King's Metropolis
The Cradle of Rebirth
Demographics
There are two kinds of creatures within the new world: Humans and their chattel. Unfortunately for most of southern Zamzara, meek humans count as chattel, not people. The vast majority of the Metropolis's inhabitants are slaves, only fit to labor in service of their betters - the true heirs of civilization and progress. Only power matters in a post-Kalyugi world, and the land of strength has swat down those who believed otherwise. Only 1 in 8 of its inhabitants have the honor of citizenship, the rest being too pathetic or too inhuman to deserve it.
Most of the slave labor comes from monsters that were captured, cowed, or beaten into submission. Some especially brutal monsters have willingly worked with The Bloody Cross simply to have power over the weak, but are not considered true allies - merely tools that want to be used. The majority of human slaves are either conscripted into The Bloody Cross and brainwashed or handle the rebellious monster slaves so the citizens avoid needless danger. Monsters handle almost all of the risky work, while the remaining human slaves toil away in smithies, farms, or harems.
Government
The only ruler of the metropolis is King, who holds complete power over all aspects of life here. Beneath him are his three generals: Vishaal, the Military General; Wushen, the Mage General; and Mira, the Administrative General. Each of them is charged with governing the various parts of his expanding empire - Vishaal finds and secures new territory, Wushen advances The Bloody Cross's technological operations, and Mira ensures resources are allocated properly and that the citizens are taken care of. Of these three, Mira is typically the only one who can be found here, as the other two have duties elsewhere.
All citizens of King's Metropolis work in service to King and his ideals. They do not pay taxes, but this is because any resources produced belong to the state. There are various Ministries of production, all of which answer to Mira. Slaves, while they do work for the Ministries, are not considered members of them and are more akin to tools. They receive the resources necessary to stay alive and perform their designated function, while the citizens of the metropolis have nearly free access to things like food or Pokeballs and merely need to requisition them through the Ministry of Joy. It is the kingdom's belief that its citizens can be well provided for, once monsters are controlled and made to stop competing for resources.
In order to become a citizen of the metropolis, one must pass a simple test: Capture six monsters and return them to the metropolis... without Pokeballs. Particularly rare or powerful monsters can count as multiple instances, but few people are capable of obtaining one. Once all six have been brought forth for processing, the newly adorned citizen is allowed to keep one in a Pokeball, as a sign of their dominion over the beasts. The intent is that only those dedicated and capable enough to fight back against the monster horde are worthy of being treated as human beings, as it was the weakness of mankind that allowed The Kalyugi to happen in the first place.
The law holds its citizens in high standing, as minor infractions are punished with restrictions on what they can procure while major infractions can result in a revocation of one's citizenship, followed by enslavement. This is typically reserved for those who murder other citizens or are found guilty of treason. However, a citizen's life, even if their citizenship is lost, is considered too valuable to waste, and there is no death penalty for their crimes. Slaves, on the other hand, only have the rights that the Ministries allow them for their specific purposes - a guard slave might be allowed to carry a weapon, while other slaves would be killed on sight for wearing them, or an administrative slave may be permitted autonomy within certain zones. Slaves caught acting out of line are generally allowed to be treated however the person who caught them likes, so long as they are capable of working afterwards. If their behavior would warrant a worse punishment, they are detained and brought before the Ministry of Objectivity to be judged fairly and truthfully.
Defences
The man-made badlands surrounding the metropolis are dotted with towers, the roads deliberately crafted to give their archers more time to fire at the enemy, while the cliffs and bluffs are constructed so that a defending force can easily move from cover to cover while denying it to any attackers. Only half of the soldiers posted outside the metropolis are slaves - the other half keep them in line and pointed at the foe. Each tower is outfitted with a spotter armed with a telescope, five archers, five warriors, two mages, and a single cannoneer, plus their armaments. Each also has a carrier Pidgey, to maintain communications, and an Elgyem whose function is to scan the minds of the soldiers, rooting out insubordination before it even happens by removing the offending memories from the bandit's mind. As each tower also has at least one citizen responsible for it - these both result in dedicated slaves who are terrified of failure, knowing how cheap their lives are.
The metropolis only has walls surrounding Atman's Rest, as the pyramid is being constructed on the site where the metropolis was initially founded and subsequently fortified. Between the copious amounts of enslaved monsters, the well-trained soldiers, and the always-armed citizenry, any intruder who makes it past the badlands into the city itself is in for overwhelming odds. Simply flying into the metropolis is also a poor idea, as he has a dedicated aerial strike team that never strays more than 1 day's flight away from the metropolis - The Steel Wings. The five members ride Skarmorys into battle and fight in nearly perfect unison, having hundreds of hours of drills to hone their abilities, and they intercept anything trying to fly into King's domain.
Industry & Trade
King's Metropolis relies on exploiting the resources in its area - especially monsters. Almost all of its industry is generated through monstrous labor and human refinement, then used in the development of the city - nearly nothing is exported. It imports goods from nearby areas that The Bloody Cross has conquered, the most prominent of which is Vira Nagara. Monsters are transported from all the nearby regions to the metropolis to be given a new purpose, and they receive enough shipments of Apricorns and Prana-infused yew wood from Mummy's Isle to field an army of arcanists and keep many monsters in line.
