The Many Apocalypses of Uruta

Uruta is an ancient world with a complex history. Over the eons, several civilizations have risen and fallen, leaving their mark upon the ancient world.

Modern Cydorian civilization is arguably the most technically and culturally advanced civilization currently on Uruta followed by the Dakazi, Kalloans, and the mysterious and remote Syanese and Yarpans. However, the Cydorian civilization is barely 500 years old.

Cydorian scholars have identified at least seven civilizations that predate the modern age. Little is known about these previous civilizations other than a few legends and the mysterious artifacts and archaeology they left behind.

The following represents all that can be conclusively said regarding these cultures:

The First Age, "the Zuni"

The dakazi of Ragana have a legend that they descend from an ancient race known as the Zuni. The Zuni were a sophisticated race of ophidian sorcerers that ruled Uruta millions of years ago. Purported artifacts and archaeological evidence of Zuni origin have yet to be verified. If the Zuni did exist, they left little behind and are extinct today. Dakazi legends say that the Zuni retreated to cities deep under the surface of Uruta and will one day return to reclaim their mighty empire.

GM Note: The Zuni are, of course, an anachronism. Their presence in the setting disrupts the timeline from our own real timeline and shifts Uruta over to that of a fantasy world or alternative reality. Unless, of course, there really wass a race of serpent-men from dinosaur-times now living at the center of the Earth. Their presence is to provide awesome pulp sword-and-sorcery serpent-men opponents who are secretly scheming for their return to dominance.

The Second Age, "The Pre-Humans"

Archaeological evidence supports the theory that there was once a civilization of pre-human ape-men who built great cities of massive blocks of dark basalt nearly 100,000 years before the modern age. Little is known about this early society but many of their ruined cities are still occupied by their degenerate ape-thing descendants.

GM Note: This is also an anachronism meant solely to provide awesome sword-and-sorcery fights in ancient basalt ruins occupied by degenerate ape-men.

The Third Age, "The Consumers"

The earliest known verifiable civilization on Uruta rose 18,500 years ago. This civilization of pre-humans was based on the use of fossil fuels for energy  and transportation and the rapacious consumption of limited natural resources. It is unknown where this civilization initially arose, but it left its evidence and artifacts across the known world.

This civilization lasted nearly a thousand years before destroying itself in a cataclysmic war over those same resources when they began to diminish. Very little is left from this period other than concentrated areas where layers of congealed rust and bits of concrete can be found about a meter below the surface of Uruta. It is theorized that these areas were once cities. If true, then the first civilization consisted of literally hundreds of thousands of cities, some larger than many modern kingdoms.

The First Interregnum

The fall of the Consumers is marked by a period of several thousand years of poisoned atmosphere, water, and ecosystems. Much of the life of Uruta disappeared during this period and the world resembled a desert planet blasted by toxic clouds of radioactive dust.


GM Note: The Consumers are, of course, our modern society. By the time of Swords of Cydoria, there are no more fossil fuels, period. They were all used up during this period. Indeed, much of the easily available mineral resources of the Earth were extracted and depleted during this time, leaving nothing but rust and dust for future civilizations. Cydorians have to make do with plant and animal-based oils for fuels and lubricants. Although iron and other metals can be easily collected from the fields of rust and re-smelted back into metal, the lack of coal and other fuels kept the Cydorians from experiencing the same industrial revolution we enjoyed. The Consumer civilization fell to a global thermonuclear war sometime around the year 2500 by our reckoning. 

These people are called "pre-humans" in-setting because, although they were actually human, the modern Cydorian believes that humans were created on Uruta by the Sdarans a mere 10,000 years ago. Thus the "humans" of the Third Age couldn't possibly be the same humans as modern Cydorians. And really, that's mostly correct.

The Fourth Age, "the Builders"

Archaeological evidence suggests that a second proto-human civilization rose to dominate the globe 16,000 years ago, known as "the Builders" for their cyclopean cities and massive carvings and statuary. Many Markanian mountains and valleys were carved into the likenesses of heroes and rulers whose names are lost to time. Examples include the Valley of the Kings on the Garza River in Eris, where gargantuan carvings of forgotten kings sit on giant thrones that line the walls of the deep canyon above the Falls of Kanos; the unknown ruler carved into the side of Mount Khos in Targa, guarding a labyrinthine tomb; the ancient City of Columns deep in the Korulan forest; the massive slab foundations under the city of Ramanam; and many others.

The Second Interregnum

The second civilization lasted for four thousand years before being destroyed when what appears to be two rogue planetoids, Asag and Kur, struck Uruta, destroying Thumn and rendering the world uninhabitable for five hundred years.  The impact reshaped the surface of Uruta, creating new continents and seas, lifting new mountain ranges and creating vast rifts and chasms. Meteorites fell upon the surface in a constant fiery rain. The atmosphere was thick with ash and smoke and noxious gases. The skies darkened for centuries. Uruta entered an ice age. The entire world was covered in ice and no living thing could survive.

