City

On my visit to the city last week, I noticed that I felt a strange fear. The sight of buildings joined together in huge clumps, people living underground, advertising on top of advertising, and everything owned by somebody else. It's a huge growth of living sterility, sort of like a cancer, but in some ways more like AIDS. I saw graffiti (good!) and ugly subways (bad!) and Portuguese soccer tabloids (no opinion).
Worst of all were the towering concrete blocks down at the loading docks. Tens of stories high, these featureless poles of manmade stone stood like idols of the economy, grain elevators protruding from strange angles. As I look at these through the car window, I shudder, and thank god I'm a country boy. Yee-haw.

I had a dream about a city that looked like a beehive made out of wood. Instead of bees, there were helicopters, flying people back and forth from the various cells that were like apartment blocks, or maybe neighborhoods. It was in the middle of this huge, pristine field of grass, with no roads leading to it or away from it. Instead of a faint hum, it gave off the sound of murmurs and groans.

What can you generally find from a city?

From: U23910@UICVM.bitnet
Subject: Fantasy Cities


Awhile back someone asked for detailed info on cities. Well, I have a
listing of everything every encounted in a city by myself and the groups I
have gamed with. This could get long.....


FOOD & LODGING MERCANTILE
Eatery/Resturaunt Market (General)
Tavern Livestock market
Club Slave market
Hostel Bazaar
Inn Auction block


MECHANTS/FINISHED GOODS
Rare woods Imported goods Trinkets/curios
Ink Dice Sweets/candy
Maps Books Toys
Furs Magic items/Charms Hardware/Tools
Spices Firewood Soap
Herbs Glass Perfumes
Paper Leather goods Pets/Familiars
Ceramics Jewlery Brooms
Charcoal Musical Instruments Cloth
Rope Wool Cosmetics
Linen Mirrors Games
Pipes/Tobacco Gifts Wigs
Whips Furniture Saddles
Rugs/Tapestries Nets Flowers
Artworks Sundials Costumes
Potions Livestock Slaves
Religious items Novelties Antiques
Miniatures/Figurines Coins Candles
Bait & tackle Ships supplies Apothocary


CRAFTSMEN
Cutler Weaver Furniture carver
Tinker Limner/Painter Haberdasher/Hatter
Alchemist Clothier Cobbler/Shoemaker
Metal worker Carpenter Distiller
Mason Potter Leather worker
Goldsmith Whitesmith Silversmith
Blacksmith Dyer Herbalist
Seal maker Roofer Exterminator
Lauderer Artificer/Mechanician Taxidermist
Artist Sculptor Fuller
Wheelwright Butcher Cooper
Locksmith Thacther Woodcarver
Bonecarver Gemcutter Chandler
Cartwright Tanner Shipwright
Wainwright Bookbinder Porcilinist
Fine metal worker Glassblower Farrier



SERVICES
Teamster Sage Marshall
Realtor Lawyer Dentist
Hunter Healer Astrologer
Undertaker Surgeon Animal trainer
Astronomer Scribe Nusremaid
Trapper Teacher Tatooer
Spelunker Mountianeer Navigator
Miner Messenger Massage
Hypnotist Guide Fortune teller
Concubines Forester Fence
Surveyor Recriuter Hawkmaster
Copier Translator Mystic
Arbiter Cartographer


FOOD & DRINK
Wine Meats/Butchery Foodstuffs
Bakery Fish Dairy goods
Brewery Smokehouse Ale
General food & drink Fine food & drink Grain
Liquor Cheese Beer
Fresh food



STORAGE
Warehouse Stable Kennel
Mews Silo



ENTERTAINMENT
Theater Museum Stadium
Ampitheater Circus Gynasium
Fairground Tourement field


ENTERPRISES
Pawnshop Foundry Trader/General store
Lumber Construction company Brothel
Rentals Zoo Greenhouse
Laundry Casino Bank
Nursery Mill Moneylender
Smelters Training school


CIVIC
Censor Baths Clinic
Hospital Mayor's home Town hall
Mint Library Sherrif
Watch tower Meeting hall Guard headquarters
Jail Prison Asylum
Treasury School University
Archives Park Cavalry stable
Civil court Criminal court Bureaucrat
Tax collector Toll collector Palace
Punishment square Barracks Customs
Executioner


GUILDS
Rangers Sailors Merchants
Fighters Alchemists Entertainers
Wizards Fishermen Caravaners
Metalworkers Mercinaries Slavers
Artists (Smugglers) Astrologers
Carpenters Jewellers Tailors
(Thieves) (Assassins) Wainwrights
Shipwrights Apothecaries Physicians
Stonemasons Moneylenders/-changers Barristers
Artificers Steersmen & navigators Messengers/Heralds
Blacksmiths Armorers & weaponsmakers Coutesans


HOUSING RELIGIOUS MISCELLANY
Boarding house Temple Lighthouse
Home Monastary Monument/Monolith
Estate Shrine Citadel
Apartments Abbey Icehouse
Flophouse/shelter Embassy
Mansion



ARMOR & WEAPONS IMPORTANT PEOPLE
Armor Wizard
Sheilds Witch
Bowyer Ambassador
Fletcher
Weapons
Fine weapons
Armor repair


And this is not a complete list, either! I can now think of several
things that have been left off, but these are all things that we have
encounted while adventuring in urban settings. I'm sure you can think of
several more.

A city is the place that I own everything. I own the streets and the trash, the tree and a stray dog. I own it.

All the majesty of a city landscape/
All the soaring days of our lives/
All the concrete dreams in my mind's eye/
All the joy I see thru these architect's eyes.

--David Bowie, »Thru' These Architect's Eyes«

the place where multitudes gather and a collective whole becomes more than it's sum parts.
it's a harsh mistress where a man's mettle is strained to it's fracture point. its ugly its beautiful and I love it