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Civic Districts & Outlying Territories |
The city of Ashur is literally millennia old. Countless generations of building and migration have created a complex urban landscape that can seem incomprehensible to foreigners. Streets and blocks have for hundreds of years become associated with particular trades, families, castes, nationalities, races, and religions. Certainly economic levels play a large part in the segregation of the populace but it is by no means the only or the most important factor. It is possible for a child to grow to adulthood and thence to old age without ever having explored more than his or her own small portion of the city. Some areas of the city are only appropriate for the more wealthy and their servants to move about in freely and there are many areas in which a display of wealth such as a pair of leather boots would only get one's throat slit. It is said that anything that one could desire may be found in fabled Ashur greatest city of Palladium, yet the more traveled and experienced know to be wary of this promise. Included in this descriptive listing is some of the more general divisions but it can in no way be reflective of the vast complexity of city demographics.
Breakwater
To further protect the ships in the harbor from the perils of high seas, a great project was undertaken centuries ago. A breakwall was built across the harbor mouth at the cost of the lives of thousands of slaves. It was created by carrying baskets of dirt and rubble and actually building a peninsula out into the ocean. As natural in the City of Ashur any inhabitable land eventually becomes so, and Breakwater has become the home of a large fishing community and many sailors. On the tip of Breakwater is a tall stone lighthouse to serve as warning and landmark for mariners at night or in harsh weather.
The City of Pillars is a tribute to the wealthy excesses that the great Empire of Ashur is capable of. Calling it a city in itself is essentially a misnomer, rather it is a land of gardens and palaces whose streets are lined with monolithic pillars of marble surmounted by great brass lamps kept eternally burning with perfumed oils. At night the majesty of innumerable luminous pillars shine their radiance far out on sea and it is said that the night never touches the boulevards of this opulent neighborhood where the wealthy and affluent of the Empire abide. Stretching from the grounds of the Palace through to the parks and gardens along the seaside beaches, the City of Pillars is far larger than many other of the city districts. Not so strangely it also has the lowest population.
The eldest and mightiest temples of Palladium line this most venerable of wide marble streets. Towering monuments to the powerful Gods of Babel that have stood since time immemorial compete for respected space with the obelisks of wealthy foreign temples. Pilgrims throng the squares jostling for advantageous positions to prostrate before the outdoor altars of the gods. Immense statues proclaim the omnipotence of a the widest variety of Gods and Goddesses imaged on Palladium. Extending outwards from the Concourse itself are other temples of less influence, the nearest of most authority and followers with the most distant being the least popular.
The commingled scents of rare perfumes, incence, and charred flesh drift through the milieu of fervent worshippers massing on this street. They shout praises, sing loud hymns, vibrate nasal mantras, proclaim aged incantations, and preach to the unconverted. Worshippers of all sects, cults and religions come here to make offerings in the eternally burning fires of cedar and aromatic woods. Vendors of religious offerings suitable for a multitude of beliefs, peddle and swindle their ways to an easy living.
The Court of Magi runs just north east of the Old Quarter and while extremely small in size and population is discrete enough to merit separate mention. This circular enclosure is the location of the headquarters of the League of Magi a domed edifice of Black basaltic stone with four slender minarets equidistant. Around the courtyard are the shops of the most esteemed Alchemists, Wizards, and Sorcerers in the city. Concentrically behind the courtyard are shops, book and scroll shops, abodes, schools, scribes, and so forth all there to service the needs of the members of this prestigious association.
Just north of Old Market this is the district of canals and waterways that once supplied it with goods. Now lacking any economic reasons for its existence, now this once grand land of arching stone bridges, romantic winding canals, and majestic homes rising from stone breakwalls has fallen on disrepair and hard times. Once clean waterways have become open sewers filled with trash and human waste. The stately mansions have been partitioned and now serve as decaying boarding houses for transients and more common sorts. At night the canal lanterns hang unused and travelers are few. One needs to have a boat to get from place to place here one of the main sources of income for residents is the ferrying of passengers. This is one of the cheapest places to rent rooms or houses in the city because of this and remains a wonderful bargain for those who never need to go anywhere.
