Thul Ka Revised Map Draft and a Call for Names

Sular

So,

I am working on a revised map of the city, incorporating some refinements to the style as well as some rationalization of the space. The link here is to an early phase of reworking.   

Link: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6oWSve-DGvyUEVoZDBjTXRYZDQ/edit

I will also need help in naming the various neighborhoods of the city, so if you have any ideas on that, please feel free to let me know. I will be periodically updating the map as it takes shape. 

Sular

Ok,

So I have updated the map a bit here; https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6oWSve-DGvyMHNPNHpBbkUwN1U/edit

Also, I numbered neighborhoods that currently don't have names. I am taking all ideas for the following places'

1 - Near the fancy part of town, so it might too be fancy

2  - Clearly a nice place to work (probably a lot of government offices and things here). Possibly theaters too. 

3 - Next to Hluun, so it might be full of students, or things that cater to that crowd

4 - The back side of Cinnamon Hill, so it might be residential with some shops and things

5-  Looks like this has a large public square, so it may be a market and bazaar district

6 - Not really sure 

Char

Hmm I'm just getting a page that says the file doesn't exist. :/

Sular

Ok, I appear to have fixed the issue.

knitting

Names are in no way my strong point but I thought I'd have a crack, - discard at will if you like.

1. Mandible Wharf

Sat close to the Nephrite Docks, the air of this historic neighbourhood is alive with the sound of merchant shipping and the still river waters. It is the point through which day-trippers in their finest head out to charter boats to take them out of the city and along tours of the northernmost parts of Mugroba and the point by which many first find entrance to the city.

As such, it has now gained a reputation as a home for the unimaginative, those of little in the way of much drive and ambition. A pleasant enough place, once home to artists and poets who lended it a certain kind of romanticism, it soon found itself home to tourists giving it an oddly inauthentic feel. Hotels sprang up like weeds across the wharf and it is considered, by absolutely any one who grew up in Thul’Ka proper, to be the home of substandard cuisine catering to blander foreign palettes. All the same, the social life is pleasant enough in a tame, ‘toy town’ sort of way- there are statuettes here and there and some nice historic spots for people to visit should they so desire it. There are often animal shows for children and traditional dance troops to keep a family entertained. 

 The pick pocketing in this neighbourhood, apparently, is second to none. So best to keep a hold of your valuables. 

A certain malaise happens to sit around the gills, quite honestly, of the place now. The plague hit it badly- not in a medical sense but in a fiscal one. Similarly, the war in Anaxas has left the future looking a little dim for the wharf to boot.

2. Lawyer’s Commons

Do not be put off by the name and write off this neighbourhood as one dripping with the snake oil and grease of those in the law profession because once, while it was true, the place was known most for its law offices and judiciary buildings, the district is now filled up with all manner of professional types. Newspaper offices sit on corners and banks filled to the brim with clerks. At the end of work hours it is not uncommon to see a veritable swarm of workmen piling out of the building and into the public houses that lawyer’s commons has an equal reputation for. It becomes quite rambunctious in the early evenings.

Though this district is mostly commercial, if one should have any kind of desire to buy a property here they would find the prices almost intolerably high, leading to an incredible rush on the cable ways here. As such the cable way facilities in Laywer’s Commons are second to none throughout the city and yet still a cause of much grumbling.

3. Asefa Gully

The name of this district is mostly Thul’Amat Urban Legend but there is arguably some shred of truth in it, perhaps. Named for one early scholar of Deja Temple who met a particularly gruesome end in a wet channel, the young and more raucous student types like to say that this area is lousy with ghosts. Mostly though it is just lousy with the more bourgeoisie type of student. The politicized ones. The drunk ones. It does not have a particularly good reputation amongst the school. 

There is a trend now for these ghastly theaters and galleries to pop up where, by all accounts the subject matter borders on obscene. Or at least none of the art displayed there is very good at all.

Any layperson unfortunate enough to live here has had its fair share of beginning and end of term hijincks. Avoid. 

UMM….WIP FOR NOW??

JaderGader

1- Fancy sounding name? How about Ukirasha, perhaps a word for peacocks or some other fine bird?

2- I like the Lawyers' Commons idea/name. Maybe with the theatre influence it could be colloquially known as the "Paste District" for the makeup, false jewels, etc. worn by the actors?

3- I like the Asefa Gully name and history, too. With the student population, I imagine Hluun is more for actual study (what with the coffee shops and so forth), so I could definitely see this district being more of the getaway or fun students' region. Theaters, art galleries, sure. Looks like there are a couple circles in there, perhaps there are courtyards or famous statues where certain groups of students hang out? Looks like two, so maybe there's even a bit of a (friendly? not-so-friendly?) rivalry between the two groups? Late-night clubs and perhaps a brothel or two? Other locations of middling-ill repute?

4- Since it fully borders Cinnamon Hill's wealth, I could see this as being the high-society hangout, with shops, sure, but definitely gardens, fine art galleries (lots of viable patrons of the arts nearby), vintners and fine custom brewers, tailors, specialty salons or spas, etc. Somehow I like the name Zuri Zahi (Swahili for "beautiful" and Arabic for "beautiful/brilliant," and I thought they went well together).

I feel like 5 and 6 are up next to the Gripe, so perhaps they're less desirable. I can't find anything in the wiki about The Cashew, Leeward Market or Fish Bend, so I don't know what their surrounding influences are other than The Gripe and Lower Nutmeg Hill. 

Even so, I have a couple loose ideas. For the square in #5, with it being connected to Lower Nutmeg Hill (with its influence from the Clothmakers Guild) and a direct path out of town, perhaps it's a weaver's market where the Nanthi would trade, as well as other weavers, seamstresses, tailors, etc. I'm imagining something like the outlet mall of cloth markets with a few really nice shops/stalls tucked away. Perhaps the Nanthi come in on a rolling schedule and can be expected at certain times of the month? I suppose it could be named simply the Weavers' Market and the overall region of #5 be The Lentil Quarter.

Oh, I may have an idea for #6, acutally... What about a region of the city that features more sporting, betting, casino's, etc.? There are moa races, yes? Maybe also boxing rings, other races, etc. that could take place in this area? The map looks like there are some bigger swaths of real estate and fewer roads, perhaps this could indicate sporting fields and connected stables, a stadium, etc? Multiple gambling dens of varying repute, and it's connected to the river, to boot, so anyone who isn't good for their money may go to sleep with the fishies? ;) Just a thought. I would call it Kite Fish Courts, I think (another name for stingray, but perhaps kites of different kinds of fish could decorate the streets and be an indicator of the kinds of betting or services inside given establishments).

There. My 2 cents...