Author Topic: The City  (Read 1778 times)

Offline veekie

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The City
« on: September 17, 2013, 05:05:29 PM »
Stardawn City
Founded by the Whitestar Group 20 years ago, the financial genius Erik Whitman acquired the land around a town in decline, Harkin's Landing, and proceeded to revitalize the area into the new metropolis of Stardawn City. Incredibly charismatic, he managed to gather interest, people and investors to build what he called the city of the future.
Things went smoothly in the first decade, particularly given his recruitment of a large number of Specials to assist in the construction work. Swamps were drained, roads expanded and foundations laid in a fraction of the time it would normally have taken. Extravagant infrastructure for public facilities were planned and laid out, all paid out of private contributions.
Then Whitman simply vanished off the map. Without his presence to guide, inspire and distract, work stalled, and the various factors involved rapidly grew disillusioned, haunted by suspicious accounting practices and a lack of accountability. What ensued was a protracted economical and political struggle to gain control over the city and more importantly, get money back out of it.

Features:
-The entire city proper is covered by a wireless network, free to use for the public. Quality of service leaves much to be desired, and the peripheral regions like Edmund's Fingers, The Bog, The Warren and the suburbs receive only intermittent service at best.
-Basic education is free, but has largely been hijacked by numerous special interest groups. This has led to some highly eccentric curriculum, given the lack of oversight.

Map:
Everything is edible. Just that there are things only edible once per lifetime.
It's a god-eat-god world.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves; The vast concerns of an eternal scene.

Offline veekie

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Re: The City
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2013, 05:11:23 PM »
The Bog
Housing: True slums, with the few buildings not made out of dubious wood constructed by Specials who would prefer an out of the way hideout and having absolutely no concern over alligators.
Security: There is no permanent police presence in the area, only the occasional raid or patrol.
Healthcare: The only healthcare available are from medically oriented Specials in the area, something ill advised at best.
Transportation: There is a train station at the very edge of The Bog, but roads are nonexistent other than simple walkways and trails.
Education: The Bog might be considered a form of learning experience, but there are no schools in the area except the one of hard knocks.
Environment: Wild boars, alligators and snakes are a persistent hazard in the marshy environment. On the other hand if you wish to get close to nature, you can't get much closer.
Control: Uncontrolled, villains dominant.
Notables:
-Annis(Shaker/Master) - Annis claims a large stretch of The Bog as her territory. Her powers and actual appearance are not commonly known, other than shadowy figures coming out of the swamp to threaten or attack trespassers. Self proclaimed villain.
-Swamp Thing(Brute/Breaker) - Swamp Thing is presumed to be a Special who's fled into the swamp to hide his deformity. He's known to be capable of bursts of random violence. Fortunately he has never been known to remain on dry land for long. Insane and dangerous.
-Flora(Tinker specializing in flowers) - Flora had yet to be identified save by her hallmark enhanced flowers growing all over. What they actually do is unclear.

