Rabanastre is a port town, on the Clockwork Shore, in the barony of Theodea.
The population is diverse, in part due to being a port and in part because the town took in a lot of refugees from the Barren Lands during the Great Burning. Most of the town make their living from the port; from the shops and hostelry that serve the visitors to ship-wrights and dock workers.
For the most part people are comfortable; there are the normal social issues and people in poverty but food is reasonably available and thanks to the Goblins at the Green Skin Potion works, (a huge factory making potions, mostly healing potions), healing is also cheap and plentiful. The truly scarce commodity in Rabanastre is space.
The streets of Rabanastre are crowded. The buildings are mostly red brick, stained with grey, from the industry and steam that pervade the town. It is more of city despite still being regarded as the small port town that it once was before the Great Burning.
Since the Great Burning, much of Rabanastre has been rebuilt; some old buildings exist but they are few and far between.
The city has exceptional public transport services, they have trains, airships, the Docks and of course more usual forms of transport like horse-drawn coaches or Automaton powered sedan chairs.
Encompassing the Castle of Baron Theodea and the homes and gardens of the Noble classes of Rabanastre.
As you might expect this district is beautiful; there are lush gardens everywhere, mostly decorative but there are plenty of fruit trees providing blossoms in the Spring, shade in the Summer and fruit come Autumn.
The architecture is Gothic in style and made from red brick, creamy stone and dark slate tiles. The buildings are highly decorated with coats of arms, various fruits, animals/birds, cogs and time-pieces being popular motifs.
This area is kept spotless by a team of automatons controlled by Annabelle Broom, who is fierce and efficient.
This district has a train station accessed by an electric lift.
The district contains the Guild Houses, Housing for Guild Leaders and members, as well as Guild stores, eateries and shops.
The Guild District is mostly red brick building, with cream stone window frames, copper roofs and it is lit, spectacularly, with magically enchanted lanterns. To many people’s eye, the guild district is just as beautiful as the Castle District; more so to those who are more disposed to engineering that frippery.
This district has a train station accessed by a fancy new moving staircase.
Here you will find the prison, the Head Quarters of the Rabanastre Watch, the Courts, the Barracks and the Office of the King’s Excise.
The red brick continues in this district but the buildings here are less beautiful and more brutalist. Big boxy, square buildings loom over the streets and what windows there are, are high and small. Some of the structures here are older and the streets are still lit with gas lamps. One nod to modernisation is that the lamps are now lit each evening by a Golem instead of a Man.
This district has a train station accessed by an electric lift.
The market district has shops on two side and the street is filled with vendors of all kinds. The Market Square has a farmer’s market in the morning (starting at sunrise), varying stalls in the afternoons and after sundown, it fills with entertainers, buskers and street food vendors.
It’s one of the few places in Rabanastre that all the classes freely mingle and as such, pick-pocketing is rife.
The shops here are red brick with red clay roofs, big picture windows at the front and overhanging upper floors. It’s customary for the shop keepers to lay on beautiful, intricate window displays and to grow sweet smelling herbs and flowers in pots by their entrances. The street is covered by a chamber-vaulted, glass roof; allowing people to shop in comfort, no matter the weather.
The stalls that line the streets are colourful, noisy and, in a lot of cases, smelly. Most of the stalls are pulled into place each day by Golems or automaton beasts.
This district has a train station accessed by a steam-powered lift.
This is where you go for financial services, like Banks, Money Lenders (the legal ones anyway) and accountants.
The architectural style here is very similar to the Guild District with just a little more ornamentation.
Rabanastre’s Entertainment District is famous the world over; people come from all continents to experience the theatre, Opera and so much more.
The architecture here is more varied than other districts, instead of having a cohesive style, this buildings in this district all have a distinct, (and often whimsical), style of their own.
This district has a train station accessed by an electric lift.
As the name suggests this is where you will find factories, tinkers and warehouses.
The biggest building in this district is the Green Skin Potion Factory. It is the largest single employer in Rabanastre despite having many automatons and Golems working there. The factory is almost entirely copper, perfectly verdigris (many people believe it is magically kept at that perfect stage) and constantly belching plumes of steam into the air. A constabulary of Golden Robotic Golems guard the factory and the streets around it.
Most of the other buildings here are cheap, composite bricks, dyed red to “match” the rest of Rabanastre, to varying degrees of success. Windows here are small and placed in such a way to prevent the workers gazing out of them during their working day.
This district has a train station accessed by a steam-powered lift.
Very nice housing for the merchant classes and lesser Nobles.
