Nillian
Kataria
Kataria is an island country situated in the Great Sea. It is of medium size and has only limited contact with the rest of the world, as the people living in Kataria are not very interested in travelling and exploring. Legends tell that originally Kataria was uninhabited, and that the first people to arrive on the island were survivors of a great shipwreck. There are no real proofs to support this legend, but most of the people living on Kataria accept it as a fact.
The island has a mountain range on the southern part of the island. In the mountains two major mines are situated, with several smaller mines under construction. From these mines all coal and metal used on the island is mined. The mountain ranges are plentiful in that aspect, and though the supplies will run out eventually, it will not happen for some decennia at least. The southern city governing the mines is Stokes, which is connected to Kataria by train and the river Kat.
The western part of Kataria used to be an enormous bog, covering almost the whole surface. In the last decennia this bog has been harvested for peat, which is used as fuel in the cities. The resulting space was quickly converted to a large countryside, with several small villages supporting hundreds of farms and farmers. They now produce most of the food needed in the whole of Kataria. Part of this food is shipped by train to Kataria, where it is distributed to other towns, though Räan gathers their food from the farms surrounding the city itself.
The eastern side of Kataria houses the largest forest on the island, Lorion Forest. There are a few villages surrounding and inside the forest, but these have never grown very large. The Lorion Forest is home to several large herds of deer and boars. Though there is no official hunting the forest is home to several bands of poachers and bandits, who sometimes try to catch deer for food. To combat these poachers and bandits there is a whole community of rangers, who live in pairs or small groups and patrol the forest at random.
Along the coast of Kataria there are several small fishing villages, bringing in fish for the whole island. Kataria has only one real harbour: Capes. There is not much traffic from or to Capes as the people from Kataria are not really interested in travelling or exploring. Kataria has one small colony on another island, Apaga, to the north. But only people very fond of travelling or outcasts go to Apaga, for the rest people rather stay in the comforts of home.
Kataras (capital)
Kataras is the capital of Kataria, and is also the biggest city on the island. It grew naturally, being roughly the centre of the island and having a good location alongside the river Kata. The original buildings have all been destroyed long since, either by fire or just demolished to make room for newer houses. Kataras now houses a nice mix of both stone houses and wooden sheds and warehouses. Buildings are often very tall, standing three or four stories tall, otherwise the city had to be twice as large to house all the people. In the city there is a big difference between the rich and the poor, giving rise to different neighbourhoods with tall beautiful houses and neighbourhoods with rundown dirty houses. All the streets in the city have been lined with cobblestone, to prevent muddy roads and to improve traffic speeds.
Kataras is divided into different districts. Some districts were created as members of a certain profession gathered together, to create a guild and sometimes work together. This led to districts like the Leather District, where all the tanneries are located, or the Shard District, where all the potteries have fragments lying in the street. And then there are other districts, like the harbour and the parliament. These took shape by themselves, as they grew in size due to the technological and social developments in the city.
The University of Scientific Studies and Research also houses its own district. Because the University has its own place all the research can be done together and be regulated more easily, making it safer for everyone. But as accidents still do happen the University is located outside the city centre, so the general public is not threatened. The University received their first building from the city itself, and soon after commissioned the other buildings themselves. A few of the first members of the University were architects, designing the buildings to give the University its unique architecture and atmosphere.
Travel through the city happens in two different manners. Most of the more respectable residents have their own coach, for private use. These coaches are often powered by a small steam engine, though there are still coaches which are drawn by horses. Next to the station there are several public coaches, which first time visitors can use to get from the station to an Inn or hostel.
And then there is also the tram system. This is a network of small train-like vehicles that ride on rails through the city. These trams are not powered by themselves, instead they move on a kind of platform that pulls the tram along. These platforms are powered from a central steam engine, the biggest engine ever created, designed and build by Dr. Biene(*).
Steam power is of course not only limited to vehicles in Kataras. Since the discovery of the first steam engine these engines have been used in a lot of very different applications. Blacksmiths use steam engines in their workshop, powering hammers and other tools. The Post Office has a large steam-powered letter sorter. The harbour uses steam-powered winches and cranes to load and unload boats. The same machines are also used in the train station. All the clock towers are run on steam, as are the elevators, bridges, and even the first vacuum cleaners work with a small steam engine. Making Kataras the true 'City Powered by Steam'.
