A Regional History of Animalia

This article is an entry in the citizen-edited encyclopedia "Animalopedia." Years follow the official chronicle, TMA-Timeline. A split of this article has been proposed (reason: too long. Objection: "A city is meant to be read in a single page").

A Regional History of Animalia is a topical treatise gathering the founding and transformation of each district that makes up the city-state of Animalia. The administrative scholar Harriet Longyear (owl) called the city's structure "the growth rings of the city"—since the Founding Amnesty (AE 3), three waves of migration have each carved a layer into the south, east, and north, leaving the tower at the center and burn-scars at the outer edge ("On the Governance of Animalia," AE 112).

1. Overview — The Three Migration Waves and the Transit Network

The skeletal transit network was completed during the construction era. In AE 7 the Metro Lines 1 through 4 opened, and that same year work began on the Veil Waterway canal network. In AE 18 the central station, Echo Station, opened and flourished as the city's front gate (closed AE 71. → §12). With the completion of the Biome Wards (AE 73), Animalia is said to have reached a provisional completion as an "all-species city."

The words of the local historian Ordo Diggers (mole) are the ground bass of this article—"This city's history grows older the deeper you dig, and its surveillance thicker the higher you climb" 〔citation needed〕.

2. The Central District — Around Oracle Tower (AE 20–)

Founding: The administrative core, zoned at the same time the tower broke ground in AE 1. With the completion of Oracle Tower in AE 20, the administrative and police apparatus was consolidated here, giving the district its present form (→ TMA-Politics / TMA-Police).

Present form: A forest of towers—the giant clock tower Chronos Clockworks, the Archive Vault that holds the records of every citizen, the Oracle Broadcast Tower operational since AE 92 (→ TMA-Media), the research facility Nexus Lab, and the luxury residences of Elysium Towers. The Crystal Skywalk, 300 meters above ground and linking the skyscrapers, is a tourist attraction, though locals say "the air up there is strangely easy to breathe" 〔by whom?〕.

Character of the district: "The quietest downtown in the city." Its crime rate is the lowest of any ward, yet its residents are known for speaking softly. "Under the tower, carry an umbrella"—a saying peculiar to this district, referring not to rain but to being watched.

Famous incident: In AE 104, the political reporter Felix Darch's serial "The Faceless Government" was cut off after its eighth installment—an affair invariably cited when describing the temperament of the Central District's residents (→ TMA-Politics).

3. The Old South Quarter, "Vecchio" — Around Casa di Rosso (AE 3–)

Founding: The city's oldest residential quarter, built by the southern migrants of the First Migration Wave (AE 3). Its streetscape of cobblestones, bell towers, and courtyards preserves almost the exact look of the Founding era. In AE 9, a mutual-aid society of the wine-merchant and artisan guilds was formed, which became the forerunner of the Rosso Family (→ TMA-History-Rosso).

Present form: "The singing old town," centered on the palace Casa di Rosso, the opera house Teatro Vincenzo, and the concert hall Musica Eterna. It is known for its abnormally long dinners and for the wall-niche of a patron saint-beast set into every alley.

Famous incident: The Theater Massacre of AE 47. A gunfight in front of the Teatro Vincenzo left many law-abiding spectators dead and turned public opinion sharply against the mafia (TMA-Timeline). Ever since, a flower-offering stand is set out before the theater's entrance every night before curtain. As the turning point at which the Five Families began to put their "Code" into writing, the elders of Vecchio still call this incident "the night the cobblestones ran red."

Character of the district: Proud, loose with time, and punctilious only in matters of mourning. When a newcomer puts on airs of belonging, they are chided: "Don't wear a face older than the cobblestones."

4. The Moonview Quarter (Tsukimi-chō) — Around Zennin-ji and the Yagyō Manor (AE 11–)

Founding: Formed in AE 11 with the raising of the banner of the "Ninkyou Ikka," a mutual-aid society of dockworkers (the forerunner of the Ninkyou-gumi. → TMA-History-Ninkyou). Because it began as a port stevedores' town, ship-chandlers still linger at the back of its alleys.

Present form: Here stand the temple halls of Zennin-ji, the Yagyō Manor that serves as the syndicate's residence, and the Kyōgetsu-rō teahouse, where prices are set on information (→ TMA-Economy-AMT). True to the name "Moonview," the full-moon fair draws visitors even from outside the city. The scent of incense and freshly-sprinkled water is a fixture of "Animalia for the five senses" (TMA-Lore-Deep §2.2).

