Negav landmarks

We all know that Negav is the biggest bastion of humanity in all of Felarya. But it seems like it's a bit...empty at the moment. This thread is for placing your ideas for things that may be found in Negav city.

My first idea for Negav. Because the bookworms need a place to have fun too!

Karn Library

In all of Negav, people from many different worlds, have brought in many different types of reading material with them as well. For many of them, finding their favorite series of books can be a difficult ordeal. Or so it would be if not for the Karn Library.

The Karn library is generally regarded as a gathering place for many of Negavs bookworms. Carrying many types of books and updating their inventory constantly, they’re often thought of as one of the greatest places in the city to find a certain read.

The library appears to be a large building, made from brick, stone, cement, and marble. Out front, there are several staircases leading up into the large building, and a large cement slab engraved with the term “Karn” on it, more than likely referencing the libraries founders, “Mark and Morticia Karn”

Their halls have many rows of shelves of different books. Novels, Comics, political works, religious studies, spell books, magazines, odds are that if you’re looking for a certain type in particular, it can be found there. Although books about predators have recently been requested more and more by travellers, due to a small lack of them. Besides the many books instantly visible from the entrance, there are four floors more containing even more.

Like any other library, books have to be signed out in order to borrow them. Because theft had become a problem over the last while to the workers there, certain enchantments were made to the building to prevent people stealing their stock. Unless a book is signed out by the receptionist/clerk, then the book will stop at the door, almost as though pulling back into the building.

Every row has been organized by the workers there, to fit into categories of type of book, alphabetical order, and genre. As for the type of people it takes to work there, the only specifications are a love for reading, and minor organizational skills, though minor magic skills are looked well upon. Some workers have learned to use levitation magic to help speed up the stocking process.

As the library itself isn’t that old, its founders are still alive and well, living on the second floor of the building. Often, they can be seen reading some of the copious amounts of material in some of the seats around the building. Their age is beginning to show, but their kind attitudes towards people hasn’t changed one bit. Indeed, treating them with respect would be a very good idea, as rude and hateful behavior can get people kicked out.

They also sell books to those who like them enough, as well as buy books for a rather fair price. This has become many peoples favored method of getting rid of their unwanted reads, losing the books they want to get rid of, and making a small profit all at the same time.

The Lower Market

Land space in Negav is expensive and hard to come by. Already, many of the poorer residents are being forced onto the streets, evicted by expansion. As Negav is the one "safe" city in Felarya, it's not surprising that most people want to live here.

Thus, there is an entire other half to Negav - the Negav Underground. Generally populated by lower income persons, there are a variety of corridors and rooms carved out under the city.

Whole communities have been set up. One result is the Lower Market, a response to the bustling Negav Marketplace above. The Lower Market is set in a long wide tunnel, the edges crammed with stalls selling whatever wares are possible and lit by many blue and purple magic lights. While not entirely true, the Lower Market has gotten a reputation as the shadier market, with many back caves selling wares that are not quite legal. It's also known as having some of the best prices on Felarya for those who know where to look. The most famous shop is the Selodonna Antique Store. Owned by an elderly neko, this place looks like a junk shop on first glance, housing lots of wares that were discarded or used. However, those who know what they are looking for will find lots of the old stuff has amazing powers and comes from very ancient times. Other popular stores is the Ruby Mage Shoppe, Fiskan's Fast Food Delivery and The Silkweave Textile Trading Store.

Overall, while the Lower Market may not have the quality of the above ground shops, it has a lot of charm and character. Smart shoppers looking for a deal tend to peruse it at regular intervals.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

The Lower Market

The Ever-Merchants disapprove.

Competition is always good...

The Memorial.

The Memorial is a twenty metre bronze statue mounted on a green marble pedestal found at the base of the the Isolon Eye. This momument is dedicated to those who died brebuilding Negav after the Great Destruction, however the statue has also become a place of rememberence for all those lost in the mines of the Ascarlin mountains. A glowing dimond dug deep from the Great dimond mines sits on a gold track at the bease of the pedestal, this enchanted gem automatically carves the name of those who die into the pedestal, andding them to the list of those to be remembered.

Daily candle visuals are held at the Memorial by a groups of poor miners and their families; those who attend prey for their safe return from the mountains and that the Isolon Eye continues to shine so that it may protect themselves and their loved ones.

Negav is SO big, and it's hard to move around without efficient transportation. or in this case, teleportation. I have an idea where the archmages, and/or psi'sol magiocrats had techno-magical teleporters places around the city. they lead to specific points, and create a network with transit-popular areas, like a downtown transit area, or a market transit area, or the mage's district transit area. They can be referred to as the "vein" network or something.

