Evil Cities.

[Laveral]

In building a city that is literally filled with evil beings what kind of governvent or ruleship should be put in place.
I have a small Penensula that has three large cities that are part of an evil nation of sorts. I am kind basing it with a Gothic type of theme with a little Transylvanian and Germanic look to it. The Penesula is blocked to the rest of the land by a large stone wall, kindof like the great wall of China. It has an opening in the middle, in which I haven't figured how it will be guarded yet, and the wall spans from one coast to the other.

Thanks,
Lav.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Salutations,

You may want to check out AEG's Evil.
It has an evil city in the back of the book.

What kind of government-

*A despot would make sense. One being that controls the city with an iron grip- he has a few assistants he barely trusts with light details, but his finger is in every pot. He is mostly interested in wealth and power- so there are few laws, but a large guard/army that occupies the city.

While their may be few laws, they are dealt with severly. People are tortured and killed publically- and the public is extected to watch.

If a large city, then he may divide it into a few sections and let lords he picks run it. Of course, he will keep the a few members of the family of these lords as guests- just to insure loyalty.

*An oligarchy might work- a small group that runs a city. Perhaps a shipping guild that has tight control over the city, or else the city starves. They may have a puppet in charge- and will have strings attached to all thief guilds in town. Most crimes have price tags attached instead of sentences.. though you should pity those that can not afford to pay.

*Theocracy might be interesting- a figure claims to be divine, and their church controls the city. The laws would be straight from the holy text- and punishment would involve a literal banishment to hell. There would be many orders of the religion that would run the city- and perhaps a demons that scour the city during church sessions.. to immediately punish any who decide to skip church that day.

Just some ideas.

FD

 

[Buttercup]

If you've read The Belgariad, think about the governments of the Murgos. The Grolims snooped into everything, and if they didn't like what you did, or even if you looked at them wrong, you would end up bent backward over an altar so they could cut your heart out.

 

[Hand of Evil]

MMMMM, when you have evil, do you mean chaotic evil, lawful evil, or neutral evil?

I see a city that is chaotic evil being run by gangs, everything is in a state of flux, borders change as gangs expand or are taken over. There would not be any law, might would make right and NO ONE would make it on their own for long, the packs would drag them down. The city would be in at state of ruin, no one would care.

A lawful evil city would be a city of fear. The law would be harsh but life would have order. Police would be judge, jury, and hangman. The city would bo well, trade would be good, slavery, blood games. A lot like Rome.

Neutral evil, is a free city but a blind one. Drugs, slaves, child labor, murder and such bad things would be taking place but people would not see it or it would be a class thing. The rich getting away with it while the poor did not. Much like France before the revolution!

 

[Laveral]

Well maybe I put the title wrong. Although the suggestions are great. The whole thing is a nation that has taken over a whole penensula. There are three major cites. 2 large cities and one Metropolis. Inside the Penensula there are also smalller towns and such that are really insignificant. I think a harsh rulership would be the idea. I was thinking something ruling in the background that noone else knows about except the leaders of the nation. Maybe a demon or vampire.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Well maybe I put the title wrong. Although the suggestions are great. The whole thing is a nation that has taken over a whole penensula. There are three major cites. 2 large cities and one Metropolis. Inside the Penensula there are also smalller towns and such that are really insignificant. I think a harsh rulership would be the idea. I was thinking something ruling in the background that noone else knows about except the leaders of the nation. Maybe a demon or vampire.

Lich Lords or vampire lords would be the way I would go.

As for structure, I would go with 'mob' format. You have dons for each city and they have X number of henchmen that control the different districts of the cities. They work behind the normal city government using payoffs, murder, and such to control. As for the type of government, something that looks good, a republic or merchant guild trade fed. Life would look good during the day but things would happen in the dark, people would go missing.

Now how about the church? People can believe it is right and a honor to have be killed for the good of the city.

 

[dead_radish]

A horribly incompitent lawful good group.

They have any number of laws in place. Which they cannot enforce, because all their officers of the guard are corrupt/blackmailed/bribed.

They have levels upon levels of red tape, so most criminals that are caught get off on technicalities.

They have little to no influence, but they deal with the mundane details, like collecting taxes (which are stolen), getting yelled at for errors (which are common), dealing with foreign diplomats, etc.

They know their city is bad, but they can't act outside the laws they themselves have created. And the laws are ineffectual.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Maybe a demon or vampire.

The problem with a vampire running the place- is that they have a major vulnerability in sunlight.

This puts them in two bad situations-
1) If the vamp does not have a strong controlling force without that vulnerability, then any uprising has an entire sunny day to bring the tyranny to an end.
2) If the vamp does have a strong controlling force without that vulnerability, then they have to trust those in charge of those forces.

The biggest way around this is a wizard/cleric vampire with access to divination spells, but even that is limited.

The vamp's best bet is to put the people in charge of themselves. He will not be a tyrant. He will not raid and pillage the cities/towns, and he will not crush the middle-class with taxes.

He has only two laws-
1) the shedding of blood is a crime punishable by the criminal being turned over to him.
2) anyone working to overthrow or slay him will have themselves, their families, and their nearest neighbours turned over to the vampire. Anyone turning in a person plotting will have their non-guilty family exempt to the.. collection.

Other then that- the people can lead their own lives. He will put into place an elected council from the major cities that will vote on all issue. The vampire will have two votes on the council, and he will insure taxes that go to him will stay low.

Ok- so what is the truth of the situation? Well, the vampire is basically being honest. He spends his money on buying slaves to feed on and as with the way of cities- crime happens and he gets the culprits.

When desperate, he has some minions he sends out to raid ships of nations who refuse to trade with him- and then he has more blood.

Law #2 proves surprisingly effective- the occasional adventure party are often ambushed shortly after entering the nation- thanks to being ratted out by the citizens fearful of the second law.

Most citizens try not to think of the vampire- the nobles come to love him. He throws lavish parties and is always on the cutting edge of fashion and other social issues. He is the perfect host.

The vamp uses his powers to wipe out the monster threats in his country, and builds an army strong enough to defend the walls.. a navy for the shores.

Oh, the elected council- under mental control from the beginning. The vampire is not stupid.

In the end, the evil country is a powerful economic force where the people are more socially and politically free then most of the people that live under kinds, lords, and etc. Of course- a lot of their freedom is an illusion, but you try telling them that. At least they have food on their plates and not afraid of monsters at night.

--

Demons could just open the gates of hell, but you would not have much to the cities but slave-spots for the demons amusement.

Demons taking on lives that mock human life- they have stores, but they sell sick and twisted version of mortal wares. Farms are replaced by breeding camps for mortal races. Entertainment is often in the form of arena battles for the mortals and museums to display twisted art created by the monsters. I won't even imagine their version of church.

I pity the adventurer who seeks to go to either type of country, but that is what heroes are for.. right?

FD

 

[Buttercup]

Criminey, Furn. That Vampire scenario is disturbing.

 

[Furn_Darkside]

Criminey, Furn. That Vampire scenario is disturbing.

Heh, thank you.

The key with villians who are in power is to figure out how they stay in power- by might or by subversion. The first is great for the short term, but the second is best for the long term. And a vampire is in it for the very long term.

FD