Below Deck

The Floating City of Cherut Das is beholden to the same physics as every other boat.. it must displace an amount of water equal to it's weight in order to float. The massive weight of the buildings, roads, people, and cargo of Cherut Das is displaced by a number of levels that are collectively referred to as "Below Deck".

Structure

The majority of Below Deck is roughly laid out as the city above, many buildings have basements that connect directly to the lower deck passageway that are directly below a surface street. However this tends to only hold true for the very first level below the surface. Decks below the first bear little resemblance to the streets and alleyways that someone from the surface would be familiar with.
There are three main levels to the Below Deck, each is roughly 15-20 feet high from floor to ceiling, though some areas of these decks are often divided into two or three sub-levels of rooms that are all accessible from the floor level of the main passageways. Areas with living quarters are most often divided up like this. Areas of the Below Deck that are closer to the outer edges of the city tend to have smaller overall ceiling heights.

Sub-Levels

First Sub-Surface Level

Much of the cities working class and poor inhabitants either live or work in the first level of the Below Deck. Often in small stacks of apartment tenements or in small workshops, factories, or subterranean farms that are found just below the city streets. Almost everyone that lives or works Below Deck will only ever descend to the first level in their day-to-day lives. Some larger Mehune families have expanded their O’hale downwards into the first level of the Below Deck.
Crime is often higher in the first sub-level for a given district, but the districts with better funded guards will have guards stationed at major areas and intersections to keep crime at reasonable levels. Though for much of the Below Decks in the city, out of sight is out of mind.

Second Sub-Surface Level

Many districts of Cherut Das lay claim to beign the heart of the city, but regardless of where the heart of the city is, the second level of the Below Deck is the arteries and veins. The network of sewer pipes, electricity cables, and maintenance shafts that the city relies on for essential services are all routed through the second level of Below Deck. Most major access points to this level are restricted to members of the Cherut Das Kino 'Enekinia the corps of engineers that perform the maintenance on the equipment that dominates most space on this level.
An open secret of the City about the Second Level is that it contains access hatches that connect between different city districts. Each district has a set of large steel doors on either end of a flexible bridge connects to adjoining districts. Smugglers moving cargo between the districts are known to utilize these hidden passageways on occasion, but only for the most sensitive goods or paranoid clients, as operating Below Deck brings whole new challenges that are not present elsewhere topside.

Third Sub-Surface Level

The third and deepest subsurface level is rarely visited by anyone, even the Kino 'Enekinia. It is a dense network of tight corridors, claustrophobic rooms, and warehouses filled with broken-down machinery that has long since been forgotten or stripped for parts. The majority of this level is un-mapped, and few citizens of Cherut Das will ever go down this deep without very good reason.
With this lack of information about the level, rumor and mystery thrive. Many mishaps from higher decks are blamed on rumored subterranean gangs of cannibals and bandits that strike at the wealthier inhabitants of the city and retreat to the depths where none dare to follow them. The city government has never been able to confirm the presence of these gangs, though signs of people living on the Third Below Deck are common enough to keep these rumors alive. It is also thought that the Ehiku district of the Below Deck, which is partially flooded, is home to a large amphibious reptilian creature, described as being over 36 feet in length and with stark white scales and bloody red eyes.

Type

Slum

Location under

Cherut Das, The Floating City