Kalantha

Kalantha, The Jewel of Gadrona, The City of Sounds, is a melting pot of over 1 million people. It sits upon the Shuraan Ocean to the west, and nestled on a mesa below the Aragath Peaks to the north. Kalantha is a fast-paced conflux of creative, economic, and technologically advanced excess. The city is a complex maze – a by-product of the layered wards and newly built skyscrapers. It’s a city of progress, built upon layers and layers of previous construction as the city attempts to keep up with corporate expansion, the economic and cultural boom resulting from being the largest exporter of Glimmertech in Eldspire, as well as the rapid influx of Outland citizens and incoming immigrants seeking a better life.

Skyships dot the skyscape, carrying exotic goods from across Gadrona and the nearby desert continent of Shuraa into the city’s massive Skyport. Glimmertrains move goods and people from all corners of the Outlands. A series of Lirryman Lifts connect the upper and lower wards. Parks break up the monotony of concrete and decadent architecture, and steamships chug in and out of Port Dorian, carrying volumes of cargo far too large for skyships alone. The Kalanthan Manifestation Zone resides in the Torius Lower Ward, haunting and harrying the lowest income citizens of the city. At night, flickering neon signs beckon the curious and rewards those who wander from the well-worn trails of the city.

Kalanthans balance fierce professional ambition with an ethusiasm for excess and frivolity. Locals fuel themselves on exotic feasts of fish from the shores of the Shuraan, both in the tight alleys of vendors in Suvius Square and the decadent, art deco climes of Paik Street. A short carriage ride – or a jaunt on a Skimmerscoot – from the Castar Trolley Station will take you to the neon lights of Lassius Avenue where you can gorge yourself on plays and musicals, hear local talent in indulgent bars such as Club Grammarcy, or perform yourself in one of the myriad of popular karaoke bars, bolstering your courage with healthy sips of Tilli.

The rise of capitalism at scale is resulting in an exploited “unskilled” workforce and a new order of Haves and Have-nots. Traditional industries are being disrupted as family owned businesses are overwhelmed by the resources and wealth of corporations and franchises. The Seven Council struggles to keep up with the advances in technology and industry as innovation outpaces the ability to regulate it. An underworld of organized criminal activity and government corruption infects the city. Cultural and social clashes occur as Kalantha evolves and prospers in the new world enabled by Glimmertech.

Geography

Kalantha sits atop a mesa at the base of Mount Falder in the Western Aragath Peaks. To the west are the shores of the Shuraan Ocean. The climate is primarily temperate, however, there is an arid season and a monsoon season known as The Deluge during which heavy rainfall combined with melting snow from the Aragath Peaks results in weeks of flooding in the Orlanda Watershed and forested grasslands surrounding the Orlanda Rush.

To the east of Kalantha and the Orlanda Watershed lies the Gravefell Grasslands savanna. The stilted villages in these lands primarily supply Kalantha with food. Further east the Gravefells intersect a dip in the Aragath known as the Dalrom Crest where you’ll find various mining towns producing glimmer, iron, and brownstone for use back in Kalantha, the high-altitude roosts of a white dragon clutch, and the ancient, haunted Dwarven hold, Skeldbreak. Beyond the Dalrom Crest are the roiling dunes and craggy spires of the Heth Desert.

The South Orlanda Watershed eventually transitions into the rolling forests of the Zalir Highlands. There are several large mining settlements around the Heights of Qrad, but the massive herds of migrating fauna, trade paths, and remaining lands are protected by the roaming, shamanistic Aarakocra tribes known as the Rekki Nations. In recent years, Glimmertrain expansion through these lands towards the Glimmermines (and the city of Jrapaval south of the Great Depths) has disrupted traditional Aarakocra hunting grounds and diverted migration paths of various native animals.

Further south of the Rekki are the Great Depths, a series of six large, interconnected lakes and watersheds fed by an array of rivers spilling from the Zalir. Within the Depths you’ll find the symbiotic cities of the Ethlyn Tritons and Xiquata Tortles integrated into the submerged ruins of an ancient civilization. On the surface are the shore towns of the Olepetor Firbolg. Continuing south of the Depths you’ll find the demographically diverse city of Jrapaval in the Olindu River Valley on the southern cape of Gadrona.

North of Kalantha, through the misty mountain paths of the Aragath, lies the shrouded lands of the Nurash. Little is known about the Mistlands, and few travelers and explorers come back to tell the tale.

The lands between large cities is colloquially known as the Outlands, with hundreds to thousands of miles of lightly settled landscape stretching between them.