GM Note: The Builders are the "Egyptians" and "Mayans" of this setting. They arose on the continent of Europe sometime around the year 4000 by our reckoning and built impressive cities out of massive stones. They eventually conquered the world and developed a technologically advanced civilization that included space travel, nuclear power, computers, etc. The Builders are responsible for creating the Cyberdroids.

In the year 5000, they discovered the coming of Asag and Kur and the impending and inevitable collision to occur around the year 8000. Over the next three thousand years, they terraformed and colonized the planets of Mars, Venus, Mercury, Titan, and Ceres and built artificial space stations around Jupiter and at the various trojan points throughout the solar system. The twin planetoids came into Earth orbit in the year 8000. Asag collided with Earth in the Indian Ocean. Kur had a near-miss and got caught in the Earth's orbit. Over several thousand years, Kur has had several near-misses with the Moon, causing enough gravitational stress to break the older satellite apart into several large chunks. Although millions had been relocated from the Earth to the space habitats and terraformed worlds, millions more still perished in the impact. Earth became uninhabitable. 

The Fifth Age, "Nexus"

For a time, the only inhabitants of Uruta were the cyberdroids. Freed from their servitude to the Builders, the cyberdroids developed their own society and culture. They built a network of 64 domed cities across Uruta that would become known as Nexus. The greatest of the cities were Nil and Ohn. The city of Nil was destroyed when they attempted to conquer all of Ohn by infecting the other cities with a plague that corrupted the minds of cyberdroids. The Nilians were defeated by the united armies of the other cities and the plague was stopped, sealed away in vaults deep within Uruta.

Nexus continued to thrive for millenia and the deeds of their great heroes would pass into legend. Eventually, Nexus would collapse city-by-city until only a single city survived: the domed city of Ohn. Technically, no interregnum exists before the rise of Nexus and the coming of the Sdarans.

GM Notes: The first domed city built was 00, later known as "Nil". The second was 01, or "Oh-One". Nil is the source of "evil" robots while Ohn is the source for "heroic" robots.  It was the freed computer virus of the Nilians that corrupted the aya and brought the final downfall of the Sdarans (see below).

The Sixth Age, "The Sdarans"

11,000 years ago, aliens known as the Sdarans came to Uruta. It is unknown from where the Sdarans came, but it is said that they ruled an empire known as the Sdara Vatra that encompassed dozens of worlds, both natural and artificial. The Sdarans were beings of great sorcery and reality-shaping power, able to create worlds from nothing and bend reality to their will. The Sdarians built several colonies on Uruta, the most famous was located in what is today known as Norukar. The Sdarans left behind many powerful artifacts which were collected by their successors, the Adarans, and stored in deep vaults. The Sdarans restored Uruta to habitability after the collision of the planetoid

The Sdarans were a strange race possessing characteristics of cyberdroids and of humanoids (though not necessarily human).

The Sdarans faced two great crises. The first was the result of a great war between worlds as the Sdara Vatra was dissolved. Legends say that entire worlds were destroyed during this period and that all contact between worlds was lost at the end of this great war. The second came at the hands of their artificial servants, the aya. The aya rose up against their masters and caused the collapse of the Sdara Vatra on Uruta. The Sdara Vatra were wiped out overnight.

GM Note: The Sdara Vatra was known as the Solar Federation during their height. They were cyborg transhumanists and other uplifted species with mastery over gravitation, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, terraforming, genetic engineering, force fields, free limitless energy, and even dimensional engineering with the capability to create pocket universes. They ruled all the planets of the solar system and sent colony ships out into the galaxy but FTL technology eluded them. 

The Sdara Vatra were responsible for several major changes to Earth at this time. They brought life back to Earth through extensive and radical terraforming and genetic engineering. They created the global force field known as the Od to a) protect the Earth from the constant rain of meteorites, b) acts a global energy source, c) serve as a medium for the existence of the aya, and d) enhance man's latent psychic powers. They created the "seeds of life" which allowed genetic engineers to create entirely new organisms and species. They created the Guardians as a force to protect the peace throughout the solar system. They are responsible for the myriad new life-forms, including new intelligent sophonts, that exist on Earth during the time of Swords of Cydoria.

By the time of Swords of Cydoria, all that remains of the Sdara Vatra are their relics, their artificial worlds (some abandoned, some still occupied by isolated feral communities), the races they created, and they mysterious and reclusive Zhuvitans.

In story terms, the Sdara Vatra were the "Ancient Astronauts" of the setting, coming to Earth and appearing as gods to the primitive survivors of the Asag impact. In addition, the revolt of the Aya is a futuristic equivalent to Milton's Paradise Lost and the revolt of Lucifer and the Fallen Angels. The aya, for their part, were infected by the recently freed Nilian techno-virus, which corrupted their programming and turned all technology against man-kind. 

The Third Interregnum

The period following the fall of the Sdarians is known as the Third Interregnum. Common belief is that all life on Uruta was created by the Sdarans and continued to evolve after their disappearance. 
At some point during this period, Uruta was visited by aliens from the planet Melkior. These aliens built several subterranean kingdoms and today are known as deru.

Other evidence suggests additional visitations from other alien races such as the Didanians and Phanosians, though how these races entered the Oudh is a mystery.