Why need the techno? Negav is an advanced city, but I don't see them using technology when magic could both be cheaper and more reliable.

Hm, has there been mention of an official "Temple of Oth" yet? I imagine it'd be purposely made to catch attention and show off - maybe a giant icon of the sun that becomes radiant during daylight hours as it catches the sun's rays (and even at night it would give off a dull glow, because "Oth is never truly absent"). The temple would in itself be a miniature fortress-monastery, capable of sealing its clergy and "the children of othem" should the city come under siege.

ohh what a great thread idea !

you are totally right that such an important city as Negav need developement , and those ideas make sense

Personnaly I see Negav as a sort of cross between Sigil ( Planescape torment ) and ankh-Morpork ( Discworld ) XD

How tight is the security in Negav? Do adventurers come and go as they please through the gates or are they thoroughly checked and and questioned by dedicated personnel? After all we can't have traitors on the loose, who knows, they might endanger the Eye.

Karbo wrote:

and ankh-Morpork ( Discworld ) XD

By any chance does Negav have an Inn-Sewer-Ants Agency?

observer88 : Well no they go through magic and physical control. The security is definitely very tight.

Malahite : probably not

Karbo wrote:

observer88 : Well no they go through magic and physical control. The security is definitely very tight.

Oh, I see. From reading the wiki, Negav is protected by detection and identification spells, right? In another thread I mentioned that species like, say, humans could possibly not be the same on absolutely all worlds. That is, for example, a human from a world unknown to the Negavians goes through the gates, he could trip the alarm, being identified as "Unknown".

Of course, my point above would be rendered void is someone says that these spells are visual-based, recognising species by appearance, which in turn would be in turn thwarted by shapeshifters or polymorphs or spells with that purpouse.

If people are identified as being from worlds that the Negavians don't know of they might have some analisys done. Or maybe a simple questionaire to catalogue the world as best as they can.

This train of thought has lead me to suggest some sort of archive building, say... something like... "The Negav Central Archive"? Yeah, I couldn't think of a fancier name. The archive could be in the form of paper documents, but considering the millions of adventurers that pass through the city on a <insert unit of time here>-ly basis, we could be talking the Giant Tree's worth of paper here. So it could be stored on a few servers or something like that. Yeh, I'm a little biased toward SF, but meh...

...that is all.

Duo Vicinus - From the latin word vicinus meaning resident. A collection of 80 districts spread throughout the city, they are separated by symbols and are placed between marketing areas. Several buildings spiral out from a center, as it continues the area breaks down into shrines, complexes, and villages. Depending on the location themes are created for each grouping and designs are based on the age of that area. The center and sides of the district often connects to a main route that fills with shops and local marketing. Clans and tribes have gained territoral boundaries, though there are no restrictions it isn't uncommon finding more of one race in one place than another. In more central areas near bussiness, offices are created. There is a division between old town and new town. Recently Ps'isol Magiocrats have decided to split 40 areas based on an unstated but declining trend. The security is increased and in outer north east areas corperate projects & research take residence. This however is a farse... Duo from the latin word meaning two, a word diverged from true purpose of the area. As the city grew the second half to its name was dropped. During the first construction it was deemed the name Duo Bestaan (Dual Existence).

Referances: Soul Society, Konoha ect...

I would like some feedback...

I like that idea a lot. I've always seen Negav as a very crowded place... it's only natural given it's the only city out there.

The Pit

A part of Underground Negav, the pit is a large cavern that has an equally large depression in it. The pit was dug out by the inhabitants - at one time there were magnificent crystals growing across the ground - sadly they were consumed in the need for more real-estate.

The Pit is a good name - it is generally accepted to be the area where the poorest of the poor live. The area is a mess of shanties and tents. People have even started to nail shacks onto the walls of the cavern to give more room. The pit gets deeper as people excavate it for more room. There are even starting to be a few adventurous nekos who have built dwelling that hang from the ceiling!

The only proper "building" in the pit is a shrine to Oth, the Sun God. It is a white building with a series of golden mirrors on the top. In an act of charity, this temple magically radiates stored sunlight during the day. The priests also give donations of food and blankets to the needy, usually along with free scriptures of Oth.

