>The City Wakes, Yet Nora Slumbers
>Begin Narration:
On the planet of Velsar, the sun rises over the horizon and reflects off of the metal landscape allowing no escape for those that prefer sleep or darkness. It filters through every crack, every tunnel, and every canopy such that even the most stubborn and tired must answer Velsar's wake up call. As the inhabitants rouse in the nine cities, the entire planet inaudibly hums from the clamoring footsteps against its surface, but if you place your ear against the ground and listen closely then you may just ear the whispers and secrets of Velsar. The land is alive even if what was built upon it has died, and the things outside the walls answer the call of the morning sun.
In Far-Northern Anthor, the Nine Lords serve the Council of the Rusted. The Council consists of 450 people, 50 from each city, and their purpose is to formulate the laws and regulations of Velsar. Legislation moves slowly, a simple bill could take a year of debate and truly important ones more so. There are no elections to the Council, it is a lifetime position that is lost only upon death or resignment. New members are chosen by the Lord that rules over the city the seat belongs to. The Nine Lords purpose is the enforcement of the Council's laws, appoint new council members, and stand in for the Council if no decision has been made on a bill that the citizens need an immediate answer for. It is unlikely that an incorrect decision by the Lords will be righted once the Council has made their call, but future decisions will adhere to the newly passed bill. Today, the Council debates whether it is legal to charge someone more or less chips at all-you-can-eat buffets based on species.
In Far-Southern Haust, the prison colony watches over those who have been exiled from their cities for any reason whether it be criminals or outcasts, quarantine patients with no chance of recovery or the homeless. The Lord also acts as Warden, and his family make up most of the administration. Some guards are transfers, while others are those born from imprisoned parents that the Lord gave an opportunity to rise. The prisoners awake as if flash-banged due to their fully metal cells, and are brought out by the guards to begin their daily duties.
In North-Western Juniper, Velsar's greatest hospital stands at the ready, prepared to treat those that have a chance for survival. At a cost of course. The city is wealthy and its citizens healthy but those not trained in medicine lack many luxuries as the city outsources food, military, infastructure, and so cost of living is high and rising. The Juniper Medical Hospital is awaiting a delivery of rare medicines from an expedition squad that is over 4 days late this morning.
In Central Carse, the largest Junkdives are continuing to produce an abundance of chips. The city collects these, sends them to Anthor, and then assists in the transportation of allocated funds to their proper cities. Through collection fees, transportation fees, chip-transfer taxes, and extensive lobbying of the council for larger allocations, the Lord of Carse sits upon a mountain of wealth that they have no intention of sharing. The people struggle with physical labor jobs most of their lives for sub-par housing and Carse hires professional military to patrol and maintain the peace so no one argues. The revolution makes its first strike today.
In South-Western Idyll, the military academies train professional soldiers to work for the other cities and they are known as the best. The people here are patriotic to a fault and believe that military officers and Idyll as a whole, should be allowed to go against laws and regulations if "the situation calls for it." Those who have no interest in the military make out a meager existence, struggling to afford anything and everything. Idyll has just received a report that one of its patrol squadrons in Carse has come under attack, one friendly casuality, culprits escaped unidentified.
In South-Eastern Jive, the Locust Crime Family has taken over. The city that use to house some of the most successful businessmen has turned ruthless, lawless, but free. It is the true enemy of the Expedition Teams as the crime syndicates send out raiders in order to gather food, supplies, and chips. They can be bartered with though, alcohol and drugs go for a lot in Jive as Father Locust is a known Wine Connoisseur and the rest of the family has their own various tastes. The Locust Family has just sent its second transport of stolen weaponry and magical trinkets to their connections in Carse.
In North-Eastern Forgefeld, infrastructure and architecture continue to rise. Weapons, armor, wiring, building materials, etc. are made here in mass quantities. The city is built where the least amount of chips per area has been reported and as such, all the metal here is safe for mining and forging. The Lord of Jive has just put in an order for 20 cases of military grade weaponry, to be sent to Anthor, so that they can attempt to reclaim her city.
In Far-Western Nora, the town is known for nothing. It is built on an ancient residential district that was cleared out of monsters, and so most living here have some form of shelter made from the remnants of decaying buildings. Your house may be falling apart, but free housing is free housing. Most don't complain considering the Lord's house is simply the two story building that still had glass windows. A common saying is that while they city may wake up, Nora stays asleep. Most work happens indoors or underground, and a quarter of the population is in some way associated with the Expedition team. The city has the lowest population, and a good portion is outside the walls on any given day. Those who wander the streets while meet few strangers, and can hear what nature remains in the town over the residents.
In Far-Eastern
>D̸̘̗̃͝e̸͓̽́l̸̪͌̂ẗ̴̖͗a̶̧͕͑͠,*cough* sorry...
Delta, the city is destroyed. Too far away from any capable military to call for aid. The refugees were evacuated and most now live mostly in Anthor. The rubble moans and mumbles, begging to be investigated by the brave, the opportunistic, and the foolish.
Of course, these are simply caricatures of the nine cities. Each has doctors, craftsmen, junkdivers, and military that they train but some places are known for their exceptional qualities in this fields. The Compass directions also only make sense from the perspective of Central Carse. Nora sits in the center of the Western Hemisphere with Delta just being the farthest East any have settled but it is still not in the Eastern Hemisphere. Velsar is a smaller planet, so getting from Nora to the ruins of Delta would take about 2 months, and Delta to the Prime Meridian of the planet would take another month of travel. West of Nora has terrible chip quantities, terrible farmland, and terrible metal diversity and so no one bothers settle beyond Nora. East of Delta and the Eastern Hemisphere as a whole is deemed to be exponentially more dangerous then the West. One could find massive, deadly beasts in the west but that pales in comparison to rumors of Dragon Nests in the East.
As the Citizens of Nora begin their daily routines, our intrepid idiots make their way towards the beginning of their horrible story. The beasts outside have been restless and some have been spotted watching the walls. The veteran expedition squads are away on missions, so no one has been able to chase them away. Luckily, those sighted are of the skittish variety and there are some new recruits on their way to the Expedition Office to begin their careers.
>End Narration