The Seventh Age, "the Adarans"

6500 years ago, while mankind was still living in caves and following the migrating herds of grazing animals across the steppes, the inhabitants of the city of Adarah, located in what is today the Poison Jungles of Dushan, built an empire that ruled much of eastern Markania and parts of Yarpa. The Adarans consisted of four humanoid races or castes, collectively known as the Naxarians: the Yedrixes, the Jinxes, the Bruxes, and the Orixes. Each of the four caste races served a specialized role in Adaran society.

The Adaran Empire was similar to the Roman Empire in both size, scope, and technology. They conquered much of Markania and came into conflict with the ancient kingdom of the Dakazi in Ragana while mankind still huddled in caves and followed herds of wild animals across the tundra. The Adarans built thousands of great cities across Markania, Cydoria, and even western Yarpa.

The Terat War

3500 years ago, the Adaran Empire fell as a result of a great war with the dark lord Xorin and his twisted army of mutants and hybrids known as terats. Xorin attacked the cities of Adarah with a combination of designer plagues and giant monsters. Although Xorin and his army was ultimately defeated, the damage was done. The cities became uninhabitable and the territories surrounding them became poison jungles infested with terats spawned by uncontrolled generator pits.

Much is known about this civilization as many of its survivors are immortal, the beneficiaries of Xorin's life-altering science, and live to this day. In addition, much of its history was preserved and studied in the universities of Cydoria.

GM Notes: The Adarans are the Romans and/or Atlanteans of Cydoria. They were a great culture that fell to a terrible cataclysm. Their influence is still felt today and their descendants (and even som survivors) live in small enclaves in human cities.

The First Kingdom of Ragana

The dakazi formed the Kingdom of Ragana 4000 years ago when Takshaka, the first Raga of Ragana, conquered the various warring tribes of the lower Garza river valley below the Falls of Kanos. His empire flourished for centuries before it was overthrown by the invading of the Adaran Empire. The dakazi of Ragana lived under Adaran rule for five hundred years until the Adaran armies were forced to withdraw to fight the armies of Xorin. 

The Age of Darkness

Following the fall of the Adaran Empire, the Naxarians scattered and subsisted in caves and forests. A few built new cities but none could regain the glory of the Adaran Empire. There was no civilization for 2000 years.

The Eighth Age, "The Cydorians"

1500 years ago, the humans started to build the City-States of Cydoria. Throughout Uruta, human cities such as those in Kallo, Sya, and Aerapa began to emerge. Sea trade began to flourish tanks to the Fornaxians and the subsequent invention of the Zephyr-ship fifty years ago in Zinj made contact and trade with Sya and Aerapa possible. Modern Cydorian scholars refer to this current period as the "Cydorian Age".

Status of New Version

I am working on a new version of Swords of Cydoria. This new version will incorporate several goals:

1) It will use its own custom system. I am 90% done with the writing the character generation and combat rules. Once its ready, I'll start play-testing and I will make the system available here for anyone to playtest and provide feedback.

2) It will incorporate some setting changes. Some of the changes are cosmetic, name changes to make things sound cooler. Some are more intrinsic.

• the Oudh is no longer a force field, it is still a field surrounding Uruta but it is no longer keeping Rhakadians out. This allows me to have meteor storms and more smugglers. I will provide other reasons to explain why the Rhakadians don't just invade or bomb them from orbit.
• I'm pushing the tech level forward a little bit to make the setting more dieselpunk.
• I'm bringing aya to the forefront a little more, making them more common and fantastic.
• I have completely re-written the Nazarians and the Xoog.
• Nazarians are now Axarians
• Xoog are now Xarian.
• Zorin is now Xorin.
• The Axarians are no longer human.
• Xoog are no longer slave races. The Axarians are now four races divided into castes:
• Yedrix, the thinkers and artists
• Jinx, the servants and craftsmen
• Orix, the warriors and guards
• Brux, the laborers and heavy warriors
• Several barbarian and non-human tribes are graduating to full-blown kingdoms with their own technology.
• I am adding several new kingdoms.
• Arus is now Eris.
• Daka are now Dakazi.
• The Dazumi Pirates are now the Sky-Pirates of Rakar.
• Aero-ships are now called Zephyrs.
• Zephyrium is now called Anemoi.

3) Another big change will be that of focus. I am focusing in on the frontier of Eris and adventuring there. The city-states are remote, distant. All the action will take place out on the borderlands.

4) The core book will be less than 100 pages. That's the hope anyway. I want to keep it small and focused. I can expand the focus in future sourcebooks (see my previous post about the ambitious plan). The focus will be on artifact hunters in the land of Eris.

5) The central location of the setting will be the Free Trade City of Ravaga, a wretched hive of scum and villainy. One part Mos Eisley, one part Las Vegas, one part Casablanca.

More updates are forthcoming, including rules excerpts!

Energy Technology of Cydoria

Here is some more expurgated material that got left out of the main book. What follows is a completely unnecessary level of detail on some elements of Cydorian technology, or at least imported Rhakadian technology used in the Cydorian cities.

