Akibahara
Ready for the Shit Show, Shaka Brah
--History of Millennium City--
The first steps towards this great city of ours started several thousand years ago. A group of Canaanites, seeking a better life for themselves, established Arthep (the town which later became the Hub) as an outpost between Aleppo and Idlib. Menial work and rough life was the rule there - despite the original ideals of being a trade centre. That all changed very shortly.
-Era of Asherah-
According to historical recollections from the Book of the Goddess, the fate of the town turned on a particularly cold night during the months following one of the worst harvests the town had known. One of the townsfolk, feverish, brought themselves to the spring for a drink - and met a fateful woman, who vanished into the heat after delivering her message. "Your troubles are almost over. Build a monument - glorious and bright - for all to see, and there may yet still be hope."
The very next day, after the townsperson had shared their vision, the work began. It was decided that they would erect an obelisk of limestone in the middle of town - an obelisk around which a furnace was built, in order to give it the finest enameling that such a town could give. The fire was kept for three days and three nights, stoked and cared for by everyone in turn. Once it had died down, the furnace was carefully disassembled - to avoid marring the coating they had put so much resources in - and so it was that the town had their monument - as bright as they had hoped, flaring with the full intensity of the sun.
But nothing occurred. The villagers stood by the monument, looking on, hopeful. All morning. Then all afternoon. And then the sun set, and some still clung to hope. But it was in vain...
Or so it was thought. The next morning, a trader came - in attire unexpected, and with wares beyond the wildest imaginings. They did not exactly know HOW they had gotten to Arthep, and so couldn't find their way back. The town opened their arms as the trader opened their wares - and from there, word spread quickly. More strange traders laid it all out for the town as the neighboring populations came to trade, see and experience the sights. The town grew rich. Time passed - and with the newly found riches, the town started expanding. Generations after generations, the town grew until it became a legitimate city, competing in influence with neighboring populaces.
Unfortunately, all good things must end. The influx of traders slowed down and eventually stopped as the city grew. The lack of traders brought a lack of visitors and clients. Eventually, the city stagnated. Days passed. Weeks. Months. Years. Eventually, even the full coffers became empty simply to sustain the population. Just as they were earlier, they thought all was lost. History says it was just the beginning...
But nothing occurred. The villagers stood by the monument, looking on, hopeful. All morning. Then all afternoon. And then the sun set, and some still clung to hope. But it was in vain...
Or so it was thought. The next morning, a trader came - in attire unexpected, and with wares beyond the wildest imaginings. They did not exactly know HOW they had gotten to Arthep, and so couldn't find their way back. The town opened their arms as the trader opened their wares - and from there, word spread quickly. More strange traders laid it all out for the town as the neighboring populations came to trade, see and experience the sights. The town grew rich. Time passed - and with the newly found riches, the town started expanding. Generations after generations, the town grew until it became a legitimate city, competing in influence with neighboring populaces.
Unfortunately, all good things must end. The influx of traders slowed down and eventually stopped as the city grew. The lack of traders brought a lack of visitors and clients. Eventually, the city stagnated. Days passed. Weeks. Months. Years. Eventually, even the full coffers became empty simply to sustain the population. Just as they were earlier, they thought all was lost. History says it was just the beginning...
-The One without a Place-
One last trader came. This one most unusual of all. He wore a coat as bright and white as their own monument, with garments made of the finest cloth. He gazed upon the city. Walked to the center, curious onlookers registering his arrival. His gaze met the obelisk, as shiny as the day is was made, glimmering in the sunlight.
Townsfolk approached. Asked him who he was, what he brought. He had an answer for neither. His story was simple - he was a man of knowledge, where he came from. Ridiculed by his peers for his outlandish claims, saying he had no place in . But in the end, he was right - however something went wrong during an experiment, and he ended up here. They traded stories about the town, and he settled in.
In the following days, despite the absence of new blood, the town got life once more. Not as trading - but the machinations and concepts brought by the new man allowed at least subsistence, with minimal food and water. The man, however, had other plans in mind. With the heart of the people in his pocket, he became de-facto leader of the city - and as a movement of pure vanity, ordered the old monument to be taken down so that a bigger, brighter one - covered in gold dust from what gold was left - so that everyone around could know that this was a new town.
This happened a thousand years ago. The monument was built, and then history was made. Standing atop the monument, history was made as he shouted: "I am Athetos, and we will build this city to last a thousand years!"
