New Atlantis is a densely-populated city on the island of Nantucket. Founded as a refugee colony during the last quarter of the 20th century, it serves as the primary residence for the Atlantean population. Permission to occupy the territory was granted by the United States, following peace talks at the close of the Atlantean World War. The city is home to the Arcana and it is where their ruling body, the Arcanum, meets.
History[]
Nantucket is a small island approximately 50 square miles in size. Originally the home of the Wampanoag people, Nantucket was eventually claimed by the United States. At an unknown point it came to the attention of the Atlanteans, likely when the Wampanoag still populated the island, given that centuries ago the Wampanoag and Atlanteans began intermingling.[1] Lord Sun chose Nantucket as the site of an estate in the 1920s, when he translocated the Beacon Towers mansion; Atlanteans began buying property in earnest there during the 1940s.
After the Atlantean World War, the surviving population of old Atlantis took shelter in a variety of international territories while the city was constructed. The Arcana created the urban fabric by translocating individual human buildings and even entire neighborhoods. The magical outlay from the mass translocations was so extreme that the western half of Nantucket spontaneously transformed into the site of a massive and dangerous concentration of wild magic. For this reason, New Atlantis is located on the eastern half of the island, with its growth constrained by the boundary with the Westlands. Today comparable in size to Manhattan, the city is tightly-packed with skyscrapers.
Character & Arrangement[]
New Atlantis, a crowded and busy metropolis, combines the every-day with the marvelous. Its streets are congested with traffic and smog fills its sky, but quieter neighborhoods and cul-de-sacs can be found just a few streets away. A number of parks and squares dot the city, featuring fountains and gardens tended by portunes (agricultural fairies). Sometimes these spaces can be inhabited by more dangerous residents, such as Jenny Greenteeth, known to periodically move from fountain to fountain. In addition to the coffee shops, markets, and business offices to be expected in a modern city, a number of public sanctums meet the needs of the magical population. As a city whose urban fabric comprises translocated human structures, New Atlantis' architectural character is motley and varied, its buildings representing numerous regional styles and historical eras.
Districts and Neighborhoods[]
At the northern edge of the island lie the city's harbors, including the Greendocks. New Atlantis is bounded on the west by a protective wall that runs north-south and separates the populated area from the dangerous Westlands.
One of the city's major intersections is that of Nazaca and Hyperion. Nazaca Road was built along the most significant ley line of the island; as such, many Arcana compounds can be found along it.[2] Other Arcana estates are located along the eastern and southern shore.
The Financial District, the downtown heart of the city, includes the South Street Bridge, which functions as a set of underground tunnels beneath the streets. These busy tunnels are now filled with restaurants, coffee carts, and walkways.[3] The Pacific Bell, the Tower's headquarters, can be found in this district.
Edgemere, about half a mile from New Saints Hospital , is a wealthy area near the financial and market districts. It's squares are filled with commonwealth gardens and fountains, and wealthy scions own expensive condos in the neighborhood. Addam Saint Nicholas lives in one such condo. The busy portal station and it's thriving market are also located in Edgemere.
LeperCon, a small neighborhood made up of three main streets, is a somewhat rundown, cheap area to live in New Atlantis. The streets of this blue-collar area are dotted with ethnic grocers and the occasional drug dealer. Located on a former bog, the neighborhood was translocated wholesale from Boston; there it had been known as the CombatZone, and the name LeperCon references its original Irish population.[4]
Nantucket Town, a mostly human fishing port in the northwestern section of New Atlantis, was established when the Atlanteans began to spread across Nantucket. It therefore possesses very little magic. As one moves west from downtown and its skyscrapers, the buildings shrink down to two-stories structures. It has a touristy feel, with shops selling items associated with human culture, such as human holiday gear.[5] Behind a fish-and-chips shop and a hand-knit sweater store, a gate in the Boundary provides access to the Westlands.
Despite its grand old houses, the Dawncreeks' Neighborhood appears rundown, its sidewalks cracked and weedy. The presence of wards underneath the sidewalks, however, suggests that the current families probably had previous ties to formal houses. This area of town is not far from the Warrens.[6]
The Greendocks, located north of the island, consists of many wooden piers, haphazardly arranged in a maze-like layout, and extending about a mile away from land. Radiating from the wooden piers are a conglomeration of shabby vessels and ghost ships docked together. All the ships were human vessels originally lost at sea over a period of several hundred years, meaning that they represent different eras of nautical technology. The psychic imprints of the disasters that struck the vessels, from krakens to storms to ice prisons, can be observed with magical sight. Onboard these boats are a variety of different bars and brothels, some high-end and expensive (closer to the docks' lights), others more sordid and dangerous.[7] Many of the brothels cater to disparate sexual desires and visitors from many economic backgrounds, and thus span the gamut of legality. For example, the expensive Honey Pot (SS Vaitarna) attracts wealthy scions, and the disreputable Chained Rock (SS Waratah) specializes in pain. Some areas of the Green Docks are entirely hidden by magic, such as the far end where the USS Declaration resides.
The Warrens is considered a bad, dangerous part of town. A bazaar is located there.
Public Works and Infrastructure[]
New Atlantis streets are crowded with pedestrians and vehicular traffic, which can come to a standstill during rush hour. The city also includes a subway, the main hub of which is entered through Canfranc Station. Sigils power the subway's trains. This particular transportation system is a joint venture between the Magician and the Chariot.
Another vital transportation center in the city is the portal station, a large stone structure that allows quick international travel. The building houses portals leading to every time zone, through which travelers and trade items continually move. Fresh items from distant territories, such as caviar, are brought through to be sold in the portal market. The Hex Throne operates the portals and the portal station.[8]
Government[]
New Atlantis is ostensibly ruled by two governing bodies, the Convocation and the Arcanum, who meet in the Convocation Building.
