Aspera

The tropical city was a beautiful sight, with a great white wall stretching from one edge of the island to the other. However, an ever present sense of danger remained prominent as well. It was clear that the majority of the defenses remained on the side of The Deep. And these defenses were not simple contraptions to tear through human limb; no, these monstrosities were designed to take down Titans. And yet peering at the cyclone, it was clear that the secrets it held would be far, far larger.

Aspera is a Trade City, established only a century ago on the set of islands named Razor's Edge. The Razor is clearly visible on the city's western horizon, and it is the nearest city to The Deep ever established.
The city was created as part of a business venture undertaken by The Trade Cities, a league of wealthy cities unionized into a single nation. The original leader of the expedition, Sir Nigel Prospero, hoped to profit off of the valuable resources available on the small set of islands created by the numerous corpses of monstrosities that died in The Deep. Seeing that the set of islands acted as a natural landfill for the bodies of these creatures, Nigel recognized the immense amounts of profit he could make from harvesting the monsters.

Demographics

As with all Trade Cities, a large portion of the citizens is made up of the middle-class and bourgeoisie. However, a far larger fraction of the population is made up of poor immigrants, who come to Aspera to make a decent profit from mining Titan Bones and harvesting monster corpses deep underground. Many of the citizens are also made up of farmers and plantation owners in the outer fringes of the city, who utilize the land made fertile by the decaying corpses to grow various crops which include: rice, coconut, agave, yam, banana, pineapple, grapefruit, kumquat, cocoa, and coffee.
A considerable portion of the population of Aspera is also made up of the military. A large number of guards are kept in Aspera in case any threat comes from the cyclone, and they are trained to use the powerful defenses provided by the city. The guards in the meantime are also used to police the streets, which result in a very low crime rate for the city.
Apart from this, Aspera retains the usual professions of a city.

Architecture

The buildings of the city are usually comprised of Limestone or a more common type of stone known as "Bonestone," which is a coarser form of limestone made from the decayed bones of long dead monsters. The roofs are then commonly shingled of the same material. The walls are usually plastered white.
Since monster bones are far cheaper here than in most other locations, a large number of households choose to adorn their houses with the bones of deceased creatures, and sometimes they are even used in the architecture. Many of these bones are items found by the inhabitants of the household themselves although the wealthier citizens will pay groups of people to extract larger bones to showcase their superiority.

Geography

The city is located on one of the smaller islands of the archipelago, with the same name as the city that occupies most of it. The city has ports on both the western and the eastern sides of the island, although the ports on the eastern side are far larger and utilized by trading and transport vessels. The city gathers water from the small mountain range on the southern side of the archipelago, as well as from vast underground reservoirs.

Natural Resources

Natural resources gathered by the city include: Giant Squid, Titan Bone, and other materials harvested from decayed monsters, including various bodily fluids, oils, and samples of flesh. The city also produces large amounts of cocoa, coffee, and other tropical amenities, and produces a decent amount of food to feed it's inhabitants; however, a large amount of food is still imported from other cities.

Alternative Name(s)

Bastion of The Deep

Type

Large city

Population

350,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Asperans

Location under

Razor's Edge

Owner/Ruler

Sir Nigel Prospero IV

Owning Organization

The Trade Cities