Power Generation

Until twenty years ago, the only practical means of producing power in Cydoria was through human effort, windmills, water wheels, or draft animals. Uruta possesses no fossil fuels. Relatively small amounts of combustible oils were obtained from whales or grass seeds. Cydorian scientists had produced a few wood-powered steam-engines, but for the most part these were considered impractical novelties. The ancient artifacts of the Sdara Vatra seemed to work on their own limitless internal power supply and these were understood only by the reclusive and secretive thaumaturges of the Order of Karak or especially learned university scholars. There was, therefore, simply no incentive to produce internal combustion engines.

Contact with the Rhakadian Empire of Malus introduced many new technologies, but most of these required some sort of power source to operate. As part of their commercial arrangement, the Rhakadian Empire provided the cities of the Vrildarian League with advanced energy generation facilities. These power generators broadcast their energy throughout the city without the need for a distribution network of conductive wires. Energy generation plants are immediately identifiable by the large conical power transmitters on their roofs.

In addition, efficient internal combustion engines, fueled by oils from grass seeds and cellulose, and chemically-based portable fuel cells were supplied to the Vrildarians for use in aero-ships, mobile fortresses, and remote military and industrial facilities.

Torium Power Cores

The primary means of generating energy to power Rhakadian technology is the torium power core. The torium core draws electricity from vacuum energy, free energy trapped within the very fabric of the universe. A cylindrical core made of metallic torium is surrounded by a heavy ring of nanocrystalline silicon. After an initial input of electricity to “prime the pump”, the torium generates a matching amount of electricity, creating electromotive force from vacuum energy even after the initial source of electricity is removed. The resulting electrical current can be harnessed to power electrically-powered devices.

The larger the torium core, the greater the electric current.  A one-ton small electric generator powered by a torium core the size of a brick can generate up to a megawatt of electricity, sufficient to drive four two-hundred horsepower aero-ship propulsion engines, while a  one-thousand-ton generator the size of a building can supply over a thousand megawatts, enough to power an industrialized city like Norukar or Vrildar. Generally, a generator will produce one kilowatt per kilogram or one megawatt per ton.

 Torium cores produce free electricity at a constant rate essentially indefinitely. Overloading a generator with more input energy than the torium core can safely generate will cause the core to burn out, rendering it inert and useless. For example priming a one-megawatt torium generator with two megawatts of electricity from an external source will destroy the torium core.

The energy output of a torium power core can fluctuate due to certain environmental conditions. Solar flare activity, regions of strong electromagnetic interference, and regional fluctuations in gravity can affect the output wattage of the generator, causing lights to flare or dim and motors to rev or slow.

Torium Power Cores are large power generators that generate electricity without fuel. These devices are highly restricted. Unauthorized operation of a Torium Power Core is a crime punishable by execution. These devices are not intended for ownership by a character but are listed here for purposes of comparison only.

SIZ	Size	Powers	Value
40	Small vehicle, palette of freight, 1t	Aero-ship, armored mobile-fortress	Restricted
75	Room, shipping container, 10t	factory, large aero-ship	Restricted
137	Small Building, 100t	Small city, industrial uses	Restricted
286	Large building, 1000t	Large Cydorian city	Restricted

Broadcast Power

The energy created by large central torium generators is, in turn, distributed throughout an area using broadcast power. Broadcast power transmits energy safely through the air from a spherical central broadcasting antenna perched atop tall conical towers. Receiver units transform the broadcast energy into useable electricity. The larger the electricity demand, the larger the receiver unit. A small hand-held receiver can supply a few kilowatts of energy, enough to power home appliances or small electronic devices. A large building-sized receiver can supply hundreds of megawatts for industrial applications.

The range of the largest power transmitters is about five kilometers, with most broadcasting to a range of about a kilometer. This broadcast energy is converted into usable electricity by receiver units. Receiver units range from the size of a small hand-held battery to power portable equipment to room-sized converters capable of providing massive amounts of power to industrial applications. These receivers, in turn, power the lights, heating elements, pumps, and electric motors of the city.

For most devices, power is transmitted from broadcast power stations and turned into useable electricity using receiving units. Broadcast power receivers vary in size and capability. A small receiver, a cylinder or flat bar the size of a finger, is sufficient to power most portable hand-hand devices and weapons. A vehicle can be powered by a receiver the size of a brick.

SIZ	Size	Powers	Value
1	AA battery, pack of gum	Hand-held device, computer	Average
1	Baseball, 6V battery, candy bar, 1kg	A cyberslave or cyberdroid, plasma hand-weapon	Average
4	Brick, 12V car battery, 10kg	A small vehicle, plasma cannon	Expensive
8	Backpack, suitcase, 50kg	Shop, laboratory	Expensive
16	Bale of hay, standard shipping box,100kg	Small building	Priceless
40	Small vehicle, palette of freight, 1t	Large building	Restricted
75	Room, shipping container, 10t	Large factory, industrial uses	Restricted

Electrochemical Voltaic Fuel Cell

A less expensive alternative to the torium core generator is the electrochemical voltaic fuel cell. Fuel cells are heavy-duty rechargeable batteries. Fuel cells can be recharged simply by entering the range of a broadcast power station. Most long-range vehicles that are expected to travel away from broadcast power are driven by fuel cells. Many less expensive aero-ships forego expensive torium core generators in favor of affordable fuel cells to power their electric engines. A typical aero-ship driven by fuel cells usually has just enough charge to travel thousand kilometers. 