Räan
If Kataras is the 'City Powered by Steam', then Räan is the 'City in the Wind'. Räan is situated on top of the highest cliffs in the whole of Kataria. Because it is so close to the sea and lies so high, Räan has always been plagued by strong winds. The upside is that the air is quite pure in Räan, unlike the smog that is beginning to appear in Kataras.
Because they are so close to the sea they do have more problems with birds, especially seagulls. For the rest the city looks quite a lot like Kataras, with stone buildings, wooden sheds and cobbled streets. It is a lot smaller than Kataras though, with almost a quarter of the inhabitants that Kataras has.
Like Kataras Räan is divided into different districts. But in Räan there is an additional division: the part of the city behind the Wind-catcher, and the part in front of it. The Wind-catcher was a joint project of the city council and the University. The winds that plague Räan can sometimes be very strong, and therefore cause quite a lot of damage. It already was the case that people could not let anything lying around outside, because the wind would blow it away.
So the city council contacted the University, and together they hatched a plan to keep the wind from the city. In the end it was not possible to protect the whole city, so a part of the city fell outside the new 'wind-free' zone. The Wind-catcher is a giant wall, created from a wooden structure and cloth coverings. It was designed in such a way that it channels the wind away, instead of just stopping the wind. That way the barrier doesn't have to be strong enough to contain all the force of the wind, which would be very difficult, because in large storms the winds become a lot stronger.
The added benefit is that the Wind-catcher channels all this wind towards the University, so they have more wind to play around with. The part of the town that falls outside the Wind-catcher was soon deserted by all residents, and is used mostly for storage and for the large factory that itself also makes a lot of noise. The University is a daughter branch of the University of Scientific Studies and Research in Kataras. In Kataras most of the research is done on steam engines, in Räan they spend far more time on wind power than steam engines. This is of course because of the strong winds that easily facilitate this kind of research.
In Räan the public transport system is a lot less sophisticated than in Kataras, but they of course had no Dr. Biene(*) to design it for them. In Räan they have several 'stations', platforms on top of buildings or wooden structures, which are connected by thick cables. Along these cables gondolas travel, the so-called wind cars. These wind cars are powered by big propellers, and move at great speed over the city. There have been some small accidents with the first few experiments above the city, but the system as it stands now hasn't had an accident yet.
Stokes
Stokes is the biggest city in the southern part of Kataria, located at the edge of the mountain range there. It was originally a small mining town, with several small mines in the neighbourhood. But after the two big mines were opened the town was faced with extinction. The city council of that time was aware that they had to change their way to survive, and began to attract smelters and blacksmiths, slowly rebuilding the city from a mining town to a smelting town. They were very successful in this, as in present day Stokes is one of the largest cities on Kataria.
Because of its mixed heritage parts of Stokes are still filled with wooden houses and sheds. Other parts of the city however are build of stone, and are made to last. The city centre is a good example of this. It was destroyed in a large fire fifteen years ago, and was rebuild from the ground up. All the buildings have strong foundations and are built from the best stone that could be found in the nearby mountains. Parts of the city have cobblestone roads, especially the city centre and the main roads in and out of the city. The more distant neighbourhoods still have dirt roads, and this will probably not change in the future.
Stokes is not really divided in districts, though there is some clustering of professions. At certain access ways and places near the river Kat smelters and forgeries set up, as there they could easily be reached. Then several shops and restaurants set up nearby, catering to those people. Around that the rest of the neighbourhood took shape, giving Stokes several neighbourhoods that look much the same. Later on all smelters set up at the same areas, creating more district-like parts of the city as in Kataras. In the city a lot of steam engines are in use. These are often older models, as the city does not have the money or resources for newer models. Real steam-engine engineers go to Kataras and work for the University, meaning that there are not many real steam-engine experts in Stokes. By trial and error most of the engineers in Stokes taught themselves how to maintain and repair the steam engines that they have, giving them better care than anywhere else.
Stokes is a trading and manufacturing city. It receives ore and coal from the different mines. The coal is mostly exported to Kataras and the other cities, to power all machinery. Ore is smelted and forged either in raw material or end products, and then transported to the rest of Kataria. This is mainly done by train. Stokes has several train tracks, leading back and forth to Kataras and the two mines. These are used to transport both passengers and cargo. Cargo can also be transported by boat, as the river Kat connects Stokes with Kataras. This takes a lot longer, but as a boat only uses the current and does not engines, it is a lot cheaper.
