> [!infobox|right wikipedia]- > # Altor > ![[Altor Cover.jpg|cover hsmall]] > ###### General Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Also known as** | <ul><li>The People's Democratic City of Altor (PDCA)<li>The Rusting Jewel<li>The Crumbling Spring</ul> | > | **Established** | Approx. 1,000,000 B.U. | > | **Leader** | General Secretary of the Altor People's Revolutionary Party (APRP) Central Committee | > | **Current Leader** | General Secretary Lam Perilla | > ###### Location Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Planet** | [[Mobius]] | > | **Continent** | [[Arzach]] | > | **Region** | [[Azi Highlands]] | > | **Districts** | <ul><li>Inner Circle<li>New Station</ul> | > | **Points of Interest** | <ul><li>Golden District<li>Central Park of Culture and Rest<li>Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences<li>All-Altor Exhibition Center<li>City Historical Museum<li>Dream Island</ul> | > ###### Societal Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Population** | ~8,000 | > | **Predominant Species** | <ul><li>[[Grue]]<li>[[Hjort]]<li>[[Arctander]]<li>[[Slaadborn]]<li>[[Sinding]]</ul> | > | **Affiliation** | Communal Highlands of Azi | Altor (AL-tor) is one of the oldest cities on [[Mobius]], having been founded nearly a million years ago by [[Grue]] and [[Hjort]] settlers who ventured away from their tiny settlements in the inner jungles of [[Arzach]] where humanoid life first evolved on [[Mobius]]. The city is built inside a network of ancient, partially-collapsed domed greenhouses in the desert canyons at the edge of the [[Azi Highlands]]. > [!Table of Contents]+ > 1. [[#Description]] > 1. [[#Environment]] > 2. [[#Districts]] > 3. [[#Points of Interest]] > 2. [[#Map]] > 3. [[#Society]] > 1. [[#Culture]] > 2. [[#Government]] > 3. [[#Demographics]] > 4. [[#Notable People]] > 4. [[#History]] # Description and History The ancient greenhouse city of Altor sprawls across the canyons floor of a desert valley on the far southeastern edge of the [[Azi Highlands]]. Nearly a million years ago, Altor was originally built around the site of an underground spring by wandering tribes of [[Hjort]] and [[Grue]] nomads who had emigrated outwards from the jungles around [[Lake Gorgo]]. ![[Altor_Old Greenhouse.png|left|200]] Over hundreds of thousands of years, the tiny settlement grew, and gradually extended both outwards and downwards. Its inhabitants sought shelter from the beating desert sun and greater quantities of water by excavating massive caverns and building elaborate superstructures deep underground. They also raised enormous glass-domed greenhouses across the surface which allowed them to shape the climate within to grow food and vegetation. ![[Altor_Mist.png|right|200]] Altor gradually became a hub of trade and commerce, and was regarded as the "Jewel of Azi"—a glorious bio-technological oasis where life and greenery thrived in the midst of the desert. Society in Altor became heavily stratified, with the wealthy industrialists living in beautiful glass-domed residences on the surface among the lush, verdant greenery and lively markets. The multi-leveled substructures below became the home of the working class, who labored to maintain Altor's systems that fed and fueled the greenhouse systems that shielded the city from the sun and managed the climate of the greenhouses. To insulate the upper class from the sight of the workers and systems below, a fine, green mist was produced in the greenhouses which slowly fell down through the underground levels. During the great societal upheaval of [[The Undoing]] 50,000 years ago, a group of [[Krogh]] anti-capitalist revolutionaries rose up and overthrew the oligarchical ruling class of Altor. They attempted to reform Altor into a communist form of government, but the effort ultimately failed as a result of violent uprisings funded by the recently-unseated oligarchs. The anti-capitalists who survived the uprising fled deeper into the [[Azi Highlands]] and founded the city of [[Ciguri]]. A few thousand years later, after [[Ciguri]] was fully established, the anti-capitalists returned and managed to successfully take over Altor and convert the city to communism. Unfortunately, Altor has never fully recovered from the Upheaval and the changeover from being an industrial trade hub to a commune. Knowledge of how to maintain the many layered systems of infrastructure beneath the city was largely lost during the transition. For tens of thousands of years, the city has slowly and inexorably decayed. Many of the greenhouse domes are either partially cracked or fully shattered. Entire sections of the city have had to be abandoned and left to either be overgrown by unmanaged vegetation in the areas where the climate control systems still function or to succumb to the red dust of desert sand and rust in the areas where they do not. The city's administrators do