Antiquity
The black dragon Sable didn't "build a city" for "people" Who told you that? Sable's lairs were always on the frayed edges of civilization; dismal and fetid caves, grottos, and ruins explicitly to avoid people. But as the communities, the countries, the civilizations of The Old World fell, Sable enjoyed the capacity to take the finest ruins and fly them to the greatest swamp in Loom - land left to fester around the buried corpse of a long-dead titan. His collection grew, and often there were still people inside when Sable added a great historical building to his hoard, and Yes, sure, you could say he arranged them in a city shape, but Sable has consistently refused to take responsibility for this.
The City of Antiquity is therefore a dark and gloomy place, with ancient buildings often in disrepair slowly sinking into the swamp making up canals for streets. Where most families immigrated against their will and have been forced to survive. The lucky ones already owned great estates full or valuable relics when they arrived.
In response, crime is rampant. Hope is scarce. Change won't come. Antiquers have to crawl over one another to get ahead in life or submit themselves to moneyed interests asking for help. Skills of deceit and skulduggery are celebrated, it's the most flexible who survive -- don't be afraid to be cruel in your subtle actions. Covet everything your neighbor has - eclipse their achievements - tear their life down. All Antiquers know nothing lasts forever, but they only need to outlast one another.
Antiquity is a dour place, covered in an everpresent pervasive fog. Longtime residents are filled with Sable's ennui. Trilling, obnoxious birds, bugs, and reptiles follow any Humanoid creatures unknown to Sable, imposing disadvantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks. Stinging bugs are aggressive and the air is heavy with the odor of rot.
The locals do their best to combat it all and find their moments of joy. Neon lights of aggravated weave threads cut through the fog, incense everywhere pushes back the stench, and escapism persists in grand theatres, clubs, restaurants, and celebrated arenas.
The Predator State
Sable truthfully only sees this whole city experiment as a blink in his long lifespan. While he accepts rent payments of gold, gems (particularly opals), precious non-corroding metals, and stone sculptures, he has left it up to the people to decide who will be in charge. Just so long as somebody is collecting rent, otherwise, he will evict everybody. Dead or alive. The people landed on politics, but the aristocracies of the old world whose great homes and vast wealth were fully transferred into the swamp only allow the people to believe that is true. Sable's dragonborn councilor and the landlords are elected but doing so requires funding from old money wealth. The aristocrats buy their Landlords and the low class are sold theirs. Even those with good intentions for real change have to make compromises to get in the door. Then to make real systemic changes they'd have to produce an antique treasure; an object of cultural, magical, or scientific significance originating from lost cultures - or world coordinates for a structure of interest to the greatwyrm himself - to draw the interest of the Councilor and therefore Sable and make beneficial improvements to their community.Culture
Government
Antiquity's do-nothing hyper-conservative government full of corruption is incapable of caring for creatures as pitiful and short-lived as individuals. Institutions and family names matter much more.
Each neighborhood has an elected Landlord. They collect rent, take a cut for themselves, and then pass along the rest to Sable. If rent is short they are expected to cover that with the councilor and protect the neighborhood from Sable's form of an eviction notice. They are expected to advocate for their neighbors and bring change -- but to get Sable or his Councilor's opinion they must produce ruinous treasures of the Old World for him, treasures often gate kept by old money nobility or crime lords in the antiquing arms race.
Those families and crime lords have a heavy influence on Landlords and could be accused of choosing their government themselves. Most Landlords either resign in disgrace or are voted out of office by a new idealisitc politician destined to go down the same path.
Defences
Sable feels confident in his city's security. His mere presence has caused water sources to be supernaturally fouled. Enemies of the dragon that drink such water regurgitate it within minutes. If you want to stay healthy, just don't plot against Sable. For the black dragon destroying your foes without exposing yourself to danger is an art.
