Kings
Kings is both a fortress city and an industrial powerhouse, the beating heart of the Nyaan Empire’s steel production and weapon manufacturing. Built atop the ancient Miminian ironworks that once served the floating island of Mimi, Kings has grown into a sprawling hub of industry and recycling. The city plays a critical role in the empire’s expansion, providing the weapons, machinery, and vehicles needed to fuel military campaigns.
However, the rapid industrial growth comes at a cost. Pollution, Magha contamination, and rising social tensions are beginning to take their toll on the population, raising questions about how long the city can sustain itself.
Defences
City Walls: The outer walls are lined with automated defenses, including magical turrets and steam-powered ballistae. During times of war, the city can seal its gates and rely on airship resupply to withstand a siege.
Automated Patrols: The city employs reprogrammed robotic constructs to patrol key areas, such as the Iron Markets and the airship docks. These robots ensure that smugglers and thieves are kept in check, though they occasionally malfunction due to Magha contamination, making them unpredictable.
Industry & Trade
Steel and Weapons Production: The city’s factories and forges produce weapons, armor, and machinery for the empire's military campaigns. Kings is known for its innovative use of Magha-enhanced steel, making its weapons lighter and stronger than conventional designs.
Scrapyard Industry: As the recycling capital of Ysanaf, Kings processes wrecked airships, landships, and discarded machinery from across the world. The scrapyards surrounding the city provide a steady supply of raw materials for its factories.
Trade in Relics and Black Market Goods: Kings is a center for the black market trade of ancient relics, especially those recovered from the Sandzone Desert. This trade draws merchants, explorers, and smugglers from across the empire, though it also brings conflict and intrigue.
Airship Hub: Without a railway connection, Kings relies on its airship docks to export goods and import supplies. The airship fleet stationed here is vital for transporting steel and weapons to imperial outposts.
Infrastructure
Roads and Transportation: Narrow cobblestone streets run through the city center, while wider roads near the Iron Markets accommodate horse-drawn carts and industrial haulers. Despite the importance of the city, railways have yet to reach Kings, making it heavily reliant on airship trade.
Water Supply and Sewers: The city's water supply is drawn from artificial reservoirs fed by rivers diverted from the eastern grasslands. However, the rivers are slowly becoming contaminated from industrial waste, and parts of the sewer system are clogged with discarded machinery and broken relics, leading to frequent flooding in poorer districts.
Power and Lighting: Kings relies on a mixture of coal-powered steam engines and Magha generators to power its industries and street lighting. However, Magha surges occasionally cause blackouts or machinery malfunctions. In wealthier neighborhoods, mechanical lanterns and enchanted light sources provide stable illumination.
Points of interest
The Iron Markets: The Iron Markets are a bustling center of commerce, where everything from raw ore to enchanted weapons is bought and sold. The market is divided into sections, with one area dedicated to legitimate trade and another catering to the black market.
The Great Scrapyard: Located just outside the city walls, the Great Scrapyard is a massive expanse of discarded machines, vehicle wrecks, and rusted iron. Workers spend their days sorting through the debris, recovering valuable parts. Occasionally, constructs reawaken within the scrapyard, creating dangerous situations.
The Hall of Engineers: The Hall of Engineers is where inventors, blacksmiths, and Magha technicians come together to develop new technologies. It serves as both a guild house and research center, attracting some of the brightest minds in Ysanaf.
Airship Docks: The southern district of Kings houses the airship docks, a critical hub for commerce and military operations. The docks are constantly busy with airships coming and going, carrying goods and soldiers to and from distant provinces.
Architecture
The architecture of Kings reflects its industrial purpose and ancient heritage. The city’s buildings are constructed from iron, stone, and wood, with many structures reinforced with steel beams. Some of the ancient Miminian designs remain intact, including ornate towers and intricate ironwork sculptures embedded within the newer factories.
Workshops and Foundries: Most of the city’s buildings are practical and utilitarian, designed to house workshops, factories, and warehouses. Chimneys rise high into the sky, constantly belching smoke.
Blend of Old and New: In wealthier districts, modern structures blend with the remnants of ancient architecture, creating a unique aesthetic. Towers topped with iron spires and mechanical lanterns line the streets, casting eerie light during the night.
Geography
Kings is located southwest of Toroko, near the western provincial border of Mimi. The city lies along the edge of the grasslands, where the fertile plains start to give way to rockier terrain. Its location makes it a key hub for industry and trade, sitting at the crossroads between the resources of Mimi and the trade routes from other parts of Ysanaf.
Kings is surrounded by scrapyards and supply depots, with mountains of iron scrap and rusted machines creating an industrial wasteland that sprawls beyond the city limits. To the west, hills and cliffs form a natural boundary, while the airship docks to the south connect Kings to the broader empire.
Climate
Air Quality: On particularly bad days, residents are required to wear gas masks, as the air becomes dangerously toxic. Long-term exposure to the smog and fumes causes respiratory illnesses among the population.
Seasons: Summers are hot and dry, with dust storms occasionally blowing in from the west. Winters are mild but rainy, with waterlogged streets and clogged sewers causing flooding in some districts.
Comments