“A city that exists alongside but separate from Canal City, Basalt City lives in mutual symbiosis with it’s older cousin. Basalt City contains exceptional power generation facilities, and trades these for a wealth of food. In all other things, it is neutral. Any vice or virtue can be found, purchases, or bartered in Basalt City. Just never, ever, go against the laws in place. The Basalt City Nobles ensure that their rules are always followed. Always.” -From “A Guide to Basalt City”
Basalt City is the second large city. It champions itself as a Neutral City, and is a place where anyone can get what they want with enough money. The rules are strict, and decorum is enforced but in return there are few other places safer for any kind of dealing - whether between city leaders or amongst the most unsavory. The outskirts of Basalt City are less inviting, and somewhat more of a slum then other cities might be - but the action is all inside.
Basalt City is also the underground’s foremost recycler of waste and pollution - although this has had a side effect of causing pockets of poison to exist nearby. Of course, this doesn’t bother anyone going through the official routes, but it further strengthens the city’s defenses.
Inspiration: Fallout: New Vegas.
City History #
Basalt City was founded as part of an expedition in order to secure additional power sources for Canal City. Led by several nobles, including the Silvermore family, the expedition eventually settled on the cavern where it currently lives due to the relatively simple path back to Canal City, the location of a series of underground magma channels, and an abundance of Scheelite that could be refined into the incredibly heat-resistant tungsten metal.
The early days of Basalt City were very colonial, with regular shipments of materials and exchange of workers from Canal City to mine, process the scheelite, and work on the immense boiler tubes that would eventually link to the turbines to drive Basalt City’s great generators. The southern canal of Canal City was re-routed through a morph-made aquaduct to feed fresh water to the new city as well. The cave system between the two cities was smoothed out to ease travel.
Once the great generators were online, Basalt City itself started to grow around them. Maintainance quarters and worker dorms were built, and around those grew the Basalt Outer City. With the main goal of Basalt City underway, it was time for the nobility to turn their sights to improving their living situations - and the Inner City of Basalt City was planned and built using information from the Ancient Noble Libraries.
This planned inner city was designed by nobles, for nobles, with most of the population living in the outer city, and for a time, it was good. When Canal City started looking into industrialization, Basalt City found a new use for the magma channels. The haggling of this additional service, however, did not go as well as Basalt City had hoped, and the deal felt a little on the raw side.
The relationship between the two cities slowly degraded, even as infrastructure between the two improved. A radio link, and even a suspended train were built between the two cities as the Basalt City nobles found the Canal City nobles to be less and less attentive to their needs - in fact, downright ignoring them as time went on.
This came to a head in the Canal City and Basalt City civil war, which saw the two cities go at one another in earnest. For Basalt City, this was a war of independance, so that their Nobility could regain their noble control of the city. For Canal City, this was an attack from a vassal state.
In the end, the war ended up with concessions and agreement from both sides - Canal City would provide food and water, Basalt City would provide Electricity and both recycling and garbage services.
Architecture #
TODO: Get architecture information.
Social Life #
The social life of Basalt City is two-sided. For most of the common people in Basalt City, the social life is bars, meeting houses, or gambling halls that dot the Outer City. Bar hopping is a very familiar after-hours activity, but for the most part life is simple.
Once you get into the Inner City, though… the whole world is different. The inner city has the usual bars and gambling halls, but they are all fancy, well-to-do establishments that a noble wouldn’t feel underserved in attending. Hotels, meeting halls, and vast auction spaces are also available to rent. Those that are not nobles in the inner city either work for the Nobility, or are renting facilities from the Nobility, and if you can pay the cost, there is very little that isn’t available to be done here.
Technology #
Basalt City isn’t shy about using what technology they have access to. Their metallurgy and material refining technology is some of the best in the underground, able to handle more exotic materials like the tungsten that is used for their water heating systems. While they may not be into industrial levels of good production, their raw material capacity is a sight to behold, even though they themselves don’t have many mineral veins around.
The outer city’s technology is very rural. Power lines are hung overhead and tapped off as needed to provide for lights and appliances, but otherwise most things are limited to electric stoves, maybe a radio to receive the local broadcast, or to run a favorite device.
Inside the inner city, is more often then not more akin to a luxery hotel or in some cases, theme park. Electricity is readily available, and mopeds and even motorized carriages can be seen within the city proper. Climate Control and filtration both deserve specific callouts - both due to the slow toxification around the trash recycling areas, and the intense heat in the nearby magma channels.
Politics #
Basalt City bills itself as the “Neutral City” and holds fast to this. It has a treaty with Canal City in order to supply water and food in return for it’s vast power generation, but it is otherwise independent.
In fact, Basalt City is the destination for anyone, noble or not, for neutral ground to visit. The rules are specific and enforced with draconian fervor, but fair and applied to all. Break them, and you lose access to the services. Follow them, and privacy behind closed doors is almost fully ensured.
Because of this, Basalt City enjoys reasonably good political favor with Canal City, Scrap Town, and many smaller settlements nearby. They are well known for ‘sponsoring’ smaller mining towns in return for a cut of the ore, or mercenaries and Guild Adventurers to pry into Mystery Dungeons to bring them interesting things for the collection.
It is a public secret that Basalt City is also the best destination for Black Market and Restricted Good sales, although actually having the information to know when these are happening is best left to those that trust in their wits.
Education #
Basalt City Nobles are educated to the same level as Canal City Nobles - even those that are not in the line of succession have the option of a full suite of subjects to study and are provided this by their family.
For those outside of the nobility, a basic secondary or high school level of education is provided - with a fairly hard slant on skills that would best serve the nobility. Law, Mathematics, Metallurgy, Reading and Writing, and trades are all available for those from the inner city.
Once you get to the outer city, there is a base level of education provided, much like Canal City. Education through primary school is provided at no cost to children, as part of a childcare initiative to free up pokemorphs to ply their trades during the day. This also gives a taste of what a young pokemorph could learn, if they can impress a noble well enough to be invited into the inner city.
Security and Military #
Basalt City has both a standing Security Force and a small Military Force kept in reserve. The security force’s presence is well felt within the Inner City, although they rarely go to the outer city unless someone a noble has their eye on might be in trouble. They wear standard uniforms made for each member, and are authorized at all times to do what they believe is needed at the time, short of outright killing.
Exile is considered the worst punishment to be levied for getting in trouble with the Security Force.
Basalt City’s Military is a well-kept secret in terms of numbers or capabilities. They were able to go toe-to-toe with Canal City without losing, so the rumors of their capabilities are quite high. Since then, the Military is rarely seen or heard from, but there is a feeling that Basalt City never forgot the reason behind the start of the Civil War, and keeps itself ready just in case.