A Fuel Cell is a more mobile alternative to the broadcast power. Although they are larger, they do not need to be within range of a broadcast power transmitter. However, a fuel cell eventually loses its charge. Fuel cells can be recharged in two to sixteen (2d8) hours using a broadcast power receiver. Fuel cells are usually installed on long-range vehicles and aero-ships. Cyberdroids are also powered by a SIZ 4 fuel cell.

SIZ	Size	Powers	Value
1	Baseball, 6V battery, bar of chocolate, 1kg	Hand-held device, computer	Average
4	Brick, 12V car battery, 10kg	A cyberslave or cyberdroid, plasma hand-weapon	Expensive
8	Backpack, suitcase, 50kg	A small vehicle, plasma cannon	Expensive
16	Bale of hay, standard shipping box,100kg	Shop, laboratory	Priceless
40	Small vehicle, palette of freight, 1t	Small building	Restricted
75	Room, shipping container, 10t	Aero-ship	Restricted

Internal Combustion Engines

Because the atmosphere of the planet Malus is poor in oxygen and lacks fossil fuels, the Rhakadians developed little in the way of internal combustion engines. The internal combustion engines used on Uruta are primarily of Phanosian design. Phanosian internal combustion engines are designed to operate on fuels derived from the grass seeds and cellulose. Compared to fuel cells and torium power cores, internal combustion engines are loud, smelly, and dirty. They require difficult-to-produce and relatively rare fuel. As such, internal combustion engines are generally only found in remote settlements that cannot afford a torium power core. Such settlements grow their own grass for fuel and broadcast the power out to one hundred meters. Since internal combustion engines are not of Rhakadian design, they are considered contraband by the Vrildarian Inquisition.

SIZ	Size	Powers	Value
1	Baseball, 6V battery, bar of chocolate, 1kg	Hand-held device, computer	Inexpensive
4	Brick, 12V car battery, 10kg	A cyberslave or cyberdroid, plasma hand-weapon	Average
8	Backpack, suitcase, 50kg	A small vehicle, plasma cannon	Average
16	Bale of hay, standard shipping box,100kg	Shop, laboratory, village	Expensive
40	Small vehicle, palette of freight, 1t	Small building, town, Aeroship	Priceless
75	Room, shipping container, 10t	Large building, small city	Restricted

The Energy Economy

All torium core electric generators and fuel cells are manufactured by the Rhakadian Empire which uses them to power their mining operations and industrial facilities. Many are traded in exchange for access to mine Uruta’s resources. The Rhakadians provide no more than a two hundred fifty generators of various sizes and five hundred fuel cells a year. Of these, two hundred are assigned to the Vrildarian military while the remaining fifty are awarded to nobles as gifts from the Emperor. In addition, The Phanosians supplied nearly a thousand to the Coalition of Timan before the Ill-fated War. At least half of these have been found and confiscated by the Vrildarian inquisition. Illegal smuggling since the war also introduces another fifty generators to Uruta a year. The end result is that there are roughly seven thousand five hundred torium core electric generators on Uruta.

Owner	Approximate Number of Generators	Use
Rhadkadian Empire	100	A few large industrial-sized generators to power their mining and refining operations and several dozen medium-sized generators on aero-ships and land-vehicles
Vrildarian military	4000	A few large industrial-sized generators to power the larger military bases; many medium-sized generators to power smaller bases, aero-ships, and armored mobile-fortresses; many man-portable units for recharging plasma weapons
Vrildarian nobility	1000	A few large industrial-sized generators to power the large cities and industrial facilities of the east; several hundred medium-sized generators to power aero-ships, and  a few remote settlements and agricultural colonies; a few dozen small man-portable units for personal noble use
Demetrian Resistance	300	A few dozen medium-sized generators to power aero-ships; over two hundred easily hidden man-portable units for recharging plasma weapons or powering small secret hideouts
Dazumi Pirates	200	A handful of large generators to power secret bases; several medium-sized generators to power aero-ships; a few easily hidden man-portable units for recharging plasma weapons
Other	500	Predominantly small-to-medium-sized generators, easily hidden, to power villages, farmsteads, or secret Techno-mystic laboratories

Okay, NOW I'm done writing! This time for reals!

Okay, I finished writing the introductory guide to Norukar. The manuscript is up to 32,665 words.

Now I'm ready to start layout and illustration.

Here's another excerpt.

Norukar: The City of the Gods

Geography of Norukar

The city of Norukar is built on an island in the archipelago of Mnatta. The island takes the shape of eight circular land-masses linked by narrow isthmuses and a common flat plain. Each land-mass is outlined by an almost perfect circular ridge surrounding a flat interior, like eight shallow craters. The ridges form natural walls around the each of the city’s eight neighborhoods. The ridges and the walls constructed atop them are therefore called “Ring-Walls”.