The Pits
Housing: Low cost apartments, though in good repair. Battered malls supply the necessities and entertainment in the region.
Security: There is no permanent police presence except for patrols. Private security, gangs and vigilantes take their place. Most neighbourhoods pay protection money to one of the many gangs or hero groups in the area.
Healthcare: Several overworked clinics supply healthcare for the region, as well as a larger number of illegal doctors.
Transportation: Numerous train stations supply the people-moving needs. Few of the legitimate locals own cars, though motorcycles and bicycles are in abundance. After a number of altercations, most bus services have moved out of the Pits, save for one creaky double decker that stubbornly continues.
Education: Two large public schools exist in this area, Blue Skies Elementary and Harkin's Middle School. For those with the right 'connections', Whitethorn Academy provides education across the full spectrum of schooling, complete with dorms on campus. All schools in the area are ringed with high, sturdy walls.
Environment: The region is quite hilly, with the occasional open, flooded pit and bleached gravel from it's glory days. A number of mining tunnels remain accessible, blocked off by fences and signs that have long since been stolen. Here and there, dense tangles of vegetation and the odd wild boar lurks within. The Pits also contain most of the city's cemetaries.
Control: Organized crime and rising supervillain groups. A vicious turf war, though the housing districts are safe at night, and the school areas are safe in the day. Funny that.
Notables:
Franco Whitescar(Normal) - The mafia boss dominating the area. While he has the most men and money, he's losing face and ground to the super groups which boast disproportionate firepower to their numbers. Controls the drug trade for most of the city. Has a major personal beef with Specials after one gave him 70% burns.
Scattershot(Blaster) - A teenaged kinetic controller in a cheap ninja mask and an outfit of adapted curtains, Scattershot is a self proclaimed hero. He's however, not very good at fighting crime so much as devastating the criminals and destroying the area.
Samedi(Striker/Master) - Either an adult or a large teenager, Samedi goes around in a black suit and a skull mask. His touch can kill and reanimate the dead. A known psychopath, he kills for fun and his collection.
Wire(Thinker/Blaster) - Wire is known to control and perceive through wires and electricity. For the most part she acts as an information dealer, avoiding personal action, stealing information, carrying out blackmail, and hacking school grades for pay.

Bootlegger's View
Housing: A mixture of middle class and upper class housing, it would be quite nice if everything wasn't so old. Rather than malls, small shops dominate, with a large, fancy church, an old lighthouse and plenty of 'heritage' buildings in decidedly better repair than the similarly aged private homes. A fair number of homes have been abandoned since.
Security: There's a strong police presence in the area, well lit streets, and regular patrols.
Healthcare: St Anthony's Hospital provides most of the serious healthcare for the nearby districts. The building is old, but the service is top notch and well funded.
Transportation: Numerous train stations along the borders of the region, with an extensive and timely bus service. Most residents have cars for their transportation needs.
Education: St Mathilda's Academy provides education all the way up to college level. Originally a convent school, it has grown since it's inception and now services the entire district. The school boasts traditional values, which doesn't seem to have bothered the students one bit.
Environment: Bootlegger's View is commanded by a cliff extending out to sea, which is riddled with old secret tunnels. Most of the area is quite scenic, and it's marketed as a historical tourist destination.
Control: The law maintains a grip over the area, likely due to the relaxed nature of the district. It remains ill equipped to deal with the Specials, but the local heroes manage to retain some control over the situation.
Notables:
Snow Princess(Shaker/Brute) - Snow Princess appears to be an elementary schooler in an expensive custom tailored dress. She can summon a blizzard, is reportedly super-tough and has a very nasty dropkick. Hero.
Cloak(Stranger/Thinker) - Not much is known about this villain other than his never being seen apart from Dagger.
Dagger(Mover/Brute) - Not much is known about this villain other than her never being seen apart from Cloak.
Prayer(Master/Thinker) - Prayer works at a distance, but reputedly is a powerful telepath who can sense guilt and carries out karmic justice. Since crime still goes unpunished at times, he likely has limitations. Hero.

