The City of Rivel - A Medieval Metropolis

[Gilladian]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, because this does sound like a fun environment, but what do these people LIVE ON? Where does the food to support them come from? If there are only a "few villages" then there's not nearly enough acreage under crops to  feed them. And where do their other resources come from? My understanding is that for every person living in a city, there needs to be 2-3 producing agriculture to support them. So a day's worth of distance around the city should be villages, farms, small market towns, etc...

THEN your "wilderness" can safely and logically begin. Maybe it approaches closer in one or two places, but then the safe areas would have to expand in other directions.

[beejazz]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, because this does sound like a fun environment, but what do these people LIVE ON? Where does the food to support them come from? If there are only a "few villages" then there's not nearly enough acreage under crops to  feed them. And where do their other resources come from? My understanding is that for every person living in a city, there needs to be 2-3 producing agriculture to support them. So a day's worth of distance around the city should be villages, farms, small market towns, etc...

THEN your "wilderness" can safely and logically begin. Maybe it approaches closer in one or two places, but then the safe areas would have to expand in other directions.

The easy solution if you want to keep the wilderness close and the countryside terrorized (especially the further you go from the city) is to set the city in the center of a valley, with a long band of agricultural land trailing off to either side and bad things taking up residence in the caverns in the mountains (or on the other side of the mountains).

A river could explain the valley and its importance in agriculture and maybe even the city itself (if it produces a certain kind of good and is located upstream, it can use boats for exporting... or a city can be set where the river hits a larger body of water such as a gulf or an ocean... traders could come both in and out of town in this fashion). A seedy/foggy pier district seems like it could fit.

Gaah! This rambling! Where is it coming from?

[Stargate525]

Quarrying operations and stone to flesh. Cheap, appropriately disgusting, and plentiful foodstuff.

[Darkxarth]

Quarrying operations and stone to flesh. Cheap, appropriately disgusting, and plentiful foodstuff.

That is disgusting.  However, that is along the lines of what I wanted.  Basically, the poor starve or eat stuff that barely qualifies as food while the aristocracy dines on roast pheasant and filet mignon.  In fact, something like the stone to flesh thing would serve as another sign of corruption in the city, and would give me another rich NPC to create.  Some sort of perverted druid or mad sorcerer.  Raking in the cash, of course.  Reminds me vaguely of this comic too.

[Xeviat]

Quarrying operations and stone to flesh. Cheap, appropriately disgusting, and plentiful foodstuff.

So I reach up to hit the quote button, and pause momentarily on the "report abuse" button. I ask myself: "is this bad enough to report?"

Thank you Stargate, that made me throw up a little in my mouth. Good show. Sorry that this stinks of sarcasm, but I'm really laughing.

In that I have to laugh or I'll cry sort of way, but laughing none the less.

I'm impressed.

[Polycarp]

It gives a new meaning to "mystery meat."  I love it.

So you'd have a staff of food wizards or something?  Gastromancy?

[Darkxarth]

It gives a new meaning to "mystery meat."  I love it.

So you'd have a staff of food wizards or something?  Gastromancy?

I think it would probably just be one magician, with a couple of wands.  He gets relatively inexpensive rock, casts Stone to Flesh, and lets his cooks start slicing and grilling as necessary.  Sells them just cheap enough to allow the poor to buy them and just expensive enough to make a handy profit.

[Stargate525]

Ah yes, that's what I'm here for. To propose the disgusting stuff from the gutter that no one else can see... One day I'll get you all down here with me, don't worry.

Now as to cost... considering each casting gets you 70 cubic feet of mystery meat, and a wand... can't be created... well that throws a wrench into it...

[Darkxarth]

Beacons of Light

[ic=Uncommon Kindness]The cold was harsh and biting, and the three people sitting in the poorly lit huddled closer together, trying desperately to stay warm.  Between them were the remnants of a small trash fire, put out hours ago when the wind came in from the north, like it was now.

The smallest of the figures, a Gnome, desperately tried to use his innate magic to light the fire, even though he knew it was no use.  He did this for a few minutes, concentrating heavily, until the blood rushing to his head caused him to pass out.  The others had fallen asleep in the last ten minutes, and they would all three have died in their sleep by the next morning if not for Mervin.

He stumbled into the alley, and spotted the three figures.  He quickly moved up to them and checked the three of them for life.  When they proved to still be breathing he crouched down over the fire and began working away.  His magic was weak now, and had been for weeks, but he still had the spark of the arcane in him.  After a few moments of fervent muttering and handwaving a spark formed, lighting the feeble pile of trash.  He quickly put up a tiny bubble of still air around the flame, a trick he'd picked up a few days ago, and started rebuilding the fire.

