D&D General A Setting! A Setting!
- Thread starter Indagare Nogitsune
- Start date
Indagare Nogitsune
Adventurer
Wood/Metal would be the best matches for Greenworth/Robinford as the former is the sort of "country in the city" area (lots of green spaces, more relaxed atmosphere, probably a lot of
TwoSix
Programs in KOBOLD
For sure. Obviously, for elements you're generally looking at either the Platonic 4 (fire, air, earth, water) or the Chinese 5 (wood, metal/gold, fire, water, earth); trying to merge them together weakens a lot of their associations and symbolism.
Possibly the green area could be the "elemental balance" area, while the industrial area is an "absence of elements" area, which gives each zone its own theme while leaving the other 4 zones intact.
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
It's me again:
Palaise de Operium (based loosely on the Palais Garnier): Commissioned by the royal family, this grand opera house stands atop Hackwark Hill and it is considered that both ends of the Grand Road were built to lead up to its courtyard. The opera house itself is over 500,000 square feet, standing five stories tall and capable of hosting four operas in its main galleys at the same time. The bottom two stories hold a mix of state rooms, ballrooms, private concession areas (and their kitchens), actor tenements, stage storage and maintenance/service tunnels for the upper galleries. The northernmost opera gallery is known as the "Royal Gallery" and is the most prestigious and lavishly decorated. It is reserved for those productions sponsored and favored by the royal family; getting one's play to this gallery is the dream of every playwright in the city. Shows in this gallery are guaranteed to remain for at least 6 months, with a year not being uncommon. The other three rotate through shows regularly, lasting between a month to three months. The Southern gallery is always where new shows are first revealed, while the western gallery is often used for returning shows brought back by popular (or royal) demand. All of the galleries, except the Northern gallery tend to show 2-3 different shows throughout the day and evening. It is rare for the Northern gallery to have more than two shows in rotation, usually one in the morning and one in the evening - often with the Northern gallery being dedicated to one show (ran in the evening) per day.
The grand courtyard is over double this size and hosts a permanent open-air circus (think more Circus de Sole than Barnum) that acts as a sort of pre-show to the more prominent indoor events. It is open aired and a popular upscale destination for the common populace. Up-and-coming composers seek to get their stories on the play stages in this courtyard, hoping for a patron to pick them up and expand their show into a main event in the greater opera theatres. The Operium enjoys a magical link to the Fire portal, which it employs to both light the courtyard and opera houses as well as power the nightly firework shows. Overseeing the various fire channels is a council of Efreet bound by mystical oaths to the city's royalty, who are handsomely paid in a steady stream of onyx gems to lessen the likelihood of disobedience of these fiery lords.
The well-to-do populace can often found visiting the outer shows, with daytime shows being more family-orientated than the somewhat burlesque nightly shows. Parties and concessions are common in the outer court, though the stronger alcoholic drinks are only brought out as the sun goes down.
Besides running on the funds acquired from the courtyard circus, its primary means of funding is by offering patronages. Starting at 1,000 gp and going upwards, these patronages allow an individual (and at the higher levels, their entourage) not only access to shows whenever they desire but a "vote" in what shows will be hosted in the various (non-Northern) galleries. The higher patronages not only count as multiple votes, but allow the patron to suggest (or even write) plays to appear in the galleries. A third pay option, known as a "gift" acts as sort of one-time patronage, allowing an individual in good standing with the Operium to vote for a particular show or suggest/promote a show to appear in one of the galleries. Generally, gift prices start at 150 gp and are treated more seriously by the council of the Operium as the price goes up.
There are underground entrances to the Operium, designed to accept carriages, for the well-to-do so that they may arrive without spectacle or needing to deal with the common populace that permeates the upper courtyard. Private showrooms containing artifacts from older, popular performances are on display in the underground complex, as well as meeting rooms where nobles and the wealthy can have meet & greets with the cast and playwrights of the Operium.
Tales speak of that amid the mazework of underground passages is a sublevel known only to a handful of the most prominent individuals of the city and the royals. These hidden rooms are used for private screenings (especially of plays considered unsuitable for more public display) and unorthodox parties whose existence would certainly draw disapproval if their existence was revealed to the public. The greatest of the stories of this "underworld" speak of an isolated, fiery dungeon where royalty keep prisoner those who most displease them or are too dangerous to allow to walk the city free. It is also whispered that those with the connections and willing to pay the steep price can have their rivals imprisoned in the dungeon as well.
The Operium is run by an elite council of eight established and prestigious playwrights - one of the requirements being that the individual has had at least one show held in the Northern Gallery. Openings are rare, and openings are only filled by vote of the current members. A council member usually serves from 8-14 years, though they can be removed early by unanimous vote by the other members - generally a very rare occurrence reserved for those who truly embarrassed the Operium as a whole in some way.