Industry & Trade
Antiquity trades in, you guessed it, antiques. Sable's trash could be your treasure. Meanwhile the locals are interested in buying anything that makes their lives marginally easier: incense, weapons, protection. The city is also a haven for bad or morally dubious business practices. Warlock, wizards, sorcerers, and anybody else looking to research the dangerous and deadly sides of magical knowledge should feel welcome in Antiquity.
Agriculturally speaking, Antiquity provides the bulk of Loom's rice supply. They also developed the controversial method of fish farming that feeds the new world over.
Infrastructure
Antiquity doesn't have a grid system, these buildings were organized as a dragon does his horde. The citizens added the rest; walkways, lights, the swamp canals - they gut the buildings that Sable added and rebuild them from the inside as something usable in a modern city. Everything is nestled into the deep muck, thick and twisted plants, and reeking mud of the swamps.
Many buildings have undercroft infrastructures already partially sunken into the swamp where all kinds of weird monstrosities live.
Districts
Titan Hill. Expensive and less swampy homes around a nice park.
Midtown. For businesses.
Downtown. The mid-budget center of Antiquity.
The Waterfront. Formerly the Arts & Entertainment District, home to clubs, theatres, and most recently a permanent portal to the Plane of Water. Seafood restaurants opening now!
Bog Bottom. The poorest district of Antiquity technically falls outside of the official city limits. Everything there is handmade, built walkways, homes, and businesses for the poorest people scraping by on all the city's runoff.
Guilds and Factions
The Redbands. A gang originating from Bog Bottom who often cross the line in their fight for basic rights and respect. Rangers and the wealthy hate them.
Points of interest
Swampy Lake. The foul water stinks of dead fish and rot, while the dense foliage and scraggly trees along the shoreline writhe with scuttling, slithering fauna. A thick blanket of fog—part of the dragon’s corrupting influence—adds a claustrophobic feel.
The Church. Columns of clammy stone jut like ribs from the exposed floor, as if in mockery of the sanctity of this once-holy place. A swollen oak door, flanked by worn carvings of noble warriors, opens into the dank stone tower, which stands empty except for a chipped staircase that climbs to a second floor and then ends in midair before reaching the crumbling third level. Mold-covered friezes of knights kneeling before angelic beings line the stairwell. Sable sleeps at the top of the church's tower, where he enjoys perching and staring out into the gloom.
The Temple of Trickery. A less than trustworthy center for clerical research into illusions, shapeshifting, and deceptive forms of magic. There is very little oversight here.
Tourism
Among the buildings of Antiquity tourists can see:
- Citadel Keep, an elegant palace owned by Queen Athena who died years ago
- An ancient temple, featuring stone carvings representing the Pantheon in Absentia that passed from common knowledge long ago
- The Forge of Kriegcastel, where the secret to forging an alloy imbued with arcane potential was lost
- A distillery where a dwarven master one created the finest aqua vitae
- A paladin's tomb where she is buried with her ceremonial longsword with an embossed silver hilt and a blade of amber
- A lavishly illustrated genealogy displayed as a mural that disputes a current Lady's right to her Drow House
- A tree that grows gemstones the size of apples, heretical religious symbols carved into them
- An elaborately carved statue's head representing a god of harvest and fertility, though it's disputed which god actually was "of harvest and fertility".
- A beautifully enameled tomb holding the desiccated body of a former green dragonborn rival
Architecture
Imagine Gotham City mixed with Venice, only Antiquity is sinking into a swamp. Sable enjoys watching the works of lesser beings crumble and fall into ruin. Observing a culture sliding into oblivion along the trek of time puts life in perspective, and Sable has been trekking for a very long time.
Geography
Though it may look like a group of hills behind the swamp, those are actually the curves of a dead titan buried in the area. The land there is more solid, and where all the nicest buildings stand.
Natural Resources
Razorvine grows naturally around Antiquity and can be grown and sold for home defense. The natural wetlands in and around the city also make for ideal rice paddies and fish farming.
Founders
Type
Large city
Inhabitant Demonym
Antiquers
Included Locations
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
Comments