By the time the three figures woke up again Mervin had fallen asleep against the wall, having spent the last of his magical and physical energy.  The Gnome got up and threw a small blanket over the mage and sat by him, grateful that he had come.[/ic]

Despite the crime and corruption rampant among Rivel's people, there are a few figures who do what they can to help the poor.

Mervin is a down-on-his-luck mage who recently had his powers stolen by a craft fiend.  The fiend then kicked him out of his hut using his own magic and Mervin was forced to stalk to the city without any of his things.  In the 4 or 5 weeks he's been in the city, he has quickly taken pity on the poor, comparing their situation to his own.  So, he wanders the town and does what he can, which isn't much.  Still, he's changed for the better since he arrived and is starting to regain some of his powers.

Harod is a priest of Pelor, and believes that everyone is truly good somewhere deep inside.  However, having taken a vow of poverty during his time in the church, Harod has no worldly goods to share with the poor.  Instead, he holds sermons in the Poor Square every Sunday, blessing those who ask him and doing his best to tend to the sick.  Harod lives one of the dumpy taverns of the Poor District, where he is allowed to room for free so long as he doesn't preach inside and keeps the cellar free from rats.

Former Mayor Edgar Loveless lives near the Poor District, and does what he can for the poor.  He takes in boarders when he can, and helps them to get decent jobs with his old city acquaintances.  Unfortunately, Edgar himself is slowly going broke and has lost nearly all of his influence as a former mayor.

There are a number of other 'beacons of light' in Rivel, but most are in a similar condition as Mervin and Edgar.  They're either poor themselves or in no condition to give much money to others.

The NPC I'll be entering in the Contest will also be a beacon of light, of a kind, but he has his own drawbacks.

[Tybalt]

I like a good somewhat corrupt city...whether it is Sasserine or Shadizar or...or this place!

I have questions: what makes aristocracy in this city? How is the actual rulership decided? What makes someone a full on citizen? Are there different ranks of citizenship?

[Darkxarth]

I like a good somewhat corrupt city...whether it is Sasserine or Shadizar or...or this place!

I have questions: what makes aristocracy in this city? How is the actual rulership decided? What makes someone a full on citizen? Are there different ranks of citizenship?

Most of the Aristocracy descends from the time of the first rich lord that built his manor here.  Once he had established a small town, trading began, and the town continued expanding.
When the wars in the east began, many nobles decided it would be safer to pick up and move out, so they sold their lands and looked for somewhere new to live.  They found Rivel and gained the duke's permission to relocate themselves there.  From there, it was merely a matter of political maneuvering and time until all the nobles had become equal aristocrats.  Almost all of the Aristocracy present in Rivel today has descended from these dozen or so houses that helped make the city grow.
The house of the first Duke of Rivel maintained power in the area for quite a while, but eventually the other houses persuaded the Duke's to establish a different form of rule.  Thus the City Council was born.  From its first meeting to today it has been composed of one representative of each house, twelve people.  Every 2 years the Council would vote on who should be the Council Lord, and almost every year each member voted for him- or herself.  Thus, in an effort to fairly elect a leader, they drew straws.
However, not long after the formation of the City Council the people began whispering.  It seems they wanted to be able to hold some power as well, given that they made up more than 95% of the population.  So, in order to appease the masses, the City Council agreed to hold elections every 2 years for a mayor.  But hooked on power as they were, they gave themselves the ability to overrule almost any of the mayor's decisions, and did so as frequently as they thought they could.
Now the mayor is an almost useless position, and very few people actually vote.  The City Council still has all the power and they're still addicted.

Citizenship is almost unimportant within the city, strange as that may sound.  Due to the great variety and diversity of its population there has not been an official citizen roster in many, many years.  If you want to vote, simply go in and vote.  There is no good decent system for keeping track of who has and has not voted, simply because very few people actually vote.  And unless you are part of the Aristocracy, the rights of citizens are no different from the rights of visitors.

I guess if you wanted a hard way of determining citizenship, it would be living within the city, but without a system of identification and recordkeeping, no one would know if you had simply wandered in from one of the small villages around the city.

There are kind of 3 castes, mostly corresponding with your level of wealth: the Aristocracy, the Artisans, and the Poor.  The aristocracy includes the City Councilmembers, other nobles/aristocrats, and a few very wealthy merchants.  The Artisans encompass the rest of the merchants, craftsmen, and the clergy.  The Poor includes basically everyone else, factory workers, laborers, the homeless and jobless, performers, and anyone else who lives in the Poor or Wharf Districts.