Cities, which once stood proud, now crumble. With buildings caved in, subways crawling with the roots of giant trees that sit above, and concrete covered in greenery. No longer do buildings stand above the world like gaints, now they are nothing but the fallen creation of a fallen world.
Groups of people live within these ruined cities, surviving in whatever way they can, building societies that mirror the ones of old and even having a system of trading between one another. Many of these people have families, loved ones, and even religion. They work, marry with ceremony, have children, and hope and pray that the scurge that is the Corrupted and the Horrors stay far from their home.
Unlike most, the Cities see the least amount of Corrupted or Horrors. When one is close to death, oft times they will walk themselves in one direction or another to find a place to die so when they rise once more, they will not hurt their friends and families.
When the Corrupted and their Horrors do find their way into the city, most of the patrons escape to the subway beneath, where the Corrupted and Horrors seemingly avoid. Usually when this happens, it's merely because the Corrupted and Horrors are moving threw the city towards another area of the region.
There are three known cities other then Geneva, the Epi-Center of the end of all. The City of the Forest - Zurich, which sits in the forested realm of their world. The City of the Desert - Lyon, is the main trading center for the desert tribes that roam the wastelands most fear to tread. The City of Ice - Milan, sits in the icy mountainous region of the ice lands.
Zurich[]
The city for the most part is a shell of what it used to be, yet still contains a population of a few thousand, a few hundred tainted and a couple dozen Forsaken. Which is actually a quite vast number compared to nearly anywhere else in Eden. The forest over the years has reclaimed Zurich as it's own, but that hasn't stopped the survivors making walls for the city out of the shells of cars and the bricks of old houses. These keep Corrupted out, for the most part, but a Horror could break them down in seconds and does on a relatively regular basis.
Zurich
The City of the Forest is considered the most civilized city of the three main cities, but also the most bloody. Unlike Lyon that is sacred and devoid of fighting, or Milan that is separated into classes, Zurich is separated by opinion.
On one side sits the Humanists, who feel the Forsaken - and even the Pures - are a danger to their well being and their very lifestyle. To the Humanists, the Forsaken are only death away from becoming a Horror and turning on the entire town. Therefore they feel the only thing to be done is run them all from their town and hang the rest out alive at the gates to ward away any stupid enough to return. They're usualy hung on wooden crosses or in cages with some hardly able to keep breathing. For Pures it's just outright death since a Pure - strangely enough - doesn't seem to turn after death. Do they understand the anomaly? No, they just know that Pures bring Corrupted and Horrors while Forsaken turn into truly powerful Horrors... that's enough for them.
Away from the battlefronts along the river, Zurich actually has a thriving market and semi-gouvenment on the Humanist's side. They even send out a forest patrol to keep tags on the various tribes around the area and to control the Corrupted population around the city.
On the other side of the river is Severus's Forsaken army. To them it's not about the Corrupted or Horrors that are drawn by the scent of a Forsaken, but about the damn Humanistic bastards stringing his people up. Of course he's not completely innocent but he'd rather not have that known far and wide since it's not his point. Severus himself started his army when he found himself tainted and people began trying to extradite him and others like him from the city. Instead he formed a front against the humanists and waged a war which has run for decades at this point.
The warfare at this point has developed to an odd mix of guerrilla tactics and hand to hand combat. The Forsaken and Tainted who make up Severus's army are far fewer in number but are also far more powerful than their Touched adversaries. On top of this the Humanists daren't kill the Forsaken, so their goal is often to capture and torture them. Cruel as it is, it also makes them less effective on the field of battle. Because of these factors the battle has been at a standstill for years with nether side making much ground. Skirmishes are light but plentiful. There aren't many to die in Zurich, but die they do.
When Horrors or waves of corrupted break past the city walls of cars and buildings, or when they are formed inside the city, most citizens of ether side escape down into the subways where they're relatively safe.
Either way, you don't visit Zurich for the scenery.
Milan[]
Through the years, there have been many changes made to Milan. One of the most notable is that the peasants of the city must live above ground while those with more clout are safe below. When the Earth shifted, Millan was covered in a large layer of Ice and Rock that kept it cut off and safe from most damage. The Icelandic people's ancestors dug out a way to get to the city when they realized that it would be easier to protect it from Corrupted and Horrors then the city they'd built above ground.