The city is subdivided into eight walled neighborhoods called “Quarters”. Each quarter has its own history and character.

The Old Quarter

The Old Quarter is home to the earliest buildings of Norukar. For many centuries, this neighborhood was Norukar. The Old Quarter contains hundreds of narrow twisting pedestrian streets and cramped, crumbling buildings. The architecture tends to be many centuries old with few reaching higher than ten levels. Within the Old Quarter, one can find most of the city’s small merchants, shops, and services. Hundreds of thousands of the city’s lower class freemen live in tenement houses. The many narrow streets and alleys of the old quarter also provide shelter to the city’s criminal class.

The Harbor

A section of the flat plain south of the Old Quarter’s ring-wall forms the city’s commercial waterfront facing the harbor. The waterfront is lined with docks and warehouses. Here one can find many shops and services that cater to maritime shipping. The criminal guild known as the Hidden Hand controls much of the illegal activity that happens in the harbor.

The Xoog Quarter

The Xoog Quarter is a ghetto devoted to the city’s thousands of free Xoog inhabitants. The Xoog Quarter has its own independent Xoog mayor, administration, and constabulary. The Xoog Quarter is an exotic place of strange customs, spicy foods, intriguing aromas, and startling sounds.  

The New Quarter

The New Quarter is entirely composed of skyscrapers built within the last two decades. It is a glittering display of architecture, power, light, and technology. Buildings reach hundreds of stories into the sky. A monorail wends its way through the canyon-like streets. The buildings are connected by a network of sky-bridges. Spotlights pierce the heavens and holograms dance through the air. Personal electro-vehicles zip around on wide boulevards wile aero-coaches fly from tower to tower.  Hundreds of aero-ships converge on the massive new terminal, the tallest structure yet built by Cydorian man, carrying passengers and freight from across Markania. The Academium Octavium, where new initiates into the brotherhood of the Octavium are trained in the secrets of science and engineering, is also located in the New Quarter.

The Towers

The Towers of the new Quarter are modern marvels of technology, engineering, and architecture. The Towers are skyscrapers built like vertical step pyramids. Many are reinforced by heavy flying buttresses. Most directions and addresses are given in relation to the name of a specific tower. For example, one might be told to look for a specific location on level twenty-two of “Tower Hune”.

Towers vary in height. The smaller towers stand ten to twenty stories, medium-sized towers reach forty to fifty stories, and the tallest soar one hundred to one hundred and fifty stories into the sky. Each tower is connected to the others via sky-bridges on the twentieth, fortieth, and eightieth stories.

The roots of the towers reach hundreds of meters below the streets of Norukar, into the under-levels of the ancient city. The under-levels are home to the slaves that maintain the building and its facilities. Tower facilities such as boilers, pumps, power receivers, etc. can be found in the lowest levels.

The towers at street level are bustling bazaars filled with merchant tents, live animals, and itinerant traders. The first few levels after that are home to the city’s free servants, laborers, and skilled workers. The living conditions at these levels vary from tower to tower from rowdy, raucous places rife with crime to clean, quiet, communities with a strong rule of law.

The twentieth level contains a commercial sector with retail shops, services, theaters, parks, etc. From the twentieth level one can travel to other buildings via the network of sky-bridges. Inhabitants from the lower levels are not allowed onto the twentieth floor or above without a passport.

The towers from the twentieth to the fortieth levels are restricted to the upper class, wealthy merchants, business officers, and other well-to-do members of society. These levels are well patrolled by the city guard and feature many amenities. The levels are mixed-use, combining residential apartments, shops, and commercial offices.

One can find additional shops and services on the fortieth level where the taller buildings connect via an additional layer of sky-bridges. Access to this level is even more restricted than the lower levels.

The higher levels, those above the fortieth levels, are reserved for the nobility and aristocracy of Norukar. These are the largest, most luxurious, most expensive residential apartments in all of Norukar. They are usually well-defended by household guards and maintained by dozens of domestic staff.

On towers with flat roofs, one can find penthouse mansions. These spacious residences are the homes of the most powerful nobles of the Norukarian aristocracy.

The Industrial Quarter

The district known as the Industrial Quarter was once the location of the city’s stock yards, tanneries, smithies, and stone carvers. Today, it is the site of a Torium power plant and broadcast power generators as well as hundreds of large industrial factories producing steel, chemicals, and manufactured goods. Though individual components might be put together by slave-workers in long assembly lines, comprehensive knowledge of the methods of design and production are secrets that are strictly maintained by the Octavium. Industrial waste is dumped directly into the sea off the west shore of the island. Pollution and particulates belch forth from tall smoke-stacks which the prevailing winds carry west towards the mainland. Thales Tower, the largest tower in the Industrial quarter, belongs to the powerful Brotherhood of Lightning guild.

The Ruined Quarter and the Bone Trees

An entire section of the city on the northern section of the island consists of ancient Nazarian ruins. One of the most interesting aspects of these ruins are the Bone Trees, strange white branching spires that protrude from the top of a small hill like stark metal pine trees with no needles. Some of the bone trees are dozens of meters tall. The bone trees are surrounded by a circle of Nazarian standing stones and menhirs and are considered a sacred place. The ruins are a known shadow zone (see Cydoria page 155) and are haunted by psychic ghosts. For this reason, the district has remained abandoned.

