Aricos
An urban rainforest in an otherwise barren region, Aricos is the second most populated city on Cilvarth, close behind Lancos. This sprawling desert city is home to almost eighty million people from around the planet, as well as smaller clustered populations from close and distant exoplanets.
Aricos has an extensive history, dating back many thousands of years and well into ancient empires. Today it stands as a reminder that history is never forgotten, opposing cultures can co-exist in harmony, and that a good cup of tea can solve any problem.
Aricos is situated on the western lakeside of Lake Kettle and along the Kettle River.
Population
A 2140 census confirmed roughly 71.96 million Aricosians, with an estimated 8 million undocumented individuals around the city. The expansive settlement has allowed for many small groups to go unnoticed, but their benefit to the city's economy means that Aricos's government keeps quiet.
Aricos is the largest and most populated city in Aurea, one of two continents on Cilvarth. The city isn't very dense; flat houseblocks no more than four or five stories tall make up the majority of the buildings in Aricos, with skyscrapers abundant in Roboia but uncommon elsewhere.
Naturally the majority of Aricos's population is comprised of cilvarthians. As the only people native to Cilvarth, they founded the city and make up the majority of its government.
Delacourtas are fairly common in positions of legal power, thanks to their extreme intelligence and knack for problem solving.
Razheans and slimes are the most common sophonts behind cilvarthians. Both species and their respective planets have a great relationship with Cilvarth, and all three groups co-exist in peace.
| Pop. Percentage | Scientific Name | Origin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cilvarthian | 91% | Procavia cilvarthii | Native to Cilvarth |
| Delacourta | 3% | Sophontii venusii | Native to Venus |
| Razhean | 2% | Viridipella intelligentes | Native to: Razhea Capita |
| Slime | 2% | Bituma bitumii | Native to: Osao |
| Rubidian | 0.6% | Homo dolorubra | Native to: Rubrinea |
| Other | 1.4% | N.A. |
Districts & Divisions
The city is often divided into the New North and the Old South.
Buildings north of the Kettle River have all been constructed in the last three hundred years and is continuing to expand, particularly in the northeast.
The New North is divided again into two divisions, Esseton to the west and Chaia to the east.
The Old South is split in two, Roboia in central Aricos and Oloia to the south.
Oloia's ancient architecture has been preserved in order to protect the history of the region. While these districts are still densely populated, legislation prevents homeowners from altering any building's exterior.
| Name | No. | Division | Regional Tea | Regional Animal/Plant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mochington | 1 | Roboia | Cloudtop Crane | |
| 2 | Roboia | |||
| Camelis | 3 | Roboia | ||
| 4 | Roboia | |||
| Skaia | 5 | Roboia | Sunscraper Pigeon | |
| 6 | Roboia | |||
| Dhelis | 7 | Roboia | ||
| 8 | Roboia | |||
| Je Ong | 9 | Roboia | ||
| 10 | Roboia | |||
| Neni | 11 | Roboia | Sunscraper Pigeon | |
| 12 | Roboia | |||
| 13 | Roboia | |||
| Rinnerd | 14 | Roboia | ||
| 15 | Roboia | |||
| 16 | Chaia | |||
| 17 | Chaia | |||
| 18 | Chaia | |||
| 19 | Chaia | |||
| 20 | Chaia | |||
| 21 | Chaia | |||
| 22 | Chaia | |||
| 23 | Chaia | |||
| 24 | Chaia | |||
| 25 | Chaia | |||
| 26 | Chaia | |||
| 27a, 27b | Chaia | |||
| 28 | Oloia | |||
| 29 | Oloia | |||
| 30 | Oloia | |||
| 31 | Oloia | |||
| 32 | Oloia | |||
| 33 | Oloia | |||
| Caniden | 34 | Oloia | ||
| Denican | 35 | Oloia | ||
| 36 | Oloia | |||
| 37 | Oloia | |||
| 38 | Oloia | |||
| 39 | Oloia | |||
| 40 | Oloia | |||
| 41 | Oloia | |||
| 42 | Oloia | |||
| 43 | Oloia | |||
| 44 | Oloia | |||
