Spideropolis

Once one of the largest cities in the Darkwood and a center of art, commerce, learning, museums and spirituality.

Second only to Shrempton in size It was one of most populous city in the Bog, with 12,084,413 inhabitants in 2013, and over 19,520,000 in its metropolitan area. It is considered the birthplace of the Darkwood Renaissance, an era where Bogfolk began to question the anti-intellectualism and childlike behavior of the diper wearing status quo, most notably by seceding from Bog Council Rule. The city was noted for its rich culture, cuisine, art and architecture, monuments, gardens, libraries and universities. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries and a scholarly caste knows as the Spider Scribes who held open-air public forums with designed to provoke critical thought and engage the public on topics of history, theology, philosophy, science and politics. The Spider Scribes were also responsible for transcribing and translating much of the history of the Bog, meeting often with Drub in the Dome of Stars, their spiritual headquarters.

## History

### Origin

After Spider Commander's empire was dissolved following the transition of its wealth and resources to his party planning business, the remaining spider colonies within the Darkwood formed a union of territories known as the spider free-states. These colonies would eventually evolve into cities such as Spiderberg, Spiderville, and Spidertown.

Spideropolis began its life as one of these small, unremarkable cities. Originally named "Spiderton", Spideropolis happened to be located at the perfect locus point within the spider free-states to receive an abundance of wealth from trade and commerce, as well as ideally positioned within the Darkwood itself in order to capitalize on the abundance natural resources in the surrounding lands.

### The Trickster, the Lawman, and the Doctor

As Spideropolis developed into a nascent metropolis, it attracted immigrants from a number of neighboring regions. Spideropolis was uniquely suited to new accepting new people and cultures, and was sometimes referred to as "the city with eight open arms." The fact is that spiders are reasonably small and their own numbers take up very little room compared to other organisms, which left a large amount of space for humans and even more spiders to move in.

Among those immigrants were three luminary characters who have, since their death, have been immortalized in the lore of the city by the Sider Scribes. Jimson "The Handyman" Cackles, a scorpion and emigrant from Spiderville, Officer Davy Bogle, a goliath tarantula and the sheriff of Spiderberg, and Doctor Gandra Hollis, a lobster who hailed from the far-away land of Spideropia.

Residents of Spideropolis consider these immigrants to be instrumental in the development of the city. In particular, during periods of intense strife one or more of these individuals appeared to lead the residents of the city to unity and prosperity. With the help of the trio of luminaries, Spideropolis eschewed the typical socioeconomic development of terrestrial population centers and marched toward creating the perfect city where all could live and exist in harmony.

## Culture

In Spideropolis, all lifestyles and cultures are accepted equally. No matter where a person or spider comes from, they are treated with love and respect and held to the same standard as anyone else. As a result, Spideropolis is essentially free of crime, and (before its complete destruction) had an equivalent score of 10 on the U.N. World Happiness Report ranking, handily beating Finland's score of 7.632.

Spideropolis was also free of nearly all flying insects, and its summer months were reported to be more relaxing as a result.

## Government and Infrastructure

Spideropolis was an idealized 1:1 representative democracy, with essentially all government functions handled by the consensus of its people. The widespread proliferation of technology helped this process immensely, as well as the highly educated populace.

Spideropolis operated as a meritocracy, and awarded prestige based on a person's accomplishments. For all others, A standard quality of life was agreed upon by way of consensus, and given to those who either could not work or decided to not work. For all others, slightly improved living conditions were available, however most preferred to live in the same way as everybody else, as it seemed unfair to take more when others had less.

Utilizing technology pilfered from the Bankashi, Spideropolis erected a wall of energy around their city which not only repelled the horrors of the Bog, but also stabilized their portion of the Darkwood AOI and prevented the worst of its effects on the psyche.

## Destruction

In March 2019, Spideropolis was all but completely destroyed by a blast originating from the Gooseball stadium on the southern end of the city. Early warning systems detected an event but despite valiant attempts by first responders nothing could abate the coming destruction. The following is an approximate play-by-play of events on the day in question:

### March 10th 2019

* 6:28AM - Richard Lemming arrives at the gooseball stadium driving a Corbin-Motors *Sparrow*, pictured right, and carrying a large box of skateboards, hammers, and nails.
* 6:47AM - Bystanders report hearing screaming and crying from the gooseball stadium. Reports of a terrible stink wind are made to Spideropolis authorities.
* 7:02AM - Authorities arrive at the stadium and request entry. Richard Lemming denies entry and demands a warrant from the officers.
* 7:23AM - A number of loud explosions are heard from inside the stadium, prompting officers to attempt entry. A battering ram fails to pierce the outside door, which has seemingly been reinforced through unknown means by Richard.
* 7:45AM - Explosive charges are planted on the door and detonated. The charges fail to gain access.
* 7:56AM - Authorities approve the use of orbital imaging to ascertain what is happening within the stadium. Photographs from high orbit fail to resolve anything within the central portion of the stadium and only display a blurry swirl of colors.
* 8:13AM - Richard is spotted peaking over the western wall of the stadium several times. Approximately 3 minutes later a severely soiled diaper is lobbed over the wall towards authorities followed by incoherent screaming from inside the stadium.
* 8:26AM - Bystanders and authorities report a sound like screeching metal coming from inside the stadium. The sound becomes louder and louder before cutting off abruptly.
* 8:35AM - Richard Lemming is again spotted peaking over the wall at authorities. He is reportedly saying something but it cannot be understood due to the distance. Authorities approve the use of force and sharpshooters move into position.
* 8:47AM - Sharpshooters fire on an individual peaking over the wall, killing him and sending him tumbling over the side. Authorities report this person looks identical to Richard Lemming, however he has a large bushy mustache. Several minutes later Richard is again seen peaking over the side of the stadium and screaming incoherently.
* 8:55AM - A storm cell moves in directly over the stadium. At precise 33.33 second intervals, lightning strikes the center of the gooseball stadium.
* 9:10AM - Authorities and bystanders report small objects are floating inches off the ground in the vicinity of the stadium. Many objects are also gaining an ambient static charge and shocking people who touch them. The order is given to evacuate the area and leave only qualified personnel behind.
* 9:33AM - Reports of an intense flash are called in by numerous witnesses. Observers of this event can reportedly see only the image of a horse on a skateboard and nothing else, leaving them essentially blind.
* 9:46AM - Bystanders report a sound similar to a skateboard performing an "ollie." Within the immediate vicinity of the stadium this sound is estimated to be over 300 decibels in volume and causes considerable destruction in the southern section of the city.
* 9:56AM - Bystanders report witnesses an individual who matches the description of Richard Lemming sprinting at a very high speed away from the stadium.
* 9:59AM - A sound like a horse whinny is heard from the vicinity of the stadium. Immediately after this noise is heard stadium explodes. The blast is roughly equivalent to the Tsar Bomba detonated by the Soviet Union in 1961. The blast levels nearly the entire city and kills the majority of its residents.
* 10:03AM - Richard Lemming is spotted at an Arby's Restaurant roughly 400 miles away on his sprint flip phone. He is wearing a shirt which says "Never Forget Spideropolis."

## Aftermath

The city of Spideropolis was completely eradicated, however much of its subterranean construction was left relatively unaffected. These crypts are currently in the process of being overgrown by the Bog, but some think they contain the mysteries of the Spider Scribes.