-noticed. nearly weekly bodies are found, brutilized and left with there arms across there chest and hearts cut out. the people of saradross have come to call this murderer the "ghost of grave street". but to this day, there plees for safty fall upon deaf ears of the Constabulary. not a single clue has been uncovered and the killings don't seem to be slowing down at all.
Reach road
Not all housing on west end is unlivable, or destitute. However it is all, without exception, dangerous. reach road is predominately nice tall buildings of a similar design to those across the white river. the main differences are two fold. firstly that they are unkept, empty and abandoned colloran loft apartments with there marble stairs and crystal chandlers still hanging, wall paper peeling and windows boarded up. second is the lair, where the beasts lurk. creatures not unlike men, but with a driving power and hunger to feed on human flesh. they move with inhuman speed across the falling tiles and exposed framework of the houses of reach road. Yet still, living among the monsters is, for some, a fair trade to stay off the streets and out of bitterend.
The lair
IN THE HEART OF REACH ROAD, BUILT IN IT'S CENTER LIES A CATHEDRAL IN A PARK. ONCE THE SACRED HALLS OF THE CHURCH OF GLITTER GOLD, NOW A PLACE WHERE NO SANE PERSON WALKS. CALLED THE LAIR FOR THE BEASTS THERE-IN. monsterS WHO FEED ON THE DESTITUE PEOPLES OF WEST END. THEY PROWL IN THE NIGHT HUNTING ANY FOOLISH ENOUGH TO WANDER THE STREETS ALONE, OR TOO CLOSE TO THERE DEN.
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The territory of the lair is vast, and many thousands of people live within it, the real terror the fear that is what if the greater majority of the population in the the houses boarding the lair and reach road are beasts but kept secret from those beyond. The horror most face is weather there trusted Nahbors, friends, family, or worse yet themselves are counted among the number who changes each solstice. the creatures of the lair have control of there form, or so it is belived, but those who escape an encounter with one with there lives would be completely unaware of the curse upon them.
the river docks
One of the only safe markets in west end, and the locals would believe the only place you can find a constable at any givin time, the river dock is large, busy, and profitable. It's no wonder that the harlot's veil thieves' guild has staked it as there turf. it also is one of few places travelers from out of city can port there riverboats and stay a night without fearing a knife in the back. the docks are however most famous for the massive tavern that stands like a fortress against the river tides. the blind basilisk
The blind basilisk
There are few truths in the world that hold up to a health dagree of scrutiny. but one, that suffering and drink move in tandem, is made evidence by the famous Blind Basilisk tavern. built in on the docks in a once abandoned Wearhouse by the drunken master twins Karl and marl. this tavern is the largest in the entire plane. 5 beer halls, 34 inn rooms, a casino, a bare fist sand pit arena, and even it's own underside boat storage. perhaps most amazing is it's abilty to fill completely nearly every night. attracting working men from
labormen street, gang members from the bitterend and adventurer's alike. it is a beloved land mark by all and acts as a neutral ground for all the many people across saradross with little to do but kill eachother.
Lancaster STREET
tHE MAIN THROUGHFAIR THAT SPLITS UP THE TWO LARGEST GHETTOS OF WEST END, Bottle bend street, and windmill street. Lancaster street is a nightly battle grounds between the gangs each led by another ambitious upstart in the city trying to carve out what criminals turf is left for them to squabble over by the thieves' guild. generally the peasants who live among these street clashes have grown accustomed to the violence, but on rare occasion the gangs will turn there ire from eachother onto the locals who don't choose sides. Robbing, strong arming, or pressganging them into fighting. the strife is a constant pressure on the ghettos.
bottle bend street
tHE least policed place perhasp in any city in the world. death is a constant companion to the people of bottle bend street. Bodies freeze unburried on the street in winter. waste is hurled from windows into the muddy mount trodden streets.
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worst of all is the current gang lord. but the heads of such gangs seldom see it though the second year of there reigns of terror, and less so if they have a particularly cruel streak.
Windmill street
Windmill street borders many locations the thieves' guild calls turf, bitterend, the river docks, the run. But the streets and ghettos themselves hold no value to the guild and as such the people who live there do so under the thumb of the vindictive gang lords. most of the people here live hard lives working the industry of labormen street and burning coal in the
FACTOIRES. BUT 14 HOUR DAYS MEANS NOT BEING ABLE TO FIGHT BACK WHEN THE GANG LORD WHO CLAIMS WINDMILL STREET THAT MONTH WANTS TO COLLECT ON YOUR RENT.
the THEIVES' GUILD
mysterious, AND ELUSIVE. THE THEIVES' GUILD OF SARADROSS, CALLS ITSELF THE HARLOT'S VEIL. ESTBLISHED OVER 100 YEARS AGO THEY HAVE RULED OVER WEST END LONGER THAN ANY OF SARADROSS'S KINGS, OR LORDS. THEY IN MANY EYES ARE THE TRUE POWER OF SARADROSS, EVEN THE COLLORAN PARLIMENT KNOWS TO TRED LIGHTLY IN AFFAIRS INVOLVING THE GUILD, A POLITICAN CAN NEVER BE SURE WHICH HIRED GUARD OR HONORABLE CONSTIBLE OWES A FAVOR TO THE VEIL.
