Englansia

Alright, after the break of the last few weeks it's time to get back to work on the setting blogs for 'The Return of a Nagus' and I decided that first up should be...

Englansia

Capital planet of the Dynasty, seat of the Imperial Palace and location of the Congress, Englansia is the hub on which the rest of the Dynasty spins.  In short, if something is rotten in Englansia then you can rest assured that the rest of the Dynasty is none too healthy.

It is a temperate Terrain planet but most of Englansia's land space has been given over to one massive city than is almost as tall as it is wide.  The sea however has been protected under stringent laws to prevent the oxygen collapse of the atmosphere and the algae colonies are carefully managed to ensure that the carbon dioxide to oxygen levels are kept in balance.  The algae blooms are also harvested to produce the food source (properly dyed and flavoured) for the planets poorer classes and there are plenty of those.

Like many cities over time Englansia has stratified into regions.  Some of these are name, some are not, it often depends if there is a notable feature within the district.

The Imperial Palace

Not only the home of the living Emperor or Empress, the Imperial Palace is the seat of the government.  As such it sprawls over a much large area than many would expect and there are members of the staff that barely realise that they are working in the Imperial Palace.  Though the discussions take place in the Congress Dome, it is the thousands of bureaucrats and paper shufflers that infest the more hidden corridors and chambers of the Imperial Palace that make sure that the motions get passed, procedure is observed, taxes are paid, orders are given, cases reviewed and the hundred and one other things that insure that a government and all its civic processes are well oiled and running smoothly.  Probably enough plac-paper is run through these halls every day to reconstruct the Alexan Library, the place that was said to contain all the data of the nine worlds of Gaia (a dim and distant myth/memory of the Alexandrian Library).

Although technically a notable feature, the Imperial Palace is so large that it counts as a region in its own right.

The Congress Dome and Boulevard

Not far from the Imperial Palace is the Congress Dome and Boulevard.  Though the Boulevard was originally just the kilo-click wide street leading up to the Congress Dome, the name has been spread out to include the surrounding area.

The Congress Dome itself is the centre of the Dynasty's government, to sit in one of its magnolia seats is the culmination of decades of hard work, campaigning, endurance, skill and sometimes not a little corruption.  It is one of the duties of the reigning monarch to try and recognise the symptoms of this corruption and weed it out as much as possible.  Sometimes that has been a harder task than others as now all the movers and shakers, makers and breakers appear within the central chamber.  Though this great room is where business is officially conducted, many an alliance and proposed has been broken by a well timed aid scurrying though the corridors without.  Careful who you talk to in this place and be even more careful of what you say.

The Boulevard itself is, as mentioned earlier the kilo-click wide approach to the Congress Dome.  Since ages past the Monarch has been paraded down this avenue at their coronation and the members of the Congress travel it every day on the way to the great debates.  Spread out either side of this grand street is the residences of the Congress members, more grand houses than can be easily counted, especially as many of them are hidden behind high walls and hedges for security.  From whom is never stated but it appears that being a Congress member is a nervous profession.  That or the politicians don't want to meet those that they represent by accident.

The Muse

The up market entertainment venue of Englansia, where the dining is fine, the artworks professional, the galas quite fantastic and careers in acting can be made or broken on a single well time critique.  Anyone who is any one comes to The Muse, whether that is to see or be seen is the real question.

The Imperial Englansia University

The Centre of study of the whole city and one of the most exclusive venues of learning in the whole Dynasty.  If you have a diploma from here then just about any door in the Dynasty is open to you.  This labyrinthine structure has departments of study so complex that they deserve to be the subjects of extensive studies in their own right.  Everything from history to geology, weather patterns to cloth patterns is studied some where within these halls.  It is even rumoured that there is a department of the study of tea leaves and another devoted to the development of crypto-zoology, the study of mythical beings in the hope of either proving their existence or discovering the creatures on which they were based.

The Royal College of Medicine and Healing

Much more exact and focused is the Royal College of Medicine and Healing.  Not only the hospital of Englansia, it is also the most prominent central of medical research and anatomical study in the Dynasty.  Every discovered sentient species has at least one representative within its walls and it contains medical data for billions.  However, there is a darker aspect to this place of caring.  Although medical treatment is supposed to be available to all, Englansia's only major hospital is situated farthest from the slum tracks and termite blocks of the planets poorest.  Whether this was a mistake of the cities development or deliberate, none can say and most don't want to.

The Rosinante Academy

The training ground and home of the Rosinante.  Once admired as the centre of the greatest force for good within the Dynasty, it was destroyed under Emperor Morgan and the Rosinante proclaimed outlaws.  Since then the Academy has been left as a fire blackened shell and whether any can revitalise it to its former glory remains to be seen.

The Englansia Interplanetary Space Port

The only way to travel off world, the Interplanetary Space Port has a strangle hold on import and export as the only space port on Englansia.  As such it sees the movement of tourists, business people, freight and immigrants.  As such it is at the centre of the largest area of industry on Englansia; all those space craft need maintenance.  Beyond the industrial area is the largest district of termite blocks of the city as manual labour is still seen as the realm of those too unfortunate, lazy or just plain stupid to improve themselves.

The Alteplano Mountain Range

One of the few areas of land space still undeveloped, most of the mountain range is owned by the rich, powerful and famous.  There is a public park or two and the whole is one of the last places any of the original wildlife of Englansia survives.  All of the creatures are small and most of them are rodents but there has been recorded discoveries of one species of primate and a long bodied, low slung predator reminiscent of a ferret or weasel of Old Earth.  So far the primates have proven to be untameable, dying rapidly in captivity, normal of heart failure.  It appears they cannot adapt to being taken from their native habitat.  The predator on the other hand has no fear of sentient species and has a curious, almost friendly demeanour to those that treat it well.  There is a captive breeding program being started as nothing seems to be able to suppress its instinct to hunt the rodents that can cause severe damage to the cities electrical systems and it can more quickly enter the areas of infestation than people can and with less damage of property.

There are also rumours of the Alteplano Devil as bat winged, long necked, horse headed creature with an ape like body.  Despite all academics dismissing its existence as a fanciful myth there are nearly always a couple of reports of it every year.

The Slums

Like any major city Englansia has its share of displaced persons and immigrants who discover the streets are not covered in gold.  For every dream that becomes reality within the Muse a hundred more are broken upon the many stages of Englansia.  In the end all the desperate, broken and the lost wind up in the Slums.  The stink of these quarters and districts is more than physical and darkness, both as in the lack of light and the Darkness of the Renegades, gathers thick in the corners.  Not a place to visit after nightfall and watch your step during the day.