Capes
Capes is the only real harbour town that Kataras has, located at the mouth of a large cove. Since long ago Capes has been a fishers town, with most of the residents having something to do with the fisheries. In recent years though Capes has become something of a holiday city, a place where the somewhat restless people can spend a day or two, and then return to their homes refreshed.
Because Capes only recently had a large growth most of the buildings are still made of wood. The city centre however has been rebuild in stone a few years back, as the wood didn't appeal enough for visitors, or so the city council thought. This also made the difference between the city centre and the adjoining neighbourhoods quite large. The other neighbourhoods have a densely packed feeling, with small winding roads and only adjoining houses. While the city centre is a view of openness, with large roads and almost no adjoining houses.
Capes does not have any real districts, as only fisheries really were important. But today there are some large neighbourhoods that have gotten a name, which some people might call districts. There is the large area around the docks which is home to all the fish processors, which is called the Fish neighbourhood, or Fish district. Another part of Capes that is quite well known is the Wet, a series of neighbourhoods that were flooded, and are today only reachable by boat.
As Capes only produces fish, and in the rest of Kataria enough other fisher villages take care of the demand for fish, not much is exported. The only import that Capes has is of visitors from other towns. On present day a lot of the shops and restaurants are set up for that, trying to get visitors in their shops with interesting decorations and special prices. Capes is also the only connection that Kataria has with Apaga, the colony. A shuttle, a large wooden ship, sails once per month to Apaga, taking people to Apaga, and sometimes also transporting some goods a rich merchant in Apaga ordered. There are never any people returning from Apaga, which is known and accepted as a fact.
Apaga
Apaga is larger than Kataria, lying roughly northwest of Kataria, about 6 days travel by ship. It was first discovered almost a hundred years ago, by some intrepid explorers. Soon after word of their discovery got back to Kataria, the main leaders of Kataria got together. They discussed Apaga in great detail, and decided to finance a colonization attempt of Apaga.
The island was explored, and although the island is much larger then Kataria, it is not as rich in resources. The northern part of the island is covered by a glacier, which made exploration of that part of the island impossible. But close to the glacier there were some interesting mountains, probably containing coal and some metals. For the rest the island is covered by (pine) forests and large plains, with a lot of grass and moss, but no real other vegetation. There are however some strange animals living there that were not seen before, hairy cow-like creatures with large horns.
In the first colonisation a small city was founded, slightly inland but still adjacent to a large river. The city was called Joux, and in the following thirty years it expanded with all treasure hunters and adventure seekers from Kataria. But slowly the people in Kataria became hesitant of travelling, and after a decennium most of the people in Kataria were hesitant even to leave their own city. So the flood of new people going to Apaga slowed to a trickle, and then almost completely stopped.
Though Apaga is still a colony of Kataria there is little contact between the two, and Apaga is self-regulated. Mining never really started on Apaga, and therefore there was nothing to ship back to Kataria. So now only the shuttle goes to Apaga, once per month, to deliver mail and sometimes some young adventure seeker. It never brings people back though, only the crew of the shuttle.
Joux
Joux is the first city to be founded on Apaga, and is therefore also the capital of Apaga. Joux is the only city to have contact with Kataria, as the shuttle between Kataria and Apaga only stops in Joux. The city consists of two parts, the inner city and the outer city. The inner city is well build, with houses of stone and small parks and gardens. It is therefore were all the rich citizens live and work, traders, craftsmen, politicians and the guards. The inner city is also surrounded by a large wall, which has several gates which are all severly guarded. The outer city is were all the poor people live, the labourers, farmers and unemployed people. The houses there are made of wood, and often look a bit run-down, especially at the outer edges. Fires frequently break out, and the fire department has its hands full trying to keep them under control.
The city is ruled but the Lord, Jasper Veloni. He was appointed as Lord by the government in Kataria, and has done a good job so far. He controls the city with an iron grip, trying to crush any oposition before it has a chance to begin. The city is therefore heavily regulated, with a lot of permits and permissions needed to do even the smallest things. Laws are also very strict, and are observed carefully. Guards partol the streets both day and night, especially in the inner city but also in the outer city. Not cooperating with the guards is a criminal offense, so most of the city people try to avoid any contact with the guards. In the outer city a curfew is in effect, after eleven o'clock noone should be outside. In the inner city there is no strict curfew, but people out and about late at night stand a good chance to be questioned by the guards. These strict laws have caused some people to object, but most of these have either moved to the other city, Sjani, or have been put in prison.