Wall Line
The Outer wall is a barrier against the dangers from outside the city. In its shadows is another barrier, one from hope, comfort, and warmth.
No building is allowed to be within a weapon's throw of the city wall, that is the law. When the city was properly rebuilt, after being sacked, there was a paved area 12 Imperial strides (1 meter each) between the wall and the buildings. In fact, most buildings along that line have their 'back' to the wall. The Good People were once again safe.
A century or so has passed since then. The undesirable peoples (be they merely poor or of the wrong species/ ethnic group) have found their way into the wall line. They have found that the 'good people' turn a blind eye to them being there. They make the Guard run them out of their neighborhoods. The 'sad people' have made the Wall Line their home.
All along the edge of the city (except for the area around the city gate and the docks) there is a pleathora of temporary places. They are tents mostly, but some others are crates and merely bits of cloth stretched to protect from rain. The sad people have their own community there; resting between their menial or scavanging jobs, cooking the captured ratlins, larger grubs, weed greens, and scavanged left overs from the good folks, and looking for a way away from the wall.
As long as all the buildings are temporary, and there is an easy to navagate passage along the wall (the wall road is a corridor between the tents), the guards leave them alone.
Not Registered Yet? No problem.
Do you want Strolenati super powers? Registering. That's how you get super powers! These are just a couple powers you receive with more to come as you participate.
- Upvote and give XP to encourage useful comments.
- Work on submissions in private or flag them for assistance.
- Earn XP and gain levels that give you more site abilities (super powers).
- You should register. All your friends are doing it!
? Responses (3)
Broken People. I like the idea of their houses turning their back on the poor, just like their owners have.
As far as shantytowns and slums go, this is rather plain. This makes me think of Anna Karina, the line goes something like 'All happy families are alike, and all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way'. The rich are rich, no matter where they are, while the poor vary from location to location, while the rich garb themselves in eccentricity and opulence, it is in the end left for history and trivia, while the actions and manners of the poor take on a life of their own.
Examples? Sure.
Fried chicken, okra and indeed the better part of Southern American cuisine came from poor African slaves, who brought their techniques with them from Africa. While most everyone knows that foie gras, truffles, and caviar are haute cuisine, it's hard to find a place where fried chicken cannot be purchased. This is a single example, but it extends into all of the arts, the media, and culture in general.
All hell breaks loose when a new mayor/governor takes over, perhaps with fresh siege experience, and decrees that the Wall Line must now be enforced. What havoc will follow when the guards come in force to clear the 'debris'.