Cityscape

Kalantha has a tiered Ward system built upon an old, Dwarven mining city on the Kalanthan Mesa and connecting to the base of Mount Falder. To avoid the region’s monsoon and deluge seasons, it has been built vertically upon the mesa.

Upper Wards

The Upper Wards boast an Art Deco architectural style inspired by the Dwarven craftsmanship and stone carving styles of historical Kalantha with ornate, pillared facades and statues mixing with modern tastes for greenery and integrated nature. The city has been able to avoid much of the warfare on Gadrona throughout its past so keeps much of the older charm and style of the former Dwarven settlement with its belltowers and statues. Modern urbanism laws have been fairly strict in the Upper Wards, allowing the city to create a harmonious atmosphere and architecture in the wealthier wards as the city progressed.

Historically Dwarven architecture permeates through the Upper Wards, particularly found in the buildings throughout Rhyndil. Art Deco design inspired by Dwarven architecture was the basis for many striking landmarks such as Skyport Grelain, the Corinthian Assembly, the Castar Trolley Station, the Manston Celestial Observatory, Kalanthan Museum for Art and History, Eranth’s Grace Cathedral, and the Skytrees.

Lower Wards

The Lower Wards are the Kalanthan undercity whose architectural style is mostly a side-effect of its environment. Space, building materials, and resources are limited so the style is a ramshackle mix of what’s available, constructed into a uniquely Kalanthan version of Art Nouveau. Because of the lack of space, it’s rare to find large, ostentatious landmarks in the Lower Wards like you might see in the Upper Wards.

Neighborhoods in the Lower Wards are mostly mixed-use. Due to the lack of faster-paced transportation most amenities need to be within close walking or coach distance to residents. Almost every neighborhood will have local markets, general stores, or areas of entertainment.

There are several promenades constructed in the unique Lower Ward architectural style in areas with more space. These promenades, such as the Bendrum Walks, contain the cultural and entertainment centerpieces of the Lower Wards and are often places that residents go to hang out or enjoy nightlife.

Other famous streets, such as the music row known as The Soundings, aim to mimic cultural places of significance from the Upper Wards. It’s not uncommon for Lower Ward residents to seek to imitate amenities found in their Upper Ward sister neighborhoods while adding their own diverse, Lower Ward flare.

Culture

Kalantha is incredibly diverse with most of the world’s various races represented in its citizenry. This expresses itself through the influence of arts, commerce, industry, and entertainment that is exported from Kalantha. The city is rife with wealth, and it’s easy to find museums, greenways, musical venues, posh clubs, and more.

Kalantha contains a fast growing corporate culture with many citizens now working for a corporation. Corporations traditionally reward loyalty, creating small, mostly harmless rivalries between people in Kalantha depending on their employment. Corporations also exert a large influence in politics, industry, commerce, and culture in the city.

Corporate life is fast-paced, with many “corpos” working late hours to make deadlines and push the agenda of their employers. This in turn creates thriving nightlife and food scenes as corpos seek to unwind after long days or grab a quick bite in between meetings.

Corporations have begun to displace traditionally family-owned businesses, and clashes (verbal and physical) between corporations and workers occur occasionally as regulation struggles to keep up with the fast-changing environments.

Kalantha’s melting pot of mixed cultures creates interesting fusions in entertainment, food, arts, and music with Dwarven, Human, Elven, Gnomish, Firbolgan, and other races all influencing each other in unique ways. It’s not rare to a club serving Elven Food while playing contemporary Human music while being served by a Dwarf. This intermingling of cultures creates a uniquely Kalanthan culture.

Glimmertech permeates through Kalanthan society, granting magical-like quality of life despite the citizens having very little magical capabilities. Glimmertech is also creating a new, flourishing industry, and many are rushing to take part in the hopes of obtaining a piece of the growing wealth. This new industry has created some schisms. Those of the old industries, such as agriculture, non-glimmer mining, arms production, and more aren’t very welcoming to the new money of Glimmertech. Proxy wars in art, entertainment, commerce, and politics are often fought as Glimmertech finds its role in society.

Small pockets of workshops and studios have begun to pop up as tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs attempt to harness the advancements of glimmertech to push forward science, engineering, and culture in Kalantha.

Diversity is even more pronounced in the Lower Wards, as immigrants come to Kalantha to avoid the hardships of the Outlands and seek a better a life for their families. Nightlife and food are particularly popular, even attracting brave citizens from the Upper Wards to explore the zig-zagged alleys of the Lower Wards.

Leisure and entertainment

Nightlife is major component of Kalantha’s culture and economy, whether it’s music venues, posh bars, dance clubs, musicals, or operas. Music plays a large role in Kalantha’s entertainment industry. Bars and clubs often house live music played by locals.

