(TFT) TFT City: Cliportage

[Pasha and or Rick Smith <pnrsmith@istar.ca>]

>Or how bout members of the list creating TOGETHER a TFT city (ala Haven or
>Asprins Sanctuary) using only the rules found in the three books (AM, AW,
>and TFT:ITL).
>
>Someone comes up with an outline of the city history, another person a map
>of the city that would consist of areas (poor quarter, docks, market,
>etc....), other people would pick an area of the map and create buildings
>and denizens, etc......   Just a thought.
>
>Yours in Cidri,
>Justin


	Hi everyone,

	Justin was talking about a group project where
we all build a TFT city.  I have a suggestion for the 
setting:


	The city of Cliportage:

	Geography:
	This city must be placed where a cliff some
200 meters tall seperates an upper platue from a lower
plane.  A river runs over the edge and has cut a steep
valley for a distance of a km or so into the platue. The
rock must be quite hard, and resistant to erosion.  This
valley is known as "The Cut".

	The river is an important trade route in the
upper level.  On the lower level, the river either feeds
after a short while into the ocean, or into another 
river network.  

	The net result is that there are two seperate
trading areas, seperated by the rapids and water falls
in "The Cut".
	

	History:
	A small human community has long existed
for carrying trade goods up narrow dangerous trails
along the valley.  This community was know as 
"Portage".

	Some 400 years ago a group of dwarves 
discovered a vein of tin ore in the cliff side.  They
formed a community and dug out this valuable metal.
Their tailing were dumped into the river.  

	Tho there were some arguments, generally
the Dwarves and humans got along.  The humans 
traded food, lumber and sub-human slaves to the
Dwarves.  The humans got tin, bronze and finely 
worked items in exchange.

	The Dwarves used the sub humans to
pump giant bellows and perform other labor. After
many years the ore began to thin out on the south
side of the valley.  A smaller vein was found on the
opposite valley wall.  Ropes were tied across the 
valley and a mine was created on the other wall
some 20 meters higher than the origional community.

	Sub-humans would cross the valley by
swinging hand to hand.  Loads of ore were slid down
ropes to the origional community for refining.

	When the ore was exhausted, the dwarves
left selling the workings to a human leader called
Tollestet' me Soept.  (This occured about 150 years
ago.)

	Tollestet' with a couple dwarven supervisers
drove tunnels to the platue top and the docks on the
lower river.  The entire community moved into the 
dwarven workings.  They called their new home,
"Cliff Portage" which later shortened to "Cliportage"

	The new found ease of transporting trade
thru the new community led to the population tripling
over the origional population, reaching 600 people.  
The sub-humans  (not counted in the population 
were kept in order to pump air).

	The population increase forced the humans
to spread to the workings on both sides of the river
and to eventually dig new homes in the hard rock.

	The crowding in the southern tunnels
resulted in a crime wave.  Eventually the richer famillies
commuted to the higher tunnels on the far side of The
Cut.


	City Locations:
	The higher dwarven workings have been
extensively improved with new diggings.  The richer
famillies live on the north wall of The Cut.  No bridges
exist between the north and south communities, but 
many ropes join the two sides.  People cross the cut
by hiring pallaquins tied to the legs of sub-humans who
cross on these ropes hand over hand.
	Many rich locations have been dug here
where the wealthy can hobnob.  Most of the wealthy
spend almost all of their time on the north wall of The
Cut, and let underlings run things in the south 
community.


	The southern digs show their origional 
dwarven purposes with huge rooms for concentrating
ore, smelting it, building bronze, and working the 
finished metals.  There are dwarven dormatories,
work shops, taverns, familly areas and churches.
The tunnels are run along the dwarven cartesian
coordinates (which have 12 basic directions instead
of the human 4).  These dwarven areas are somewhat
changed from the old days but the humans seem to
like the style of architecture and have made efforts to
preserve it.
	They have been expanded in various
directions along the cliff face and many ladders lead
from one small set of tunnels to another.  The stone
is hard enough that their has been a limited amount 
of new digging.
	Large common rooms have been left for
the poor to live and sleep.


	The deep tunnels lead into the old dwarven
workings.  On the north face these just run out, but
on the southern face, they open up into a series of 
natural caves with hard to find exits on the lower
plain.  The tunnels are dangerous since an evil 
wizard made a workshop in them some years ago.
Tho she was killed some of her traps, familiars and 
demon companions remain.  Her name is not known
but she is refered as the "Red Necromancer".  The
southern community has blocked off the many tunnels
that eventaully lead into the deep tunnels.


	Top is a small community at the top tunnel
where the trade is transhipped to the upper river boats.
It is quite a small community with many warehouses
and trading shops.  Its nicest building is a large
theater, the "Illusion", which caters to the upper 
landsmen's taste for entertainment.  The Illusion has
a growing reputation for good entertainment and 
shady dealings.


	Old portage is the community at the 
origional towns location at the bottom of the trade
tunnels.  It has grown slightly in size and has the
majority of the very poor people.  Most of the humans
who push trade carts up the trade tunnels live here.
A secret society has a local chapter "The knives"
here where the poverty has allowed them easy 
recruiting.  Many stately buildings have been taken
over by squatters and are falling apart.
	The local Crime familly the "Maker 
Brothers" has receintly lost the last of the two founding
brothers.  It is in upheaval as new contenders to the
chief brother job fight each other to take charge of the
town.


	The trade tunnels are the long tunnels
that allow carts to be pulled up along the cut.  They
have been expanded to be wide enough for two 
carts to go up and down at the same time.  Ideally
one loaded cart will come down while another is 
going up while attached to the same rope. But the
chance of trade often means that there is too much
going up or down at one time for this happy 
state of affairs to come up that often.  If you are not
in a hurry for your goods to move up or down, you
may pay a lower rate and they will not move your
goods until their is an loaded cart moving in the 
other direction with nothing to counter ballance it.

	An independent group of city controlled
proctors sell access to the tunnels to all trade 
famillies or individuals that wish to move stuff 
thru the trade tunnels.  However bribery is rife and
out siders and small traders always get the short 
shift.


	Political Geography:
	Cliportage is either within a stable kingdom
or empire or is on a undisputed border.  (If the later it
is likely an independent city state.)  It is unlikely that
an army will walk thru the city anytime soon.  In any 
fighting up the trade tunnels would be very difficult
and dwarven planned defenses are focused on the 
trade tunnels from the south community.


	Adventures:
	The wealthy are used to the riff raff being
kept away by the rope bridges.  Thieves could 
attempt to climb across the cut and get into these
rich fammilly homes.
	The deep tunnels need to be explored and
cleaned out.
	There is a lot of trade and money coming
thru this town.  Several powerful trade houses 
compete with knives out (tho not always being used).
	A deep mystery surrounds the Illusion and
players could attempt to figure it out.


	***
	Justin, perhaps you could become 'editor'
and talk to people who wish to contribute further to
this town, and make sure that what is created fits 
together.  (I don't have time...)


	Rick




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