Torch City

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 Population
 Status

Torch City is the last human city still standing. Built in the twilight of the Old Days, Torch City is well fortified and home to The Torch, a tall spire that lights up the surrounding area and keeps the darkness at bay. Its light has been ever-decreasing and has currently reached all-time lows. Amber is heir apparent to the throne of Torch City and the only daughter of King Fyr.

## Government

Technically, King Fyr rules over all of Torch City, but the monarch himself is rarely active in directly drafting or enforcing laws and is looked to only for guidance and ceremony. As such, the city is ruled mostly by the Council of Elders, a group of 8 community leaders elected for life by popular vote.

## Religion

There is no official religion in \*Torch City\*. Most of its inhabitants consider themselves *followers of the way* and are called The Lit. The religion is centred on communing with The Torch and ritualistic gazing into light sources while chanting incantations.

## Geography

**Torch City** is a perfect circle, surrounded by its permiter wall. The circle is split up in four symmetrical circle segments which define the five segments of the city:

* The Torch - home to the main light source, Torch Station and the elevator that goes to The Mines
* Forge District - home to all the factories, canning facilities, workshops, plants and refineries. Also home to The Slums, abandoned factories housing the destitute, the crippled and some of the criminal underworld.
* Farm District - home to the hydroponics facilities feeding the whole city.
* Uptown - most people live here, except for the nobles/industrialists and those living in The Slums. Most pubs and entertainment venues are here as well.
* Royal District - home to the most important buildings in **Torch City**, such as The Royal Palace, The Library and The Temple of The Lit, and also the only gate to the outside.

## Technology

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All electricity currently powering the city, as well as the light needed for citizens to carry a normal life, comes from The Torch, the tall spire towering over all other buildings. The light has been dwindling of late, incurring power shortages, light dimming and other issues all over the city.

All devices, artefacts and other technological equipment are closely guarded by the Technomage Inquisitors and only released to the public on a need-to-use basis. Citizens have some access to forbidden tech via The Black Market, an illegal operation that specialises in the trading of illicit goods.

## Economy

The official currency of **Torch City** is the cubit. There is scarcely any paper in the city and, as such, cubits are just small iron cubes with markings on all sides. People also use Batteries as currency, although not recognised as such by the state and mostly present in underground transactions.

## Transportation

Due to the lack of actual working electrical devices, most citizens of Torch City are pedestrians. There are no pack animals left, but merchandise is transported using a vast array of pulleys, steam-based hydraulics and man-powered machinery that comprises the TCTS, or Torch City Transportation System.

## Security

Torch City is guarded by a tall and well lit circular wall that fully encloses the perimeter. There is but one large, lumbering gate in the south wall that has been kept closed for more that anyone can remember.

There is little need for weapons in Torch City. The Goblins, if tales of such creatures would actually be true, are kept well at bay by the wall and internal laws are enforced with blunt cudgels and cuffs. Typical Torch City weapons included, in the past, slingshots, bows and glowsticks. When the Technomage Order has been established, they prohibited the use of such technology to all but the highest rated members of the order. since such threats were never a real problem to Torch City, no one objected this decision and thus the influence of the Order has grown exponentially.

## Resources

Torch City was specifically built in a resource-rich area, with fresh water springs and fertile soil in vast amounts inside the compound. Recent issues with light coming out of the Torch had farmers worried about the city's capacity to provide enough sustenance for all its citizens, however, after the initial period of chaos following the shortage of resources disappeared, the citizens were quick to get back on their feet. After The Blackout, the outside fields which required natural light to grow have become useless, so agriculture was moved to the spare fields which used artificial light to grow. The agricultural area was almost halved, but the people quickly adapted and learned to make the most of what they had.

## Time keeping

The first leader of the World has chosen a few of his scientists to calculate the number of hours in a day as well as the number of days in a year. The initial calculus regarding the time resulted in a 28 hour day, all fitted in a 427 day year. The clocks spread across **Torch City** have been set to that time accordingly. However, upon the reevaluation of the equations, the day turned out to be 30 hours long, and the year 453 days. After the time was deemed correct, the clocks built around the city, as well as a few pocket watches for the people with important social statuses, have been set to match the new time. Those clocks still remain today, being the only indication for people within the **Torch City** as to what the time it is, since the main clock hidden within The Torch has stopped working when the lights went out.