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]]. > [!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>Muzga Dome<li>Shinjuku Dome<li>Kowloon Dome</ul> | > | **Points of Interest** | <ul><li>Golden Theater<li>Kowloon Yamen<li>New Station<li>Revolutionaries Shrine<li>Old Quarter<li>Nescu Park</ul> | > ###### Societal Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Population** | ~330,000 | > | **Predominant Species** | <ul><li>[[Grue]]<li>[[Hjort]]<li>[[Krogh]]<li>[[Arctander]]<li>[[Slaadborn]]<li>[[Sinding]]</ul> | > | **Affiliation** | Communal Highlands of Azi | > [!Table of Contents]+ > 1. [[#Description and History]] > 1. [[#History]] > 2. [[#Environment]] > 3. [[#Districts and 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]]. ## History 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]]. > [!grid] > ![[Altor_Old Greenhouse.png]] > > Greenhouses of Altor 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. > [!grid] > ![[Altor_Mist.png]] > > Altor's underground superstructures 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]]-led 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 [[Azi Highlands|Communal Highlands of Azi]], establishing their capital at the ancient city of [[Ciguri]]. A few thousand years later, after the [[Azi Highlands|Communal Highlands of Azi]] was fully established, communist organizers 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 communist city. 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 and Points of Interest On the surface, Altor consists of an interconnected network of domed greenhouse-like glass enclosures of varying sizes known as "domes." At the height of its development prior to the Undoing, there were 15 fully-functional domes and nearly a dozen additional domes under construction to accommodate the city's ongoing expansion. All ongoing construction was halted as a result of the chaos, unrest, and population decline that took place during and after the Undoing, and was never ultimately restarted. As the city's infrastructure has slowly degraded over the millennia since, seven of the 15 originally-functional domes have failed completely and are considered condemned and uninhabitable by the city government. An additional five domes have suffered partial failures of their enclosures and/or climate control systems, and are considered "marginally" habitable. Thus, at present day, the inhabited portion of Altor consists of three fully-functional domes and five partially-functional domes. The domes are connected via a series of tunnels on the surface as well as through the massive, underground substructure beneath the city. The three fully-functional domes are named: (1) Muzga Dome; (2) New Station Dome; and (3) Kowloon Dome. ### Muzga Dome Located in the heart of the city, Muzga Dome is the political center of Altor. The first and oldest dome to be constructed, Muzga Dome sits atop the site of the original spring of water, discovered by ancient [[Grue]] and [[Hjort]] nomads, around which the city was founded. "Muzga" is an ancient [[Hjort]] word meaning "pool" or "puddle." Prior to the Undoing, Muzga Dome was Altor's traditional upper-class residential area, containing the most exclusive neighborhoods in the entire city which were available only to the most wealthy of the city's residents. Following the Undoing and the communist revolutions, Muzga Dome was repurposed to become the political center of the city, housing the many government institutions, ministries, and agencies which handle the business of running the city. **Points of Interest** * **City Assembly Building:** The meeting place of the City Assembly, and hosts all conferences held by the Altor People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee. * **General Secretary's Official Residence:** The personal residence of the General Secretary and home of the offices of the Secretariat, the official administrative bureau of the General Secretary and their staff. The original spring around which the city was founded sits in the courtyard. * **Nescu Park:** The oldest park in Altor; its name means "merry" in ancient [[Grue]]. Nescu Park was created as a result of the integration of three estates after the communist revolution. It contains the Red Theater, the largest open amphitheater in the city. * **The Old Quarter**: is the name commonly given to the historical civic urban core of Muzga Dome. During Altor's pre-Undoing capitalist era, this area used to be the residential, manufacturing and commercial center, where each street was specialized in one specific type of manufacturing or commerce. The most famous trait of the Old Quarter are its areas that were dedicated to one specific trade or guild. Craftspeople from around the city used to gather in one area of their guild to sell their wares to merchants. The crafts or guilds of each area gave the names to the streets of the quarter, so that most streets acquired names relating to a single type of trade. The Old Quarter contains many historic sights, but many of the historic remnants of the Old Quarter have deteriorated and are in need of restoration. ### Shinjuku Dome Shinjuku Dome is a major commerce and entertainment hub, housing the busiest public transportation station on [[Mobius]], simply known as "New Station." When Altor was originally constructed, the central area which grew to become Muzga Dome contained a small station that provided rail and sky ferry connections to other cites. Altor's growth quickly outpaced the capacity of that station, and the leaders of the city's industries demanded the construction of a larger station. Shinjuku Dome was constructed specifically to house what was to become the largest and most ambitious public transportation hub on the planet: New Station. Most of Shinjuku Dome is occupied by the New Station Plateau, the most elevated portion of which extends through most of the New Station area. The area west of New Station is home to Altor's largest concentration of commercial office buildings. The northern portion of Shinjuku Dome is a major residential and nightlife area for students. The eastern portion of the dome is largely residential. The southern portion of the dome houses the Gyoen City Garden—a large public garden that is home to more than 20,000 trees, including approximately 1,500 cherry trees. The Gyoen City Garden also contains the Revolutionaries Shrine. **Points of Interest:** * **New Station:** New Station is a massive, multi-modal public transportation hub providing access to a wide swath of ground, sky, and space-based transportation vehicles serving destinations across all of [[Mobius]] and the [[Mobius System]]. The grand terminal of New Station boasts a total of 35 platforms, an underground shopping arcade, above-ground shopping arcade and numerous hallways with