THE MARINELLE FRONTIER

The Marinelle Frontier is a somewhat new and young region of the world, stretching from the mild and humid eastern coast of the Garden to the arid and hot deserts of the middle of the continent. Overall, it's topography is rather flat, with some hills and mountains at the eastern edge that make up the rocky coast. It's free from any centralized government, though most of it's citizens are Veritian in origin, and is currently only populated by two major cities. Additionally, there are a number of scattered towns built along the railway that connects the Marinelle frontier to other cities within the region.

Prospect is the largest city in the Marinelle Frontier, but also the youngest, founded against the eastern coast of the Garden. It was originally established by a small outfit of miners from the nearby Tillytown, seeking to establish a port city to facilitate trade with the rest of the world. It was extremely successful in this venture, and quickly grew to become a bustling hub for all manner of traders and artisans seeking to sell their wares. However, not long after the city was founded, the citizens of Prospect discovered an ancient network of caves and tunnels that stretched for miles into the earth, right below their nose. At first it was believed these tunnels were perhaps connected with the Underdark, but for as long as they explored them, they saw no signs of the familiar underground civilization.

The city called for all manner of adventurers to come and help them explore the passageways and see what they could discover. Though much of the upper levels of these ruins seemed to have already been picked through by explorers from who-knows-when, the deeper they went the more unsealed chambers they discovered. The adventurers who came back carried with them untold technologies from cycles gone by- scholars are certain they're not from the Fifth cycle, but have had great difficulty dating them exactly.

This discovery has led to Prospect's culture being shaped in two ways; firstly, a desire to explore, not just the passageways under the city, but ruins and Old World remnants across the world through the employment of adventurers. Secondly, the city and its denizens have a desire to understand the technologies and artifacts that they've uncovered, and fostered a desire for innovation.

The call for adventurers to explore the city's underground has led to the establishment of many adventurer's guilds. The underground tunnels have proven to be quite dangerous, home to all manner of creatures as well as being structurally unsound and laden with traps. Some have even reported, to varying degrees of severity, a sort of "inconsistency" of the ruins layout between multiple trips into Prospect's underground, leading some to believe the ruins are shifting and ever-changing. It's easy to get lost and perish during expeditions. The danger presented by the underground has led to the outlawing of its exploration aside by the city's licensed adventurer's guilds. These guilds can be independent, but many answer to the government of Prospect, who reward guild members for the recovery of technologies and other such discoveries. The city's greatest goal in combing through these ruins is the salvaging of old-world technology for use in the modern era.

The technology recovered is studied by the city's numerous artificers and engineers. A majority of Prospect's tech-savvy population was drawn in simply by the city's location- a port city with access to all manner of trade and resources, especially with Tillytown and Vespa Springs not too far off. However, quite a few of them were brought in specifically to aid in the understanding of things found in Prospect's ruins. Many of these engineers then went on to utilize the things they had learned in new technologies, uniquely blending together raw technology and magic. The city has quickly become one of Lumaria's biggest rivals in the realm of technological innovation for these reason- they're one of the only other cities to attempt this feat to any success.

For many reasons, such as the nearby Tillytown and the city's many open ports, the city has also become a hub for entertainment. Music has always been an important aspect of the city's culture, as workers seeking refuge and relaxation from a long day of work would often find themselves visiting one of the city's many lounges, where they could dance and listen to music. Prospect is the birthplace of the modern radio, and as such, there are a large number of radio stations which play everything you could imagine, from blues, to jazz, and even the wildly successful radio dramas.

Unfortunately, as Prospect is a city of innovation, that affects most aspects of life- including politics. Government officials in the city are constantly changing and have an exceptionally high turnover rate, getting voted in and out at an alarming speed. It’s difficult for the government to get much done considering how often its members change.

This leads to many issues with infrastructure and law-keeping. Most of the streets run rampant with unchecked crime and violence. Most repairs on the city are paid for by corporations and most order is kept by the many adventurer’s guilds, wealthy businessmen or crime families who all battle for control over the streets. All things considered, the combined efforts of each of these parties do a pretty decent job for citizen safety, but it’s by no means foolproof. Prospect struggles to this day with issues like child labor rights, labor rights in general, and pollution.

While Prospect is the de facto capital of this region, the small town Vespa Springs is the first place to have been settled. It has its roots as a small mining town, founded by miners from the Silkspire outskirts. After a horrid mining accident that killed dozens of their workers, the business began to struggle, and they took a number of risky business decisions as they attempted to recover their lost profits. One such risky decision was to establish a mining operation in the hills of the Vespa Desert, a region which had then been entirely unexplored due to its extreme heat and dry conditions. Luckily for the workers, and for the business, the hills were rich with resources, and soon the community began to flourish. This community became known as Vespa Springs.

Nearby, another town was founded. Nestled right along the river that divided the Vespa Desert in two, it was seen as a good stopping point for miners to stop and rest, get a drink of water, and continue on their way to the mining outfit. Eventually, a number of businesses began to crop up along the river, eager to service the miners passing through, as well as farmers who found the land to be extremely fertile despite the intense, dry heat. The settlement that soon formed was called Tillytown, which quickly outgrew the nearby Vespa Springs. The town even became the site of the city's first railroad, which only served to draw further people to the little desert oasis.

As the mining operation expanded, and more workers came to aid in the construction of the newborn city, a need for entertainment arose for the workers who held no attachment to the area and toiled day in and day out in the desert heat. Despite the adoption of Verity's laws over the city outlawing gambling, a number of casinos run by criminal groups, as well as showgirl theaters and other such entertainment venues began to pop up in Tillytown, to massively popular success. After the success of these venues, the city legalized gambling, and became one of the first sin major sin cities to be established in the east.

Criminal groups and Tillytown have a long and strong history with one another. Without the aid of numerous crime families from across the continent, the city would never have gained the notoriety and affluence it boasts today. In an attempt to "legitimize" and clean up their reputation, the city has undergone many periods of gambling bans and prohibition, often to no avail. The organizations would just continue their operations under the table, strengthening their bonds and building their rapport with the denizens of Tillytown.

In addition to the city's history as a mining town and sin city, the city in very recent years has become a hub for innovation, especially in the realm of technology and weaponry. Easy access to raw materials and the nearby metalworking facilities in Vespa Springs have drawn in all manner of engineers and metalworkers- especially those from the recently established city, Prospect- eager to fashion new and never before seen creations.

Today, the city is run by a small cabinet headed by an elected mayor that has jurisdiction both over Tillytown and Vespa Springs. The government of Tillytown often has trouble controlling the people of the city, considering the strong history the city has with criminals and gambling.