On multiple occasions the government has tried to stop development of the pit, worried that the expansion of the cavern could destabilize the buildings above it. Others worry that something very bad and hungry might be dug up if the Pit is dug too deep. Already, the Pit has the highest rate of unsolved disappearances in the city. Most assume this is just regular murders or people leaving without telling anyone. Others claim that something nasty has already been awakened and when the temple of Oth turns off the light for the night, it comes out to feed on those who won't be missed...

Pontus Corporation

The Pontus Corporation is based in a large white building, comprising of an octagonal tower connected to a low rectangular structure. It is recognizable to most Negavians and is simply called "The Pontus Building". No one is quite sure what the Pontus Corporation actually does. However, what people do know is that the Pontus Corporation are probably the ones that started the very dangerous fairy-hunting craze. Simply put, anyone who delivers fairy wings, or a fairy, dead or alive, to the Pontus Building will be very nicely repaid with a healthy amount of cash. The enormous sums they are handing out is probably the only reason people continue to do something as suicidal as fairy hunting. A whole economy has come up around fairy hunting - people outside of Negav who can't readily access the city will try to catch fairies to sell to travelers at a slightly lower price than that the Corporation offers.

No-one knows what happens to the fairies that are purchased by the Corporation - they are never seen again. Most people don't care - they just want the money. Where the Corporation gets the money is another question - all they seem to sell is bulk fairy hunting equipment, which is either very cheaply made or ridiculously expensive.

The Pontus Corporation is a true testament to the power of cash. Numerous organizations have attempted to get the Corporation shut down, including the Adventurers Guild, who claims that the company falsifies information on the safety of fairy hunting and Negav Journalist Group, who decry the company's secrecy.

Less influential are the scattered complaints from PETP, People for the Ethical Treatment of Predators, a well known terrorist group and suicide cult.

So more great ideas here
The pit one is excellent in its description I think, it has a really nice feel of urban legend ^_^

Thanks. What would be really cool if we get enough ideas is if someone drew up a city map of Negav.

Tomthumbs in Negav

While Negav is primarily a human city, tomthumbs (and, to a lesser extent, other tinies) have also come to view it as a relative safe haven. Most of them tend to keep to themselves, and avoid contact with humans. Consequently, the tomthumbs' Negav is a 'world within a world', mostly unknown to the city's human residents, and subject to occasional speculation. A small number of tomthumbs live 'between worlds', interacting regularly with humans.

Tomthumbs have been living in Negav for as far back as anyone can remember. Over time, humans just began to notice them, without having seen them arrive. The tiny people live primarily in abandoned buildings, in burrows dug into the earth of the city's parks, and more generally undeground. Nobody is certain how many there are. Urban legends claim that tomthumbs have dug a vast network of subterranean chambers and passageways which extends under most of the city. Some paranoid humans claim that this enables the tinies to enter any home or building and spy on the human world. It has also been claimed that some tomthumbs offer their services as tiny assassins, carrying drops of potent poison unseen into humans’ homes. This suspicion has led to a degree of anti-tomthumb prejudice.

On the other hand, tomthumbs often appear in human fiction, including children’s stories. There, they are most often represented in a positive (albeit stereotyped) way. They are often seen as sneaky yet simple and kind-hearted. Some humans believe that seeing a tomthumb is a sign of good fortune. There are even humans who go ‘tomthumb-watching’, and who take their children to the nearest park to see whether they can spot any tinies darting about under the bushes.

"Tomville"

Centuries ago, the city's rulers decided that the tomthumb population must be brought under control. They ordered the building of a tomthumb area within the city, and decreed that all tinies must live there. Tinies found to be "permanently residing" outside this segregated area would be subject to arest, and repeat offenders would be expelled from Negav altogether. A decree ordering tomthumbs to pay taxes was quietly dropped, however, due to the tinies' obvious incapacity to handle human-sized money.

The tomthumb segregated area -or "Tomville", as it is popularly known- was not a success. Most tinies were not at all keen to place themselves under the scrutiny of the city's human rulers. It's estimated that a vast majority of Negav's tinies live outside Tomville, but the area is not entirely uninhabited. Tomville is thus one of the city's curiosities - a miniature town nestled within the larger human city. It's inhabited mainly by tomthumbs who prefer a life of openness rather than secrecy, and by the descendents of those who originally moved there when the decree was first issued. Tomville is also ideal for tinies who want to maintain relations with humans. Lastly, there is a safety aspect to it. Tomville is under the protection of the human authorities, who do make some effort to keep it safe from hungry nekos and human slavers.