The Bicameral System[]
The Convocation is democratically elected by the Atlantean population, and is responsible for the rules, regulations, and codes that guide the Atlantean government.
The powerful Arcana make up the Arcanum; this unelected group is in no way beholden to the elected Convocation body or the Atlantean population. Although it rarely issues proclamations, the Arcanum makes major decisions about the city's magical protections, the rules of magic, and relations with the human world, often without the knowledge or consent of the general population. For example, the Arcana have installed blessfire sigils beneath the city, which if released, could have deadly consequences for many law-abiding citizens. The Arcanum passes judgements on those who engage in forbidden magic, and those who risk relations with the human world; as such, the Arcana also police each other and approve sanctions and raids against condemned courts.
Official meetings of the Arcana are formal events, with most court members wearing court clothing. Arcana may attend in person, or appear as projections. Some meetings are open sessions, meaning that court members and various attendants may attend, and others are closed sessions, in which only Arcana and Principalities may participate. Although the Arcana have an official audience chamber in the Convocation Building, they also have a true Arcanum meeting location, the location of which is a closely guarded secret.[9]
The Convocation Building[]
As the main center for the Atlantean population's political bureaucracy, the Convocation Building bustles with members of the elected government and their staff, as well as members of the Arcana's Courts. A marble staircase separates the public areas from the private levels of the building, with access controlled by the guarda. The upper levels include the inner chambers, where no weapons are permitted, and sigils are temporarily confiscated. Guards at the inner chambers' weapons checkpoint also require that all magic users don magic dampening bracelets. The most important area of the Arcanum's floor is the Iconsgison, the official meeting chamber of the Arcanum. Two gilded wooden doors lead into its antechamber, which then opens into the Iconsgison, a twenty-two-sided chamber with twenty-two pedestals for each of the Arcana courts.
The Convocation Building is made from rich materials, with hallways and staircase made of marble. Closer to the Arcanum chamber, the various imported marbles making up the hallways are infused with magic. The Iconsgison itself—a 22-sided room—is lined with magically-shaped tiles of jade and sapphire. To enter the Iconsgison, Atlanteans must first surrender all weapons and sigils and wear power dampeners if they are magic users. Beneath the building lays prison cells that block magic, and an imbued summoning circle is also located in the structure.[10]
The Guarda[]
New Atlantis's security force is known by the name Guarda. They patrol the streets and public spaces of the city, and serve as guards at official sites like the Convocation Building. Members of the Guarda wear green and amber uniforms, and carry gladius swords and walkie-talkies. They have the ability to activate protective wards around the city. The Guarda are often called in to protect scions, and are trained in child abduction protocols.
Known Guarda include:
- Anaïca, lieutenant stationed at the Convocation; she has two yellow eyes and a tattoo of a yellow eye on her wrist[11]
Population[]
New Atlantis' population consists of a diverse mix of magical and non-magical beings. Atlantean refugees make up the majority of the residents, and include people displaying a variety of bloodline magics, such as scions and members of Arcana families. Additionally, magical species with visibly non-human physical traits are part of Atlantean society: shifters, merpeople, mostly-human-appearing fae and smaller fairies, water hags, and so forth. Species associated with regional lore across the globe likewise dwell in New Atlantis, such as Snowmaidens and Minotaurs. Some elementals and enslaved beings are held in the city against their wishes.
Humans also live in New Atlantis. Some remnants of the original human communities still dwell in Nantucket's pre-Atlantean World War neighborhoods. Companions, human protectors and partners of Atlantean scions, are incorporated into Atlantean families from early childhood, though they can be described as culturally Atlantean, having never lived apart from their scions. Finally, New Atlantis attracts many human tourists, with bars and other businesses catering to this audience specifically. The nightclub Cubic Dreams, for example, attracts human members of Arcana fanclubs, and is staffed by human employees.
Magic[]
Although Nantucket includes a major ley line, historically the island did not possess any significant manifestations of magic. Therefore, the Atlantean leaders translocated human structures marked by past trauma in order to provide deconsecrated power. Their mass translocations caused a natural eruption of wild magic on the western half of the island; this uncontrolled power and the beings that dwell among it are so dangerous that the Arcanum developed a number of protective measures to secure the safety of the city. Most significant is the north-south Boundary that divides the urban environment from the Westlands; this wall is ten-feet tall high with rods of coral and obsidian embedded within it and coal dust poured at its base. The Arcanum also placed secret wards and mass-sigils beneath the streets of New Atlantis, intended to spread Bless-fire throughout the city, a 'sterilization' defense against the undead and deconsecrated.[12]
Magic is otherwise central to the running and maintenance of the city, tied, for example, to the local transportation systems and the international portals. Thanks to the prolific traffic, the air pollution is periodically removed with a Cleansing spell.[13] Various parks and sections of town are enclosed in boundary wards for security purposes; these can be controlled by the Guarda during emergency situations.
References[]
- ↑ The Hanged Man, Chapter 4, The Dawncreeks
- ↑ The Last Sun, Chapter 16
- ↑ The Last Sun, Chapter 11
- ↑ The Last Sun, Chapter
- ↑ 'Valentine's Day Rules'
- ↑ The Hanged Man, Chapter 4, The Dawncreeks
- ↑ The Hanged Man, Chapter 4, The Dawncreeks
- ↑ The Last Sun, Chapter 10
- ↑ The Hanged Man, Chapter 13, The Arcanum
- ↑ The Hanged Man, Chapter 13, The Arcanum
- ↑ The Hanged Man, Chapter 13, The Arcanum
- ↑ The Last Sun, Chapter 12, Rurick
- ↑ The Last Sun, Chapter 12, Rurick