Beachfront
Housing: Waterfront villas, hotels, resorts. The Beachfront is a tourist trap, with more amusement parks, spas and shopping malls than the rest of the city combined. It's less a place to live in than a place to throw money at.
Security: More than just police and security, a number of sanctioned superheroes frequent the area. Crime in this area gets a rapid response once detected.
Healthcare: Private hospitals and clinics occupy this area, though specialized in long term healthcare and plastic surgery.
Transportation: Feeder buses go from one cash sink to another, with trains and monorails cutting across the area liberally. Getting to places other than tourist traps would take a taxi.
Education: Zimmerman College, Tidepool Elementary and Golden Hill Middle School dominate the educational scene here, though they have a reputation for being frivolous and weak on discipline, being largely filled with rich kids with doting parents. Both Zimmerman College and Golden Hill Middle School have absorbed a high school each, though the high school population remains low.
Environment: Long stretches of perfect beaches, neatly arranged trees and flowers everywhere look so pretty that the cynical would call it all fake. The cynic is right, the entire section is heavily landscaped, the pure sands imported and the vegetation regularly replaced to keep up appearances.
Control: Heroic. Visible crime is a quick trip to the slammer, given that response time averages fifteen minutes and a number of strong heroes are on the payroll. Local criminals either work smartly, covertly, or rapidly.
Notables:
Orbit(Shaker/Mover) - A gravity manipulator, Orbit is a major source of successful arrests, what with his ability to suspend or reorient the pull of gravity. One of the more experienced heroes in the city.
Locomotive(Brute/Mover/Shifter) - Locomotive is a young boy who can transform into a train and create rails in his path. Regularly one of the first heroes to arrive on scene, Locomotive tends to use somewhat excessive force.
Toymaker(Tinker/Master) - Remaining elusive due to operating remotely, this Tinker villain makes use of remotely controlled supertoys to carry out his rather petty crimes. His automatons tend to meet Locomotive's wheels in a messy manner.
Pyrebird(Mover/Blaster) - Serial arsonist, Pyrebird goes for the phoenix imagery as she flies around hurling flames everywhere. Fast as she is, Pyrebird rarely sticks around long enough to engage the forces of the Law.

The Gleam
Housing: A mainly commercial district, the Gleam has a number of condominiums and other mid-to-high budget high rise housing. Banks, offices and other economic interests mainly reside here.
Security: There is a small police presence here, as crimes here tend to be the sort pursued more by accountants than SWAT teams. Several high profile hero groups take up patrols and headquarters here, as it's almost a supervillain rite of passage to try and knock over a bank.
Healthcare: Clinics only, but with similarly low demand.
Transportation: Traffic congestion regularly renders the streets immobile, but an extensive monorail network intersects the city's train network to cope with rush hour. Large multistorey carparks mark the fringes around the train stations.
Education: A number of part-time institutions and professional training centers have their offices in the area. Youths living here have to commute to school.
Environment: Concrete, though it's fashionable for most buildings to have some kind of internal or rooftop garden. At least where they aren't using the space.
Control: Neutral. A number of superhero groups frequent the area, but there just isn't much in the way of flashy activity beyond the odd bank robbery and mugging. The true battle is in backroom dealings, industrial espionage and dodgy accounting.
Notables:
Phantasm(Shaker/Stranger/Thinker) - An illusionist, Phantasm's abilities, age or even gender are unclear. Technically mercenary, Phantasm specialises in getting the scoop on the news, big and small, though he's known to intervene when things look like they are getting too out of hand.
Hero(Trump/Brute/Mover) - Apparently in his forties, Hero goes about in a bright golden jumpsuit and cape, complete with a gold leaf covered motorcycle helmet. Hero is the leader of the Stardawn Alliance, the oldest hero group in the city, though by the present day he is the last of the founding members still in the group. A stereotypical flying brick.
Bunny(Trump/Mover) - A young villain in a fluffy bunny mascot outfit, Bugs has managed to get away with a number of high profile, but low profit bank robberies, during which she was reported to have abilities consistent with a Looney Tunes character. She is assumed to be in it for amusement value, given the small amount she takes.
Ragman(Shifter/Stranger) - A vigilante with powers over cloth, sightings of him are unreliable. Mainly lurks in alleys, and is known to use sometimes lethal force.

