The 500 Mile City
Grand Nostridan
Vast, beyond vast. Grand Nostridan is a city so large it should not exist. Once, six cities warred over the central bowl-shaped valley that lay at their shared border. In time, each came to an unlikely truce: they would unite, and the edges of their former kingdoms would become the dividing lines of a newly formed megacity. Now, one hundred years after its founding and explosive expansion, the city has grown into a nation-sized city-state, stretching 500 miles from end to end, with a population beyond counting. And has fallen under the control of six criminal syndicates and their puppet leader, the Lerin.
Battlemaps set in this location
Lowside
The megastructures that fill the bowl of Grand Nostridan are crowned with parks and terraces, gardens and entire cityscapes perched atop their highest heights. Many citizens live their entire lives without ever wondering what lies at the bottom. When they do look down, they see only darkness, broken by the faintest flicker of lights far below, scattered through the fog, or by the gleam of water pouring endlessly from open pipes into the abyss.
But far, far beneath the city lies Lowside, a place crammed with people, homes, and factories built wherever there is space. There are no roads. There is no map. The streets are more like gutters. The suns above are distant and shine on the lowest levels for only an hour or so each day. There is no government here, no sanitation, no direction.
The skyscrapers, which rise like impassable mountains above, are inaccessible from Lowside except through sewer drains and maintenance shafts. No one should be consigned to the fate of living here. And yet, countless people do. Lowside is the runoff of life when the city has no further use for something it ends up down here.
High Edoroin
Built atop a flying mote, within the roots of a felled world tree, High Edoroin floats far above Lowside. It is the highest castle in the land. Thousands of flags whip in the wind in the high altitude over Grand Nostridan, and the proud floating island castle is an awe-inspiring sight, though few are ever welcomed within its walls.
High Edoroin is the seat of puppet power. The seat of Grand Nostridan’s official leader, the Lerin. Once a stern and commanding woman, she ruled for decades without opposition after the unification of the Six Cities. But in her old age, the criminal syndicates rose to power and gradually stripped her of influence. Over time, the Lerin was conquered politically and reduced to a shadow of her former self. Today, she is never seen outside the flying castle. In her absence, the Consulate of Districts governs the city, each representative maneuvered by one of the Six syndicates that now hold true power from the chambers of Capital Cross.
The Railcar
Enormous platform gondola railcars attached to wires zip all over the city of Grand Nostridan. This large vehicle has three levels, two for passengers and one that serves as a garage for automobiles to pull into. It travels at an astonishing speed, using a Cronoarray orrery to cross hundreds of miles of the city in under an hour. The speed at which it moves would be dangerous for passengers if not for the arcane influence of the array, which accelerates time for the railcar, allowing it to reach its destination in a fraction of the time it would normally take. This magic makes crossing the city possible for those living within its unbelievably massive 500-mile range.
Similar, smaller railcars exist throughout the city within districts, as the terrain often changes elevation dramatically across the bowl-shaped landscape. It is uncommon for those living in district centers and downtown areas to own or use an automobile. These
railcars help move the people of the city more efficiently without the need to purchase or ferry a personal airship transport. However, the fabulously wealthy would never sully their hands with public transit.
Dor Bhanish, The Flying University
The seat of high learning in the art of Nostridinian alchemical studies, Dor Bhanish floats high above the city on a group of three motes held together by giant chains. This school practices the subtle art of using the essential components of plants and extracts to bend the laws of nature. Tinctures, tonics, potions, and powders are carefully arranged to create new and interesting effects. Dor Bhanish has opened alchemy up more than any other similar school, allowing this complex and difficult science into the hands of the everyman.
However, their practices have been under much scrutiny as they continue to push the boundaries between artifice and nature. Many consider the things they are studying on their flying island to be the sorts of secrets that are not meant to be understood by mortals, and that they put the whole of the great city in danger the more they meddle with the rules of reality.
Even with this contentious and controversial reputation, the government of Grand Nostridan continues to allow Dor Bhanish to experiment unregulated, so long as it provides its services to the city. One such service that Grand Nostridan makes great use of is the creation and implementation of Dor Humunculomensers, mages versed in the art of creating living constructs to serve designated masters and carry out specified tasks. Creatures such as these are used all across the vast city for things like trash collection, railcar operation, street sweeping, and more. They have become invaluable to Grand Nostridan, and without Dor Bhanish, there are no humunculi.