Dockside is the generic term for any part of the city along the bayshore where the business of commerce by sea goes on. From the Magnificent stone docks near the Grand Quay to the seedy and run down wooden docks south of RedHook, Dockside is a multicultural area where members of all cultures and races may commingle with as little friction as possible. Some areas can get a little rough at times. A lot of good bargains as far as inns and hostels go.
The prevailing offshore winds drive the stench of the Fens inshore. The prevailing westward winds drive the stench of Midian and the Charnel grounds upwards towards this area. The many polluted canals and sewers of Ashur drain downhill towards the fens and both winds meet pushing the stench inland towards Downwind. The huge millennia old mountains of trash created by the city of Ashur sit here. This strange weather condition tends to hold this putrid smell just above for long periods of time and in the usual hot and muggy conditions of the west it can be easily seen (or rather smelt) why this area got this name. So one might wonder what kind of people live here. The poorest of the poor who make their living picking rags for paper, bones for fertilizer and trash for a miscellany of appalling uses. Dilapidated shacks made from scavenged components dot this region. Vermin and pestilence are the greatest enemies here.
The kilum Ghetto sits just west of the Old Quarter and is the center for most of the Kilum population of Ashur. Many of the old brick homes have been removed or built over with the Kilum preference for small strong buildings of stone. It is considered a mark of poverty in the Kilum community to live in a clay brick or worse yet a wooden building. For the most part this area is a busy and industrious area where the smoke of many forges rises to choke the sky. The skill of kilum craftsmen is legendary and many people with the money to spare come here to seek goods beyond current human ability to create. The Kilum craftsmen and traders have a well deserved reputation for greed and a wise man watches well his pocketbook when dealing with the clever Kilum. It is rumored that the Kilum have converted old mines beneath this area into a city of their own and that only a small percentage of the Kilum people live on the surface.
If sin had another name then that name would be Edom. An actual maze of clay brick buildings with no discernible streets but one, Edom was a town separate from Ashur that obtained its economic growth servicing the lusts and vices of the populace. In the early days of the Empire, edicts of morality figured prominently in the laws and mores of Ashur. Not too far distant Edom found that profits could be easily turned by appealing to the hidden needs and darker urges of the citizenry of the larger city. The town grew quickly with no planning or order and today it resembles a marvelous chaos of haphazardly spaced buildings and random streets leading nowhere. Since these early days of Edom's founding, immense Ashur has swallowed Edom like a wicked little pill. Laws of morality are a forgotten thing and appropriately enough Edom and its corrupt ways has been absorbed in its entirety.
A counterpoint to the Concourse of Temples this avenue runs oblique to Dockside and through wicked Edom. It is famed the world over as the principal center of prostitution, gambling, assorted depravity, drug dens, and other forms of miscellaneous iniquity in Edom and perhaps even all of the Palladium. If some form of immoral behavior can be dreamed up, others may be found or paid to participate. This is the street that never sleeps and the lights of the taverns, dance halls, brothels, casinos, dope parlors, and arenas burn brightly through every dark night. Due to the legality of slavery it is impossible for an individual to walk through the area without being accosted by a myriad of harlots and streetwalkers of both sexes and a miscellany of races.
West of the city lie the Great Fens. A vast swamp uninhabited by civilized Western folk, it is home to a few bands of roaming Sinculum and a few outlying fishing villages who seek the prized brackish water shellfish which are a delicacy in the city. It is rumored that ruins ancient beyond the ken of mankind may be found by those brave or foolish enough to seek them here.
