(no subject)
Ah...with so many new faces I figured I should write up my own guide to the City.
As some of you already know, I am Ryuzaki. I have not been here as long as some but I have been studying the City and its inhabitants since my arrival, polling the Citizens, and researching the curses and histories of this place.
The City: An Overview
The first thing that one must understand about the City is that the Citizens use the term "City" as convenient nomenclature. The City is actually a self-contained universe. You cannot hop on the 4:11 train and ride into the next town. There are no other towns. There is nothing else than this single metropolis. Beyond the City limits there is a forested area inhabited by monsters and beasts. A few people have chosen to also live there. There is also a beach and ocean but there is nothing beyond the forest or the sea. You cannot sail away from the City. You cannot fly away from it. If you visit the beach you will see a great crimson needle; that is a starship known as the Durandal and even it has failed to leave this place.
The City connects directly to other worlds, times, and planes of existence which are viewable at the fountain in Misery Square, though the fountain can lie in the images it reveals. The City draws people from a multitude of dimensions into its walls. Here you may see people you've thought were dead and here you may see people who are completely unlike anything you've ever dreamed of. Once upon a time it was possible, I am told, to communicate directly with the worlds outside the City over the Network but direct connections have been severed. The Network, back then, also permitted you to speak to only those fated to come here. Back then the Fountain could also be used as a way of sending physical objects to loved ones in other worlds. None of this is possible anymore, but it shows how connected the City truly is.
The City is a giant clock, the center of which is the carousel. The buildings are arranged to match a clock face and these buildings are the main residential areas of the City. The clockwork and gears lie in the Underground which is itself as big as, if not bigger than, the metropolis. When you are alone you can hear the ticking of the clock. Living with a roommate or a pet assuages the sound considerably. Nobody knows what it is the clock is keeping the time of and many people assume it is counting down to the end of this world, or of the worlds outside, but no evidence exists to support either theory. If the latter is true then the nature of the City is that of an Ark, protecting the people drawn into it from the megaversal collapse. I personally do not believe this to be true since the City seems to thrive off of misery, as suggested by the name of the Misery Square. If the place were created to protect, then it would not make itself so hostile. The deities who run the City curse the place regularly to create emotions that, according to some, help keep this place running. More on the curses and deities later.
The City has a certain level of consciousness in how it interacts with us. Because of this no recognized law of the City is true one hundred percent of the time. The dead cannot leave, except for when they mysteriously do, loved ones cannot appear and take you home, except for when the City allows it, those seeking escape cannot find escape, except for when they do. But these occurrences are so rare it is best to think of them as impossibilities.
Transportation
The City fluctuates constantly (Xanadu park used to be smaller) so no map is ever entirely correct though maps do now exist of the physical layout. Before there were any dependable maps it was possible to travel by walking and picturing your destination in your mind. You would arrive there before long, though sometimes the City would bring you everywhere but the place you wanted to go. Now that there is a map, I am not one hundred percent certain that such travel is possible.
There are trains, taxis, subway stations and other means of getting around, such as those you would find in any city.
As far as arrivals and departures from the City itself go...It is nearly impossible to come or go of your own free will (it would seem that nothing here is truly impossible, though many things are incredibly unlikely). The methods by which people arrive here are as varied as the demographic itself. I have discovered no set pattern to it. If you were seeking to get here then you only got here because the City allowed it. The City sometimes will also open up portals to a person's homeworld but the portals do not stay open for long. The more a person seeks to find an escape, the more the City will resist providing them with one. Leaving the City is possible, many have done so before, but often the City will draw you back, though you may not possess any memory of it. I am told that I, myself, have been here before. I got a respiratory disease and my apartment was attacked by zombies. I know this only because I've been informed of it but I have no memory of ever being here before. Some people regain their memories after a time.
The Deities and the Curses
I am informed that there was once one deity here, an entity known as Yoshito who was a bit overly fun-loving but did not mean harm to anybody. It was his assistant, Kaen, who introduced the curses to the City and though neither Kaen nor Yoshito remain amongst the "administrators" the curses are still here and have become every bit as much a part of the City as the brick and mortar.
What Kaen was aiming to do with the curses is unknown but it was apparently important enough that the deities continue to curse us. It is believed that the curses bring up strong emotions, often negative ones, to help keep this dimension functional or to appease whoever or whatever it is that controls the deities. Only the deities themselves know and they will not tell us.