Famous figures and incidents: The drafting of the Five-Family Accord (AE 51) was the work of two houses, Rosso and Ninkyou. Tradition holds that the draft was hammered out in a meeting hall in the Moonview Quarter, and Zennin-ji still preserves a room known as "the Accord Chamber" 〔citation needed〕.

Character of the district: Strict in courtesy, heavy on obligation. "Return the cup before it dries"—meaning, repay a kindness at once. Polite even to outsiders, but a second rudeness is never forgotten.

5. Chinatown — Inside the Tenryū Gate (AE 13–)

Founding: With the Second Migration Wave (AE 13), eastern migrants surged in number, and that same year the Tenryū Gate was raised, forming the district's prototype. In AE 15, a neighborhood watch and an incense hall merged to give birth to the forerunner of the Hua-Long Hui (→ TMA-History-Hualong).

Present form: Animalia's largest Chinatown, bounded by the Tenryū Gate. Centered on the walled fortress of Hua-Long Castle, the Seisō Market—which deals in Daoist reagents and medicinal herbs—wears one face by day and another by night. Since AE 95, the jiangshi dispatch trade has become the standard infrastructure of the late-night economy, and "the sleepless labor force of the sleepless city" is supplied from this quarter (→ TMA-Economy-AMT).

Specialty: "The Hundred-House Hotpot," a great-cauldron dish to which dozens of food stalls each bring their own ingredients. The sight of predator and prey gathered around the same pot is counted among Animalia's signature scenes.

Character of the district: No compromise when it comes to martial skill or food. Quick to a fight, but just as quick to break it off. "Don't count the dragon's whiskers"—a warning against prying into the finances of the powerful.

6. Frost Harbor, the Northern Port (AE 30–)

Founding: The northern migrants of the Third Migration Wave (AE 30) settled at the north port, where the mercenaries and escort companies formed themselves into a society (the forerunner of the Tundra Syndicate. → TMA-History-Tundra).

History: In AE 38, this was the flashpoint of the Wharf War, in which the Ninkyou faction and the northern society clashed over rights to the docks. This became the trigger for the "Decade of Blood" that dragged in every organization. In AE 40, the society acquired the battleship Northern Ghost and formally took the name "Tundra Syndicate" (TMA-Timeline).

Present form: The moored battleship Northern Ghost, the Northern Light Tower, and the Grey Ice warehouses—a row of cold-storage depots. The warehouses are also said to be a collection-and-distribution point for the black market 〔citation needed〕. It connects directly to the Polar Ward (§8) by an ice-borne haulage route.

Character of the district: Taciturn, punctual, no prying. "On the ice, everyone slides at the same speed"—the port's way of saying it asks no one where they came from.

7. The Casino and Finance District, "the Gilt Mile" (AE 22–)

Founding: Grew out of the turf of the "Golden Fist Coalition," a gambling-and-entertainment league founded in AE 22. With the opening of the Oasis Casino in AE 35, it became the pleasure quarter's front gate, and the coalition formally took the name "Goldfist" (→ TMA-History-Goldfist).

History: The Burrow Bank, founded in AE 26, has its head office on the border between this district and Broken Burrow (a location owing to its start as a lender to common folk after the Great Fire). The completion of Liberty Tower in AE 83 added a front gate for finance, and AMT credit trading expanded rapidly. In the Burrow Panic of AE 89, the Goldfist Family's private-fund settlement network rescued the city's finances, establishing the order in which "the money of the Five Families passes through Goldfist's ledgers" (→ TMA-Economy-AMT).

Present form: The Oasis Casino, Liberty Tower, the upscale carnivores-only club Predators' Paradise, and the 24-hour entertainment complex Nocturnal Nexus make up a city that never sleeps.

Character of the district: "The ward without clocks"—the tradition of keeping no clocks on the casino floor extends to the whole district, and it is joked that appointments here are counted not by "what time" but by "how many hands from now." "The courage to fold is also part of the bet" is the district's byword.

8. The Biome Wards — the Jungle Ward, Savanna Square, and the Polar Ward (–AE 73)

Founding: Artificial biome wards created by Oracle Tower's Climate Tuning Division. Built up in stages, they were completed in time for the first Interspecies Olympics in AE 73. With this, "Animalia, the all-species city," is said to have been finished (TMA-Timeline).