another 17 platforms (52 total) that can be accessed through hallways to five directly connected auxiliary terminals without surfacing outside. The entire complex has well over 200 exits. The station's name was originally a placeholder, intended to be replaced when station construction was completed. But because construction has continued essentially unabated for thousands of years, constantly adding on and upgrading the complex, politicians could never agree on a declared "completion" date, and no replacement name was ever selected. * **Revolutionaries Shrine:** A memorial to the anti-capitalist revolutionaries who overthrew the ruling oligarchs of Altor during [[The Undoing]], many of whom were ultimately killed during the violent counter-insurgent uprisings which followed. ### Kowloon Dome Composed of a dense network of narrow alleys, connected by even narrower multi-level passageways which are about wide enough for a single person to pass through. Kowloon Dome's alleyways are often only a few feet wide, and have poor lighting and drainage. An informal network of staircases and passageways on the upper levels is so extensive that one can travel through the entire dome without ever touching solid ground. Hundreds of tiny shanty-style bars, clubs, tattoo parlors, and eateries are squeezed into this dome. 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. Construction is largely unregulated, and most buildings are built with poor foundations and few or no utilities. Because apartments are so small space is maximized with wider upper floors, caged balconies and rooftop additions. Roofs are full of antennas, clothes lines, water tanks, and rubbish, and can be crossed using a series of ladders. In response to difficult living conditions, residents have formed a tightly knit community, helping one another endure various hardships. The city's rooftops are important gathering places, especially for residents who live on upper floors. Parents used them to relax, and children play or do homework there after school. **Points of Interest:** * **Golden Theatre:** A tiny theater in one corner of Kowloon Dome that puts on mainly comedy shows. * **Yamen**: Located at the heart of the district, the Yamen used to be the administrative office where bureaucrats ran the government business for the dome. Party bureaucrats have become so frustrated with the ungovernable nature of Kowloon, however, that they no longer use the Yamen and oversee the district externally from their headquarters in Muzga Dome. The Yamen has now been repurposed as major social center— a tiny oasis where the more spacious and well-landscaped grounds are maintained as a place for residents to talk, have tea, and to take classes. ### Partially-Functional Domes * **Kabuki Dome:** primarily a "red-light" entertainment district with a high concentration of host and hostess clubs, love hotels, shops, restaurants, and nightclubs. * **Shita Dome**: a historic district containing Nach-ji, one of the oldest and most iconic temples to [[Nachbin]] on [[Mobius]]. Contains a centuries-old, promenade leading to Nach-ji, lined with traditional stalls selling local snacks, souvenirs, and crafts. Also contains [[Mobius]]' oldest operating amusement park, tucked away just a few blocks from the temple. * **Electric Town Dome**: a dome known as major shopping district for games, comics, and electronics-related goods, as well as a haven for electronic gambling. Contains numerous slot parlors full with wall-to-wall electronic gambling machines. * **Vacari Nature Park:** a dome containing a nature park constructed in an artificial wetlands. The dome has been largely unmaintained for centuries, but whatever technology preserves it as a wetlands in the middle of the desert somehow still functions. Despite the area being unmanaged for such a long period of time, plant-life and wildlife has flourished within the confines of the dome. The biodiversity now encountered here is considered by some to be comparable to that of a small river delta. * **Altor City University:** a public research university which sits inside its own dome. The university is wholly controlled by the ruling party. The main building of the Altor City University is one of the "Seven Sisters," a set of seven matching skyscrapers constructed in a brutalist architectural style, which were planned to be constructed across various domes within Altor following the communist revolution. Most of the Seven Sisters were never completed. # Map # Society ## Culture The culture of Altor has passed through many stages during its million-year existence. Following the city's adoption of communist rule, the official cultural doctrine became that of "socialist realism," a style of idealized realistic art characterized by unambiguous narratives or iconography relating to the communist ideology, such as the emancipation of the proletariat. The purpose of socialist realism was to limit popular culture to a specific, highly regulated faction of emotional expression that promoted party ideals. The party was of the utmost importance and was always to be favorably featured. Over the centuries, as the ruling party's grip on the administration of the city has slipped, the strictures of socialist realism has loosened. Today, residents of Altor generally have relative freedom for experimentation when it comes to social and cultural life, and the ruling party tolerates a wider variety of trends in art, provided they are not overtly hostile towards the establishment. Additionally, the ruling party's struggle to maintain a functional, competent grip on its management of the city has allowed for the spread of various forms of non-formal, underground and dissident art as well. ## 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 communist technocracy, Altor functions largely as a failing 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 Defense 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. It is the only city 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 Originally founded by [[Grue]] and [[Hjort]] settlers, Altor maintains a sizeable population of both [[Grue]] and [[Hjort]] peoples. The [[Krogh]]-led communist uprising also brought a sizeable [[Krogh]] population. But over the million years Altor has existed, it has come to be home to a wide mix of nearly every humanoid species that can be found on [[Mobius]], including notable [[Arctander]], [[Sinding]], and [[Slaadborn]] populations. ## Notable People * **General Secretary Lam Perilla:** The leader of the ruling APRP and de facto head of state of Altor. # References * [Tokyo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo) * [Moscow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow) * [Kowloon Walled City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowloon_Walled_City)