Harkin's Pocket
Housing: The old market part of town, Harkin's Pocket is now a mixture of heritage buildings, boat tours and low intensity commercial activity. Low rise housing complexes and dorms stand alongside TV studios, R&D labs and light industries. For some reason the city has a power plant here, in the middle of town.
Security: Moderate. Here, the police are more an adjunct to hero groups than the other way around.
Healthcare: This district boasts the city's largest hospital, the Silver Cross.
Transportation: The train lines have sporadic coverage, with transport largely handled by bus services. A few ferries ply the river, though they mainly attract only tourists.
Education: Most of the city's schools are in this district.
Stardawn University dominates the landscape of the northeast section, the sprawling campus handling all serious higher education across the city. Moss Hill High, West Wind Academy and Magdelene Convent School present a strong rivalry amongst each other. Starrise Elementary rounds it out.
Environment: A clash of styles is evident, with parts of this district being preserved for historical appearances, while others are carefully landscaped, or fully urbanized with steel and concrete everywhere.
Control: Thinkers. The current state of the district is the direct consequence of multiple active Thinkers pulling the strings for a 'perfect' outcome. It winds up looking rather like a ball of yarn tossed into a box full of kittens.
Notables:
Professor Evans(Thinker/Tinker) - The man behind Stardawn University. A master of artificial intelligence and psychology at the age of eighteen from his gift, he has big plans. Now if only he'd settle on just ONE plan something might get done.
Dr Fusion(Tinker/Thinker/Blaster) - One of the early Tinkers, Dr Fusion specializes in power sources and storage, with his cold fusion reactor powering most of the city. Unfortunately he cannot actually leave the power plant for long, and is working on making a reactor that would remain stable without his continued presence. An ongoing concern for the city's leaders is his age, in his sixties, if he grows infirm, the city is going to go dark in a hurry.
Keeper(Thinker/Master) - Shrouded in mystery, Keeper is an advocate for restoring the city to it's glory days, and acts to preserve and romanticize the past. This puts him frequently in conflict with the others. His extreme persuasive qualities has him flagged as a Master class, but cannot truly be verified yet.
Oversight(Thinker/Tinker) - Oversight works with the media and, as rumors say, spy cameras all over the city. Officially considered a villain due to her anarchist tendencies, she's never actually been charged. Perhaps it's all the blackmail material.
Foreman(Master/Thinker/Tinker) - Others make plans and wreck buildings, someone has to put it all back together. Foreman leads a small but effective construction company, which makes use of his ability to grant others his superspeed and strength, as well as his architectural ability. They do repair, landscaping, upgrading and construction work across the city. It may be a boring job, but somebody has to do the grunt work.

Silver Trees
Housing: No permanent lodgings, only hotels and official residences. As the center of government, centralized political, civic and legal services are distributed across the area. The area is named for the metallic sculptures that cover the area, braided metal branching out in strange patterns.
Security: Extreme. Owing to being both police headquarters and the local training ground, more often than not when a crime is committed an officer of the law is already on site.
Healthcare: No public health services beyond a handful of clinics.
Transportation: Monorail transportation to most government buildings, but beyond that it's not very accessible to pedestrians, needing a car for any degree of freedom.
Education: Only training centers for various concerns. No schools.
Environment: Fully urbanized and landscaped. Someone evidently takes great pains to ensure the aesthetics of the environment.
Control: The Law, more or less by default. There are few desirable targets for common criminals, which leaves jailbreaks, espionage and megalomanaics trying to take over the city.
Notables:
Mayor Christopher Smith(Normal) - Running for election on a surprisingly popular Special Rights platform, he has since done little that attracted public notice beyond setting up some much criticized public welfare projects.
The Ghost(Stranger/???) - While it remains unclear if The Ghost is an actual Special, a resourceful group or an urban legend, he is credited with and blamed for just about anything going wrong. Video footage indicates there might be some basis to the rumors.
Hijack(Stranger/Shaker) - Unmasked briefly by Hero, Hijack is a time manipulator, capable of splicing slightly different bits of history in and out, with particular skill at modifying memories and recordings. She has since escaped from custody on her way to her trial.

