Welcome to Life within the Basilica Atlas!
The world is in a very bad place overall. Large amounts of it are uninhabitable and contaminated by the remnants of the Sundering. However, within the security of the Seawall of the Basilica, life is less dangerous. Humanity traded chaos and corruption for security and the lingering fears that only the shadows provide. For in this part of the world, the sun never rises. It is an eternal night and with it the eternal struggle to see the hope in the darkest of times.
Districts of the Basilica
With so much in the world to worry about, one would think that there is no infighting among Humanity. Well, that person would be wrong. Within the Basilica Achlys, there is one thing that determines the worth of a person within society, and that is their wealth. The more lasting credits one has to their name, the more status and power they can have in the city. This is granted by holding credits in the bank, having credits to make businesses move and function, as well as having the credits to use as leverage against others. Achlys trades the danger of the wilds for the danger of society. Add this to the fact that the more one is thought to be like the corrupted and darkness outside the Basilica, the less their credit is wanted.
The Badlands
The Badlands is the outskirts of the city where the seawall is the closest. While it is still under the protection of the Basilica, it is not considered a safe area at all. Those citizens that cannot get a clearance to enter the city remain in the outskirts. These are typically the people that have known corruption that is slowly changing them from within, Those that are afflicted with cyber sickness, and those that live a scavenger or nomadic lifestyle.
The Badlands are where the dregs of society dwell. It is the easiest place to go and conduct transactions without the eye of the city or the security drones on you. It is also the easiest place to be hijacked of your resources or attacked by a corrupted being that fell from the sea wall or a newly transformed corrupted individual.
This being said, there are those that quite enjoy living outside the order of society and within the badlands, these individuals feel as though they are kings. The Badlands is also the best place to go for off market cyberware and healthcare. No one will ask questions of why you are out there for them. However, once you cross into the Basilica, you will be questioned if you are found out.
Steel Harbor
The Steel Harbor is the central part of Downtown. It consists of the new Docks and the lower portion of the basilica that is allowed into the city proper, but is not the most well off. Those within the Downtown area are considered the everyday people, the workers, the laborers, the masses. Downtowners are known for their mix of scavenged and cyber looks. Neon is a fashion choice among the area, as is the need to be seen. For them, the more of the metallic wear you have, the better off you are. That is, unless a bootleg from the Badlands is discovered.
You are most likely to be seen as well off for your work ethic and your ability to maintain good spirits. After all, everyone Downtown is working to survive. Downtime in Downtown is few and far between and oftentimes involves a lot of drinking, imbibing, and cyber based recreations. The most popular of these is found in the entertainment center known as the Rabbit Hole. At it’s basic, the Rabbit Hole offers drinks and karaoke, but to those willing to buy in, entire cyberfantasies can be created for your entertainment. This naturally makes the area more difficult for the dreamers to exist, but for the people so overworked that they need a break, this is the best out there for them.
The Vermillion Crane
​
Given that the Basilica Achlys was built on the bones of San Francisco, the Asian population has always been solid. Most of the cultures have blended in out of necessity over the centuries, but they all maintain pockets within the Vermillion Waterways. When the Sundering hit, much of the Waterway was lost, save for the portion still within the now Vermillion Crane. It stands as a memory of the old and the perseverance of the new. As part of the Lower Achlys, the Vermillion Crane is still considered part of the working class. It is merely the middle, or highest of the area within the lower Basilica.
Within the Vermillion, there is a melding of all cultural attire and customs that the people treat with care and adoration for the old. In fact, the district is the best place to find pieces of the past as many Scavengers and Nomads will sell their better area to Vermillion vendors. It is even whispered among the residents of the district that if one looks deep enough, the past’s
Ghosts will come to greet you into their own space and Markets.
Honoring the past with the present is prevalent throughout the Vermillion Crane from its love of the older media to its crowning glory, the Reverie Hall. This massive building is the epicenter of all events within the district with the upstairs hosting those of Uptown and those from the Island that wish to partake in the exotic delicacies of the histories long forgotten.
​
​
​
New Achlys
While the sun does not shine, the streets and buildings glitter. Welcome to the Glitz and Glam of Uptown. Those of the highest tier of wealth live in a world where Art Deco and Art Nouveau fuse with hints of technological advancement. The aristocracy enjoys their fully clothed forms and lace and ruffles. The tuxedo is always in style within uptown as is a finely accented top hat. All this nod to a time of artistic renaissance is a showcase that the world is shit, but the people of uptown have still found the sun.
Granted the pathway up is made upon the sweat and blood of all those below. The people of Uptown hold all the strings on the Basilica. They are the manipulators, the schmoozers, the political minds and the business tycoons of Achlys. People strive to be like them or plot for ways to drag them all down. To be an Uplander is to exist in a glass world, shining, reflective and fragile.
The beacon of wealth in the Basilica resides in that of the First Regional Bank of Achlys. It’s the first and only sanctioned bank in the Basilica. Around it, the world presides over the rest of the Basilica, furthest from the sealwalls and the danger it poses. Uptown also houses the only Hospital within the Basilica where all the citizens' health is managed. The Headquarters for the Region’s Moderator and all drone deployment comes out of Uptown. Even the train station that takes people safely to and from the Isle of Purgatory is in Uptown. It is the place to get places, but the climb to get to the top is the real challenge.