Acadia,
the Jewel in the Emperor's Crown
Cobblestone streets and stone walls divide
Acadia, in a physical sense, but the differences in the Quality of
Life run so much deeper; Acadia, for the chosen few is the Idyllic
place to live their lavish lives: for most, it is riddled with
pain and death...a place of dead dreams, dying hopes, empty lives
comprised of desolation, violation, isolation.
The Sectors of the
City that house the Palace, as is The Knights' Headquarters
Facility, and the Gated Communities are Immaculate: sparkling,
almost sterile in cleanliness. There is no foliage of note, as the
climate does not support flowering blossoms anymore, but the
architecture in the Palace and the Estates is awe-inspiring, with
a quality of workmanship unsurpassed. Imperial Guards both on foot
and on horseback patrol these Sectors day and night, regardless of
weather. All Capitol Buildings are also housed in these Sectors.
As the Wealthy do business in many of the Hallowed Halls, and they
do not venture over the wall, except to visit Maeji.
Over the Walls: the
broken souls' wails can be heard...here is where the Indigent,
sickly, castoffs, inmates, orphans, unwanted, and the betrayed
live meager existences. Housed in the four prison work camps, the
orphanage, and the two overflowing asylums, there is no precise
headcount, but it is rumored that over ten thousand are living in
space meant for a third of that. The stench of disease, filth,
death and despair hangs in the air; rotten, corrupt, overpowering,
numbing the senses and the mind. A total opposite of what lies
over that Regal wall.
Patrols are not brought in except for times of Uprising. There
have been no notable riots in the last decade or so...tales of the
Emperor commanding that the Workers in the facilities add a dose
of arsenic to each serving of gruel dished out thrice daily to
every man, woman and child who lives in these squalid conditions,
it would be logical to surmise that if the poisoning reports are
true, coupled with the plagues that roar through these close
quarters, there is no true resistance to be found. Any spirit of
rebellion is lost in these hopeless, desperate surroundings. It is
somewhat ironic, yet not surprising that the Causes of Death in
this Sector, are in this order:
- Suicide
- Plague
- Torture
- Murder by One's
Peer(s)
- Industrial
Accidents.
Your happiness as
well as chances of survival depend upon to what Sector you are
Assigned. Rare instances of poor young women being taken by
wealthy men, either as spouses or concubines, have occurred, as
have rich couples plucking the occasional infant from the
Orphanage. But these instances are few and far between. One false
move, that's how fortunes change. The Emperor has, as past
precedent, taken those who have fallen from his Grace, and ordered
them from their stately homes to condemnation on the Other Side.
It can happen to virtually anyone, without a moment's warning.
These are the Two
Faces of Acadia, Domania. The perfect foils for the Tyrant...opulence
and oppression. |