Farther inland from dockside and most outlying district on the trade roads to the east, is that district known as the Foreign Quarter. A strange place to western tastes with its odd smells of baking bread and horse dung. The streets and straight and run in orderly rows with houses and shops of wood and stone in neat squared off parcels of land. Livestock are often kept living on the same premises with the citizens themselves. They speak uncouth tongues and both sexes are abominably hairy. The warriors at times dishonorably encase themselves entirely in metal and the wealth and princes dress in strange fashions indeed even wearing pants or trousers (just like slaves and common laborers) The GodKing has set aside this land for these strangers to govern themselves however they see fit. In His infinite Wisdom, the God King expects and has been correct in his assumption that this would encourage trade and enrich the west. It is encouraged that foreigners live here and they are often discouraged through prejudice and discrimination from living elsewhere in Ashur.
The Lilum of Ashur call Gilead their home. Once many ages agone, forgotten by even the most aged Lilum, Gilead was a separate CityState which was conquered and then survived by swearing fealty to a timelost God-King. Over the course of millennia the growth of Ashur eventually absorbed Gilead into its immense and mephitic embrace. Architecture in Gilead is unlike any other in Ashur. The Lilum disdain the use of clay brick so common and instead build in intricately carved wooden structures. Full of natural curves their windows, doors, and roofs come to tall peaks which give the structure a feel as if it were trying to reach up to the heavens. Combine this with the open, airy sense that is imparted by the usual garden courtyard the villa surrounds and anyone may learn to appreciate this atypical Lilum architecture. The Lilum have what amounts to an obsession with gardening, flowers, vines, and decorative plants grow everywhere in a wild profusion which tends to still impart a sense of artistic order. The Lilum community itself is organized, self-run, and insular. Due to archaic tradition and precedent, their ruling council sets their own laws and enforces them while Imperial law recognizes the council as a 'single being' with an authority roughly equivalent to that of an Enkenkur. This makes the Lilum community the safest and most simplistically beautiful sections of the city. Rich humans vie for the opportunity to purchase land herein, but it is almost never allowed. Gilead also boasts one of two lakes in the city and it is kept in a wild and pristine splendor, the pride of the Lilum community.
The Grand Quay is the wondrous center of culture on the waterfront. Here the wealth of the City of Pillars mingles with the diversity of Dockside on a spectacular half mile wide stone pier that juts out into the bay. Refreshed by cool sea winds the many plazas, gardens, and outdoor restaurants attract multitudes of pleasure seekers. On the very tip of the Quay is a tall stone lighthouse which once served as landmark for the trade ships seeking harbor. Now the lights of the City of Pillars make it superfluous and it serves as one of the most expensive restaurants in the entire city and one of the places to be seen.
Far fabled in the all the realms of Palladium is the celebrated Great Market of Ashur. The largest trading area in the entire world it is said that anything may be bought here at the right price. From the permanent shops of respected silk merchants to the overnight covered stands of the traders in more illicit goods, the constantly changing colors, wafting smells of exotic spices , foods, and the shouting of traders constantly assail the senses. There being no concept of "police" in Ashur besides "military garrison", the only law here that is commonly followed is that which gold may buy.
The livestock Market is also the largest of its type in the world. Note that there is no difference to the western mind between the sale of livestock and the sale of slaves thus there is no separate slave market from this area. Performed like a hundred simultaneous auctions by licensed non-partisan auctioneers, slave traders from all over Palladium bring people of all colors, skills, and races to stand before the monied crowd at the fabulous auction blocks of Ashur.
Once long ago when the walls about the (then much smaller) city were more than ruins this served as the main gateway to Ashur itself. Now the great walls lie in ruins often the bricks being stolen for local building projects. only the gate remains to mark this district as its own. It once sat at the top of an easily defensible hill with a tall bridge holding the only road as it passed over a muddy river between two steep bluffs. Now homes and shops have been carved from the stone of the riverbluffs and the Kilum make their homes and livelihoods here.
The scorpion has long been the symbol for evil in Dominion culture and this Island in the bay has long been unlawful to trespassers. The only buildings that may be seen from a passing ship is a lone decrepit tower, still braving the elements on the rocky promontory. legend has it that a mad Sorcerer once made his home here and calling upon the enemies of the Gods themselves began his researches into forbidden lore. Eventually his madness consumed him and now his bones slowly turn to dust on the floor of his once mighty tower. It is said that his demonic servants roam the isle still in search of his missing soul.