Infrastructure
The outlying areas of the metropolis have been terraformed into nearly inhospitable terrain as more and more monsters were used to create pit and strip mines. The excavated earth from this work has been strategically placed throughout the territory to form a badlands around the city, as well as shore up the coastline to eliminate the issue of flooding. There are three concrete roads leaving the city headed west, south, and northeast, and they weave throughout the blasted landscape to allow the limestone towers more time to fire at intruders. Due to frequent rains, many of the older strip mines resemble massive slurries of stone and mud if they are not regularly maintained.
The metropolis itself consists of three massive limestone towers - intricately carved and impossibly tall, each of them outstrips The Bodhana Spire in height, the smallest tower being twice as tall, and the largest nearly three times as much. They are built around what is to be King's crowning achievement: the most technologically and spiritually advanced compound in the world, crafted in the shape of a pyramid whose three corners meet each of the towers. Through coercion, intimidation, and enslavement, King was able to locate some of the finest minds and souls on this side of Zamzara and bring them to his cause, where they work to improve all humanity.
Most of the fruit of this scholarly labor is directed into the pyramid, dubbed Atman's Rest. Filled with stolen industrial machinery, recovered rituals, and hundreds of monsters under study, it is continuously learning more and more about the world, both physical and immaterial, as well as the true nature of monsters and their role in The Kalyugi. Although it is only halfway built, its facilities rival even those of Sagara Nagara... mostly due to the subterfuge undertaken in the aforementioned city. Atman's Rest has been built quickly, but not carelessly.
The three towers are known as the Sun Spire, Moon Monolith, and Eclipse Edifice. Each is devoted to a different cause - the Sun Spire is where most of the citizens of the metropolis live, and is the shortest tower. The Moon Monolith contains the production of magical materials, including Pokeballs and Floatstone, and is the second shortest tower. The Eclipse Edifice is home to the smiths, training areas, and 'education centers', and is the tallest tower. While the most crucial research and development is carried out within Atman's Rest, the Moon Monolith and Eclipse Edifice both invest their resources heavily into the production of new tools of warfare, food production, and monster 'domestication'.
Assets
Most of the metropolis's resources are collected from The Curious Savannah, mostly composed of rubber, limestone, hardwood, and various minerals and chemicals extracted from the ground, like saltpeter, sulfur, and quicksilver. Much of these materials are used for construction and manufacturing armaments for warfare. Most of the monsters within the city are used for labor, not as protection. This ranges from Electric monsters powering generators to Psychic monsters predicting the weather to improve future harvests. Much of the development of the metropolis is due to the enslavement of these creatures, and as they grow more capable of containing them, they are able to bring more to the city, hastening its construction.
History
King's Metropolis is a brand new city, built nearly overnight in comparison to the decades settlements took to grow before The Kalyugi. King arrived at this location five years ago, when it was nothing more than a stretch of grassland and rocky coastline. Along with Vishaal, Wushen, and Mira, they began to terraform the area to uncover natural resources, their monsters doing most of the heavy lifting. After the initial foundations were set, where Atman's Rest is today, King sent Mira out to nearby settlements to poach as many willing subjects as she could find. After she traveled The Curious Savannah and came back with people hungry for more out of life, they were trained in the arts of warfare by Vishaal, who then led them to conquer those towns in King's name.
They fell one by one until the burgeoning army arrived at Vira Nagara, spears raised to the skies and monsters assaulting from all sides. After a brutal siege, King himself arrived to scale the walls and tear through the heavy weaponry that had been holding his army at bay, culminating in a duel between King and the governor of the city, with obvious results. With its fall, The Bloody Cross had acquired relatively great wealth and a number of fine minds who would go on to prove to be cornerstones in swelling the ranks of not only his army, but his new metropolis. After spending time securing his hold over the savannah, he turned his eyes westward to expand his domain...
Architecture
The vast majority of the metropolis is constructed out of limestone, hauled in massive quantities from Mount Jagen atop the backs of beasts. The most talented stonemasons and designers from Vira Nagara were conscripted into The Bloody Cross for their artistry and... obedience. As a result, much of the city looks like its conquered neighbor - the tall towers are smooth, fairly straight and wrought of as few slabs as possible, with many deep crevasses, buttresses, and imposing statues giving the towers an ornate and intimidating look. Each tower stands atop a mighty and experimental foundation, where giant steel girders were sunk into the ground and sealed by concrete.
Atman's Rest, in contrast, is completely smooth and featureless, as there is no way inside from the ground level. The three towers all have guarded underground tunnels leading underneath the pyramid, magnificently spacious and carved with the history of The Bloody Cross... as well as its future, although the carvings are yet to be finished. The pyramid is planned to be 200 meters tall, and is constructed with a combination of monster and child labor. It is roughly 100 meters tall now and its operational facilities are mostly underground and in the first 2 floors - the inside is just as featureless as the outside.
Aside from the towers and pyramid, the other buildings here are also made of limestone. No effort is made to beautify them, as they are mostly slave quarters, storage, and living quarters for travelers. These are all simple, rectangular buildings with flat rooftops and a sturdy construction. Any slaves caught trying to improve their living conditions are punished for their weakness.
Type
Large town
Inhabitant Demonym
The Metropolitans
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
Characters in Location
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