Here is my first "Setting Backstory" post for my player. Is this too much info? Good info? Its a homebrew, which will give me an easier time with storytelling and not stepping on any toes. Does this give enough "hooks"? I want my player to be motivated to do things OTHER than exactly what he HAS to do to progress along in the "story arc". Any feedback from EN'ers is always welcome:
The city is a sprawl, but a well defined sprawl, if such a thing exists. Fifty to seventy foot towers surround the borders of the city, with crenelations (sp?) and spikes and towers jutting up from them at random intervals. Within the city, the original planners had good ideasso many eons ago, but now, overcrowding has caused massive upwards growth. Very few have moved outside the walls.
Buildings are built jauntily on top of other buildings, lean-to's erected out of scrap lumber and stonework adorn every ledge. Rope bridges spiderweb between buildings at harrowing heights above the cobblestones. Most streets are in a permanent shadow, except for high noon, when what little bit of sun that can pierce the orange-brown smog draped over the city brightens the dirty sidewalks and roads.
Clouds are rare, and rain, rarer still. The city sits atop a giant underground resivoir that funnels its life giving water to the surface through a complex system of ancient aqueducts and wells. The wind from the wasted plain on which the city sits howls and shakes even the thick stone walls surrounding the city.
Royalty lives at the top of the city, always climbing and reaching to get away from the rabble and filth beneath them. Some have placed their newest additions on stilts, as though a five story flood was approaching. However, as they get closer and closer to the top level of the walls, the wind shear is terrible and has caused some horrific architectural cave-ins.
Luxury is even rarer than rain, they say. Truly clean fabric is almost unheard of, as is water and food without the taste and smell of the city and the smog worked deep into them. Gold can get you a small piece of privacy, but even gold can't buy you a breath of fresh air.
All manner of people and creatures call this city home. Racism doesn't exist, you see, because you cant help but rub elbows with everyone, all the time. There's just no escaping it. You might lose your mind before you were able to hate someone based on the color of their skin or origin of their ancestors. But, in all seriousness, don't get caught staring, either.
The city has a flow. A certain heartbeat that carries it through the dark, dark nights and the brutal, sweltering days. Things move in a subtle kind of order here, and if you disrupt it, it will find you and grip you and crush you ten times over. Seen it happen.