Tomville is administered by a Board of Councillors, all of whom are tinies. Almost all are tomthumbs, although other tinies (neeras, mausus, efriii) are occasionally represented. The Board has seven members, of whom three are appointed by the magiocrats (the city's rulers), and the other four elected by and from a narrow list of Tomville's richest and most influential tinies. The Board decrees who is on the list of electors. Although Tomville is essentially autonomous, the Board answers to the magiocrats, who may veto its decisions and impose their own rules.

Tomville is composed of tiny stone houses, and other stone buildings such as the Council Hall, the tallest building in the tinies' area. Most buildings sit atop an underground passageway which enables residents to flee below ground in an emergency. Townville also has its own verdant parks, and its own marketplace. A few small temples enable people to worship their various deities. Houses tend to come with gardens, where the tinies grow their own food, and part of the town is reserved for fields of crops – agricultural lands within a city. Lastly, some of the non-tomthumb tinies living in Tomville have built up their own areas; thus, a small cluster of distinctive houses forms the town’s ‘Mausville’.

Tribes

Tomthumbs in Negav are by no means a united community. Although some are loners, detribalised individuals or families, most live in tribal communities, with their own leaders, customs and territory. Tomville itself is a mixture of detribalised people and autonomous fractions of wider tribes, living side by side or intermingled in general harmony. Tribal leaders retain various degrees of customary influence in Tomville, but are subordinate to the Board of Councillors.

Outside Tomville, tribal leaders are the highest authority over their territory and community. Each tribe has its own form of leadership. While some are essentially egalitarian, recognising nothing more than an influential role for select individuals, others are governed by a rigid hereditary aristocracy. There are even examples of tribes where leadership has faded away altogether; members view themselves as part of the tribe, but no longer recognise any authority.

Tomthumb religions are also diverse, and have been a subject of interest for human scholars. While some tribes worship a pantheon of deities, others belive in gods who are detached from the world of mortals, and whom they consequently do not pray to. Among the more ‘curious’ are a tribe which lives in one of the city parks, guarding a specific tree which they believe to be imbued with “sacred creative spirit”. A small cluster of tribes are known to believe that gods are incarnated in particular humans, and consequently worship those humans – to the latter’s puzzlement, amusement or annoyance. It is rumoured that one tribe worships a catgirl as the incarnation of a high goddess, and that they even allow the catgirl to eat them, but this is generally considered to be one of the wild urban legends which surround Negav’s tomthumbs.

Relations with humans

As noted above, a small number of tomthumbs do interact with humans. Some seek human friends for protection; it is not unknown for a family or three of tomthumbs to live freely in a human family’s house, sometimes in exchange for small services, othertimes out of human’s friendship or desire to help the city’s most vulnerable residents.

Some tomthumbs offer their services to humans in a number of ways. Tomthumbs are employed for tasks which require tiny people – retrieving things which have fallen into cracks, for example. Or spying, as alleged by some. In addition, tomthumbs cultivate tiny licroa seeds, which, despite their size, are a much sought after spice used to flavour human foods. Licroa plants are so small that only tomthumbs can properly tend to them.

There is also a popular trend among humans to employ tomthumbs to deliver love messages to their sweethearts. For some reason, using a tomthumb messenger is considered particularly romantic.

A very small number of tomthumbs have become renowned by humans. Kirip Sateem (male) writes popular works of fiction, which are read in taverns for the enjoyment of a human audience, while Loti miToren (female) is a celebrated medical researcher, whose discoveries have enhanced tiny, human and even neko medicine. Tururirahi is a highly skilled street painter, whose artwork decorates the pavements and walls of his area. He has been commissioned to decorate the inside of human homes, and even public buildings. Sateem, miToren and Tururirahi are among the very few tinies who are known and respected by the city’s human population, being invited to human social functions and mingling with influential humans. Tururirahi is even known to have had several human lovers.

Lastly, it is rumoured that a small number of tomthumbs have mastered a unique type of magic, and practice their art for human customers, but if so, this type of trade is shrouded in secrecy.

The builders

An interesting feature of tomthumbs’ presence in Negav is their tendency to build things. Small stone shrines, stone or wooden statues, as well as intricate, carved wooden structures with no obvious purpose appear here and there from time to time, in abandoned human buildings, in parks (sometimes on the branches of trees), and even on street corners. It has been hypothesised that they have a religious purpose, but tomthumbs remain clamp-lipped on this topic; other humans believe that this is just a form of artistic expression. These objects tend to appear more in certain parts of the city than in others, which suggests that they’re created by certain tribes only.

