(no subject)
This we know: The ancients destroyed themselves in the 60 Minutes War. Their superweapons left the American Empire and Greater China uninhabitable wastelands. The earth rumbled and bled for eons afterwards. Yet from this destruction the Traction Cities merged.
London was the first city to be made mobile. Soon the rest would follow suit until almost all the world's cities moved on tracks and wheels, floated on rafts and gasbags or skated across the ice on giant skis.
Yet fuel was not infinite. To survive, the cities turned to cannibalism. Big cities ate smaller cities, smaller cities ate towns, towns ate villages and everyone ate barbaric 'static' settlements. The eaten would be stripped down for fuel and raw materials, sifted through for valuables, their population enslaved or assimilated.
It is the year 13,000 After Quirke. The age of Municipal Darwinism is at its height. Great Urbivores devour each other across the hunting grounds of Europe, oblivious to the threats of the Green Storm and Anti-Traction League. Who will you be in this Steampunk Dystopia? Mayor of a hunting city? A worker shoveling coal in its engines? A Green Storm fanatic? A Lost Boy thief? An Airship Trader plying the Skylanes?
Whatever role you choose, welcome to Metrophage. Welcome to the future of survival.
Types of Cities:
Traction Cities
Traction Cities are the setting of much of the Mortal Engines quartet. They are cities that are made mobile through the addition of giant treads, wheels, flotation devices, hydrogen bags, skis, even sails on some small villages. They can range from tiny mobile villages of two hundred people to huge, multi million person metropolises like London.
Most traction cities follow the philosophy of Municipal Darwinism: Big cities eat smaller cities, smaller cities eat towns and towns eat little villages. Everybody eats unprotected static settlements. The devotion to Municipal Darwinism is almost universal. The residents of large cities consider the Earth unclean to walk on and living on it to be almost a heresy.
Some traction cities aren't Urbivores (city eaters) at all though. There are peaceful trading cities like Anchorage that rely on fast engines to avoid predators; scavenger towns that eat the wastes from larger cities; pleasure cities like Brighton; mobile fishing and mining towns; any possible thing a city could do to survive, some traction city does it.
The governments of the traction cities vary as much as their economies. Some have elected heads, some rule with Oligarchies, some with tyrants and some with hereditary nobles. As a general rule, the upper class lives at the top, on down the class ladder to the lowest classes who live at the bottom, next to the engines.
Static Settlements
Locations:
Traction Cities:
-London
The second largest english speaking traction city and one of the largest in the world, London is also the oldest, having first been animated by the engineer Quirke 13,000 years ago. London is cultured, bustling, and home to a sophisticated but highly stratified society. London's society is divided into four major and a number of minor Guilds. The Engineers are responsible for maintaining the machines necessary for the survival of London. The Historians are in charge of collecting and preserving highly prized, often dangerous, but often decorative and sometimes even useful ancient artifacts which are sought after and traded. The Navigators are responsible for steering and plotting the course of London. The Merchants are in charge of running London's economy. London is officially ruled by an elected Mayor. The Lord Mayor is Magnus Crome, who is also the head of the Guild of Engineers.
Like most Traction Cities, London is shaped like a wedding cake, built on a series of tiers. This encourages the system of social classes, with the wealthier nobles living at the top of the city and the lower classes living further down, closer to the noise and pollution of the city's massive engines. Atop the whole of London, however, sits St Paul's Cathedral, the only building in London - and indeed all traction cities - known to have survived from pre-traction times. The top level also contains a number of parks, the headuarters of the Guild of Engineers and London's parliament.
-Panzerstadts
The German "Tank Cities", these are grim places to live even if you're part of the upper class. Formerly the most ruthless urbivores in history, the Panzerstadts were united by Panzerstadt Weimar as an opposition to the emerging Green Storm.
The Panzerstadts are heavily armored cities with little light due to the massive armor plates protecting the city. When the plates close in preparation for battle or feeding, sunlight is completely blocked off and the streetlights switch on.
The Panzerstadts as a rule tend to have large militaries and aristocratic rulers drawn from the ranks of the generals.
-Harrowbarrow
An experimental suburb of Panzerstadt Weimar, Harrowbarrow is the world's first burrowing city. Capable of burrowing for days at a time with the massive jaws mounted on its front, it measures in at three levels and about two thirds of a mile long. It is under the command of Wolf Kobold, son of the Weimar Kaiser, who believes the era of great Traction Cities is at its end and the future will be dominated by small, swift predator towns.
-Brighton
Brighton is a raft city entirely dedicated to leisure. Every conceivable form of entertainment can be found here, from high class balls to peep shows, museums to opium dens. Brighton's social structure resembles other cities, except that the stratification is based on how high or low brow the entertainment is considered. Prostitution is on the lowest tier, and the social functions of the city's elite are at the top. In between there are tourist trap museums, subcultures of bohemian artists, live music, anything money and an afternoon can buy. Most of the entrances are on walkways that overlook the ocean.
