Revision as of 06:17, 9 May 2006

Doom City, Land of Harem Age Wonders and Horrors

• Location: The North: Eastern slopes of the Black Crag Mountains, near the White Sea
• Population
  • Urban: 225,000
  • Surrounding Area: 0
• Ruler: Duke Nyu Kim IV, Prefect of Doom City
• Status: Independent, if you don't count the horrible monsters in the basement

One of the great, if isolationist, powers of the North is the nation of Doom City. It was originally constructed as a trade and research center during the Harem Age, in order to defend one of the Gateways to Neo-Yu-Shan. Unfortunately, foolish experiments with tapping extradimensional energies from strange ores found deep underground succeeded only in successfully creating a Horrible Eldritch Monstrosity (TM), which proceeded to eat everyone, then slorp off into the deep tunnels to nap.

This left the city quite clean and tidy except for eaten bits being missing, and during the Chaos Plague, fleeing mortals and Magical Girls took refuge here, finding a city full of still functioning Harem Age devices tied into a power grid of underground manses. They quickly took over, fortified the place, and killed anyone who tried to break in for a few centuries.

The First Rising, in which hordes of creatures poured up from below and killed a quarter of the population before being put down convinced them to open up to trade with outside, in order to refresh their numbers and to attract cannon fodder to guard the city from Things Below (TM). In 312 IY, they opened up to trade with the outside world and began recruiting the Foreign Legion, who act as the first line of defense against Things Below. Since then, a line of hereditary Dukes and Duchesses have ruled over the city, successfully fending off four more Incursions and lots of small attacks. The Realm has twice forced the place into tributary status, only to have the Satrap and her troops all end up eaten by some monstrosity from below. Since then, the Empress found it less wasteful to 'exchange gifts'. The Realm would provide certain key supplies, while the city would pay more than they were worth in goods as a bribe to avoid any more satraps. The city was left to freely govern itself, otherwise.

This gift exchanged has collapsed since the defeat of House Tepes' legions by the Boo of the North, and now the city has to decide whether to defy him.

The City and Its People

The inhabitants of the city live lives of luxury compared to those outside, though they work hard for it. But the city has fresh circulating air, hot and cold running water, tiny golems roam around keeping it clean, the paint never peels, the hydroponics and mushroom gardens produce a wide variety of tasty foods (with human help), the timber garden produces needed woods, the mines produce many valuable gems for trade, and everyone willing to work is guaranteed a standard of living higher than most outsiders could dream of. Furthermore, there is a still functioning Ultimate System Support Mainframe; while the Helping Goddesses severed its connection to the True Ultimte System long ago, so as to avoid trouble, it provides a source of information, entertainment, and communications for all who dwell within.

Many of the people never leave the city; only the Trade Emissaries and the Hunters who go out and collect fresh meat and furs leave the city for very long. Everyone is generally dark haired, dark eyed, and pale.

The population of the city is carefully controlled to avoid overstretching resources. It helps that everyone must take time to serve in the Militia, which works with the Foreign Legion to fight the Things Below (TM). This trims out the weak and unfit.

The Foreign Legion

The Foreign Legion is actually usually only about 500 people, sometimes as many as a few thousand in times of crisis. Those who serve in the Legion for 20 years and survive become citizens. Not too many make it all that time. For reasons now forgotten, Legionaires are often referred to as 'Marines', even though they are a long way from the ocean.

The FL Marines commonly man a series of fortified positions which cover the major tunnels down, while some scout patrols (Usually a Gaffer of 25 men) sweep the nearest tunnels for trouble, looking for signs of invasion to come. It is traditional to begin such a trip with the ritual invocation 'Is this gonna be another bug hunt?' Units on scouting duty are allowed to check out and use the small body of Ashigaru armor sets the city possesses; unit commanders at the Gaffer Level and above all have personal Ashigaru armor so long as they continue to serve. The city possesses a total of 125 suits beyond those assigned to officers, should the need arise to equip larger forces.

The city recruites Magical Girls and God-Bloods to serve in the top officer ranks whenever possible.

HEM

The creature below the city has used many names over the centuries, constantly questing to find the name which will properly strike a balance between being unpronounceable and inspiring terror. It is currently favoring (B'krus'K'D'T'L'KAor'SH), but can't figure out the right way to pronounce its own name. But since no one knows it is there, it's all a bit moot, really.

B'krus is an artifically constructed HEM (Horrible Eldritch Monstrosity), constructed by the fusion of large amounts of Moe with blood-infused deposits of soulsteel which formed from hacked off bits of one of the NeverCute, left behind during its demise in the revolt against the You'll See. After eating everyone, it sank down to the lowest caves to digest, forming itself into a giant silvery lake that looks dangerously like a huge liquid Moonsilver deposit. As it sleeps, it can form bits of itself into living creatures which may appear completely sentient, and may even feed and reproduce. These things fan out, re-enacting B'krus' fantasies as it dreams, most of which are flashbacks to the memories of its NeverCute Parent, now The Dweller in the Dark Lake, formerly Nyarnala, The Lake of Life Abundant, before its death. This has, at times, led to FL Marines stumbling on vast arrays of Crustacean Monstrosities trying to re-enact 'The Hall of the Mountain King And How He Was Devoured By Wednesday'.

Whe B'krus has nightmares, its servitor creatures rampage, trying to kill everything human; these are the Incursions. Thankfully, serious nightmares are rare.

B'krus continues to deny it is stealing Vodak, Ubbo-Sathla or Abhoth's schtick, insisting THEY are the posers copying it.

In terms of power, B'Krus is about the same as a Third Clique Demon, but mostly just sleeps and sends its flunkies to eat things or re-enact old history and operas.

Comments:

I thought it was the Boo of the North?
-- Darloth

It is, I suck, Fixed. --JohnBiles