Old Harkin
Housing: The less scenic beaches here render the area popular for middle class housing, particularly medium quality condominiums and apartments with a good view. The area boasts a fine zoo and aquarium, on top of the usual collection of shopping malls. While theoretically a heritage area, the locals have, prior to the enactment of conservation laws, already torn down most of the old buildings in the name of development, save for the old docks, which have since been refurbished.
Security: Moderate. Old Harkin has a typical police presence, unobstrusive, but with a rather variable response time.
Healthcare: Numerous private clinics dot the area.
Transportation: Highly pedestrian friendly, there is little in the way of public transportation besides a few winding bus services. Most people drive instead.
Education: Harkin High, the oldest school in the area, which had since absorbed it's neighbouring elementary schools, supplies the education in the area across all grades. There are two branches, North and South, with an intense rivalry. By dint of sheer age it manages to avoid most of the complications that beset other schools in the city through weight of tradition. Harkin High has a rich and complicated history.
Environment: A natural beach area, Old Harkin is mainly gravel and has a pervasive smell of seaweed and fish. Level of development is a dramatic gradient, the nearer the sea, the less development.
Control: While law and order holds sway, the local youths are split into the north and south gangs in an informal alliance of fellow student with student. The more criminally minded invade the territory of the other side for petty crimes and vandalism, while the heroes in turn, preferentially go after the villains of the other school. Truly a weird situation if you ask anyone else.
Notables:
Fissure(Shaker/Mover) - A geokinetic, Fissure is the chief troublemaker of the north side. Mainly a vandal, he's been spending much of the past year trying to move South Harkin High into the sea.
Tsunami(Mover/Blaster) - A hydrokinetic, Tsunami is Fissure's counterpart on the south side. She organises and surfs entire raid teams across the district for large scale hit and run robberies.
Twitter(Master/Blaster) - Controlling birds and reptiles, this middle aged superhero mainly keeps an eye out for anything TOO crazy going on in the district. Considered by both sides to be a spoilsport, his enhanced flocks rapidly gives everyone involved a bad headache.

The Warren
Housing: Only company housing for the laborers, the Warren is mainly composed of heavy duty factories and warehouses. Poor oversight has led to the Warrens expanding haphazardly, resulting in a twisting maze of roads and factories as the land changes hands, gets retooled or falls into disuse.
Security: Low, most of the security is provided by private contractors. Response time is negligible unless troubleshooters are unleashed.
Healthcare: Only basic first aid facilities at best, and nearly all limited to employees only.
Transportation: Cars, trucks and company buses. Nonexistent public transport and maze-like streets make it a pain to navigate.
Education: None
Environment: Fully built over, overgrown in spots.
Control: Private.
Notables:
Voice(Master/Stranger/Breaker) - A sound without a body, Voice is simply heard and obeyed. One of the rare full time vigilantes, he lurks in the Warren, alternately suggesting and compelling.
Steelhand(Brute/Changer) - A big burly man with powers over metal. Mantled in thick but flexible plates of metal, Steelhand acts as muscle for hire, and he isn't particularly picky about who he works for.
Verminlord(Master) - A villain with delusions of grandeur, Verminlord styles himself as royalty, with the power to command and enhance rodents. His pets gain glowing eyes and become partly spectral, as well as a deep cunning and vicious nature.

The Docks
Housing: Only laborer quarters. Most of the district is taken up by the immense space requirements of cargo, ship maintainance and factories.
Security: Strong, but primarily oriented water-to-land or land-to-water, searching for contraband and the like. On land it's pretty much just fences, walls and security.
Healthcare: Emergency treatment facilities are top notch, but lacking in all other aspects.
Transportation: The city's train network extends through the district, with a large number of stops. Transportation is difficult unless you're cargo or staff however. The northern side also entertains passenger ships, and has somewhat better connecting bus services as a result.
Education: None.
Environment: Concrete wasteland and tainted seawater. A swim would be rather unwise.
Control: Law/None. Beyond interests in cargo and ships, nobody cares much about the actual territory.
Notables:
Zero(Trump/Breaker/Striker) - Zero works for the government inspectors, her ability to neutralize at least partially anything making her a good way to inspect suspicious cargo or Specials. Works with Hound.
Hound(Changer/Thinker) - Hound comes with the werewolf suite, enhanced senses, speed, strength, toughness and regeneration. He leads the canine squad.
Box Wizard(Mover/Shaker) - Dressed like a stage magician, this villain manipulates space, linking the insides of containers and other box magic tricks. Engages mostly in grand larceny.