The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace is an entire district of the city put aside for the home of the monarch, presently Queen Chador, daughter of Charol. The palace is an ancient walled castle estate surrounded by a lush green woodland park and pond.

The Rhakadian Quarter

The Rhakadians have been given an entire island north of, but in sight of, Norukar. The island is home to thousands of Rhakadians living and working on Uruta. The island has been converted into a Rhakadian city complete with a spaceport capable of receiving and servicing the giant discus-shaped vessels capable of traversing the void of interplanetary space. Rhakadian buildings resemble towering metal cones covered in pipes, grilles, and exhaust stacks. Norukarians find the Rhakadian architecture visually unpleasant. Refined torium, zephyrium, and other resources are delivered via aero-ship and transferred to Rhakadian space-ships for transport elsewhere in the Rhakadian interplanetary empire. Access to the island is strictly controlled. Traffic to and from the island is monitored at all times and subject to interception and inspection by Norukarian the aero-navy.

History of Norukar

City of the Sdara Vatra

It is well established that the city of Norukar pre-dates mankind. The islands of the Mnatta archipelago were once the site of an important city of the Sdara Vatra. The raised foundations and circular ridge-walls, as well as the mysterious Bone Trees, are all that remain above ground of what must have been magnificent cities. Below ground, one may find ample evidence of the Sdara Vatra. The raised circular foundations beneath the city are riddled with passages connecting thousands of subterranean chambers and galleries, some impossibly huge with ceilings supported by massive columns. The sub-levels, as they have become known, descend deep into Uruta. Some shafts have no known bottom. The sub-levels closest to the surface have been explored and colonized by the people of Norukar, using them for slave quarters, boiler rooms, and conduits for air ducts and steam, water, and sewage pipes. The deeper sub-levels remain untapped and unexplored.

Since the fall of the Sdara Vatra, the city fell into ruin. Over thousands of years, mankind returned to the site, building layer upon layer of city over each successive civilization. The last major civilization to leave its mark were the Nazarians. It was the Nazarians that gave the island the name Norukar, though some evidence suggests that the name is much older, pre-dating even the Sdara Vatra. The Nazarian city fell over fifteen hundred years ago during the War of Zorin. The ruins on the northern tip of the island remain as testament to that lost civilization.

The modern city of Norukar was established by Targan sailors and colonists nearly a thousand years ago. It began as a sea-port, its harbor protected from the strong winds and rough seas of the Targan coast. The city was built along what is today the Old Quarter. The original walls were constructed soon afterwards.

Over the next millennium, the city of Norukar became a center of trade, industry, and technological advancement. The Octavium Order perfected many modern construction and engineering principles, making it possible to build towers reaching ten, twenty, sometimes thirty stories into the sky. The relatively recent concept of assembly line mass-production allowed Norukar to become an economic power-house among the other City-States. Prior to contact with the Rhakadians, Norukar was the commercial, architectural, and technological center of Cydoria.

The Modern City

The city underwent a major period of growth following the arrival of the Rhakadians twenty years ago. Advanced alien building techniques were shared with the Octavium, allowing them to create taller buildings in half the time. New technologies created new industries and markets. The city quickly expanded. The New Quarter was built over the site of an older agricultural district. The Industrial Quarter was completely rebuilt to accommodate new manufacturing techniques and technologies.

Politics of Norukar

The city-state of Norukar is a hereditary monarchy ruled by Queen Chador. The title of Sovereign is passed to the oldest legitimate child, male or female, of the previous monarch. The queen herself makes key administrative court appointments. Such positions are typically awarded to ranking members of the nobility. Although administrative positions are hereditary, the queen reserves the right to revoke a position and award it to someone else. The queen is advised by a privy council of trusted friends. The privy council holds no actual official political powers. Instead, they wield indirect power through their influence on the queen’s decisions.

Politics in Norukar is competitive and cutthroat, sometimes literally so. Assassination attempts between rivals are commonplace despite being outlawed. Norukarian politics is also traditionally corrupt. Officials use their position to extract gifts, payouts, and favors. Bribes are an effective way to sway an official’s opinion or to expedite or remove any bureaucratic impediments.

Technology of Norukar

Even before the coming of the aliens with their advanced electronic technology, the city of Norukar was renowned for its technical sophistication. Norukar was the first city to have towers built from steel-frame construction and the first city to have indoor plumbing connected to a city-wide sewer system. A generation ago, one would see horse-drawn carriages navigating the streets between twenty-story towers, a few primitive internal combustion engines, ballistic pistols powered by compressed air, complex clock-work mechanisms, and industrial automation driven by water wheels and wind turbines. Today, one is more likely to see aero-cars floating between massive towers half-a-kilometer high, street cars propelled by broadcast power, deadly plasma pistols and vibro-swords, and massive electric motors powering high-speed industrial machines.