The ancient stone walls of this separate city state still stand and over the last several centuries have been strengthened and reinforced by the special community that has been growing up herein. Kohath has become a refuge for those people who long for a return to the days of the supremacy of the West. They hold to "outmoded" religious and ethical values like honor, loyalty, and family. They permit only the worship of the Gods of Babel in archaic rituals and forms long forgotten by even the priests themselves. Every citizen is required to be a member of the local militia and to labor 1 day out of 10 in the service to the community. Loyalty and service to the GodKing is essential to each and every portion of the citizenry. The streets of Kohath are relatively crimeless and woe betide any thief unlucky enough to be captured and subjected to their forms of Draconian justice. The most powerful and influential citizens here are members of the clergy. Evangelist of this way of life can often be found preaching in the streets of other sections of the city.
Just east of Rat's Run in a field of shoddily constructed huts and ramshackle shacks that is the only lawful place for lepers and the cursed to dwell. Religious law makes anyone who comes into contact with a leper "unclean" for a period of a moon, thus this area is shunned completely. This area is chosen for its lack of waterways for none would willingly drink of the same waters that a leper had soiled. The only water that is available to these poor folk is that which collects in small and dirty pools on the ground. Sometimes a truly devoted healer or priest will make an offering by coming to live amongst the wretched. People from the surrounding areas come every morning to leave leftover food at certain designated places to prevent the lepers from wandering out to beg or scavenge. Also there is one day a year when the lepers march into the streets onmass to flaunt their disease twisted bodies. Residents make offerings of fine meals and wine before their bolted doors to appease them (and to prevent them from entering their homes via a window or relieving themselves in the garden or something)
Midian lies between the Old Market and the Necropolis. It like Gilead and others was once a city state in its own right later absorbed by the rampant metropolis of Ashur. Now it's location (proximity to the charnel grounds) has made it home to the butchers, tanners, and undertakers of the city. If the job has something to do with meat (of whatever sort) it is likely to take place herein. The streets of Midian are said to run red with blood and at times, like when a herd of cattle are driven in for the slaughter, this is literally true. This, of course, has attracted more than its fair share of vermin who frequent Midian in incalculable numbers. The appalling feoter of the streets keep away most visitors.
Not far from the Imperial district lies the military post. Miles of barracks row upon row, training fields, commissaries, armories, offices, and streets in orderly rows. Not very exciting. Much of these resources have been built for centuries and at times have gone unused, however at this time certain imperial policies have led to the filling of the barracks and bustling urgency in the training grounds.
A large manmade hill juts precipitously from the center of the Old Quarter. Reputedly haunted, the homes that surround it have relatively low value for this part of town. No one remembers when or why it was built but its name seems to stem from the fact that humanoid bones are occasionally found in the tall grass.
Ancient beyond memory or legend the Necropolis is said to be home to more souls than all the gathered cities of the West. Here crooked monolith scratch at the gray skies, broken tombstones mark forgotten graves and benighted mausoleums house millennia old bones. Ancient trees thrust their roots deep, drawing who knows what unholy sustenance from the rich black earth. Winding pathways lead strange twisting ways only to stop abruptly at some time lost niche. The tombs of great nobility lie unremembered beside the common resting places of laborers and merchants. Death is a very close companion here and few dare tread the hallowed grounds during the light of day and only the mad come here at night. Obscene relics of death are found unexpectedly here as erosion and the shifting of ground over the centuries have uncovered many things best left undisturbed.
This ancient burial ground has been the focal point for burials throughout the extensive history of Ashur. The host of superstitions regarding the dead actually make it illegal to commit burials anywhere else in the city but here. Obviously space has become a premium as time has gone on and so only the very rich and important can expect a gravesite anymore. The middle class who cannot afford such luxury bring their dead to be burned or abandoned at the Charnel Grounds. Obviously there are many who cannot even perform this action and many bodies are cast into one of the many rivers with a fleeting prayer or two.