Edmund's Fingers
Housing: None. Given that the island is pretty much strips of land interlaced with marsh and covered with dense woods, roughing it is the only option for the small populaton here.
Security: Negative. The few who actually live here are either criminals lying low, or the crazier kinds of hobo.
Healthcare: Negative. A good place to catch exotic jungle disease.
Transportation: Fishing boats or Movers are the only way to get on or off the island usually. Though the distance isn't too far for a raft or a particularly daft swimmer.
Education: Good place to learn to swear.
Environment: All natural save for a few fish farms.
Control: Nobody wants control.
Notables:
Stitch Witch(Tinker, Striker, biological specialist) - A half-crazed Tinker, Stitch Witch is very much into human and animal body modification, with razor sharp fingers and a numbing touch. While as capable at medicine as any hospital in the city, she is mainly a kill, cure, and/or horribly deform practitioner.

The Trident
Housing: Comfortable quarters for up to a hundred heroes, though only a small fraction of that is in use. Contains nearly anything that could be expected to be found in a spa. The tower itself bristles with sensors and other signal interceptors.
Security: Possibly the most secure place in the city, with the varied capabilities of residents being the main factor.
Healthcare: Medical Tinker on staff with a full laboratory and operating room.
Transportation: Getting to the Trident requires crossing a long, if well maintained causeway. No train lines or bus services, all transport is pedestrian, special ability based, or vehicle. There is a helipad.
Education: While possessed of a good quality library, there is no formal education of any sort, but much in the way of hero training.
Environment: As an artificial island, there is little pre-existing nature to take advantage of, other than any Specials whim of the day.
Control: Overwhelmingly heroic.
Notables(Permanent members of the Trident):
Justice Bringer(Thinker/Brute) - An adult hero, Justice Bringer is clad in authentic plate mail and wields a full array of medieval weapons. The official leader of the Trident, he funds most of Trident's operations and facilities as well as giving the organization a more respectable appearance than a younger leader would.
Tinkerbell(Tinker) - A Tinker with great talents in miniaturization and matter compression, Tinkerbell is one of the youngest Tinkers out there, and is regularly excluded from active raids, much to her displeasure. She mainly works on gear for the rest of the Trident, and personally hits the scene with a jetpack, portable MLRS and railgun when allowed to.
Stardust(Blaster/Mover) - A teenaged long range telekinetic, Stardust pins down enemies for her teammates to take care of. She goes about in a black jumpsuit and mask, both speckled with luminous dots. Notable for excessive toying with her opponents, which makes her an easier opponent than otherwise.
Instrumental(Blaster/Shaker) - A teenaged musician, Instrumental works with a variety of classical instruments, and converts the music into pseudo-magical effects. His costume is a domino mask and tuxedo combination. He seems to be limited by the ability of portable instruments however, the last villains to strike for Trident headquarters learned that he is utterly absurd with a pipe organ.

Suburbs
Housing: Lots, most of the suburbs are nothing BUT housing. Relatively quiet compared to the city, the incidence of Specials is also low for some reason.
Security: Fair. Muggings and the odd burglary happen regularly, but there is a lack of Special criminals. Of late there is an upsurge in petty crime, with the city's mundane criminals being crowded out.
Healthcare: Variable, there are a number of specialist hospitals and clinics, but the suburbs are large enough that it might be faster to look to the city in places.
Transportation: Private only. It being uneconomical for public transportation, all residents have cars or at least, bikes.
Education: Sparse, most residents commute to the city for education, though there are a few elementary schools in the area.
Environment: Tamed nature.
Control: None. With little in the way of valuable or flashy targets, interest is low.
Notables: No known notables, though rumors of a few Tinkers persist.
Everything is edible. Just that there are things only edible once per lifetime.
It's a god-eat-god world.

Procrastination is the thief of time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves; The vast concerns of an eternal scene.