The food scene is large with many unique, fusion restaurants and food stalls representing the unique culture of Kalantha. The food scene has a symbiotic relationship with Kalantha’s work culture, with many citizens grabbing bites after work or quickly in between meetings or shifts.

Tourism also plays a big role. Kalantha is home to architectural, botanical, and cultural marvels, and many come via Glimmertrain or Skyship from all over to see them.

Museums, art galleries, libraries

Kalantha is home of many museums, galleries, and libraries, many of which allow free admission and are tourist attractions. The Kalanthan Museum for Art and History is the most prominent, housing antiquities from all over the world, including relics from the ancient Baag civilization of Giants that once inhabited Gadrona.

Fashion is a particularly growing sub-culture. Designers are incorporating glimmertech into clothing, creating new trends such as Illusionweave that weren’t possible previously. Exotic pets are status symbols as well.

Solarways, conservatories, observatories

The Kalantha Upper Wards are famous for their greenways, solarways, convervatories, arboretums, parks, and gardens. Upper Rhyndil Park is the most famous of these parks, containing a series of waterways, fountains, and bridges built around a manmade pond, a large greenway avenue, a botanical garden, a zoo, and the Skytrees.

Thorin’s Tramways traverse over Upper Rhyndil Park, giving a panoramic view of the city as they ascend to the Zeliah Upper Ward. The Biril Vortex in the Conservatory du Arthur is another Solarway marvel, a spinning, magical waterfall in the center of a domed nature conservatory.

Grand Prix

Since the advent of Skyships Kalantha has celebrated a series of sporting events known as the Kalanthan Grand Prix. The Grand Prix pits a series of skyship racers against each other in a race across regions in Gadrona. The racing season lasts throughout the spring, summer and fall months, attracting the constant attention of both citizens of Kalantha and Gadrona alike.

Every other year the standard Grand Prix season is replaced by the Relic Race, a higher stakes version of the Grand Prix where skyship racers partner with adventurers in order to be the first to secure various relics from dangerous locations across Gadrona.

Adventuring

Adventuring has become popular as a pop-culture phenomenon in recent years after the success of Relic Races and because of the lucrative dangers of the Outlands. Skyships and Glimmertrains have enabled adventurers from all over the world to come to Gadrona to ply their trade, however, most adventuring parties fail in face of the dangers found in the Outlands and ancient ruins of the Baag. Those adventurers that do succeed are met with celebrity status in Kalantha.

A series of adventuring-focused businesses and shops have popped up in Kalantha as a result of the influx of newcomers to Kalantha and the popularity of adventuring. Glimmertech has only increased this phenomenon, with several Glimmertech workshops and tinkerers competing to develop the best tools and armaments for enterprising swashbucklers.

The most famous of these shops are Slambam’s Glimmertech Emporium in Rhyndil, Roro’s House of Technology in Sinji, and Tried and True in Sinji. Although these are the most well known, there are many lesser-known workshops and tinkerers throughout Kalantha, and new innovators coming out the Lower Wards have been particularly creative in recent years.

Organized crime

Organized criminal activity is prevalent in Kalantha, particularly in the Lower Wards. Gang wars are mostly non-existent in recent years, and there has been a tentative peace between various crime families and factions as they work with the government in an attempt to “go legit.” The Zindae Syndicate and the Watson Family are the two largest and wealthiest crime organizations in Kalantha. There are several smaller groups, some under the purvey of the Zindae and Watson, and some operating independently or symbiotically with them.

Getting around

Kalantha is an enormous city and traversing the various Wards can be an ordeal. Depending on the Ward, walking from one end to another can take anywhere between 30 minutes to nearly two hours.

The Upper Wards are fairly well organized, with several modes of transportation such as trolleys, trams, Skimmerscoots, coaches, and carriages enabling swifter movement throughout the Upper Wards.

Due to the effort for walking across the Upper Wards, most citizens opt for faster systems of transportation with trolleys servicing roughly 50% of personal movement in the city. Most citizens own Trolley Passes, a subscription service that allows use of the trolley system, regardless of which transportation corporation operates the trolley line.

The Lower Wards are more complex to traverse due to the verticality, twisting streets, scaffolds, and bridges. Foot traffic primarily moves through the tight streets, large stairways, or elevator systems known as Lirryman Lifts. Most vehicular travel is done through carriages and coaches rather than more modern systems.

Government and Politics

Kalantha is a Council Republic with seven Councilors serving in administrator positions to rule over the city. Five of the councilors are voted on by the five Wards. The sixth councilor is voted on by popular vote by citizens of Kalantha, and the seventh councilor is chosen by the first six councils.

