Khago

Was the Capital of the Khagoan Empire and Largest city in all of Maar'Ka. Founded in 750AE it later would become the capital of the Khagoan Republic and reached its peak under the Khagoan Empire, with 1 million souls living within its city walls.

The city grew from a small group of villages along the straits of Khago into the largest city built since the summer. Its strategic location connecting the Mizzip Sea and Great Lakes allowed the city boom due to its place along the most important trade route in Nor'Maarka.

As capitol of the Khagoan Empire it served as the political, cultural, and economic heart of the vast empire, with goods from across the continent and beyond flowing in and out of the city. Due to the cities massive population a constant string of grain and corn ships sailed into the city from the breadbaskets of the Mehdinds, with much of the cities poorer population relying on the corn dole which gave them a free source of food due to the empire prosperity.

## Cityscape

The city was divided into three sections, the North and South sides, and Imperial Island which lay in the center of the Straits of Khago which divided the city in half. Imperial island was the administrative and religious center of the city, home to the massive Imperial Palace, the Hall of the Aldermanry, and the Temple of the cities patron God, Linkun. Imperial island was also home to the cities inner circle of noble families who lived in the towers near to the Emperors palace. The imperial Palace was a towering structure which rose over 500 feet above the city and was home to the vast quarters of the Emperor and his extended family, as well as his army of bodyguards who defended the palace. At the top of its highest tower was the flame of Wabbash, which was lit by the first Emperor and kept burning by all of his successors, a symbol of the empires beating heart.

The straits were lined with many piers and warehouses where goods from all over the empire were brought in on flotillas of ships which docked in the city. Large drawbridges connected the north and south side of the city and could be lifted to allow larger ships to pass under them. The largest drawbridge lay west of Imperial island and was known as the Tower Bridge, which itself had a plethora of shops and homes build along its roadway.

Looming over the city in the distance were the ruins of Old Chicago's skyline, which served as a reminder of the cities ancient predecessor and the greatness of the civilization of the ancients. Now its crumbling skyscrapers lay partially flooded and seen in the distance over the horizon of the city. Boats frequently made the short voyage to the ruins to salvage whatever building materials they needed to construct the buildings of the new city which lie before it, as well as salvage whatever metals and iron they could for use by the cities numerous forges.

Large towering structures known as Tower-Mills dotted the city, serving as the residences of the cities elite families. They rose high above the squalid slums which sprawled between them, giving the cities nobility a safe-haven from the disease and crime on the streets below. The bases of the Towers were home to massive mills and granaries which were powered by the large windmills at the tops of the tower. These facilities ground the endless stream of wheat and corn which came into the city from the provinces, and ground it into flower and cornmeal which was given to the cities poor as a form of state welfare. The mills employed thousands of the cities poor who stored and gave out the grain to the cities underclasses.

The upper levels of the Tower-Mills served as the residences of the cities elite, who lived in luxury in their vast penthouses which stood high above the dirty streets below, within these penthouses were great halls and gardens which were constantly maintained by the great families cohorts of slaves. Large suites and living areas with lavish decorations and ornamentation from around the empire formed the interior of these penthouses, where great feasts were held attended by only the wealthiest and powerful of the city. The penthouses of the various Tower-Mills across the city were all connected by a large network of rope-bridges which allowed the nobility to visit each others residences without having to trudge their way through the narrow feces covered streets below.

Between the Tower-Mills were the crammed and dirty tenements where the great majority of the city lived. These tenements were hastily build and frequently collapsed due to their poor construction. Built of a combination of salvaged brick and wooden boards, the apartments of these buildings were squalid and cramped, each housing several families. Most had little sanitation and human waste was simply thrown out windows onto the alleys and streets below. The only open areas of the urban maze was the large open market spaces where hundreds of merchants gathered to buy and sell goods from all around the empire. It is said that one could find anything in the cities many markets.

Life was hard on the streets of the city, and crime, prostitution, and poverty were rampant. Criminal gangs who worshiped the Khagoan god of the underworld, Kapone, controlled much of the business in the streets and markets of the city, and they frequently engaged in violence with one another. They extorted the few people of the city who could manage to run a business, and ran all aspects of the cities underworld. Most gangs had connections to the cities Noble families who lived in the Tower-Mills above them, and were used as a tool to keep the lower classes in a constant state of poverty and fear.

Despite this the city did offer many venues to keep the poor distracted from their hardships. Large amphitheaters and Stadiums dotted the city. Most notably the Arena of Wabbash and the Grand Speedway, where games like Bloodflag, Gladiator fights, and Horse and chariot races kept the population entertained and distracted from the hardships imposed on them by their elite oppressors. Within the theaters of the city hundreds gathered to watch dramatic and often comical plays done by mainly Xalfaunian actors, or to hear news from around the Empire from the news teams of the city.

Below the city was the under-city, which consisted of the buried ruins of the city of Old Chicago and the cities rudimentary sewers. The only people who lived here were small bands of the cities exiled criminals and misborn population, who lived in perpetual darkness and were rejected by the cities population above them. Few dared to venture down into the under-city as it was a den of disease and criminal activity.

Large walls surrounded the city for defense as well as controlling the flow of trade in and out of the city. They were lined with large towers and fortresses manned by the Emperors personal bodyguard.

Outside the cities walls were the districts known as the outskirts, which was where the poorest of the poor lived, who could not afford to live within the cities walls. The outskirts consisted of horribly built wooden slums which barely supported themselves. The peoples of the outskirts were mostly provincial immigrants and former slaves who desperately attempted to make a living by farming in small gardens or peddling goods to merchants traveling up the roads which led up to one of the cities many main gates.