"The City it is!" chuckles the Player. She sweeps a hand out to encompass the vastness of the wall, which, up close, stretches far enough to easily blot out any sight of the Wasteland on its other side. "Everything you ever wanted--or never wanted--all closed up behind one big wall for your pleasure," she crows. "Now, I trust you'll stick close. It's not a place for naivete and gawking."
Once you step through the gates, you find yourself in a nicely laid-out webwork of streets and houses. The broad main road stretches out before you; down the way, a fountain sends arcs of water into the air from the center of a crossroads circle. "This here," says the Player, waving a hand at your immediate surroundings, "is the Merchants' District."
She points toward the north, where the ground slopes upward into a high hill, a mantle of low wall draped about its shoulders with the dark spires of a castle crowning its peak. "That's Castle Keep up there," she says. "The Nobles' District surrounds it."
She gestures southward, where the furl of white and red sailcloth and multicolored pennants can barely be seen above and through the spaces between buildings; the breeze from that direction brings in the strong scent of salt water. "The Bay District, but I'm sure you could have guessed that.
"Back the way we came and around the corner," she continues, "is Jixihyme. Some folks call it Tent City."
Your gaze is drawn beyond the fountain, where another high wall stands, with an equally tall wall of dark clouds piled behind it as if held back by some invisible hand. Catching you looking there, the Player winces a little. "Now that's the bad side of town. Folks call it the Labyrinth."
"So, what do you say?"
Explore the Merchants' District To the Nobles' District To the Bay District To the Labyrinth To Jixihyme
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