Carnevale dei dolori
Once the dark theather of the mad sorcerer brendlid the Carnevale dei dolori is a midnight carnival only vistable between 12am and dawn. this traveling show of wonder and horror appears and vanishes in irregular intervals all over the lands of Hark, it is believed the entire show is a single massive hive of phantoms, manifesting in places where it is most likely to attract mortals to delight in there offerings. some few of which never return, vanishing as dawn arrives along with the entire carnival
Lantern street
The twisting alleys of lantern street are a seat of deep superstition for the people of saradross. Its side streets and alleys are very narrow and twisting. The street is known for hanging thousands of lanterns at night with the goal of subduing, confusing, or repelling the ghosts and breaking the curses that supposedly plague the area.
The lamplighter Revue
Particular fear is placed upon one curse the denizens of the alleyways refer to as the by the mysterious title "Lamplighter Revue" A simple red door glowing under a red lantern, the most inscrutable thing about this occurrence is the strange fact that the passage leading to the doorway is never the same. each evening figures flock to light the old lanterns of the street and return to the lamplighter's revue. but when eyes arnt cast down the passage, it is lost completely.
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These strangers return each night and seldom speak beyond simple pleasantry's. when asked about the revue they always respond the same "Sadly the revue is members only, but you may inquire for a position as a lamp lighter with the king nolan." king nolan, however has been dead for 35 years.
Bitterend
the most heartbreaking place in saradross is without question bitterend. A slum, or perhasp more a shanty. the people here have no other option, no coin to pay off the gangs for safty, and no possibility of living in reach road's abandoned manorlofts for fear or inability to stave off the beasts of the lair. bitterend is where the people most without go to await death. and death will not be far, as life sleeping among the mud floored huts and crumbling apartments is as unforgiving as any monster. the one flicker of hope is the infrequent aid from the thieves' guild and the protection the provide the slum. the poor, the cripple, and the staving all gather and do what they can to look after eachother, but as this once nameless street now claims as it's title, seldom they find anything but there bitter end.
EAST END
tHE EAST END AND WEST END COULD BE COMPLETLEY ALIEN TO EACHOTHER. towering MARBLE MANORLOFTS, RAIL TROLLYS, AND AUTOMOTIVE HORSELESS CARRIAGES. the EAST END IS A BASTION OF BEAUTY, ELGENCE, AND WEALTH REAPED FROM THE LABOR OF THE POOR. Free from narry any tribulations the east end has born its own as entertainment for the rich and powerful. Rumormongering and politicking whisper across every lip and fill the chatter of the outdoor dining gardens. though the upperclass of east end live long and prospours lives they are not beyond the reach of the thieves' guild who has haunted there windows and roofs for ages older than the foundations of the stones they sleep behind. and those very same lives are not beyond the occasional end with the smoke of an assassin's gun.
aLZAR MANOR
The alzar manor is one of the oldest buildings in the city, and holds a swath of mysteries. No one is quite sure who exactly owns it, none are allowed within it's walls and it's occupants house staff included are never seen past it's gate.
Stranger still, the thieves' guild have made many attempts to burgle it's riches, but narry a single thief has returned once inside. the people of the city consider it yet another of saradross's many cursed locations and all it's people know to give it a wide berth when making the drive past.
sPARROWSPOT THEATHER
The noble and world famous sparrowspot theater is a magical place adored by actors and bards where all the most famous performers of the world experience the apex of their careers. The sapprowspot revue is also perhaps the world's only arcane bard Orchestra.
the diotenic church
The seat of colloran power is rooted deep in the religion of dioten, god of law and punishment. THE DIOTENIC CHURCH IN SARADROSS IS NO EXCEPTION. THEY LEGISTATE HARD AT THE PARLIMANTY HALLS FOR PUBLICLY MANDATED PRAYER, SUBJECTS OF TABOO AND REQUIRED THITHINGS OF 30% OF ALL LABORER EARNINGS. THOUGH THE CHURCH HOLDS ABSOLUTE POWER IN COLLORA, IN SARADROSS THE PEOPLE ARE GENREALLY NON-RELIGIOUS, WHICH NEVER STOPS THEM FROM TRYING.
Thoclast gyromanics
Tinkered, Master, remaster, Improved. The thoclast company calls saradross it's home. specializing in tho technology in areas of domestic, industrial, and military and policing the industry has shaped much of the weaponry used across saradross and even developed automotives that can operate without the need for the much sought manabattery power. such machines now fill the streets though admittedly only on east end as there prices are prohibitively expensive. there inventions have colored the modern world and are prolific across the plane, but nowhere more than saradross.
There company now owns half of all the factories in labormen street and all of its many upper management employees enjoy a lifestyle never seen even in roa. with no end to there prosperity in sight there are many who believe the head of there company may one day own the entire city, and the idea dose not seem impossible. as money and weapons means unchecked power in saradross.