Curses typically occur every 2-3 days and range from harmless and strange to being incredibly dangerous. We have had a day our skin tasted like ice cream, and we have had a day where the City relived the experience of the Earth-plane's Black Death; a terrible pandemic that is estimated to have killed off between one or two thirds of the population of Europe. That is, seventy-five million people. Sometimes we have "themed" curses occurring back-to-back for a week but ninety-three percent of the curses last for only twenty-four hours and those that last longer have not ever been observed running past the end of a month. Curses can alter the City itself, they can alter physical appearance, they can alter temperament and desire. Those affected by curses that alter the mind can sometimes restrain themselves once they notice the symptoms, or have somebody close by who can talk sense in to them. Not everyone possesses this ability and it requires a great amount of willpower. So far, no mind-altering curse affects everybody in exactly the same way. Once a curse has run for its full duration, the City reverts back to its normal state. Sometimes, citizens possess no memory of their behavior during curse days but eighty-seven percent of the time, they do remember and feel humiliated. Nobody is immune to curses.
The current deities, as of this posting, are Lenny, Maemi, Mouse, Paracelsus (he would have you refer to him as "Paulie" on threat of violence), and Sabine. Paulie is the one I have seen and spoken with most often. The deities are impassive, for the most part. They are here to observe us. They do not personally get involved in our lives. But it is possible to ask them for favors, the most common favor being a request to restore someone to life. Their bargaining prices are often steep. For example, you could raise a loved one from death but they may ask that you sacrifice memories, perhaps even memories pertaining to said loved one.
It is important to never say or do anything that may upset the deities as they exact their revenge in terrible ways. Generally, if you let them do their thing, they will let you do yours.
Death
If a person is killed in the City they are dead for twenty four hours before their bodies once again become functional. However, to say they have come “back to life” is misleading as they are not quite the same as before. They will be cold to the touch, without a heartbeat, and they will not find it necessary to breathe. It is thought that the spirits of the dead are of vital importance to the City’s true purpose since sometimes the dead are drawn here and those who die here cannot leave the City, they belong to it. So while you will get back up after being killed, it is strongly advised that you guard your life with as much caution as you would back home, for once you are killed you can never go home. As long as you are alive your chances of escape are not zero.
Which is not to say that dead never leave the City-plane. It is simply an extremely rare occurrence. Some of the deceased have vanished from the City only to return again. I myself serve as such an example. Where they disappear to is unknown and it may be they do not return to their homeworlds but to some distant limbo instead before being torn out of time and placed back into the City walls.
The dead can die a second time within the City. And my own experiments have shown that the dead can also grow ill. Aside from the lack of pulse and breath and general slow-down in reflexes the dead and the living function the same way.
Economics
For a very long time, the City had no real system of money but rather functioned off of a bartering system. While all the amenities and necessities of life are still provided, they now must be paid for.
Our monetary system consists of polychromatic coins:
Red=1/10 of an Orange.
Orange=10 Reds. (about equal to the price of one cup of coffee)
Yellow=5 Oranges =5 cups of coffee.
Green=10 Oranges=10 cups of coffee.
Blue=50 Oranges=50 cups of coffee.
Violet = 100 Oranges =100 cups of coffee.
Indigo=500 Oranges = 500 cups of coffee.
Rent is often in the Indigos. Bear in mind that you do not need to purchase a place to live there. You merely settle in and start paying. Your new home will change to suit your needs. Some apartments have grown in size, utilizing extradimensional space, to house more people. To find a place to live, ask the Network. The Buildings always have openings. And if apartment buildings do not suit your fancy there are other residential areas in the metropolis and the Underground as well. Once again, ask the Network for help.
Luckily our metropolis is big and just about everyone is hiring constantly. With some determination it should not be difficult to find employment. Children (those under eighteen) and the physically elderly receive free housing but many children and elderly seem to be trying to obtain part time work regardless.
Places worth applying to:
*The shops around Misery Square
*Seventh Heaven
*Café Juliet
*Pandora Restaurant
*City Jail
*City Courthouse
You should also try asking around the Network for employment opportunities. Some individuals are always seeking help and are not publicly advertising.
Politics
As new as the monetary system is the justice system. It is too young at this point for me to go into much detail but the way it seems to be set up is without any central judge or set system of lawyers. The legal codes used in each case are agreed upon ahead of time in relation to the people involved. The lawyers that are appointed were lawyers in their homeworlds. Those who are sentenced to serve jail time go to the island prison. The prison is monitored by a bi-monthly elected Warden. The first elected Warden was Yagami Light.
And that is about it...There is, of course, more, but those are things you are best off discovering for yourself.