| 45 | Oloia | |||
| 46 | Oloia | |||
| 47 | Oloia | |||
| 48 | Oloia | |||
| 49 | Oloia | |||
| 50 | Oloia | |||
| 51 | Oloia | |||
| 52 | Oloia | |||
| 53 | Oloia | |||
| 54 | Oloia | |||
| 55 | Oloia | |||
| 56 | Oloia | |||
| 57 | Oloia | |||
| 58 | Esseton | |||
| 59 | Esseton | |||
| 60 | Esseton | |||
| Emyngton | 61 | Esseton | Cerulean Tea | |
| Apington | 62 | Esseton | Cerulean Tea | |
| 63 | Esseton | |||
| 64 | Esseton | |||
| 65 | Esseton | |||
| 66 | Esseton | |||
| 67 | Esseton | |||
| 68 | Esseton | |||
| 69 | Chaia |
Landmarks & Monuments
Mochington Spice Market
Mochington, the city's oldest and most influential district, holds the planet's biggest spice market. What was once a series of temporary stalls thrown together on a whim is now a plethora of tightly packed buildings, each owned by an artisan desperate to share homemade spices and other cooking ingredients.
Spice Day brings in tourists from distant regions, even other planets. It is an annual event celebrating the success of the spice market, as it has come a significant asset to Aricos's booming economy.
Skaien Teapot Gallery
Welcome to the Skaien Teapot Gallery, Aurea's largest teapot collection! Find out which of our historic leaders hated tea!
This tiny district is best known for its teapot gallery, displaying artifacts made throughout the city's long history.
Drink out of ancient replicas, learn about historical figures and their tea preferences, and design your own teapot set in this interactive gallery experience.
The Skaien Teapot Gallery has the largest collection of historical teapots in Aurea, with almost two thousand individual items on display, twice as many in private storage.
Rideaway Rapids
The Rideaway Rapids is a recreational sport for all ages, in which people rush down the Kettle River's most violent waters in small rafts. This independent business is very popular all year round, as the cool, refreshing water is a perfect combatant against the blazing temperatures.
Rafts run from the river's entrance from Lake Kettle, past elevated buildings on the river's outskirts, down a fifty-foot track of whitewater rapids, and finishing in the Rideaway Bay, a small man-made pocket of water built off the northern side of the river.
Now, as we go down these rapids, I'm going to turn the raft around and point the nose directly into the water. The front row might get a bit wet!*glgguggglllgihlulhguhglhgulhgul*Front row, you doing okay?*llguglglugulgugulgugugulg*
Economy
Like most major cities, tourism makes up a great deal of Aricos's economy. As one of the oldest cities still standing, it has suffered many economic crises. Major droughts in the last two hundred years have significantly decreased water availability in the Silver Desert, decimating the tea industry.
Tea farmers, particularly in the agricultural districts of Eseton and Oloia suffered the most. Between the 1880s and early 1940s, Lake Kettle had lost almost half of its water supply. The city struggled to recover even decades after heavy rainfall in the late 1940s brought back Lake Kettle in all its glory.
Real estate prices in Roboia have hit the roof, with Mochington and Dhelis having some of the highest housing prices on the planet. Both of these districts are business districts, with hundreds of companies, localised and global, choosing to operate within its confines.
Aricos's centralised location in the Silver Desert makes it a great travel hub. The Kettle River gives the city direct access to the Akii Sea, with ferries and boats able to reach western Aricos.
Major Industries
Tea
Sprite Moth
Macroglossum fae
The tea industry is naturally dominant in Aricos. The city has its fair share of signature flavours, including cerulean tea, originating around Lake Kettle. Foreign teas from other planets are popular around Aricos thanks to its large population of exo-sophonts.