Tho coil array
The tho coil is not a brand new technology, it is among the first thing the Thoclast gyromanics company implemented. but it’s implementation for something other than a defensive siege weapon to obliterate your enemies is. The coil is a tumbler full of static tho sand, which is rotated and generates a steady stream of power, which is then sent into the coil and passed harmlessly through the air to buildings with specialized lightning rods that catch and reroute its power.
Two such coils exist in saradross, one on labormen street powering various factories who need an extra boost in production. This power has been almost exclusively used by the blackiron Frigate yard to drive production of one such ship for the federalist revolution.
Oku row
It is commonly believed that before the 6th gods birth food could simply not be made in saradross. THE FILTHY WATER, THE DISTANCE FROM A SINGLE FRESH INGREDIENT. BUT THAT CHANGED IN THE INDUSTRAL BOOM. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE PLANE IMMIGRATED TO SARADROSS TO CHASE THE PROMISE OF A BETTER LIFE, MANY SUCH PEOPLE STUCK WITH THE OTHERS THEY KNEW AND THAT IS EXACTLY HOW oKU ROW CAME TO EXIST. a SMALL TOWN NESTLED IN THE HEART OF A LARGE CITY. FAMOUS FOR IT'S FOOD AND CULTURE, ART AND FESTIVALS. IT IS NOW, WITHOUT A DOUBT THE
BUSIEST PLACE IN THE CITY WHEN THE LUNCH WISTLES BLOW IN LABORMEN STREET, CROWDS FLOCK TO THE STALLS AND EATARIES TO EAT AS MUCH AS THEY CAN BEFORE RETURNING TO MANY MORE HOURS OF HARD FACTORY LIVING.
Whole rowS of vendors COMPETE in a fierce battle over the attention of the people of Saradross. coin changes hand faster than the pick pockets of the city can collect it and great fortunes are made in the simple selling of fresh food.
but as all things in saradross where there is coin there is crime. the gang lords are careful when crossing the white river, and oku row is close to the well polished and protected pageantry of the Parliament building. but that dosnt stop them from supporting though mussel the vendors and resturantieers who prefer a little edge over the competition. a fire bombed stall or drive by shooting be for the whistle can spell disaster, or profit.
Colloran Parliamentary building
The parliament circle is the crown of hark, its stately statues reach floors high. The surrounding roads are busy with the to and from travel of politicians and bureaucrats working to operate and legislate the constant expansion of wealth and power generated by saradrosses powerful industry.
King Nolan station
The old castle of the copperwheel, built to rise above the surrounding city in the 5th gods birth by king Nolan, before the industrial boom it mostly sat in the city un-used but now it acts as a travel hub linking trolley cars, trains, airships and newest of all, the world engine, called the san-roko cross national. a towering 15 story 3 car train that spans thousands of miles across crudilex. The station has been built and rebuilt to accommodate the immensity of the san-roko and now is a central travel hub to the entire world. travelers from all 4 nations make stops in this station in all seasons.
The trolleies of the city fairy travelers from the station to the river port passing all the parks and restaurants of east end, and returning every 30 minutes to the station and in the evening are lifted by machine winches up into neat stacks in the higher levels of the station.
The Run
The run makes up the southern portion of the white river, and takes its name from the many run off pipes filtering out from the sewers and waterways from under the city. Large stone walls frame the river dropping from street level to 40 foot to where the river pours into the run. This stone chasm is also a hotbed for smuggling illegal and stolen goods out of saradross and onto river boats heading away from hark.
CULTURE
Rulership
The land is ruled by the Colloran empire
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taboos
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tERMOIL
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pic unrelated
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around the city
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uNDERBRIDGE:
The shanty ghetto quickly took up the emptiness left by the builders of the Sanroko overcity bridge. While many resist and even rebel at the idea of the massive cross national train rattling through the city. however there are many who seek to live in this crowded shanty for those very reasons. The creatures from the Lair seldom prowl north of Reach road, offering a place of near safety from the Gangs of Lancaster street and the squalor of Bitterend.
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Parliament street:
Often the first road for anyone entering the city of saradross, its pristine tree lined streets flanked by tall buildings, apartments and luxury stores spell a very different tone than the true soul of saradross. But one cannot deny the application of what has been made and what could be made real in saradross when things like thousand powered automobiles roll down the lane between trolley cars and clean booted constables.
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Mori's Mementos:
A general story run by a keeper just outside of Grave street. Mori is a odd, eclectic man with a lazy eye. Some believe him to be a necromancer, with some evidence to the fact as in his shop is a animent skeleton who he lovingly refers to as rattles. but no one has yet caught him preforming the illegal magics of Necromancy, and simply HAVING a skeleton is not against the law, yet. Travelers can get any manor of mundane goods here for quite a discount, if they ignore the dirt and age of them.
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The Golden Menagerie:
Opulence leads most often to boredom, and boredom is cured by intrigue. This could very well be a placard at the front of the Golden Menagerie. A Zoo of creatures, many collected from far off foreign lands placed in cages and on display for those with the coin to pay entry