4th District: Meldwyn
Home of Invention
Towering buildings are crisscrossed by whizzing pneumatic delivery tubes overhead. The packed streets are filled with every variety of motorcoach and automobile. Automata mechs heft cargo crates between laboratories staffed by ambitious and eccentric inventors looking to make a name for themselves and catch the attention of the famous Dorian Academy. Meldwyn is the busiest district in the busiest city in the world.
Between the skyscrapers that define the skyline of the inventors’ district rise massive, naturally occurring stone spires that stretch toward the sky. Steep slopes, sheer cliffs, and relentless winds pose constant challenges to airship pilots, yet the skies remain crowded. Meldwyn is a city-turned-district singularly focused on invention and progress at any and all cost. It is home to the prestigious academy named after Crimley Dorian, a historic inventor whose work both advanced and endangered life throughout Crudilex. The reckless scholars who call this place home today work hard to live up to that legacy.
Battlemaps set in this location
Noste-Rangers Park
Home to a group of alchemists and rangers who study nature and the city’s relationship with it, the park is a circular garden forest filled with rare plants collected from all over the vast city. It showcases the unique forms of life found only within the six districts of Grand Nostridan.
The alchemists here believe that the city is not anti-nature, but rather a part of nature itself, a harmonious being, an extension of mortal life, much like a beaver dam or a beehive. They see the city as something natural, not a perversion. Most others consider this philosophy radical, pointing to the damage that progress has done to the fey as evidence to the contrary.
Still, the debate rages on. While Noste-Rangers Park stands, the rangers there offer the same services one might expect from a wilderness hunter or tracker, and no finer guide to the city can be hoped for.
Council Spire
The tower-spire of the Council of Wit is the governmental body that oversees the Meldwyn District. Most of the spire itself has been bought up by the Aerocarne Preeminent Aeronautic Testing Facility. Aerocarne Labs pushes the boundaries of flight and airship technology, investing in and producing the latest cutting-edge advances. They are not famous for reliability but are world-renowned for their novelty and flair.
The Aerocarne building has slowly swallowed the spire, its structures merging and growing up the outside of the Council Spire until it has become a towering skyscraper. This gradual takeover has eroded the faith of Meldwyn's citizens in their council, with many now believing that the Dusty Aerocarne is the true ruler of the district.
Gauge Market
Along the main road leading into Grand Nostridan from the west, the Gauge Market is among the first places one might stop before reaching the rail cars of the central city. Countless shops sell every kind of gauge, a mechanical prosthetic, offering tools and devices for such limbs.
In modern times, gauge is hardly used to replace or assist with injuries. The widely accepted reality is that mechanical limbs are far stronger than flesh. It’s very common for adventurers to seek out unique gauge fittings and trade in markets just like this.
Stoneheart Radio
The highest spire building in the western reach of Grand Nostridan. In a city of skyscrapers, it’s hard to have the one that stands out, but none would argue the most iconic architectural wonder of the vast city is Stoneheart Spire. Invented by Ulma Stoneheart, one of the region’s famous and eccentric inventors, the radio was used to bring a swift end to the Colloran civil war, federalists deploying the technology to operate their revolution so effectively the royalists collapsed and the nation along with them.
Today, this legacy lives on in civilian life as the radio, broadcasting music, news, and sports all across Grand Nostridan, all day and all night, with frequent bulletins, skiff race results, and a parade of celebrity product endorsements.
The Emerald Market
Named after the emerald blue drapes embedded with an alchemical property developed in the market itself, the drapes perfectly regulate the temperature below them regardless of the season. The Emerald Market is considered the forefront of boundary-pushing technology, serving as an endless swap meet where races and cultures combine ideas to develop technology, arcana, and alchemy.
The Dorian Academy of Invention
One of Meldwyn’s most famous landmarks is the Dorian Academy, named after the figure popularly believed to be the first true engineer, Crimley Dorian. Most, if not all, modern engineers can trace their teachings or philosophies back to him. His first collected works became so influential that it was decided an Academy of Invention would be founded in a prominent, forward-thinking city. At the time, Meldwyn was merely beginning to blossom during the Everspring era, but when the Academy planted its flag, that blossoming erupted into unchecked growth.
Today, the Academy accepts only those whom its delegates deem worthy, and it is said to house many secrets. Some claim Dorian’s ideals were mad, that his studies lacked moral restraint or ethical grounding. Whispers persist that he still lives, working behind the scenes within the Academy’s many layered halls. The rumors surrounding its
inner workings are nearly as widespread as its influence.
“The day will come when all things are the invention of the intelligent humanoid, and our view of the gods will be one of fellowship in place of envy.”
—Crimley Dorian, Father of Constructs
Blind Spire
Unlike the other spires of Meldwyn, Blind Spire is a completely government-controlled structure. The natural stone tower has been almost entirely hollowed out, and inside is a prison. The outer walls are filled with thousands of cells, while the central shaft serves as an elevator between levels. The top of Blind Spire houses a courthouse for the Meldwyn sub-court system, run by the Council of Wit, who rule the district.
Wicker Meadow
The field of endless crops. Infused with the ancient magic of Everspring that made Grand Nostridan such an attractive place to settle, this arcane farm can feed the endless population of the 500-mile city with an equally endless supply of food. So abundant and consistent, the only challenge is distribution.
Melbourne Society Lodge
Text Talking about this location, Two paragrahps that inspire and provide reasons to eThe home of a private society of ultra-rich murderers, the lodge serves as the meeting place and base of the syndicate. The Melbourne Society is not interested in making money or killing with any purpose or passion; instead, they approach murder as a sport, like big game hunters, constantly one-upping each other with their exploits.
The Hook
The spires of Meldwyn are towering, naturally occurring structures, but as the city grew, they were domesticated, used as foundations for spiraling roads climbing into the sky and carved to create more city space. However, Fallspire was one of the earliest and failed attempts at this. The settlers were too ambitious with the towering rock, and it snapped, tumbling down in a fatal disaster. Today, the region around Fallspire has become a massive slum, crawling like termites over the ruined structure.
The Fallspire slum is considered by most to be the largest in all of Crudilex, stretching for miles. It is almost completely lawless, save for a few brave volunteers who venture in to protect those in need from harm. While Fallspire has a reputation as an unforgiving and dangerous place, the people living there shoulder to shoulder say it’s actually quite nice. The community struggles as a whole, but mutual aid is common, it has become their way of life.