The City of Cities

Rastaban was once a great city and the seat of an Empire which spanned the world.

Now large swathes of the city are abandoned. The population has declined massively.

There are isolated pockets of people living in clusters – almost like small towns – within the city's expanse. There are a few dozen such towns within Rastaban.

The population of the city is rumoured to number in the tens of thousands, but accurate census information is tightly controlled. Fear not. It is enough to know that our city is the greatest in the world.

According to legend, Serjet, a Shaper of great renown, constructed most of the buildings in the city.

Their most impressive works include the Imperial Palace and the Embrace of Empire - huge concentric walls which enclose the city completely.

Rastaban is officially ruled by the Silent Regent from the Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace is, according to rumour, largely abandoned.

The only people currently allowed inside the Palace District are the Imperial Commission - and even they are restricted to their immediate buildings and private Gate.

The practical day-to-day concerns of running the city are handled by the Council of Seven.

All of the most powerful factions in Rastaban have a seat on the Seven.

Specifically, seats belong to the three Great Houses, the Imperial Commission, and the Imperial Envoy from the paladin orders.

It is unknown where the Seven meet and who they are.

The Imperial Orders are a powerful faction in the city.

Not only does their Envoy have a seat on the Seven, it is rumoured that the Grandmasters of the five Orders meet on a regular basis.

It is understood that, whilst the Envoy represents the Paladins at the Seven, they habitually abstain from voting.

Officially the Five Orders report directly to the Silent Regent and therefore are not answerable to the Seven.

A vast forbidden region of tall majestic buildings, surrounded by its own inner wall.

Contains palaces, parks and all the former bureaucratic buildings.

They are abandoned, now. Dilapidated, but awe-inspiring.

The Imperial Commission lies in its own sub-district to the southeast. It has its own Gate, the Gate of Eyes.

The Gate of Triumph which connects the Palace to the Boulevard has been shut ever since the Emperor was lost.

This grand region leads from the Gate of Beginnings in the south to the Gate of Triumph in the north.

It was originally built to honour the Empire's military conquests and contains hundreds of triumphal arches.

Now, this is home to the Orders of the Throne, Rod and Torch, whose Sanctums are here.

The Boulevard is often used for ceremonial purposes, and many public festivals are held here.

A flourishing merchant district situated on the stretch of the river Eriden that remains unpolluted.

Many people live in Rivergate Town, the largest settlement within the city walls.

The House has their headquarters in a giant fortified manor house which serves as both bank and residence.

It is pressed up against the walls of the Imperial Palace.

Many hundreds of years ago, this district was one of the most populous in Rastaban, or so they say.

However, with the decline in population, the park in the center of the district expanded, and gradually the area reverted to a kind of quasi-countryside.

Telemere contains several hamlets and small villages, ruled over by the Great House from their castle in the center of the district.

Telemere contains the greatest number of farms within the city itself.

A canal district whose picturesque beauty is somewhat warped by the close proximity of the congruent planes.

Several powerful members of House Rom have merged the planes permanently to create places of power for themselves.

This warping of reality has spread out to affect the entire district, with sightings of denizens (whilst still rare) now greatly increased.

This sprawling region, once home to the laborers and agricultural workers of Rastaban, is now almost entirely abandoned.

“Great House” Keelen now claim ownership of this District and enforce a kind of street law in this territory.

Occasionally, the Imperial Orders will conduct raids to purge the Barrens of their most pernicious elements.

The River Eriden, which once made this a pleasant and affluent region, has sadly been necessarily contaminated by the effluvium disgorged by the Imperial Commission.

Nowadays this region filled is with nonsentient mutants, making it highly dangerous.

The Imperial Orders ensure that none of these dangerous creatures stray into the Boulevard.

Great roads leave the city travelling to the North, South, East and West.

For about half an hour, the territory is mostly farmland and villages with a few outlying estates -

Then, the Forest of Loss encroaches, blocking travel in all directions.