-Athetos, and Millennium City-
Townsfolk approached. Asked him who he was, what he brought. He had an answer for neither. His story was simple - he was a man of knowledge, where he came from. Ridiculed by his peers for his outlandish claims, saying he had no place in . But in the end, he was right - however something went wrong during an experiment, and he ended up here. They traded stories about the town, and he settled in.
In the following days, despite the absence of new blood, the town got life once more. Not as trading - but the machinations and concepts brought by the new man allowed at least subsistence, with minimal food and water. The man, however, had other plans in mind. With the heart of the people in his pocket, he became de-facto leader of the city - and as a movement of pure vanity, ordered the old monument to be taken down so that a bigger, brighter one - covered in gold dust from what gold was left - so that everyone around could know that this was a new town.
This happened a thousand years ago. The monument was built, and then history was made. Standing atop the monument, history was made as he shouted: "I am Athetos, and we will build this city to last a thousand years!"
-Athetos, and Millennium City-
Traders came back the very next day. By the handful. The city flourished once more - especially with the knowledge brought on by the First Mayor of the newly-christened Millennium City - and kept expanding. Soon, two more villages were built close to it - one financed by people who simply wanted proximity to this miracle, and another made by wealthy enough merchants to have a local base of operations.
Soon, the Millennium Artifacts (which we know today to be simply objects much ahead of their time brought by the newcomers) shaped land and kingdoms all around the world. Countries were born, countries died. Millennium City endured on, supporting positive trade deals and suppressing dangerous groups with it's power. And despite the innate influence, Athetos refused the city to become the capital of any single group - claiming that it was the Capital of People and Trade, not any other ideal.
Soon, the Millennium Artifacts (which we know today to be simply objects much ahead of their time brought by the newcomers) shaped land and kingdoms all around the world. Countries were born, countries died. Millennium City endured on, supporting positive trade deals and suppressing dangerous groups with it's power. And despite the innate influence, Athetos refused the city to become the capital of any single group - claiming that it was the Capital of People and Trade, not any other ideal.
-Religious troubles-
As the world took shape, so did the people. And eventually, war broke out. Not war between countries - a war that Millennium City itself was at the heart at, between their Canaanite ancestry and the Hebrew people, who sought the destruction of the city and everything it stood for. They saw Millennium City as a disgrace and offense to their own god.
The war stretched on - the security forces of the city repelling attack after attack, and the enemy sending more and more people. The times became even more difficult upon the death of Athetos, leaving the city without leadership. But eventually a new mayor arose - one with even more resolution, and the enemy was driven back to their land for good.
Time passed. Mayors came and went. The world kept changing around the city - and the city changed to accommodate, staying relevant and influential. Then the Crusades came - and Millenium City was once more under attack from religious groups, each claiming another group was taking hold within the city due to it's proximity to the Holy Land and it's forces, making it a strategic stronghold. But once more, Millenium City held on strong - the one bastion of safety in a region deep in turmoil.
Dating of the Book of the Goddess and other historical recounts indicate that it is during this period that the Book of the Goddess was initiated - most likely as a result of the zealous religious contact.
The war stretched on - the security forces of the city repelling attack after attack, and the enemy sending more and more people. The times became even more difficult upon the death of Athetos, leaving the city without leadership. But eventually a new mayor arose - one with even more resolution, and the enemy was driven back to their land for good.
Time passed. Mayors came and went. The world kept changing around the city - and the city changed to accommodate, staying relevant and influential. Then the Crusades came - and Millenium City was once more under attack from religious groups, each claiming another group was taking hold within the city due to it's proximity to the Holy Land and it's forces, making it a strategic stronghold. But once more, Millenium City held on strong - the one bastion of safety in a region deep in turmoil.
Dating of the Book of the Goddess and other historical recounts indicate that it is during this period that the Book of the Goddess was initiated - most likely as a result of the zealous religious contact.
-Red, and the modern City-
But all in all, these attacks are still merely a footnote. The world kept evolving - Millennium City always staying one step ahead. Until the arrival of Millennium City's twenty-seventh Mayor, around the nineteenth century. By that time, the Hub was in full blossom - the monuments of old being regularly replaced by an ever growing city district - today known as the Hub - that itself shone like a second sun on the horizon for miles, and the city had acquired two new districts - the Breach, center of Millennium City's security and armed forces, and the Jaunt, a major entertainment district built from the ground up to promote the access to events - wide roads, large building areas, so on.