The interior of the city houses the slaves and temporary workers that do most of the labor in Brighton and serve the city's upper classes.
The current mayor of Brighton is Nimrod Pennyroyal, the blustery, exxagerating writer of mostly made up "adventures". His wife is dimwitted cow named Boo-boo who is a patron of the romantic opera.
Airhaven-
Airhaven escaped Municipal Darwinism by taking to the air. Great bags of hydrogen ring the city and suspend it in the air. Airhaven is a trading center. Anything can be bought here, from Oldtech artifacts to slaves. Airship traders are constantly coming and going, unloading their cargoes.
City Application:
Name of City:
Number of tiers:
Approximate Length/Width:
Population:
Armanent/Military:
Propulsion: [wheels, treads, lifting gas, raft, skis, burrowing equipment, sails, etc. Also specify what type of fuel it uses. Cities can have more than one type of propulsion. Note that if you apply for a city with advanced propulsion such as MagLev or Jets you should have a very good reason for it and know that other cities and pirates will try to steal it/eat you.]
Description: [note that you cannot app a city with a population more than around 300,000.]
Application-
Player:
Name:
Email:
AIM/MSN: [optional]
Journal: [optional]
Character:
Fandom/Series:
Name:
Age:
Birthplace:
Physical Description: [you may link to a picture here]
Personality:
Canon History: [you may link to a wiki or similar articles if you want]
Metrophage History: [remember, this is an AU RP. Your character must fit into this universe. If you need help/suggestions, feel free to contact a mod.]
First Person Sample: [this can be anything written in the first person: a diary entry, network post, etc.]
Third Person Sample: [at least two paragraphs]
Airship/Large Vehicle Application-
This is the application form for airships and other such large vehicles. Note that you are only required to fill this out for vehicles your character owns or is the exclusive pilot of. You don't have to fill this out for any vehicle smaller than a tank, although a brief description in your character's app would be nice.]
Airship/Vehicle Name: [if unnamed, "Airship/Vehicle belonging to ___"]
Length/Width/Height:
Max Speed:
Propulsion: [Note that if you apply for a vehicle with advanced propulsion such as MagLev or Jets you should have a very good reason for it and know that cities and pirates will try to steal it]
Lifting Agent: [Airships only, hydrogen, helium or maglev, with or without supplementary wings]
Armanent: [if unarmed put "None"]
Minimum Crew:
Seating and Sleeping Capacity:
Specs: [Optional. This is for fluff text such as "2x Renault Turbine Engines, 2x Rocket Pods loaded with incendiary rounds" etc.]
Description:
London was the first city to be made mobile. Soon the rest would follow suit until almost all the world's cities moved on tracks and wheels, floated on rafts and gasbags or skated across the ice on giant skis.
Yet fuel was not infinite. To survive, the cities turned to cannibalism. Big cities ate smaller cities, smaller cities ate towns, towns ate villages and everyone ate barbaric 'static' settlements. The eaten would be stripped down for fuel and raw materials, sifted through for valuables, their population enslaved or assimilated.
It is the year 13,000 After Quirke. The age of Municipal Darwinism is at its height. Great Urbivores devour each other across the hunting grounds of Europe, oblivious to the threats of the Green Storm and Anti-Traction League. Who will you be in this Steampunk Dystopia? Mayor of a hunting city? A worker shoveling coal in its engines? A Green Storm fanatic? A Lost Boy thief? An Airship Trader plying the Skylanes?
Whatever role you choose, welcome to Metrophage. Welcome to the future of survival.
Types of Cities:
Traction Cities
Traction Cities are the setting of much of the Mortal Engines quartet. They are cities that are made mobile through the addition of giant treads, wheels, flotation devices, hydrogen bags, skis, even sails on some small villages. They can range from tiny mobile villages of two hundred people to huge, multi million person metropolises like London.
Most traction cities follow the philosophy of Municipal Darwinism: Big cities eat smaller cities, smaller cities eat towns and towns eat little villages. Everybody eats unprotected static settlements. The devotion to Municipal Darwinism is almost universal. The residents of large cities consider the Earth unclean to walk on and living on it to be almost a heresy.
Some traction cities aren't Urbivores (city eaters) at all though. There are peaceful trading cities like Anchorage that rely on fast engines to avoid predators; scavenger towns that eat the wastes from larger cities; pleasure cities like Brighton; mobile fishing and mining towns; any possible thing a city could do to survive, some traction city does it.
The governments of the traction cities vary as much as their economies. Some have elected heads, some rule with Oligarchies, some with tyrants and some with hereditary nobles. As a general rule, the upper class lives at the top, on down the class ladder to the lowest classes who live at the bottom, next to the engines.