• The Jungle Ward — a high-humidity ward for tropical animals. The spice concentration at its food stalls is the highest in the city. Because the squalls fall on schedule, it is said that "an umbrella keeps better time than a clock."
• Savanna Square — the center for the assembly and trade of large mammals. There is an ethos here that honors doing business in the open sun, and "Sunlit talk belongs in the sunlight" (don't bring shady dealings here) is the district's rule. The opening ceremony of the Interspecies Olympics is traditionally held here.
• The Polar Ward — a low-temperature ward for cold-climate animals. A principal base of the Tundra Syndicate, its whole district gains in clout when winter comes (seasonal power rotation. → TMA-Politics).
• The Desert Ward — a high-temperature ward for desert animals, famous for its design: the heat drawn off in cooling the Polar Ward is vented into this ward. Known for its after-dark Evening Market and for Stargazers' Hill, the city's only astronomy spot.

At night, the Night Safari is held spanning the Jungle Ward and the Polar Ward (→ TMA-Daily-Life). For the climate, the life, and the "Seam" between the wards, see the sister article TMA-Nature (The Biome Wards & the Weather).

9. Broken Burrow (the Beastfolk Quarter)

Founding: A town of the "unorganized underclass" that formed of its own accord on the city's outer edge right after the Founding, belonging to none of the Five Families. It has never once officially appeared in the city's zoning plans 〔citation needed〕.

History: The Great Fire of AE 24 burned down most of the town and deepened the destitution of the unorganized underclass. The legend of "the Three-Day Cooking," in which the forerunner organizations of the Five Families ran soup kitchens without regard to family lines, is told as a distant origin of the later Five-Family Accord (TMA-Timeline). It was the Burrow Bank, founded in AE 26, that handled the funds for rebuilding the burn-scarred ground.

Present form: A slum effectively continuous with the neighboring Dustborne Slum. It is the home base of Street Strays, a community of strays, and its day-labor market is regarded as the "canary in the coal mine" for the city's economy (→ TMA-Economy-AMT).

Character of the district: Poor, but firm in mutual aid. Since the Great Fire, "Never refuse a light"—if someone asks you to share the fire from your hearth, you never refuse—has been the town's first rule.

10. Fog Port (the Port of Mists)

Founding: Date of founding unknown. A port wrapped in permanent fog, recorded in the city's harbor ledger only as a "private port." As a gathering-and-distribution point for smugglers, mercenaries, and information brokers, it had established its present character no later than the Decade of Blood (AE 38–49). It was the only port that became no family's naval base during the conflict era, and this is held to be the basis of its present neutral standing 〔citation needed〕.

Present form: The Aqua-Fin League, the water-transport guild, runs the piers, and the full-moon-night escort contract (a credit arrangement to "settle by the next full moon") is a specialty of this port. It is considered proper etiquette at the port not to speak aloud of the rumor that a Ninkyou-gumi "shadow pier" lies deep in the fog 〔citation needed〕.

Character of the district: "The fog does not choose its cargo"—at this port, common sense holds that only an amateur asks what you're carrying. Praising a ship's name is welcome; remarking on how deep it sits in the water is not.

11. The East — the Glitch Zone (AE 108–)

Founding (the Anomaly): Formerly known as the Eastyard Industrial Zone. It was a manufacturing belt that included the derelict Phantom Factory, but in AE 108 the electromagnetic anomaly known as the "Glitch Zone" was first observed. At the time it was announced as "a malfunction of a substation" (TMA-Timeline).

History: From AE 117 on, the expansion of the anomalous zone accelerated by several meters a year. Testimony of "mirror-image residents"—of having passed an animal with one's own face on the street—multiplied, and at the ward's fringe a space of total darkness, the Void, opens its mouth. In AE 113 its "deepening" was confirmed by private observation, but the city forbids its disclosure. That the psychiatric hospital, the Lunatic Sanatorium, stands on a hill at the ward's edge only adds to the district's gloomy reputation (→ TMA-Underworld).

Present form: Most residents have already left. Because electronics malfunction, not even the streetlamps come on, and the old-timers who remain are called "zone-edgers." The occult magazine "Monthly Moonside" runs an annual feature on "the place where you dream Oracle's dreams."

Character of the district: "What you pick up in the east, return to the east"—a superstition spread across the whole city that carrying off an object from the Zone brings a curse.

12. The Neutral Zones — Places That Are No One's Turf

A group of districts protected by Article Five of the Five-Family Accord (TMA-Lore-Deep §2.3), or held neutral by custom.