If anybody has any questions please feel free to ask and I shall do my best to answer.
As some of you already know, I am Ryuzaki. I have not been here as long as some but I have been studying the City and its inhabitants since my arrival, polling the Citizens, and researching the curses and histories of this place.
The City: An Overview
The first thing that one must understand about the City is that the Citizens use the term "City" as convenient nomenclature. The City is actually a self-contained universe. You cannot hop on the 4:11 train and ride into the next town. There are no other towns. There is nothing else than this single metropolis. Beyond the City limits there is a forested area inhabited by monsters and beasts. A few people have chosen to also live there. There is also a beach and ocean but there is nothing beyond the forest or the sea. You cannot sail away from the City. You cannot fly away from it. If you visit the beach you will see a great crimson needle; that is a starship known as the Durandal and even it has failed to leave this place.
The City connects directly to other worlds, times, and planes of existence which are viewable at the fountain in Misery Square, though the fountain can lie in the images it reveals. The City draws people from a multitude of dimensions into its walls. Here you may see people you've thought were dead and here you may see people who are completely unlike anything you've ever dreamed of. Once upon a time it was possible, I am told, to communicate directly with the worlds outside the City over the Network but direct connections have been severed. The Network, back then, also permitted you to speak to only those fated to come here. Back then the Fountain could also be used as a way of sending physical objects to loved ones in other worlds. None of this is possible anymore, but it shows how connected the City truly is.
The City is a giant clock, the center of which is the carousel. The buildings are arranged to match a clock face and these buildings are the main residential areas of the City. The clockwork and gears lie in the Underground which is itself as big as, if not bigger than, the metropolis. When you are alone you can hear the ticking of the clock. Living with a roommate or a pet assuages the sound considerably. Nobody knows what it is the clock is keeping the time of and many people assume it is counting down to the end of this world, or of the worlds outside, but no evidence exists to support either theory. If the latter is true then the nature of the City is that of an Ark, protecting the people drawn into it from the megaversal collapse. I personally do not believe this to be true since the City seems to thrive off of misery, as suggested by the name of the Misery Square. If the place were created to protect, then it would not make itself so hostile. The deities who run the City curse the place regularly to create emotions that, according to some, help keep this place running. More on the curses and deities later.
The City has a certain level of consciousness in how it interacts with us. Because of this no recognized law of the City is true one hundred percent of the time. The dead cannot leave, except for when they mysteriously do, loved ones cannot appear and take you home, except for when the City allows it, those seeking escape cannot find escape, except for when they do. But these occurrences are so rare it is best to think of them as impossibilities.
Transportation
The City fluctuates constantly (Xanadu park used to be smaller) so no map is ever entirely correct though maps do now exist of the physical layout. Before there were any dependable maps it was possible to travel by walking and picturing your destination in your mind. You would arrive there before long, though sometimes the City would bring you everywhere but the place you wanted to go. Now that there is a map, I am not one hundred percent certain that such travel is possible.
There are trains, taxis, subway stations and other means of getting around, such as those you would find in any city.
As far as arrivals and departures from the City itself go...It is nearly impossible to come or go of your own free will (it would seem that nothing here is truly impossible, though many things are incredibly unlikely). The methods by which people arrive here are as varied as the demographic itself. I have discovered no set pattern to it. If you were seeking to get here then you only got here because the City allowed it. The City sometimes will also open up portals to a person's homeworld but the portals do not stay open for long. The more a person seeks to find an escape, the more the City will resist providing them with one. Leaving the City is possible, many have done so before, but often the City will draw you back, though you may not possess any memory of it. I am told that I, myself, have been here before. I got a respiratory disease and my apartment was attacked by zombies. I know this only because I've been informed of it but I have no memory of ever being here before. Some people regain their memories after a time.
The Deities and the Curses
I am informed that there was once one deity here, an entity known as Yoshito who was a bit overly fun-loving but did not mean harm to anybody. It was his assistant, Kaen, who introduced the curses to the City and though neither Kaen nor Yoshito remain amongst the "administrators" the curses are still here and have become every bit as much a part of the City as the brick and mortar.
What Kaen was aiming to do with the curses is unknown but it was apparently important enough that the deities continue to curse us. It is believed that the curses bring up strong emotions, often negative ones, to help keep this dimension functional or to appease whoever or whatever it is that controls the deities. Only the deities themselves know and they will not tell us.