While jovians are not found on Cilvarth, their sprite tea has become a controversial drink thanks to its method of creation, utilising the juice of a sprite moth. Most cilvarthians disapprove of the methods to harvest this juice, but upon realising it could be harvested without killing the moths, some started consuming the tea. It is now a delicacy in Aricos, particularly in the south.
Emyngton and Apington in western Esseton are the biggest producers of tea in the city. Much of these districts are open fields bordering on Lake Kettle. Cerulean tea is the regional tea of these two districts.
Cuisine
The food and cuisine industry is a staple of Aricos. While there are a few exceptions, most manufacturing companies and factories in districts Caniden and Denican are producers of food ingredients. The art of home-cooking dominates Aricos, and people enjoy cooking meals too much to ever produce truly processed meals.
Many major global food companies have headquarters in Aricos. International dishes are popular around Roboia and Chaia, with high foreign populations. Historical and regional dishes are more popular around Oloia.
Layout & Geography
Aricos sits on Lake Kettle's edge and along the River Kettle. It is one of the largest cities on the planet by size, and with flat regions surrounding the city, there is plenty of space for future expansion. Lake Kettle sits at an altitude of 985 metres, as does western Aricos.
The city's central strip is broken up by steep cliff faces, with rushing waterfalls as high as a hundred metres. Areas close to these waterfalls have a humid atmosphere thanks to the everpresent water vapour in the atmosphere. Trams and elevators are the two most common modes of transportation from one side of the city to the other. Some choose to take scenic routes, hiking up these cliff faces by following pathways navigating only the safest terrain.
History
Aricos predates every known empire to have ever ruled on Cilvarth. Aricos was just a small agricultural town before it was taken over by the blossoming Eochian Empire around 1050 PD. The town grew exponentially as resources were sunk into expanding this tiny settlement.
It soon became the home of the Eochian Emperor, and those that would follow. They ruled the Silver Desert with an iron fist, keeping watch over neighouring communities with their magical soldiers. Myths and legends of the region state this empire were incredibly dangerous and hostile, annihilating anyone or anything that opposed them, and wielding many dark magics.
Many archeologists say this usage of dark magic is what eventually destroyed the Eochian Empire, collapsing in on itself. Aricos became free from rule, its citizens free from imprisonment and unjust treatment.
Some say Aricos would not be what it is today without the Eochian Empire. A few even support the empire's actions, attempting to rekindle this long gone fire, uncovering precious dark artifacts and weapons of mass destruction hidden around the Silver Desert. These bands of people are under close watch as they pose a great threat to Aricos and its people.
Ecology
Aricos has a thriving ecosystem, particularly around the more rural west. Most districts have large wild spaces for animals to exist within the city. Small wildcats are common around the northern outskirts of Aricos, where their territory is being approached by the expanding city.
Eclectus crabs are an ongoing epidemic. These coastal crabs migrate up the Kettle River for nesting season, ready to lay eggs in Lake Kettle. These crabs have venomous barbs on each leg, their small size making them tripping hazards. Eclectus crabs will swarm the city during nesting season, and locals are encouraged to kill or relocate as many crabs as possible, especially ones that break into houses.
Sunscraper doves and cloudtop cranes call skyscraper peaks home, nesting on large flat platforms intentionally built by the people of the city. These animals are seen as a symbol representing the harmony between urbanisation and the natural world.
The night-time brings more creatures to Aricos. Quiet creatures skitter through illuminated streets, feasting on waste picked out from the trash. Aricosian raccoons are considered a pest around Roboia, but held in high regard around western and southern Aricos.
Love this. "Devious Rideaway Rapids raft guide" got me dying. Would appreciate "Few even support the empire's actions..." being changed to "A few" because it sounds like "very little". Also, typo: "relocate as many crabs as possible, especially onces that break into houses."
P.S. your insistence that "a good cup of tea can solve any problem" has led me to believe that you're british
Thank you so much! Made edits too, thank you! And you're right, I am british ;)