The “Marks”

“Marks” is a nickname given to tomthumbs who live in or around human marketplaces. Most of them are not there to trade, but are scavengers, living off human foodstuff dropped by sellers. They are thought to live below ground, and generally come scampering out for food in the evening, when the humans are gone. This is somewhat risky, due to tomthumbs being prey for nekos (as food) and humans (as slaves).

Dangers

Life in Negav protects tomtumbs from the forest’s predators, but contains many other dangers. Not least, the risk of being stepped on by inattentive humans, which, to a large degree, explains why tinies stay out of humans’ way.

Arguably the greatest danger they face, however, comes from nekos. While the city prevents any large predators from entering to feed on humans, it does not keep out nekos, who have an unfortunate tendency to view tinies as delicious meals. While those outside Tomville are not protected by the human authorities, Tomville itself is not always safe. Nekos know that they can find a steady source of food there, if they can get past the human guards.

Some humans, however, are also a threat to tinies. There is a black market slave trade in which tomthumbs are kidnapped and sold as ‘pets’ or slave workers to humans who can afford them. Officially, trade in tomthumb slaves is a serious crime, but enforcement is often lax.

Tomthumbs have been known to fight back, however, and from time to time a human or a neko is found dead, pricked by multiple tiny poisoned darts…

wow amazing job on that ! very detailled and coherent with the rest

Mhh now I am beginning to think that tinies would need a whole page for them rather than just be in minor races XD

Karbo wrote:

wow amazing job on that ! very detailled and coherent with the rest

Thanks.

Quote :

Mhh now I am beginning to think that tinies would need a whole page for them rather than just be in minor races XD

That would be good. I'm going to try and do a bit more on tomthumbs, at least.

Extundo Rommel (Invent Chaos) - An area created around the battle district. Guilds & corperations compete through the craft and refinement of weapons, armor or magic. The inventions are used in the arena and gain sponcership for continued research. Inventors market their items to be used in competition and later tranfered under security divisions. Weapon shops, blacksmiths, and armor refinement are home to these areas and take over the main portion.

Terra Bestek (Ground Dimension) - An underground arena to promote battle. The tournament revolves around a dimension system used to transfer physical matter where predators are transfered from the outside and forced into competion. A massive field exists below the arena platform. By creating an area similation the system is able to transfer data from the outside then fuse it with the enviorment. Rounds are separated into natural & main. Natural compitition places competators against the enviroment. To advance combatives continue make contact with predators to disrupt the dimension. By stretching a Predator's momement through the field a strain is created upon the area. Extending that time causes a break that separates the two fields. Surviving, defeating or altering the area causes a difference between the similation that malfunctions the system link. Depending on the balance objects are returned to area with the most overlap & depending on method points are awarded and used to decide ranking for the main competition. As the ranking continues those with highest stats enter a peliminary and from there into the main battles. As with the tournaments above an arena champion is someone who is able to continue these battles and hold their title. The system is powered by the Isolon Eye. The area is VERY ILLEGAL and is currently (but not publically) under the control of a single corporation. Bestek was originally developed under magic based teleportation for the city. It met corperate hands after the destruction of the first Negav. Though Ps'isol Magiocrats is aware of it's existense the councill became hesistant in acting because of its interagration with Isolon. This added with location issues and lack of evidense has protected the area thus far. Rumor suggests however inside influence direct these decisions.

I would like some feedback.

That the people who created Terra Bestek deserve to be taken behind the shed and shot?

It's a good, creative idea for the realm. But it's foolish by the people in-canon. "We have a city on Felarya that can keep the Predators out, we're finally safe. Let's find a way to teleport them inside the City Walls and throw people at them!" The Ps'iol also seem likely to come down on the creators like a ten-ton hammer: They're messing with the Isolon Eye. That's likely to peeve off them, and the majority of other citizens in the city. Probably make visiting Nekos from Nekomura very happy however (Maybe one day it'll not only break the eye, but also happen while dozens of Faeries are inside the city!).

EDIT: My point is, it seems like a lapse in intelligence for several parties. Not that it should be thrown out and all evidence burned.

Fair enough. I was thinking of using the oppertunity to develop a much darker setting in the background. Perhaps the reason for its instabilty is because of the Isolon Eye. Also had a thought about applying the same feelng onto the original project then leaving the corperation to use both the backlash and participates for its own agenda.

Malahite wrote:

Karbo wrote:

and ankh-Morpork ( Discworld ) XD

By any chance does Negav have an Inn-Sewer-Ants Agency?

It's much more likely to have a Feed-Me-Own-Self-To-A-Naga Dibbler.