The streets here are made up of short rows of terraced and semi-detached town houses. High ceilings, big windows but smaller rooms; demonstrating the desire of the residents here to show off their wealth. Many of these homes are heavily mortgaged and lots of tricks like moulded plaster in place of carvings have been liberally employed to make these houses look more flashy. Unfortunately, the over all effect just comes off as tacky to most people’s sensibilities.
A private Police force, paid for by the residents, guards this area. They are known for being open to bribes.
This district has a train station accessed by a steam-powered lift.
This is where the “normal” people of Rabanastre live. It’s made up of red brick terraces, with little front gardens and back yards with outdoor facilities. Alleyways run behind each row of houses, connecting to the streets creating little rat runs often used by criminals.
The people here are normally house-proud and maintain lovely gardens. Each house has a living room, a small kitchen area with a range, sink and big wooden work table, a dining room and two bedrooms (one for the parents and the other for the children).
This district has a train station accessed by stairs.
The moon District is where you will find Churches, chapels and temples. Each building here is different depending on which deity it is dedicated to. Magical, floating candles light the space with a peaceful light but give out no heat or smoke.
In the centre of the district is a large, open air space where anyone is free to worship or sit in quiet contemplation. The right to worship as you see fit is fiercely enforced by the King, who sees it as the only way to keep peace with such a diverse population. It is widely considered a social taboo to discuss your beliefs publicly for the same reason; to prevent fights and unrest.
The docks are split cleanly into the “nice end” and the “rough end”.
The nice end consists of a promenade, that leads all the way up to the Castle district, lit with electric lamps; nice eateries, hotels, pleasure houses and inns and the Port offices of the King. The rough end has gambling dens, poor quality hostelries, brothels and slum housing.
The buildings are brick built and rendered; the nice end being regularly white washed and the rough end poorly maintained and crumbling. The whole area stinks of fish and rotting organic matter; leading to the fashion for nose-gays amongst the upper class patrons.
Along the docks are brothels, coffee houses, tea houses, all manner of shops and stalls and a great many places to eat. A beautiful steel framed promenade extends the length of the docks, lit with lanterns hanging from the ornate metal work of the roof. There are establishments for all budgets and for those with privilege, there are the exclusive, members only clubs; often open only to specific trades or professions.
Behind the busy dock front, are many warehouses; brightly lit and bustling with activity at all hours. The docks and the warehouses are governed by the Dock Master, a very serious gentleman named Lucian Everly , helped by the Town Watch, who do regular patrols.
Like any large settlement, Rabanastre has it’s slum areas. Compared to many places, the slums here aren’t *so* terrible; rather than utter squalor, the people who call the slums home have to deal with incredibly cramped conditions. The houses here are either brick built homes that have been crudely split into several dwellings or poorly constructed dwellings built in what used to be spaces between the brick houses.
The Maidens of the Forge (a group of Women widowed by the metal works, who give alms to the needy of Rabanastre) can often been seen carrying their enchanted, ever burning lanterns through the slums, handing out food, medicine and clothing.
Rabanastre is a city that is booming; technical innovations are happening rapidly and the general level of wealth is good. Many people have disposable income and many businesses have sprung up to take that spare money. Rabanastre can meet all your needs and wants!
While public mobility is higher than average due to all the various modes of transport offered by the city, many people do not travel far from their homes and thus most businesses offer deliveries.
The wealthiest areas will receive daily deliveries, especially of fresh food, while the poorer areas will have weekly or even fortnightly deliveries, usually on a set day. Deliveries are normally made by Golems/Automatons and sometimes by children.
Most apparel items (clothes, shoes, hats, gloves etc.) will be made to order although brand-new off-the-peg clothing is now being sold at Ottoman's Wondrous Emporium (a department store) and second-hand clothing stores are located all over the city.
Most neighbourhoods will have a grocer or corner-shop/chandlers selling non-perishable food, sweets, tobacco, lamp-oil etc. Some of these shops will also sell ready made food like pies and things like newspapers and medicines.
Various Hawkers and Street Vendors pop up all over Rabanastre. By Law, traders require a permit to sell in public spaces but many are illicit and their goods may be stolen/counterfeit or of poor quality.
The Hawkers and Street vendors vary day by day; you might get a young girl selling fresh flowers, bakers boys selling fresh loaves or a chancer selling knocked-off timepieces from his jacket.
Like all cities, Rabanastre has it’s share of criminality and corruption and those criminals have their own networks of fences and dodgy salesmen.
The Rough End of the Docks is the obvious choice for thieves to fence items and for those looking for a “bargain” to seek out what they need but criminality is is found everywhere. Dodgy dealers and worse can be found throughout Rabanastre.