Octavium

The design and maintenance of all technologies in the city of Norukar are overseen and controlled by the mysterious order known as the Octavium. The Octavium is one part monastic religious order, one part secret society, and one part trade guild association. Each of the eight brotherhoods of the Octavium oversees a different specialty. One brotherhood is responsible for heat distribution, another for plumbing, and another for iron-work and architectural construction. There are no towers built that were not designed by, whose construction was not overseen by, and that are not maintained by the Octavium. The Octavium is therefore an incredibly powerful political and social force in Norukar and across Cydoria. The Octavium Tower is one of the largest towers in Norukar, second only to the aero-ship terminal tower. Within the Octavium Tower, the organization initiates new members and trains them at the Academium Octavium.

Twenty years ago, a ninth brotherhood was created. The Brotherhood of Lightning specializes in electricity and electronics and has quickly become the most powerful guild in Cydoria. All electric motors, broadcast power transmitters and receivers, and electrically powered devices were designed by, purchased from, and maintained by the Brotherhood of Lightning. The Brotherhood of Lightning is nominally a part of the Octavium, but the new order is highly independent and is distrusted by the eight other traditional guilds. The Thales Tower, headquarters of the Brotherhood of Lightning, is located near the broadcast power transmitters in Norukar’s industrial quarter.

Strict laws protect the monopoly of the Octavium and the Brotherhood of Lightning so a thriving black market of underground engineers and technicians known as techno-heretics exist as an alternative. Techno-heretics believe that to understand technology is to understand the mysteries of the universe. They reject the orthodoxy of the Octavium and strive to share technological innovation with the masses. Techno-heretics are considered rebels and criminals so many claim false affiliation with the Octavium in order to work more openly.

Broadcast Power

By far the greatest of the Rhakadian technologies is that of broadcast power. In Norukar, torium reactors generate electricity which is radiated wirelessly throughout the city via massive conical transmission towers in the Industrial Quarter. No electric transmission wires are used. All one needs to power any electric device is a broadcast power receiver. The larger the receiver, the more electricity provided.

Powered Lifts

Powered lifts are a kind of elevator used in Norukarian towers. Instead of ascending and descending using steel cables and winches, Norukarian powered lifts use four small lift engines. Powered lifts operate like miniature aero-skiffs constrained to a shaft. The powered lifts are attached to a scaffold of four rails and safety brakes which halt the platform should the power receivers fail. The advantage of a powered lift over a cable-based elevator is that the height of the lift shaft need not be limited to the length and strength of the cable.

Aero-coaches

Aero-coaches are small personal aero-ships meant to transport anywhere from two to twenty people over short distances. They can be enclosed, covered by a glass canopy, or open like a convertible. They usually feature comfortable leather seats, wood paneling, and interior heating and air conditioning. Aero-coaches are expensive and private coaches remain the domain of the rich and powerful. Aero-coach taxis are available for hire on the landing platforms of most tower sky-bridge concourses.

Aero-ships

Aero-ships are aircraft that float through the sky using the anti-gravitational properties of zephyrium to provide lift and ducted fans for thrust, powered by rechargeable fuel cells. They skies above Norukar swarm with aero-ship traffic from all over the continent of Markania. Most aero-ships converge on the newly constructed aero-ship terminal tower, the largest building in Norukar and the dominant feature of the city’s skyline. While docked at the terminal, an aero-ship can recharge is fuel cells using broadcast power in two to twelve hours.

The Monorail Network

With the rapid expansion of the city, it soon became difficult to walk from one part of the city to the other in a practical amount of time, and few merchants and traders could afford aero-coaches or elecro-carrriages. So fifteen years ago, Queen Charol, Chador’s predecessor, ordered the construction of a monorail network to connect each of the various districts of the city. The monorails and cars are of Rhakadian design. They are long rounded cylinders of glass and steel suspended from an overhead track. There are, in actuality, three monorail networks: one blow ground and two above ground. The first above-ground network operates just above street-level, roughly ten to twenty meters off the ground, and is accessible from stairs that lead to terminal platforms. The second above-ground network is suspended below the sky-bridges. The sky-bridge mono-rails are reserved for the middle and upper classes. The sky-bridge mono-rails literally pass through the center of the towers. The below-ground system is located ten to twenty meters below the street-level and is used exclusively by the city’s slaves.

Electro-carriages

The most common form of street transportation is the electro-carriage, tear-drop shaped wheeled vehicles propelled by an electric motor powered by broadcast energy. Electro-carriages are the vehicle of choice for the merchant class. The streets at ground-level are often too crowded with pedestrians and animal traffic for efficient electro-carriage traffic. Instead, most electro-carriages are found zipping from tower to tower on the sky-bridges.

Communication

Telecommunication, either via radio or cable, is not a technology that exists on Uruta. The energy field known as the Oudh disrupts the wavelengths of any such transmission. Communication in Norukar is handled via couriers, generally young human or jinx slave runners who carry hand-written messages to their recipients. Couriers are available for hire on every street corner and in every public place. Couriers wear special uniforms and carry passes granting them limited access normally restricted public areas in order to deliver their messages.