Curses typically occur every 2-3 days and range from harmless and strange to being incredibly dangerous. We have had a day our skin tasted like ice cream, and we have had a day where the City relived the experience of the Earth-plane's Black Death; a terrible pandemic that is estimated to have killed off between one or two thirds of the population of Europe. That is, seventy-five million people. Sometimes we have "themed" curses occurring back-to-back for a week but ninety-three percent of the curses last for only twenty-four hours and those that last longer have not ever been observed running past the end of a month. Curses can alter the City itself, they can alter physical appearance, they can alter temperament and desire. Those affected by curses that alter the mind can sometimes restrain themselves once they notice the symptoms, or have somebody close by who can talk sense in to them. Not everyone possesses this ability and it requires a great amount of willpower. So far, no mind-altering curse affects everybody in exactly the same way. Once a curse has run for its full duration, the City reverts back to its normal state. Sometimes, citizens possess no memory of their behavior during curse days but eighty-seven percent of the time, they do remember and feel humiliated. Nobody is immune to curses.
The current deities, as of this posting, are Lenny, Maemi, Mouse, Paracelsus (he would have you refer to him as "Paulie" on threat of violence), and Sabine. Paulie is the one I have seen and spoken with most often. The deities are impassive, for the most part. They are here to observe us. They do not personally get involved in our lives. But it is possible to ask them for favors, the most common favor being a request to restore someone to life. Their bargaining prices are often steep. For example, you could raise a loved one from death but they may ask that you sacrifice memories, perhaps even memories pertaining to said loved one.
It is important to never say or do anything that may upset the deities as they exact their revenge in terrible ways. Generally, if you let them do their thing, they will let you do yours.
Death
If a person is killed in the City they are dead for twenty four hours before their bodies once again become functional. However, to say they have come “back to life” is misleading as they are not quite the same as before. They will be cold to the touch, without a heartbeat, and they will not find it necessary to breathe. It is thought that the spirits of the dead are of vital importance to the City’s true purpose since sometimes the dead are drawn here and those who die here cannot leave the City, they belong to it. So while you will get back up after being killed, it is strongly advised that you guard your life with as much caution as you would back home, for once you are killed you can never go home. As long as you are alive your chances of escape are not zero.
Which is not to say that dead never leave the City-plane. It is simply an extremely rare occurrence. Some of the deceased have vanished from the City only to return again. I myself serve as such an example. Where they disappear to is unknown and it may be they do not return to their homeworlds but to some distant limbo instead before being torn out of time and placed back into the City walls.
The dead can die a second time within the City. And my own experiments have shown that the dead can also grow ill. Aside from the lack of pulse and breath and general slow-down in reflexes the dead and the living function the same way.
Economics
For a very long time, the City had no real system of money but rather functioned off of a bartering system. While all the amenities and necessities of life are still provided, they now must be paid for.
Our monetary system consists of polychromatic coins:
Red=1/10 of an Orange.
Orange=10 Reds. (about equal to the price of one cup of coffee)
Yellow=5 Oranges =5 cups of coffee.
Green=10 Oranges=10 cups of coffee.
Blue=50 Oranges=50 cups of coffee.
Violet = 100 Oranges =100 cups of coffee.
Indigo=500 Oranges = 500 cups of coffee.
Rent is often in the Indigos. Bear in mind that you do not need to purchase a place to live there. You merely settle in and start paying. Your new home will change to suit your needs. Some apartments have grown in size, utilizing extradimensional space, to house more people. To find a place to live, ask the Network. The Buildings always have openings. And if apartment buildings do not suit your fancy there are other residential areas in the metropolis and the Underground as well. Once again, ask the Network for help.
Luckily our metropolis is big and just about everyone is hiring constantly. With some determination it should not be difficult to find employment. Children (those under eighteen) and the physically elderly receive free housing but many children and elderly seem to be trying to obtain part time work regardless.
Places worth applying to:
*The shops around Misery Square
*Seventh Heaven
*Café Juliet
*Pandora Restaurant
*City Jail
*City Courthouse
You should also try asking around the Network for employment opportunities. Some individuals are always seeking help and are not publicly advertising.
Politics
As new as the monetary system is the justice system. It is too young at this point for me to go into much detail but the way it seems to be set up is without any central judge or set system of lawyers. The legal codes used in each case are agreed upon ahead of time in relation to the people involved. The lawyers that are appointed were lawyers in their homeworlds. Those who are sentenced to serve jail time go to the island prison. The prison is monitored by a bi-monthly elected Warden. The first elected Warden was Yagami Light.
And that is about it...There is, of course, more, but those are things you are best off discovering for yourself.
If anybody has any questions please feel free to ask and I shall do my best to answer.