This new mayor seemed different from the get-go. Most 'blessings' received by the city dressed strange, yes, but still had analogues to the present times. Red, however, seemed to come straight out of some strange fantasy book - a woman clad in what looked like gold and silver, with hair the color of the brightest embers, carrying an immense glowing object with her - like a plaque of blue jade, with a red pearl within it, adorned with gold accents and which seemed to hold the sun within itself. With a voice of silk, some people even thought that maybe she was an incarnation of Asherah herself - a belief held by some to this day.
Red's rise to power marked three major turns in Millennium City's history - first by her bold (but ultimately voluntary) annexation of the two neighboring residential towns, which became the Switch and Spark districts - respectively being the merchants' and the people's districts, which today are the mid-class and low-class residential districts. The second turn was the extremely rapid expansion of the city - establishing buildings along several long roads all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, where docks and wharfs were established to reach the trading of the rest of the world through the seas (especially now with these new countries across the globe). This new stretch of city was affectionately named the Crash Wharf for it's general average noise level.
Her third impact was by far the most significant - while Millennium was a few years ahead in technology, it wasn't a stretch of the imagination to think that the cumulative sum of the technological knowledge of the world matched it. Red was deeply unsatisfied with this thought, and so sought the resources to change this. Within two decades, Millennium City took the form it has today - of a city that no longer needed the sun to shine, as the newfound power sources and technology made the city glow - day or night. Of course, to maintain it's edge - it couldn't just *trade* these goods, and as such Red started turning the city from a trading point to a self-sufficient point of opportunity. Anyone who wanted to benefit FROM Millennium City would need to benefit TO Millennium City in one way or another. Trade stopped, and the world took centuries to catch up - though even to this day, it still remains a few decades ahead of it's peers, technologically.
-Today's Millennium-
In this day and age, Millenium City is one of the most desirable places to live in - a place where, if one puts in the required effort, opportunity is limitless. On either side of the fence - as while it is difficult to pinpoint where in time it had began, it would be foolish to assume that Millenium City is perfect. Like any other city, it has it's greasy, dirty underbelly hidden away from the public eyes where the only rule is to not get caught, whether it is by other criminals or by the security.
In 1981, a young woman named Farrah Yondale - yet another of the 'strangers' that made and make Millennium City - managed to discover the formula for the high-power, high-density yet safe energy source dubbed the Millennium Fuel, sparking a new era of transportation. Then fourteen years later, with the help of some leftover documents from Red's time in office, created an even more potent (and even more secret) source of energy that powers the city to this day - more reliable, more powerful yet safer than nuclear (which was used since the 50's as the energy demand grew).
As for the districts? The Hub is still the beacon of humanity as ever, growing taller and brighter every year. Crash Wharf grew an offshoot in the 1990's, to make space for better transportation with several train stations and three airports, generally called the Bounce district due to the popular expression for leaving or generally moving. Spark district is unfortunately becoming the lower-end of the city, getting the 'scraps' of what could be as most people can't afford most of the luxuries afforded by the Millennium's influence. The Switch district, however, is one of the most comfortable places to live, with great greenery, amazing estate, and an immense access to every other district. The Jaunt is Millennium City's biggest tourist attractions - what with stadiums, museums and an amusement park.
Athetos' words ring true to this day. Millennium City has lasted a thousand years... And together, the citizens of the city are building it to last several more millennia.
In 1981, a young woman named Farrah Yondale - yet another of the 'strangers' that made and make Millennium City - managed to discover the formula for the high-power, high-density yet safe energy source dubbed the Millennium Fuel, sparking a new era of transportation. Then fourteen years later, with the help of some leftover documents from Red's time in office, created an even more potent (and even more secret) source of energy that powers the city to this day - more reliable, more powerful yet safer than nuclear (which was used since the 50's as the energy demand grew).
As for the districts? The Hub is still the beacon of humanity as ever, growing taller and brighter every year. Crash Wharf grew an offshoot in the 1990's, to make space for better transportation with several train stations and three airports, generally called the Bounce district due to the popular expression for leaving or generally moving. Spark district is unfortunately becoming the lower-end of the city, getting the 'scraps' of what could be as most people can't afford most of the luxuries afforded by the Millennium's influence. The Switch district, however, is one of the most comfortable places to live, with great greenery, amazing estate, and an immense access to every other district. The Jaunt is Millennium City's biggest tourist attractions - what with stadiums, museums and an amusement park.
Athetos' words ring true to this day. Millennium City has lasted a thousand years... And together, the citizens of the city are building it to last several more millennia.