Once the northmost gate in the ancient city wall, in these times the city has overgrown it and all that remains is the name. This area is only remarkable only in its proximity to both the Military Academy and the College. Many students make this area their home and have created a somewhat artificial economy based on their expenses and purchases. Renting a set of rooms in the typical clay brick buildings in much more expensive than a similar set of rooms elsewhere in the city.
Once the center of commerce for the whole of the city, it has in the centuries since sunk deeper and deeper towards the water table. Now once bustling avenues are stagnant brackish waterways, many proud homes are flooded and forlorn derelicts, and industrious sites of commerce are abandoned refuges of dangerous wildlife. Biting insects buzz savagely about any exposed flesh. Still many live here as their ancestors have done for countless generations. Shallow skiffs are poled by travelers from place to place and homes are made in the uppermost stories of remaining sturdy buildings. This area has become home to the largest population of free Sinculum in Ashur.
The Old Quarter was once a rich and prosperous section of town though now fallen upon hard times as the wealthy moved their homes and businesses farther away from the center of town. Still this remains a respectable place to set up shop, business or indeed to live. The houses and shops are of clay brick, wooden beams and the more expensive boast wooden facades often ornately carved. The citizens here are a tight knit group who band together to drive out thieves and troublesome sorts. The night life in this section is quite nice with respectable taverns and outdoor parks.
The Palace itself is a majestic rambling and architecturally brilliant edifice of golden spires, gleaming marble domes, and monumental jeweled ziggurats. Jade and turquoise fountains shower intricate patterns of fresh and colored waters into the air. Magnificent gardens of exotic flowers and strutting peacocks adorn the landscaped streetscape. The streets here are literally paved with gold in the rare case that the God-King Itomas himself may deign to step down from the jeweled palanquin that bears him. It needs to be stated that this palace is not a martial fortress, rather it is an artistic tribute to the grandeur and splendor that is the Imperial person.
Also in this section are the innumerable structures of the Imperial bureaucracy. Temples and courthouses vie for space with ministries and agencies that serve the political needs of this mighty Empire.
The Path of Supplication is a well-known symbol of the God-King's power. It cuts a straight and narrow path through the grounds of the Palace. Eternally vigilant HonorGuardsmen resplendent in gold inlaid armor and silks line its unpaved surface all the way from the Gate of Woe to the ancient and crumbling unadorned ziggurat that is its final destination. Any citizen desperate enough to become a supplicant may beginning at the Gate of Woes dressed in sackcloth and having rubbed ashes on their face and hair make their way prostrating themselves fully on the ground with each step until they reach the base of the pyramid. (a distance of about one league and traditionally taking one night and a day) No citizen regardless of station may forgo this ceremony of submission. There at the base of the ziggurat a representative of the God-King's own Presence hears the petition and passes judgment. Foolish plaintiffs are met with a decree of death for troubling the Presence with base matters, and yet traditionally this method is revered because of the brutal yet impartial justice that may be had. To the underclasses it represents how even they may have equal access to the ear of the God-King and to the great and mighty it teaches how all are equal before the sacred majesty of the God-King himself. On holy days and rare occasions the surprised supplicant may find him or herself groveling before the feet of the God-King himself, and this is not considered necessarily a good thing....
The military Promenade runs through several main areas of town and thence onto the grounds of the Imperial Palace. This wide road was built to honor successful military campaigners who are granted permission to march in triumph down the length of the Promenade to the cheers and adjulation of the assembled populace. At the end of this brief journey they are met by the GodKing or his representatives and pay tribute to him taken as booty during the campaign. He then would generally bestow some sort of honors upon the unit. In recent years the GodKing' Private Guard have been given the right to march down this road at the onset of any military venture symbolizing their invincible stature.
