Jinka
Jinka is an isolated city situated in the middle of the Sandzone Desert, where cracked stone platforms, shifting dunes, and underground ruins dominate the landscape. As the largest settlement in Allos Province, Jinka serves as the main hub for spelunking expeditions, drawing adventurers, scavengers, and researchers eager to uncover the secrets buried beneath the sands.
Sandstorms batter the city frequently, and the surrounding desert is littered with robot debris from the fallen floating island, making survival difficult. Despite these challenges, Jinka thrives as an adventurer’s haven, relying on ingenuity, recycling, and deep connections to the underground labyrinths hidden beneath the dunes.
Industry & Trade
Recycling Hub: Jinka’s economy thrives on recycling metal debris and repurposing relics scavenged from the desert. The city serves as a secondary supply point for Kings, providing raw materials and spare parts for the Nyaan Empire’s industrial machine.
Relic Trade and Black Markets: The subterranean ruins beneath Jinka are filled with robot components, artifacts, and Magha crystals, attracting merchants, smugglers, and engineers from across Ysanaf. While many relics are sold legally, black market rings operate covertly, dealing in forbidden technology.
Tourism and Adventurers: Jinka’s reputation as the spelunking capital draws adventurers eager to explore the labyrinths and seek treasure. The city has hostels and gear shops tailored to spelunkers, with locals offering expedition services or acting as guides and scouts.
Infrastructure
Air Circulation Systems: With sandstorms being a constant threat, many buildings have air filtration systems and sealed windows, helping residents survive sand-filled winds. Homes and public spaces are designed to withstand the abrasive environment.
Crane-Operated Lifts: Besides being used for spelunking, the cranes are also essential for transporting cargo and people across the city, as the shifting sands make traditional transportation difficult. These mechanical lifts move between elevated platforms scattered throughout Jinka.
Roads Covered by Metal Roofs: The streets of Jinka are fully enclosed beneath iron-sheet roofs, creating the appearance of an indoor city. This design shields the city’s infrastructure from the relentless sandstorms, allowing commerce and travel to continue without disruption
- Network of Covered Roads: The roofed streets form a labyrinth of corridors, with metal bridges and platforms interconnecting buildings. Some roads are multi-level, with elevated paths allowing for quick access to cranes and other city facilities.
- Ventilation and Lighting: Gaps in the roofs allow filtered light and air to enter, while mechanical vents and exhaust fans maintain airflow. At night, the streets are illuminated by lanterns and Magha-powered lights, creating a surreal glow that lends the city an eerie charm.
- Emergency Barriers: In case of extreme sandstorms, parts of the roofed roads can seal off, converting streets into storm shelters where residents can wait out the worst weather.
Points of interest
The Iron Tower: Jinka’s most iconic landmark is the Iron Tower, a tall structure made entirely of recycled metal scraps scavenged from the desert. The Iron Tower serves as a landmark and navigational tool for travelers lost in the Sandzone. Its height allows it to be seen from miles away, even through the occasional sandstorm. Locals meet at the base of the tower to exchange goods and stories, and it serves as a hub for spelunking contracts and expedition planning.
The Cranes of Jinka: Jinka features a network of massive cranes, which serve as elevators and transportation systems for spelunkers descending into the subterranean ruins. These cranes are vital to spelunking operations, allowing adventurers to safely descend into deep shafts or retrieve heavy artifacts. Many expeditions set up temporary camps near these cranes, using them to transport supplies, relics, and wounded spelunkers back to the surface.
The Iron Wall: Jinka’s defensive wall is built from scraps and debris scavenged from the desert. The wall was initially designed to block sandstorms, but due to miscalculations, it faces the wrong direction—leaving the city still vulnerable to storms. Despite this oversight, the wall now serves as a symbol of the city’s resilience, with locals decorating it with colorful metal art and murals.
Underground Network of Caverns :Jinka sits atop the entrance to the Living Labyrinth, a shifting cave system filled with ancient aqueducts, robotic constructs, and buried relics from the fallen floating island. Expeditions into the labyrinth are dangerous but lucrative, as the caves are home to both hostile constructs and valuable Magha crystals. Some caverns have magnetic fields that interfere with compasses and electronics, making navigation incredibly difficult.
Architecture
Compact and Fortified Homes: Jinka’s buildings are made from recycled iron scraps, with most homes raised on stilts to keep them above the shifting sands. Doors and windows are sealed with thick metal panels, and many homes feature airtight rooms for refuge during sandstorms.
Functional Art and Design: Despite its harsh environment, Jinka’s residents express creativity through metal art, turning discarded parts into sculptures, murals, and decorations. The Iron Wall, in particular, is covered in vivid murals that depict local legends and survivor stories.
Geography
Living Labyrinth's Shifting Paths: The underground cave system seems to change its structure unpredictably, leading some to believe it is alive or magically influenced. Expeditions have vanished without a trace, only to be discovered years later on the other side of the labyrinth.
Climate
Constant Sandstorms: Jinka is relentlessly hit by sandstorms, forcing residents to adapt their lifestyle. During the worst storms, the cranes are locked down, and citizens take refuge in storm shelters beneath the Iron Tower.
Day: During the day, temperatures soar, making it dangerous to travel. The heat reflects off the iron roads and buildings, creating an intense urban heat effect.
Night: At night, temperatures plummet, with some areas experiencing freezing winds. Sandstorms are common even after dark, forcing residents to secure their homes before sunset.
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