Palaise de Operium (based loosely on the Palais Garnier): Commissioned by the royal family, this grand opera house stands atop Hackwark Hill and it is considered that both ends of the Grand Road were built to lead up to its courtyard. The opera house itself is over 500,000 square feet, standing five stories tall and capable of hosting four operas in its main galleys at the same time. The bottom two stories hold a mix of state rooms, ballrooms, private concession areas (and their kitchens), actor tenements, stage storage and maintenance/service tunnels for the upper galleries. The northernmost opera gallery is known as the "Royal Gallery" and is the most prestigious and lavishly decorated. It is reserved for those productions sponsored and favored by the royal family; getting one's play to this gallery is the dream of every playwright in the city. Shows in this gallery are guaranteed to remain for at least 6 months, with a year not being uncommon. The other three rotate through shows regularly, lasting between a month to three months. The Southern gallery is always where new shows are first revealed, while the western gallery is often used for returning shows brought back by popular (or royal) demand. All of the galleries, except the Northern gallery tend to show 2-3 different shows throughout the day and evening. It is rare for the Northern gallery to have more than two shows in rotation, usually one in the morning and one in the evening - often with the Northern gallery being dedicated to one show (ran in the evening) per day.
The grand courtyard is over double this size and hosts a permanent open-air circus (think more Circus de Sole than Barnum) that acts as a sort of pre-show to the more prominent indoor events. It is open aired and a popular upscale destination for the common populace. Up-and-coming composers seek to get their stories on the play stages in this courtyard, hoping for a patron to pick them up and expand their show into a main event in the greater opera theatres. The Operium enjoys a magical link to the Fire portal, which it employs to both light the courtyard and opera houses as well as power the nightly firework shows. Overseeing the various fire channels is a council of Efreet bound by mystical oaths to the city's royalty, who are handsomely paid in a steady stream of onyx gems to lessen the likelihood of disobedience of these fiery lords.
The well-to-do populace can often found visiting the outer shows, with daytime shows being more family-orientated than the somewhat burlesque nightly shows. Parties and concessions are common in the outer court, though the stronger alcoholic drinks are only brought out as the sun goes down.
Besides running on the funds acquired from the courtyard circus, its primary means of funding is by offering patronages. Starting at 1,000 gp and going upwards, these patronages allow an individual (and at the higher levels, their entourage) not only access to shows whenever they desire but a "vote" in what shows will be hosted in the various (non-Northern) galleries. The higher patronages not only count as multiple votes, but allow the patron to suggest (or even write) plays to appear in the galleries. A third pay option, known as a "gift" acts as sort of one-time patronage, allowing an individual in good standing with the Operium to vote for a particular show or suggest/promote a show to appear in one of the galleries. Generally, gift prices start at 150 gp and are treated more seriously by the council of the Operium as the price goes up.
There are underground entrances to the Operium, designed to accept carriages, for the well-to-do so that they may arrive without spectacle or needing to deal with the common populace that permeates the upper courtyard. Private showrooms containing artifacts from older, popular performances are on display in the underground complex, as well as meeting rooms where nobles and the wealthy can have meet & greets with the cast and playwrights of the Operium.
Tales speak of that amid the mazework of underground passages is a sublevel known only to a handful of the most prominent individuals of the city and the royals. These hidden rooms are used for private screenings (especially of plays considered unsuitable for more public display) and unorthodox parties whose existence would certainly draw disapproval if their existence was revealed to the public. The greatest of the stories of this "underworld" speak of an isolated, fiery dungeon where royalty keep prisoner those who most displease them or are too dangerous to allow to walk the city free. It is also whispered that those with the connections and willing to pay the steep price can have their rivals imprisoned in the dungeon as well.
The Operium is run by an elite council of eight established and prestigious playwrights - one of the requirements being that the individual has had at least one show held in the Northern Gallery. Openings are rare, and openings are only filled by vote of the current members. A council member usually serves from 8-14 years, though they can be removed early by unanimous vote by the other members - generally a very rare occurrence reserved for those who truly embarrassed the Operium as a whole in some way.
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
More: (hope this doesn't seem like spam, this is the sort of design I love to do)
The Skybound: Originally started as a cross-city courier service employing mounted Griffons, today the Skybound have two divisions - the long-vaunted courier service and a branch that acts as a form of aerial constabulary. As the tale goes, while the courier Artrax Spiathe was running packages to a Cynelsa lord, he witnessed a merchant robbery in Robinford. Without hesitation, Artrax swooped in and apprehended the crooks. When his handler later berated Artrax for risking and delaying his delivery, the courier was affirmed when the affected merchant sent praise and monetary award to the organization (though the handler seized the award for the company as compensation for Artrax's flouting the company's precepts). As time passed, Artrax moved up through the ranks and convinced the Skybound to found the Air Patrol division to act as an aerial police patrol. As the final revenge, Artrax eventually became the head of the Skybound when the old master finally retired.
The Skybound own several Skiles strategically placed across the city and has ground-based offices in all buroughs. While originally only employing Griffons and generally only human or elf agents, the Skybound now uses Griffons, Giant Sparrows and for the largest packages, flying elephants. They also now employ all races, with the smaller races tending to use the Giant Sparrows that are used for light, super-fast message deliveries.