Above ground, many of the constructs tend to be made of wood from the surrounding area. The homes feature large, arched roofs and, at most times, hay for the roof covering. It is very rare that a home doesn't have a hay roof but if they do, it's mostly because the people have found something that they believe is far more sturdy. It is even more unheard of that they share the details of where it was that they found the materials.
The streets are normally dirt and rock, allowing for carriages, horses, and other people to walk through without having to worry that they're going to become wet or dirty. This part of Milan features things like blacksmiths, traders, workers, and several different types of bakeries and even flour mills.
Below, there are the privelaged rich people who live in buildings that have been left over from the modern age as well as several pieces of the past, such as books or toys. Generators that run on steam and coals can be found but the most common are the ones that run on leftover oil, used to power mills and radiators. They have hydro thermal vents. People here do not squander this energy but they do not share it with others either. It is rare for an outsider to see this part of the city and, if they do, they usually will be threatened with death to keep the secrets.
People above ground are well aware that the ones below ground are afraid of the world above, they normally regard the under-dwellers as being soft-spined and useless.
Lyons[]
Lyon is the heart of the Desert people. It is at once one of the largest cities, due to its expansive layout, and one of the smallest, due to its small inhabitant population. It has broad, windswept streets paved in grass and mud. There are carved stone pavilions, manses of woven grass, wooden towers, stepped pyramids and log halls. All of the buildings were brought to the city by slaves from the lands the Desert People have conquered.
The Horse Gate is no true gate, as there are no gates or walls in Lyon. Instead, it is named for two gigantic bronze stallions whose hooves meet a hundred feet above the roadway to form a pointed arch. The Horse Gate can be seen from a distance, framing the great purple mountain. The path beneath the Horse Gate is the godsway, where monuments and holy symbols from a hundred different religions line both sides, showing the vast range and power of the Desert People's conquests.
The Western Market and the Eastern Market are the two markets in Lyon. The Western Market is a grand bazaar used by traders from the Forest. In the Eastern Market, traders from Iceland come to trade. They are both great squares of beaten earth surrounded by mud-baked brick, animal pens and whitewashed drinking halls. Hummocks rise from the earth and beneath the square lie large storerooms. The interior of the square is made up of stalls and aisles.
Traders are free to cross the desert unmolested to Lyon as long as they keep the peace, do not profane either the Mother of Sand or the Womb of the World and give the traditional gifts of salt, material, and seed to the dosh khaleen.
Penacles[]
Penacles was the heart of the sea region, situated a mile from the cliffs that
lead to the great expanse of water that the region is so well named for. A rather peaceful city, Penacles focused far more on knowledge than power. They gathered what books they could find from the world, storing them in the great library, the center of their fair city. They were the most sophisticated of peoples, though even this city had it's dark sides.
Children were taught to read and write, and those who took well to it were allowed to stay in the fair city. Those who struggled were sent to the Dragon's Tower. A large holdover from before the god's creation, the Dragon's Tower was an underground building that expanded a mile underground. Those sent to the Dragon's Tower were fed the scraps from the main city, and expected to fight off any animals, Corrupted, or Horrors that should draw near. Those in the Dragon's Tower were not allowed to marry, or reproduce, as a way to weed out ignorance from the gene pool.
Another famous landmark for Penacles was the Gryphon's keep, a cave in the side of the clif wall that could be reached by rope ladders. This was used as a romantic spot for young lovers, though it was supposed to be a favorite hotspot of astronomers.
Unfortunately, the rough and harsh living conditions of the Penacles 'military' led to the downfall of the sophisticated cushy lives of the rest of the city. Due to disease, malnourishment, and various other poor conditions, some of the military died, turning into corrupted or Horrors. They then killed their comrades, and when the comrades had turned, they marched on Penacles.
Now, Penacles is left in ruins, even their great library, famous for their expansive selection of books is little more than a few archways and ashes that cover the ground, as well as an iron statue of a man and a Corrupted locked in combat.
Other[]
Other then the three known cities, oft times one will travel threw the different areas and find abandoned, unlivable areas that were once great cities and now lay in ruins. Occasionally it's good for a bed down, but none would dare try and create a life around these cities for they are just to destroyed and rundown.
