Jungarten

Jungarten, the Spiral City at the end of the world

The spiral city of Jungarten is something of a novelty. Not because of it's unique structure (roads piled on roads, houses on houses twisting round ever narrowing, ever upwards to the Glass Palace at its very tip) and not even because it appears to float unaided on the sea. These are points of interest, certainly, but not what makes it a novelty. No, it is a novelty because, of all the many cities, lands and other places on the surface of the world, it is one place that you always stand a chance of being able to get back to if you leave.

The reason for this is the Travellers. Some speculate that it might be the Travellers who built the Firmways but others scoff at this suggestion. Where the Firmways seem to employ powerful magic to permanently connect two places, the Travellers seem to rely more on a homing instinct. However it works, one thing is certain. Wherever they are, a Traveller always knows the way back to Jungarten.

There are no cities on the World quite like Jungarten because it is home to a great many wanderers, merchants and explorers. As long as you hire and take with you a Traveller (or two, just in case) any party or expedition will always be able to get back home again, though it may take longer than anticipated and the journey is by no means safe. Any other city on the World, even those connected by Firmway, do not possess people of the spirit of adventure and freedom that is found in Jungarten as Firmways only connect two places. They lack the freedom of exploration that a Traveller gives.

New arrivals are common in Jungarten too. Traveller ships journey across the World, trading and exploring and they always set off from Jungarten with a skeleton crew. Across the course of their travels they make much money by taking on passengers, who help to run the ship as well as paying a goodly fee to be taken back to Jungarten. The docks of the city swarm with visitors and hopeful travellers, looking to make their fortune in a city of opportunity.

They say that, whatever you seek, you can find it in Jungarten. This is probably not strictly true but it's not too far from the mark. The Spiral City is home to hundreds of different types of creature and culture, all living together in occasionally fractious, totally disorganized chaos. Their are shops, stalls and bazaars selling everything under the sun; wondrous, hideous, powerful, inscrutable and mysterious. The city organises itself roughly into districts depending on the kinds of businesses or cultures that operate there. There is Two-Leg Town, a place most forgiving to humanoid arrivals. There are several Market areas, a few docks, many industrial areas built around different manufacturing industries, Undertown (a place for the undead and other dark-dwelling creatures), several magical habitation zones (glass bulbs containing creatures that cannot function outside a certain environment) and the list goes on and on. Nobody has the first idea what the population of Jungarten is but it must be in the millions.

Jungarten is ruled from the Glass Palace by a creature known as Keph. The vast majority of people in the city know very little about Keph, the Glass Palace may as well be in a different universe for all the relevance it has to everyday life in the Spiral City. Jungarten has no army and not much of a police force. The Mechans are Keph's personal peace-keeping force. Towering constructs of flesh, steel and magic, the Mechans are totally loyal and obedient to Keph and enforce his laws. They only do this in the very upper-class areas of the city at the top of the spiral though (an area known as Citypeak). These areas are well patrolled and crime (at least of the petty or street variety) is not tolerated at all. The Mechans do not often venture into the rest of the city except on Keph's personal command to investigate groups or crimes he consider poses a threat to the city as a whole or him personally. The people say that Keph maintains an extensive secret police throughout most of Jungarten with the job of monitoring the population for just such groups and crimes. What Keph is is known to only a few in the city. For the most part he is a presence never seen, but perpetually felt. He is thought of as a capricious, distant god to many of the city and the phrase "Keph's good wishes be with you" is a common utterance of good luck or well-wishes in the city. "Keph's eyes are everywhere" is another too, often used to warn people that they are saying too much.

Jungarten is technologically similar to Europe and America in the early 20th century. Some parts of the city have sewers, running water, trams and electricity, but some parts are much more medieval, operating with lanterns, horses and wells. Typically, the closer you are to the edge of the spiral, and the higher up you are, the more modern and better the conditions you are. In the centre of the city (The Core) where daylight rarely penetrates and the buildings are all lop-sided and huddled together you could be forgiven for thinking you were in the shanty towns outside 12th century Jerusalem.