Cyclone City

Cyclone City is the single largest Storm Gremlin settlement in all of Altairus. Positioned atop a floating island suspended by an airborne tornado, it serves as a hub for all sorts of trade to take place.

Demographics

As one may expect, the primary citizens of this metropolis are Storm Gremlins. Most beings cannot access the city without the aid of weather wyverns or transport services such as the . Even Air elementals may not be able to reach it, as the cyclone that suspends the island creates incredibly strong winds.

Government

Like many Storm Gremlin settlements, decisions are made democratically. Due to its sheer size, though, residents do not vote directly. Instead, each district has a representative that votes on decisions for them. These representatives are not seen as "superior" to the citizens they represent, and the system makes it easy to vote them out if they misbehave.

Cyclone City is a hub for trade in part because of its lax regulations on such activities. In fact, the city has the least amount of restrictions on business activities in all of Altairus. This draws up-and-coming entrepreneurs and already-established captains of industry alike to the city.

Industry & Trade

Cyclone City is best known for its thriving trade industry. Being a floating island, it drifts over all lands of Altairus periodically. This gives Storm Gremlin merchants an easy way to conduct international trade; they simply buy up cheap resources in one land to sell them for a much higher price in another.

The flexibility of Cyclone City's trade laws allowed the city's economy to recover fairly quickly in the wake of The War of the Wendigoes. While many royalty from outside are skeptical of the city's hands-off theory of economics, others have tried to replicate its formula to restore their nations' empty banks in the wake of the War.

Infrastructure

Most trade happens in the urban center of Cyclone City. The metropolis is home to many kinds of businesses, from gourmet restaurants to steel mills and scientific institutions. Many chain industries are known to have originated in Cyclone City.

In response to the difficulty of travel to and from the city, various agencies have sprung up within the city that offer Weather Wyvern rentals for a small fee. This was one of the things that thankfully survived The War of the Wendigoes. As technology improves, many of these agencies have started investing in more advanced transport systems, including the Wishing Star Express.

The city gets most of its electrical power from the lightning storms above it. Almost every skyscraper has a lightning rod attached to it. These devices not only absorb energy from electricity directly; they act as conduits for Air energy hanging in the atmosphere. This, alongside the Air crystals mined from the island itself, powers the city.

Besides this, there are various gutter mechanisms for collecting rainwater running off the sides of buildings. This water is filtered numerous times and held in a reservoir for the city's use. Every problem the city might have, some kind of special technology solves it.

History

It is a known fact that Gremlins were not always fondly looked upon by other races. Sometime in the mid Golden Era, Storm Gremlin merchants colonized the island that would become Cyclone City to serve as a sanctuary against envious others who would see them dead. At first, the settlement was little more than a small village akin to that on Tempest Island.

Over many centuries, the settlement grew as more and more Storm Gremlins populated the area. The town expanded into a city and then into a metropolis as enterprising minds found creative solutions to problems faced in the community and innovations to expand.

Eventually, this drew the attention of other races, who took notice that their pockets filled every time this peculiar island on a cyclone came to visit. While the city's residents were initially hesitant to allow other races into their territory, some clever Gremlins secured deals with other industries, introducing them to the city.

While Cyclone City suffered great devastation in the wake of The War of the Wendigoes, it was able to recover much faster than other cities due to its resources. Enterprising minds quickly set about repairing the city to re-establish themselves in the global marketplace. In the present day, Cyclone City is as great as it was in its glory days. It has played a crucial role in developing the Wishing Star Express, supplying Project Looking Glass with Air crystal batteries as well as metal mined from under the city.

Architecture

Cyclone City is far more modernized than many parts of Altairus. The central part of the city is composed of futuristic, somewhat Art Deco-like skyscrapers and elevated, snaking highways designed primarily for wyvern travel. Towering statues of great heroes tower above the populace, garnishing urbanized and natural areas alike.

The suburbs are only slightly more organized than the Storm Gremlin village on Tempest Island. The houses have the same blue stone hut design, albeit a bit larger and more complex than those on Tempest Island. Lawns are decorated with hardy grass and spearleaf trees.

Climate

The city is impossible to reach except by Weather Wyvern or special transport vehicles meant for flying in extreme weather. This is due to the cyclone that props up the island Cyclone City sits on.

However, once one gets past the barrier and into the city, the weather is surprisingly tame. It is usually overcast, with bolts of lightning periodically lighting up the overhead cloud cover and occasionally striking lightning rods scattered throughout the city. Otherwise, it is fairly calm and seemingly impervious to the weather conditions surrounding the island.

In the colder months, one can expect light snows to fall on the city from time to time. The same can be said for light rain drizzles in warmer weather.

Natural Resources

Beneath the city, there are various mines teeming with Air crystals. These, alongside energy collected from the atmosphere, provide the backbone of Cyclone City's electrical grid. Various other minerals, such as blackmetal and blue stone, are used for constructing and repairing buildings.

Associated Element
Air

Type

Large city