Surgeontown

Welcome, friend! Have you come to Fall Under the Knife? . . . Yes? May you Rise Up in Glory!

-An Anonymous Barker

As civilization pushed toward the southern highlands and the first major diplomatic overtures were made to the fey kingdoms found there, outposts sprang up like anthills to facilitate the growing traffic of trade and settlement. The largest of these straddled the Restless River at the foot of the mountains. With accidental deaths mounting due to the treacherous terrain and fierce predators, a head surgeon was appointed at the site. He was a talented man whose success rate in both saving and rehabilitating patients made the location one of the safest in the eastern frontier.
Both the name of the outpost and of the surgeon stationed there were lost in the Starvation. Now the site is known as Surgeontown, ruled, after a fashion, by a preternaturally skilled doctor known as the Reconstructive Surgeon. Whether he is the same surgeon who saved so many lives before The Long Night is known, perhaps, only to the man himself.

Government

The settlement now revolves around the Surgeon's particular eccentricities, with people braving long, dark journeys to stand in line and await his attention. Those who have "Fallen Under the Knife" enjoy increased social standing and a measure of diplomatic immunity. The more times Under the Knife, the more important the person. The Thrice Under the Knife club is an exclusive venue which caters only to those who have been - as the moniker suggests - operated on at least three times. Between these modified socialites and the Surgeon's Assistants rests most of the authority in the city, such as it is. There are few written laws and even these are subject to the Surgeon's whims. Fortunately for most in the city, he has little interest in anything outside of his operating room.
Order is kept in the city primarily through the mostly unspoken but widely recognized threat of upsetting the Surgeon. Though he cares nothing for thievery, graft, corruption, or suffering of any type, if any of this vice affects him or his practice in any way he has been known to experience emotional meltdowns and close his office for days or weeks at a time. Criticism of his work affects him similarly. Given that the entire city runs on his continued work, either via production of Black Bile or by influx of newcomers into the Line, a distraught hiatus causes everything to come crashing to a halt. Trade ends. Unrest increases. Food diminishes. Crazed Black Bile junkies go into violent withdrawals, maiming and murdering at random. As a result, even the wickedest residents of Surgeontown plan their actions around cushioning the Surgeon's ego. Ergo, order.
Outside of the threat of shutdown, other sources of enforcement are the private guards of local merchants, Assistants, socialites, and the greatly feared enforcers serving the Thrice Under the Knife club. These disparate groups mostly steer clear of one another, preferring to maintain their spheres of influence without undue friction with others. However, sometimes turf wars break out between two or more influential residents. These often simmer for years or even decades before erupting suddenly into viciously bloody battles with massive body counts. This is usually followed by one of the Surgeon's tantrums, hence why they tend to go unresolved for so long.

Defences

Surgeontown's most potent defenses are without a doubt its heavily modified populace. The most dangerous of these are the Assistants, who have often been operated on so many times that nothing of their original bodies remain. Often sporting multiple flexible appendages, supernaturally hardy physiques, hyper-keen senses, and seemingly without fear, Assistants are more than a match for any threat less dangerous than a Lightseeker.

Industry & Trade

Alchemy

The Surgeon may be the most talented and prolific alchemist left in the world. His potion output fuels not only his practice but also leaves plenty left over to be traded with the Trade Guild for outside goods. In addition, the substance known as Black Bile is a byproduct of his alchemy and serves as a general currency in the city. Black Bile addicts will do anything for the drug (even honest labor), and produce a great deal of supply in the form of food, textiles, and other trade goods in order to satisfy their demand.

Food

Hog breeders, chicken keepers and mushroom farmers provide most of the sustenance to the city, with a few wealthy residents capable of building and sustaining greenhouses supplying much needed, though expensive, fruits, vegetables, and grains. In the slums a food known as Mishmash forms the backbone of the impoverished population's diet. No one talks about what it contains, but there is vermin aplenty to be found among the ratty tents.

Architecture

Construction in Surgeontown follows the philosophies of the Surgeon: all things must have their perfect expression. If what exists isn't perfect, either excise it, build something new, or both. New buildings are often at least passingly modular to accommodate for this, but old structures are simply added to - sometimes haphazardly - in a way that creates nonsensically branching buildings that rise ever higher and are filled with confusingly laid out hallways and doors that lead to seemingly purposeless rooms . . . or nowhere at all. Collapse is an ever present danger in the oldest wards of Surgeontown, as the buildings there have long since crossed any architectural standards of safety. A popular addition to any wall, particularly one which opens to the public, are large glass windows. Just as the Surgeon believes the inner workings of the body should be visible in their wonder, the people of Surgeontown believe their private lives should be on display. The most decadent of residents literally live in glass houses, where everyone can see them.

Type

City

Population

~18,000 - No official census has ever been taken.

Owner/Ruler

The Reconstructive Surgeon

Characters in Location

• The Reconstructive Surgeon

Related Historical Events

• 76
  Rise of Surgeontown

Apparel

Lashed reed overcoats and conical hats of the same are popular among the poor of Surgeontown. The materials are readily available from the nearby river and swamp and the thick, stiff garments can be further augmented by packing sod or moss for insulation and weatherproofing. Underneath these outer layers are the fur and leather common to Maverot, as well as simple woven grass shifts and pants.
Slightly more well-to-do residents often wear feathered garments created from trapped river fowl, carrion birds, and the ubiquitous chickens in Surgeontown. Those who work security in the slums may incorporate strips of metals or chain link into their outfits, and those lucky enough to find employment in the upper class private sector usually don actual worked armor and rarely take it off. It is both a symbol of their status and a protection against rival security forces.
The rich in Surgeontown are always in the "ancient" fabrics. Cotton, wool, velvet, and silk from Cliffside are highly prized and jealously guarded. Because of the extensive amount of extreme body modification, major alterations are always needed and seamstresses, tailors, and those who know the Mending cantrip (particularly those who can check more than one of those boxes) are in high demand and are often quite rich themselves. Ironically, because the modifications to clothing in Surgeontown are so extreme - extra arms, strange measurements, oddly placed clasps and belts - most of the clothing has little, if any trade value beyond use as scraps. No matter how fine the fabrics, a tunic with a waist the width of a grapefruit and seven sleeves rotating around an elongated neckline has no second-hand value whatsoever.
Aside from the Surgeon's ever more alien body modifications, another sight seen only in Surgeontown - or on those who have visited and chosen to receive a "souvenir" - is a mask that has been stitched to the wearer's face. No one knows why the Surgeon likes to do this, but it has become a staple procedure for those who Go Under the Knife.