their best to stay ahead of the decay. But most of the knowledge of how the city's climate control systems function is entirely lost. Many of the ancient systems remain perplexingly online despite being wholly unmaintained for centuries, baffling modern engineers. ## Environment Altor is located within the [[Azi Highlands]], an area characterized by tall, near vertical mountains of red, iron-rich, erosion resistant sandstone separated by flat-bottom valleys of alluvial sediments, aeolian sands, and salt pans. The environment within the city depends entirely on which section of the city you are in and whether—and to what extent—the climate control systems remain functional in that area. Some of the city's greenhouse domes are still mostly or entirely functional, creating an artificial humid subtropical climate with characteristically mild temperatures year-round, featuring no marked seasons, usually remaining mild to cool through most of the year. The domes generate rainfall spread relatively evenly in all months of the year similar to most oceanic climates. In domes that are only partially functional or entirely failed, the harsh desert climate of the Azi Highlands creeps in. Rainfall is scarce, often occurring as flash floods, and results almost exclusively from thunderstorms. ## Districts ### Inner Circle (central hub district) ### New Station New Station is a major commerce and entertainment hub, featuring the sky ferry station and the nightlife of the Golden District. #### Golden District Composed of a network of six narrow alleys, connected by even narrower multi-level passageways which are about wide enough for a single person to pass through. Over 200 tiny shanty-style bars, clubs, tattoo parlors, and eateries are squeezed into this area. Golden District is a few minutes' walk from the East Exit of the New Station Sky Ferry Port, between the New Station District Office and the Revolutionaries Shrine. Typically, the buildings are just a few feet wide and are built so close to the ones next door that they touch. All are multi-story, often having a small bar at street level and more bars, shops, or tiny flats upstairs, reached by steep sets of stairs. None of the bars are very large. Some are so small that they can fit only five or so customers at one time. Golden District Theatre is a tiny theater in one corner of Golden District that puts on mainly comedy shows. ## Points of Interest # Map # Society ## Culture ## Government The People's Democratic City of Altor (PDCA) is a unitary communist city-state that identifies itself as a people's democracy. Formally, Altor is a part of the [[Azi Highlands|Communal Highlands of Azi]]—a loose, regional association of city-states and isolated communes in the [[Azi Highlands]] region, all of which purport to adhere to some version of communism. Unlike the de facto capital of the region, [[Ciguri]], which is a deeply egalitarian technocracy, Altor functions largely as an authoritarian oligarchy which purports to be a people's democracy. The Altor People's Revolutionary Party (APRP) is the founding and ruling party of the People's Democratic City-State of Altor. The leading role of the APRP over the political system is enshrined in Altor's constitution, which states that "The rights of the people to rule the city are exercised and ensured through the functioning of the political system with the Altor People's Revolutionary Party as its center." The entirety of the Altor government operates under the leadership of the APRP. The highest organ of the APRP is the party congress, which meets every fifth year. It elects the members and candidates of the APRP Central Committee, which in turn elects the party leader, the General Secretary of the APRP Central Committee. The General Secretary and the APRP Central Committee exercise the vast majority of control over the day-to-day administration of the city. The General Secretary is also the chair of the APRP Central Committee's Defence and Public Security Commission (DPSC), which controls internal security and military affairs, making the General Secretary the commander-in-chief of the city's armed forces. The City Assembly is technically Altor's supreme, democratic organ of power and formally holds the unified powers of the city-state. It is the only city-state organ that can adopt or amend the city's communist constitution, and is officially considered the embodiment of popular sovereignty since it is elected by the people of the city. Candidates for these elections, however, must be vetted by the City Election Committee, who are appointed by the APRP Central Committee. The City Assembly is also not a permanent organ, convening only when deemed "necessary" by its permanent organ, the Standing Committee. All of the members of the Standing Committee serve as *ex officio* members of the APRP Central Committee. ## Demographics ## Notable People