The Air Patrol generally uses Giant Hawks or Giant Eagles (though commanders are often astride Griffons), with the rider having a beast bond to a normal Hawk or Eagle to act as recon for their patrols. All of the Air Patrol is trained and affirmed by the ground-based constalubary, though they are not considered part of the city police force proper, and are on the Skybound payroll, though their funding generally comes from bounties recieved for capturing criminals. In Cynelsa, the Skybound has a special crack unit of Air Patrol that consists of a handful of winged aasimar armed with maces of stunning that are kept in reserve for special cases or riot suppression.
---------------------------
The El: This "elevated" railway criss-crosses the city, using magnets garnered from the Earth portal to power its suspended iron lines. The railway passes underneath the river of the El and only reaches the edges of the Waveswith region, as canals are the perferred "fast" transit method in that burough (and also issues with rusting rails with the high volume of water permeating that burough). Likewise, there are several private lines in Cynelsa for those individual's personal use, and few reach beyond the bounds of that burough or link into the the communal lines. There are no lines that go to the central isle, though there are rumors of a secret line and station underneath that auspicious isle.
Multiple linked and enclosed cars (usually no more than 4) run the railline, controlled by bound earth elementals that have been trained to run certain lines. Strategically positioned stations allow the common populace to use the El and guild-fostered law prevents the lines from being used to transport cargo. Most of the intraburough lines have only a single lane enforcing one-way traffic, though the interburough lines have at least two lanes, allowing coming and going traffic to run simultaneously.
<Edit: mixed up intra vs. inter; corrected>
The Skybound: Originally started as a cross-city courier service employing mounted Griffons, today the Skybound have two divisions - the long-vaunted courier service and a branch that acts as a form of aerial constabulary. As the tale goes, while the courier Artrax Spiathe was running packages to a Cynelsa lord, he witnessed a merchant robbery in Robinford. Without hesitation, Artrax swooped in and apprehended the crooks. When his handler later berated Artrax for risking and delaying his delivery, the courier was affirmed when the affected merchant sent praise and monetary award to the organization (though the handler seized the award for the company as compensation for Artrax's flouting the company's precepts). As time passed, Artrax moved up through the ranks and convinced the Skybound to found the Air Patrol division to act as an aerial police patrol. As the final revenge, Artrax eventually became the head of the Skybound when the old master finally retired.
The Skybound own several Skiles strategically placed across the city and has ground-based offices in all buroughs. While originally only employing Griffons and generally only human or elf agents, the Skybound now uses Griffons, Giant Sparrows and for the largest packages, flying elephants. They also now employ all races, with the smaller races tending to use the Giant Sparrows that are used for light, super-fast message deliveries.
The Air Patrol generally uses Giant Hawks or Giant Eagles (though commanders are often astride Griffons), with the rider having a beast bond to a normal Hawk or Eagle to act as recon for their patrols. All of the Air Patrol is trained and affirmed by the ground-based constalubary, though they are not considered part of the city police force proper, and are on the Skybound payroll, though their funding generally comes from bounties recieved for capturing criminals. In Cynelsa, the Skybound has a special crack unit of Air Patrol that consists of a handful of winged aasimar armed with maces of stunning that are kept in reserve for special cases or riot suppression.
---------------------------
The El: This "elevated" railway criss-crosses the city, using magnets garnered from the Earth portal to power its suspended iron lines. The railway passes underneath the river of the El and only reaches the edges of the Waveswith region, as canals are the perferred "fast" transit method in that burough (and also issues with rusting rails with the high volume of water permeating that burough). Likewise, there are several private lines in Cynelsa for those individual's personal use, and few reach beyond the bounds of that burough or link into the the communal lines. There are no lines that go to the central isle, though there are rumors of a secret line and station underneath that auspicious isle.
Multiple linked and enclosed cars (usually no more than 4) run the railline, controlled by bound earth elementals that have been trained to run certain lines. Strategically positioned stations allow the common populace to use the El and guild-fostered law prevents the lines from being used to transport cargo. Most of the intraburough lines have only a single lane enforcing one-way traffic, though the interburough lines have at least two lanes, allowing coming and going traffic to run simultaneously.
<Edit: mixed up intra vs. inter; corrected>
Last edited:
Brendan Byrd
Explorer
Re: The Grand Road and Hackwark Hill.
Riffing off Lankhmar's Street of Gods; theatre/entertainment improves in quality and prestige the further up the hill you go. Everyone wants to make it to the "top"...
The old industrial district, with its' warehouses and factories, has been gentrified into the new artisan/entertainment district.
Gambling was known to happen in the side rooms of early european opera houses...so that "industry" is likely alive and well in this district, if not in the opera house itself.
Riffing off Lankhmar's Street of Gods; theatre/entertainment improves in quality and prestige the further up the hill you go. Everyone wants to make it to the "top"...
The old industrial district, with its' warehouses and factories, has been gentrified into the new artisan/entertainment district.
Gambling was known to happen in the side rooms of early european opera houses...so that "industry" is likely alive and well in this district, if not in the opera house itself.
