1st District: Jalova
The Entertainment Quarter
The Entertainment Quarter of the city, Jalova is where the majority of large, illustrious events are held and where tourists flock when visiting the massive city. The district was once the ancestral home of the Kel elves, but today Jalova has become a shadow of its former glory. After a disaster it was forced into vassalization at the founding of Grand Nostridan. Supported by the new city-state government, it has only just managed to survive, slowly losing what once made it a kingdom as brilliant electric lights and dance halls fill the footprint once taken by the now-forgotten elven palaces.
Battlemaps set in this location
De Lune Theatre
The birthplace of the moving picture show and the center of Grand Nostridinian celebrity culture, the De Lune Theatre is well known for its huge, extravagant premieres under brilliant spotlights and the bursts of flashbulb cameras. It is named for the grandmother of radio, Marylin De Lune, who left her vast fortune to her granddaughter to start the theater.
The theatre itself is nearly a resort in its own right, offering all kinds of amenities such as valet service and an underground parking area for automobiles. It features two bars, three large opera-house-style theatres with box seating, and a hotel with penthouse suites fit for movie stars.
Deacon River Basalt Canyon
The deep trench canyon between the purple-sanded dunes of the Motes and Jalova slices right through the old elven quarter of the city. Towering columns of hexagonal stone reach hundreds of feet at the deepest points of the gulch, broken only by the roaring rapids below. The gorge once separated the greater city from the elven kingdom of Jalova, which was, at one time, isolated from the rest of Grand Nostridan.
Today, the city has continued its seemingly endless expansion. The Basalt River was the scene of many battles fought to defend the kingdom, and armor, weapons, and even bones can still be found deep in its muddy banks far below.
Nim Mono-Skiff Arena
The home arena of Nim Rivven, ace skiff pilot and mega-celebrity of Grand Nostridan. Nim has won four Cirrus Classics, a feat in itself, as they have only been held four times. Her reign is so complete that fans have begun to question whether dethroning her is even possible.
Nim fills the stands of the stadium with smaller races, dogfight shows, stunts, and preliminaries leading up to the annual Classic at the Cirrus on High casino island. The airspace over the stadium is nearly always buzzing with zipping monoskiffs and silver checkpoint balloons.
Forsaken, Anarchist Syndicate
The Forsaken Syndicate has a firm hold on the crime of unrest. Righteous anger, vindication, and inflaming the rage of the masses is the industry of the Forsaken. Within their ranks, there are many who believe what they fight for is just, but there are also those who see profit in chaos and steer the hatred toward the right targets to turn a dollar. Nothing in Grand Nostridan is clean, and even rebellion plays by the syndicate’s rules.
The Forsaken is led by a fallen elven woman who calls herself “Matreon,” claiming to be a member of the Coven and daughter to an ancient oracle hag who has seen their victory in the omens. She uses this narrative to drive the endless riot ever onward, but as the years go by, her detractors begin to wonder when exactly their inevitable victory is foreseen to actually occur.
Entertainment Quarter
Around the Nim Stadium, the Entertainment Quarter is among the most active places throughout the day and night in Grand Nostridan. Gambling halls, pubs, dance halls, restaurant gardens, and music venues fill the region. It is full of things to see and flush with people to see them. The walkways are always crowded shoulder to shoulder, so densely packed that motorcars are forbidden from driving the streets in the area.
Buskers, street performers, and con artists fight for the attention of tourists, and the Forsaken Syndicate makes regular use of the onlookers for their anarchistic spectacles.
The Peaks, Industrial Area
The demands of the countless population of the 500-mile city for new and advancing technologies can never be suitably satisfied. Airship travel alone requires a nonstop rhythm of machining and industry. The Peaks is not the only area of factories in Grand Nostridan, the Low Side is packed with them, but it is by far the most artisanal.
While the vehicles produced in the Peaks are just as mass-produced as any others, they are far more carefully and precisely designed. The primary employer, Aerocarne Laboratories, develops the most outlandish and cutting-edge aircraft and has them all manufactured in the Peaks.
Font Reservoir
The headwaters that feed the eastern canyon river flow from a corrupted spring in Gouldel, toxic to any living thing that drinks from them. Had they not been poisoned at the source, it is unlikely they would be safe after their journey through the factories of Capital Cross.
But once the waters reach the reservoir in Jalova, it becomes critically important that they are purified. The water is carefully screened and consecrated before being used by the engineer shops developing the next generation of flying machines. The demand for pure, safe water there is always high.
Saltstreet Endless Riot
Today, the Forsaken syndicate is the hand that guides unrest in Grand Nostridan. They are based out of what has been called “The Endless Riot,” named for the nonstop chaos caused by the destructive Forsaken.
The syndicate in control of Jalova is known as the Forsaken, made up primarily of sorcerers who were victims of the Fulminant, a plague that caused nearly all sorcerers to either lose their powers or explode in a burst of yellow lightning. Their plight was almost completely ignored, and many societies shunned them for fear of spreading the plague.
Their sorrow turned to anger as the years went on, and the Forsaken was formed. Decades later, a similar curse befell the elves. The Day of Dawn severed them from the realms that once gave them eternal life and youth. Dubbed the Fallen Elves, many joined the Forsaken, welcomed and supported in ways the world had failed to support those lost during the Fulminant.
Pelton Skyterminal
The high-traffic skies over Nostridan are filled with many hundreds of varieties of aircraft. Airships, skiffs, ironclads, blimps, even mounts like great finches and foreign creatures like drakes, all of which need a place to dock and roost. The Pelton Skyterminal is an airport in a tower, featuring rotating rings of landing strips and hangar bays. The tower is constantly evolving to accommodate the ever-expanding aeronautical needs of the great city of Grand Nostridan.