Symbiopolis

The City, officially named Symbiopolis, is the only settled area within 200 miles (320km). It sits within the wilderness known as Lotus Land in isolation from the rest of the world. In fact, most inhabitants aren't really sure if any other human settlements exist, though many believe they do simply because they have a vague concept of the size of the world, and feel it is unrealistic that other humans don't exist somewhere else.

It is known to the inhabitants simply as the City, since there is no reason to differentiate it from any other place. All they know is the City and Lotus Land, and the language reflects that.

The City has been under the control of a group of violent people who came from Lotus Land. These people, due to the savagery of their takeover and occupation, are called the Brutes. The Brutes took to the name with ironic pride.

Demographics

The City contains a wide variety of people from all over the world. Several districts have become spots of varying cultures that have remained in some form even with the Brute occupation.

Government

The City is ruled by the Brute King, currently Darius Greiner, with the force of the Brutes maintaining that power. The Brute King is a fascist dictator, controlling who succeeds or fails based on his whims.

The breakdown of the City's core systems resulted in a huge resource deficit, which prevents the common citizens of the City from holding on to even a basic living standard. Those in Darius' favor live lives of luxery, in contrast.

Defences

The City is surrounded by walls, designed to prevent the creatures of Lotus Land from easily entering the City. Additionally, it is situated at the top of a cliff next to a large river, officially named the Grand White River.

While the City's Intelligence may have had defences on the walls, it is unknown now what or if those defences might have been. The walls are patrolled by the Brute Gangs, which also wander the streets. This ostensible protection is all that remains.

Infrastructure

With the breakdown of basic systems, the infrastructure of the City is virtually non-existent. Attempts are made by small groups and individuals to clean up areas, successfully in certain districts.

Citywide, however, attempts are piecemeal and temporary, making the living conditions in the City poor. This situation has been getting worse over the last century, which helped spawn the Rebellion.

Districts

• Asia Town - Similar to a China Town area, this district consists of Asian descendents who cling to their cultural heritage. There are subdistricts for Chinese, Japanese, and Indian peoples. One subdistrict, Muslim Row, is where multiple Middle East cultures have combined through their shared religion. Interestingly, those descended of Middle Eastern countries who are not Islamic have spread out through the rest of the City, rather than create an additional subdistrict for themselves.


• Little Ojibwe - As with Asia Town, Little Ojibwe is a district based around a shared ancestry, specifically those of Native American descent. This remains the strongest indicator that the City may actually be within the area that used to be the United States.


• Scroungertown - Scroungertown is a district reserved for those who have been made Scroungers. The job is a punishment for life by the Brutes, given to anyone who they find too rebellious or confrontational. Scroungertown is a sad place filled with people who have, for the most part, lost hope of anything getting better.


• Brutopia - Brutopia is where the Brutes live, as well as anyone who has wheedled their way into Darius' good graces. This district is one of the cleaner ones, with actual streetlights at night. Many of the Brutes' wives throw lavish parties with a huge waste of food, and often horrific displays of violence for entertainment. It is a risk to sign up to work at these parties, as one can never predict if they will be servers, cleaners, dancers, or sacrifices to the Brutes' appitites.


• Lotus Lane - If you want to indulge in the escapism of Lotus Honey, a drug made from the combination of Red Thread and Honey Shrooms, Lotus Lane is the place to be. It is an area where people go to get high, sometimes for weeks at a time. Often, bodies litter the streets, and most passers-by can't tell if the bodies are dead or just in a drug-induced fugue. Most don't care, either.


• The Mains - The Mains are where most people end up settling in the City to raise children. It is one of the safest areas of the City, simply because the families band together to stop any trouble. Outside of the cultural districts, it is the place where people can at least survive long enough to produce the next generation.


• The Farms - These open lands between the City proper and the city walls were used to produce crops. However, the land was salted in the Brute Invasion, and the land has lain fallow ever since. Occassionally, groups will try to start a garden or scavenge for any crops that might yet remain, but most of these attempts end up failing. Some people think that the Brutes actively sabotage any farming activities to maintain control.


• The Graveyard - Formerly the industrial district, the Graveyard is now home to the skeletal remains of massive, automated manufacturing plants. With nothing more than broken machinery cluttering each building, citizens avoid the Graveyard. There are no resources they can use, nor are the buildings livable.

History

Since it has been nearly 100 years since the Brute Invasion, and since the invasion resulted in a breakdown of the economic structure of the City, only legends and stories remain of The City That Was. These legends and stories are often dismissed by the current adult population as idealistic and a form of escapism, though a few elders continue to pass on the stories as fact.

Most unbelievable to the people of the City are the tales of the City's Intelligence, an AI that controlled the majority of the City's basic systems, including waste removal and maintenance. If the tales are true, it would explain why these systems have struggled to function since the Brutes took over and destroyed the Intelligence.

An example of a hallway in the Graveyard

Alternative Name(s)

The City

Location under

Lotus Land

Included Locations

• Hall of Humanity

Owner/Ruler

City's Intelligence

Additional Rulers/Owners

• Darius Greiner

Ruling/Owning Rank

Brute King

Owning Organization

Brutes

A similar walled city