Static Settlements
Locations:
Traction Cities:
-London
The second largest english speaking traction city and one of the largest in the world, London is also the oldest, having first been animated by the engineer Quirke 13,000 years ago. London is cultured, bustling, and home to a sophisticated but highly stratified society. London's society is divided into four major and a number of minor Guilds. The Engineers are responsible for maintaining the machines necessary for the survival of London. The Historians are in charge of collecting and preserving highly prized, often dangerous, but often decorative and sometimes even useful ancient artifacts which are sought after and traded. The Navigators are responsible for steering and plotting the course of London. The Merchants are in charge of running London's economy. London is officially ruled by an elected Mayor. The Lord Mayor is Magnus Crome, who is also the head of the Guild of Engineers.
Like most Traction Cities, London is shaped like a wedding cake, built on a series of tiers. This encourages the system of social classes, with the wealthier nobles living at the top of the city and the lower classes living further down, closer to the noise and pollution of the city's massive engines. Atop the whole of London, however, sits St Paul's Cathedral, the only building in London - and indeed all traction cities - known to have survived from pre-traction times. The top level also contains a number of parks, the headuarters of the Guild of Engineers and London's parliament.
-Panzerstadts
The German "Tank Cities", these are grim places to live even if you're part of the upper class. Formerly the most ruthless urbivores in history, the Panzerstadts were united by Panzerstadt Weimar as an opposition to the emerging Green Storm.
The Panzerstadts are heavily armored cities with little light due to the massive armor plates protecting the city. When the plates close in preparation for battle or feeding, sunlight is completely blocked off and the streetlights switch on.
The Panzerstadts as a rule tend to have large militaries and aristocratic rulers drawn from the ranks of the generals.
-Harrowbarrow
An experimental suburb of Panzerstadt Weimar, Harrowbarrow is the world's first burrowing city. Capable of burrowing for days at a time with the massive jaws mounted on its front, it measures in at three levels and about two thirds of a mile long. It is under the command of Wolf Kobold, son of the Weimar Kaiser, who believes the era of great Traction Cities is at its end and the future will be dominated by small, swift predator towns.
-Brighton
Brighton is a raft city entirely dedicated to leisure. Every conceivable form of entertainment can be found here, from high class balls to peep shows, museums to opium dens. Brighton's social structure resembles other cities, except that the stratification is based on how high or low brow the entertainment is considered. Prostitution is on the lowest tier, and the social functions of the city's elite are at the top. In between there are tourist trap museums, subcultures of bohemian artists, live music, anything money and an afternoon can buy. Most of the entrances are on walkways that overlook the ocean.
The interior of the city houses the slaves and temporary workers that do most of the labor in Brighton and serve the city's upper classes.
The current mayor of Brighton is Nimrod Pennyroyal, the blustery, exxagerating writer of mostly made up "adventures". His wife is dimwitted cow named Boo-boo who is a patron of the romantic opera.
Airhaven-
Airhaven escaped Municipal Darwinism by taking to the air. Great bags of hydrogen ring the city and suspend it in the air. Airhaven is a trading center. Anything can be bought here, from Oldtech artifacts to slaves. Airship traders are constantly coming and going, unloading their cargoes.
City Application:
Name of City:
Number of tiers:
Approximate Length/Width:
Population:
Armanent/Military:
Propulsion: [wheels, treads, lifting gas, raft, skis, burrowing equipment, sails, etc. Also specify what type of fuel it uses. Cities can have more than one type of propulsion. Note that if you apply for a city with advanced propulsion such as MagLev or Jets you should have a very good reason for it and know that other cities and pirates will try to steal it/eat you.]
Description: [note that you cannot app a city with a population more than around 300,000.]
Application-
Player:
Name:
Email:
AIM/MSN: [optional]
Journal: [optional]
Character:
Fandom/Series:
Name:
Age:
Birthplace:
Physical Description: [you may link to a picture here]
Personality:
Canon History: [you may link to a wiki or similar articles if you want]
Metrophage History: [remember, this is an AU RP. Your character must fit into this universe. If you need help/suggestions, feel free to contact a mod.]
First Person Sample: [this can be anything written in the first person: a diary entry, network post, etc.]
Third Person Sample: [at least two paragraphs]
Airship/Large Vehicle Application-
This is the application form for airships and other such large vehicles. Note that you are only required to fill this out for vehicles your character owns or is the exclusive pilot of. You don't have to fill this out for any vehicle smaller than a tank, although a brief description in your character's app would be nice.]
Airship/Vehicle Name: [if unnamed, "Airship/Vehicle belonging to ___"]
Length/Width/Height:
Max Speed:
Propulsion: [Note that if you apply for a vehicle with advanced propulsion such as MagLev or Jets you should have a very good reason for it and know that cities and pirates will try to steal it]
Lifting Agent: [Airships only, hydrogen, helium or maglev, with or without supplementary wings]
Armanent: [if unarmed put "None"]
Minimum Crew:
Seating and Sleeping Capacity:
Specs: [Optional. This is for fluff text such as "2x Renault Turbine Engines, 2x Rocket Pods loaded with incendiary rounds" etc.]
Description: