Cardica's Scar, The Slums

Introduction

In many districts of the city of Depthopolis, there's an expected level of control and relative safety, a level of knowledge of both the infrastructure and such things as the population or maybe even what fauna and flora may thrive there. The Slums would be the biggest outlier in any similar category, a place where no sensible being has ever attempted to cross by terrestrial locomotion. A place that spawned from one of the most illegal interdimensional war crimes ever committed throughout the known multiverse.

Quick note, the name of The Slums comes from the mixture of the area being both dangerous due to the lifeforms that inhabit it, and the pricing and obscurity that comes with making a living in such a dangerous location.

It's always been a place of passing over, we never go in it, we don't acknowledge it, not amongst the rest of Depthopolis.

 

- Spark, Reporter for the Floating Gull

Geography

Situated in the heart of The Finite City, The Slums was once a streaming expanse of massive skyrippers not unlike the other more notable districts of Depthopolis like Seaside, The Estuary, or Le Artorica. Though in its present form you would never guess such a thing, torn metal, shredded concrete, and every smidgen of meta-material cast out in a horrific dusting of urban sprawl. All of this creates a land not many other dimensions could even fathom of ever seeing. Crumbling buildings hundreds of meters tall, with derelict caves that comb the opaque underbelly of this insane location. There have been dozens of reports of many springs within The Slums that provide the wildlife with exotically salinized pools of water and other sources of moisture. the buildup of water in many areas is believed to just be the factor of the morning Depthopolis winds which circulate from Uppernorth Cardica to the rest of the region, passing over The Slums very early on in the morning.

Ecosystem

Many have considered The Slums region of Depthopolis to be one of the most biologically and scientifically significant locations in the known multiverse and this is due to the past events that led up to The Slums present state. Much of the rampant invasive unregulated lifeforms that stalk the inner ecosystem have not and cannot be studied in a safe and secure manner, leading to massive speculation on many of their habits and adaptations since their introduction. There has been speculation that one of the United Empire's more obscure dimensional territories could theoretically enhance more regulated creatures but there isn't enough research to back this idea up for an active investigation currently.

Ecosystem Cycles

When the scientific community actually do get the chance to make live observations on the creatures encrypted within The Slums, its typically a termination of a creature that has incidentally reached out of the outcropping of urban jungle into one of the bordering districts. There are some lifeforms though that have reached out though, beyond the cacophony of built-up rubble that is the Slums. Flying creatures have gone in and out of The Slums as soon as it was rendered uninhabitable and a danger to the citizens of Depthopolis, and therefore they've changed quite a bit as well, but many still make daily trips out of The Slums catching the massive waves of turbulence that build in the mornings through northern Le Artorica.

Localized Phenomena

The Slums is possibly one of the most diverse areas of life in the known multiverse, so it must have something that makes it stand out among more normalized locations and ecosystems. There are plenty of obvious examples, it's a derelict urban jungle, created by an infamous war crime by the United Empire, and is situated in the only currently known Finiti Crystallum dimension. There are several other lesser-known factors though that come from combinations of these more notable factors, as well as exclusive factors like the wildlife itself, and the materials that make up the majority of The Unofficial Slums District. The morning wind from Uppernorth Cardica is a great example, condensation is brought in during the earliest dawn of Depthopolis's brightening day and before it reaches much of Cardica's districts, it takes its biggest showers over the dense dusty nexus of land that is The Slums district, that is but one example though, another key aspect that combine with the morning wind is Depthopolis's desalination system, which typically cleans out exotic particles that build up in much of the air and water, and then dumps it out to other dimensions for thorough cleaning as natural fresh and some exotic sea waters are dumped into Depthopolis. All this together creates some of the strangest creatures the known multiverse has ever had the joy of viewing...

History

Dated currently as 0, the present day is >~250 in the canon.

Back in the past, the United Empire had control over its key defensive dimension, Finiti Crystallum, but then, the people began to revolt, and their unsighted rebellion was possibly one of the worst mistakes ever made by any empire in the known multiverse, to try and fix their mistakes though, they made possibly one of the worst war crimes any Interdimensional power could commit, the introduction of unregulated lifeforms transported into the city. Over the course of many years, the city struggled to hold back the increasingly bigger territory which housed such untamable beasts, in the end, they had figured out a way of defending themselves, and out of fear of a retaliation by other foreign powers, Depthopolis was granted the advantageous chance to be independent.

Tourism

Many of the folk who visit Depthopolis are not the ones keen on exploring through the uncharted foxholes of belligerent empires' mistakes, and therefore the scene on The Slums tourism industry is almost nonexistent and the parts that do exist are a little more under the bonnet, if you catch my drift.

Almost any and all cargo that goes to the northern edges of Cardica, passes through The Slums.

Much of the cargo ships that pass through it are under ownership from a person named Galk Veturi and many people, including The Slums's Residents, consider Veturi, the unofficial political power of The Slums, putting a sizable share in the LA to Sulfur Reservoir restoration of The Slums and providing a sort of lost and found and rudimentary rescue service for those who live within The Slums.

Alternative Name(s)

The Unofficial Slums District, The Concrete Jungle, The War Crime Ecosystem, Cardica's Scar

Type

Wasteland