The Wards

Kalantha is composed of five wards: Zeliah, Rhyndil, Sinji, Dohani, and Torius. These wards are organized into Upper, Central, and an undercity of Lower wards.

Zeliah Upper Ward

Zeliah is the geographically smallest and most wealthy ward in Kalantha. It sits near the base of Mount Falder and is connected to the Kalanthan Mesa by Thorin’s Tramways. Zeliah is primarily a mixed residential and commercial ward in which the richest and most powerful residents live, work, and play. It is considered by Zeliah residents to be the cultural and financial center of Kalantha and Gadrona as a whole.

Zeliah is often a tourism location, with visitors taking the trams up the mountain to see Zeliah’s many “palaces,” hot springs, museums, operas, greenways, and parks. The Cobalt Cliffs are also located in Rhyndil, a result of the blue smoke stacks emitted by glimmer production in Sinji Central Ward and Dohani Lower Ward staining the cliffs of Mount Falder.

Rhyndil Upper Ward

Rhyndil is the upper-most ward on the Kalanthan Mesa. It connects to the Zeliah Greater Ward to the north via Thorin’s Tramways and to the Sinji Central Ward below via a series of stairways and Lirryman Lifts.

Rhyndil is the urban core and corporate and commercial hub of Kalantha, with most of the area’s growing corporate industry being headquartered in Rhyndil. The ward is home to a litany of shopping with malls and promenades, integrated nature with greenways, parks, and arboretums, the ostentatious Skyport Grelain, and the Seven Council’s administrative forum known as the Corinthian Assembly. Most of the Glimmertech mega-corps are housed in Rhyndil as well.

Sinji Central Ward

Sinji is located beneath the Rhyndil Ward and above the Dohani Ward on the Kalanthan Mesa. It is the beating heart of Kalantha as trade and movement between the lower and upper wards runs through Sinji. Sinji is a cultural melting pot as movement between the rich and poor of the upper and lower wards combine with immigrants and trade that first stops in Sinji when arriving in Kalantha. Swathes of street markets and blue collar work transition to the clean, manicured streets of the upper wards.

The Castar Trolley Station lives in Sinji and serves over 50% of personal movement in the city. Most of Sinji exists to support transportation and trade within and without the city as well as any ancillary services that requires. Sinji also houses many of the less-wealthy businesses and corporations that are budding within Kalantha.

Although Sinji is located beneath Rhyndil it avoids most of the negative side-effects of being a Lower Ward. Sinji receives partial sunlight and infrastructure is built in a way where most sewage runoff and waste avoids Sinji and instead makes its way to the Lower Wards. Due to its important strategical location as part of Kalantha’s trade and commerce, Sinji is fairly well maintained compared to her Lower Ward sisters.

A large portion of glimmer production is done in Sinji as well as a handful of budding Glimmertech industry corporations.

Dohani Lower Ward

Dohani is built upon the remnants of an old Dwarven mining site on the surface of the Kalanthan Mesa. The cramped, haphazardly designed streets are a sharp contrast to the manicured, organized neighborhoods of the upper wards. Little sunlight makes it way through the scaffolding, buildings, and criss-cross bridges into the Lower Wards, and much of the infrastructure that powers the quality of life in the Upper Wards makes its way into Dohani and Torius, disrupting homes, businesses, and public areas.

Dohani is primarily inhabited by blue collar workers and low income citizens who cannot afford life in the higher wards. Although the Lower Wards are lower income, many amenities such as nightlife, food scenes, and music venues mimic their Upper Ward sisters while infusing the diverse cultures and demographics of Lower Ward residents.

Organized criminal activity is prevalent in Dohani, with various gangs and organizations competing with each other for power and position in the Lower Wards.

The primary industries and economies in the Lower Wards are in support of Glimmertech, glimmer production, or other resource production.

Torius Lower Ward

Torius is the lower-most ward in Kalantha. It’s built into the tunnels, crevasses, and caverns created by former Dwarven mining tracts. Quality of life in Torius is low, with the poorest residents of Kalantha living there as a last resort. Torius also experiences the most supernatural incursions in the city as a result of the Manifestation Zone located within the ward.

Torius residents routinely deal with health problems — particularly a condition known as the Torius Coughs — as a result of their proximity to mines, lack of fresh air and sunlight, and waste residue from the Upper Wards. Residents of Torius primarily work blue collar jobs in Glimmertech, glimmer production, or other resource production industries.

Organized criminal activity is prevalent in Dohani, with various gangs and organizations competing with each other for power and position in the Lower Wards.