This is by far the most dangerous section of the city. Centuries ago this area was inhabited by a thriving business community and its workers, yet unknown to the walkers above, in the forgotten catacombs beneath them, the evil schemes of the Children of Kirgi were coming to fruition. When they arose trailing plague, pestilence and legions of vermin this once bright land was corrupted by their presence. In the Cleansing most of the buildings were razed or partially destroyed and in these days it is a vast wasteland of rubble, collapsed and abandoned buildings. Now this land is a haven for the most depraved, diseased and poverty stricken. Raiding bands of sinculum and worse still make this their foul home and yet even they must need flee during the beginning of the rainy season when the Serpent Rats breed. Despite the known fact that the entire race of Ratlings were slaughtered in the Cleansing only the dangerous, the insane, and the murderous populate this region. Wise folk do not travel here and no one would ever dare to even skirt the fringes after dark.
No one now alive knows how Red Hook got its strange name, and every one knows their own story which they will claim to absolute fact. This area is a rather run down maze of old clay brick and decaying wood buildings. Only one polluted stream makes its way through the tangle of streets and so fresh water is scarce. The lower classes make their homes and do their business here. Many small markets dot the street scape and hawkers of all sorts roam about trying to sell their wares. Prostitution and the sales of drugs are an open business in the alleys of Red Hook. Foreigners and Demi-humans will find themselves distrusted and the victims of prejudice. Westerners of the higher classes with some money will travel here, for the dusky beauties of the Brothels of the Street of Lanterns are famed and joy can be bought here at prices less dear then those in wicked Edom. Yet these thrillseekers will avoid Red Hook as the Dry season progresses on as their are no sewers but the streets themselves.
Along the banks of the river Gad are large and beautiful houses of old nobility. Liveried servants sweep the streets clean of refuse and silk draped palanquins are borne aloft on the muscled shoulders of dusky slaves. The river itself is a wide waterway trafficked numerous commercial barges and small pleasure craft. The water is clean and safe to bathe in as the River Gad flows in from the countryside tarrying not in other districts of Ashur.
The Shambles is one of the oldest inhabited sections of the city. It is a maze of narrow streets and benighted alleyways. The ancient clay brick dwellings are built tall and close together, overhanging the streets or even roofing them entirely leaving them in darkness for most parts of the day. Originally in the hot sun of the West this was a planned shade for comfort but over the centuries the darkness has become a way of life for the denizens of the closed corridors and alleys. All sorts of business is conducted herefrom green grocery to the sale of arms or pharmacy. If one is searching for an unlicensed wizard or alchemist it is rumored that this is the place to go. Here in the Shambles foreigners, Kilum,and Sinculum, mix on an equal level with the Dominion residents. Visitors find that they will become easily lost and easier prey for the less savory elements of society that rule here. In the midst of this place is the infamous Sanctuary.
South of the bayside docks is a region of waters that remain naturally deep right up to a series of steep bluffs. This was used as a opportune location for the Imperial ship yards. (about which no information is available and trespassers are summarily executed) Nearby also taking advantage of the natural setting are a number of successful private shipyards which have until recently served the needs of the immense merchant fleet of the Dominion. However somewhat less than a decade ago the God-King Itomas assumed ownership of these yards as well and since then they too have been working to swell the WarFleet.
Across the straits is a vast area above Dragon's Gate and the Yin Sloth now reclaimed from the jungle by the hard labor of slaves. Mostly this area is covered with vast rice plantations to supply the city states of the Empire with the staple of the Western diet. This area is not part of the city of Ashur, rather it is notable only in that it has become the place of refuge for out of favor politicians, bureaucrats and nobility. They are said to be "on vacation".
Where the wealthier merchants and tradesmen make their homes of painted brick amongst streets lined with ancient cedar trees. Fresh sea winds whisper through the streets and alleys making this a very pleasant district to live.
This ancient landmark has draped its shadow across the landscape for untold millennia. Potentially the tallest manmade structure on the world of Palladium this massive stone tower, is a mystery to most living now and the focal point of much legendry and rumor. Its doorless base sits in the midst of the waters of the Old Market, the nearby ruins are uninhabited and the boats of the residents rarely approach.
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