What's Tsuirakushita like?

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Graybeard
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What's Tsuirakushita like?

Post by Graybeard »

OK, we have another opportunity for some world building, now that Drusia, Khoo, Tamina and Udo have fled the wreckage of the Tower of Artifex and landed in Tsuirakushita, the city on the earth's surface directly underneath the sky city of Tsuirakushiti. There are some things we don't have to address here -- the culture is obviously Tsuirakuan in a general sense, which implies things like approximate gender equality and a relatively tidy, well-run central government -- but it's still a place where some world building could be done if people are so inclined. (They may not be. Tsuirakushita can also be treated as a minor stop on the road to the Southern Continent, or somewhere to get out of and go back upstairs to Tsuirakushiti -- although people up there are going to be rather preoccupied with the Tower of Artifex for a while. But the option exists.)

One question that should be addressed is: just what kind of people live there? The original assumption that Viking-Sensei, "founder" of Tsuirakushita, had was that it essentially amounted to a lower-class/working-class enclave of Tsuirakushiti itself, generally looked down upon by the sky-city dwellers but still very Tsuirakuan. However, that needn't be the whole story. I am reminded of the situation with Russian dachas: someone who (at least historically) lived full-time in such a place would be considered by sophisticated [sic] Moscow dwellers to be an uncultured rube, yet every Muscovite wishes he had one, to escape to for the weekend and go drinking, fishing, drinking, gardening, drinking, etc. This has changed somewhat in recent years as the dacha has metamorphosed from ultra-rustic cabin/shed to something more resembling a second home, but the relevance to Tsuirakushita should still be clear.

So any thoughts about what the place should be like?
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: What's Tsuirakushita like?

Post by Jack Rothwell »

I'm thinking there should be a large slum section in one corner of the town, dirt tracks, whitewashed walls, low buildings, etc etc. Maybe divvy up the things into four distinct districts? Trade, residential, 'low town', financial?

Just throwing ideas around.
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Graybeard
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Re: What's Tsuirakushita like?

Post by Graybeard »

Jack Rothwell wrote:I'm thinking there should be a large slum section in one corner of the town, dirt tracks, whitewashed walls, low buildings, etc etc. Maybe divvy up the things into four distinct districts? Trade, residential, 'low town', financial?

Just throwing ideas around.
"Slum" section may put it too strongly. Poe has always written up Tsuirakushiti in such a way as to suggest a pretty prosperous place. The whole point of Tsuirakushita, of course, is that it's not as high-rent as the sky city, but given that Tsuirakushiti's prosperity is derived from magic rather than exploitation of the masses, I don't think there's any need for Tsuirakushita to have a slum, since they'd have magic too. The "poor" parts of the country of Tsuiraku would be the fishing and farming and mining villages out in the boonies, like where Khoo comes from.

It would clearly have a warp gate (have to be able to get back and forth between surface and sky somehow), probably more than one, with several being dedicated to "commuter" traffic directly reaching Tsuirakushiti. These would presumably be overflowing with panicked refugees in the aftermath of whatever happened to the Tower of Artifex. (Incidentally, let's leave that vague to avoid eventual clashes with canon. We don't know how extensive the damage would be in Poe's concept of the incident.) The "international" warp gate could be put to use almost immediately if people would prefer to move on from here to the Southern Continent. Or not; either way, at people's preferences.
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Jack Rothwell
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Re: What's Tsuirakushita like?

Post by Jack Rothwell »

Market stalls then? More countrified? Day labourers and farmers, pig-wrestling, buskers, bars, modest businesses, a lake nearby, a park maybe? Tamina would like a park. :)
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Re: What's Tsuirakushita like?

Post by Alberich »

I didn't know the name for it, but this is the area that I always pictured Fort Samiware as being in (the place mentioned in Udo's colorful personal paperwork) - so that parts of it would be like any town just outside an Army post. Seamstresses, laundry services, that sort of thing.
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Graybeard
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Re: What's Tsuirakushita like?

Post by Graybeard »

"Fort Samiware" -- LOL, I missed that the first time around ... and the "seamstresses" reference is funny too. :lol:

There could easily be other military bases in Tsuirakushita. Tsuirakushiti is big enough to have quite a few of 'em around -- compare, say, San Antonio (TX) which has at least five major bases and several minor ones -- and with space at a premium on the sky island, most of them would probably be down below. At the very least, there would be a separate airship base, which would be a hive of activity right now because of what just happened at the Tower of Artifex. Anybody want to come up with a name for that one? "Fort Diligivu" is the first thing that comes to mind, but perhaps someone can do better.
Jack Rothwell wrote:Market stalls then? More countrified? Day labourers and farmers, pig-wrestling, buskers, bars, modest businesses, a lake nearby, a park maybe? Tamina would like a park. :)
Tsuirakushita will be big enough for any and all of these, but two comments. First, remember that the whole place is built around the circumference of a great big circular lake directly beneath Tsuirakushiti. (See map.) There would be parks, like the one the glider landed in, but other significant lakes are probably unlikely; with that big a lake in the exact center of the city, who needs smaller ones? (Incidentally, we should assume that this lake has been "pacified," Tsuiraku being what it is. As much fun as the concept might be, I don't think there are going to be sea monsters in this one!)

Second, Tsuirakushita may be downscale compared to Tsuirakushiti proper, but it's still part of the largest and most advanced city in the most advanced and prosperous country in the Errant World. "More countrified" than Tsuirakushiti, maybe, in the same way that Staten Island is more countrified than Manhattan, or Waltham Forest and other boroughs of Outer London are more countrified than Westminster, Greenwich and so on. However, pig wrestling seems a bit extreme :roll: , there is no requirement for the businesses to be "modest," and well-built, permanent stores will far outnumber market stalls. We're not talking about Goriel here! Just a place that isn't quite as ... crowded as Tsuirakushiti, I think. Then again, I may be wrong.
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