The World As It Is Known

Bastion, is the last… well… Bastion of humanity. In fact, it's known as the only Bastion there ever was. People aren’t so sure really. As long as anyone can recall, Bastion has always been there. Bastion, as far as records show, is all there ever was, is and will be, and that’s okay, why wouldn’t it be? Who would say otherwise?

Bastion is comprised of many tiers, separated by massive stone walls, three meters thick, and get taller the higher the tier, the tier of Elsen being surrounded by the tallest, most reinforced and guarded walls. The tiers are as follows, starting with Elsen, and therefore in descending order.

Elsen: The Royal Tier of Elsen is a grand city of the upper classes with architecture much akin to what you might refer to as “Roman.” It is where the Royal Elsan Palace is located. Aside from the royal family, high ranking nobles are located here. Elsen has it’s own guard force, comprised of the Royal Elsen Knights and the Elsen Guard. the Royal Elsen Knights guard the Elsen Royal Family, while the Elsen Guard performs more mundane duties, such as patrolling the city and guarding the gate between the Forest tier and the tier of Elsen. Elsen entertains it’s citizens by way of a grand colosseum, where gladiators fight to the death, plays are staged, and music is performed. The city is powered by servants and the magic provided by the Elsen Royal Family, in the form of magically-charged shards of a gem that is clear until filled with magic called Meld, which is naturally clear, and changes colour depending on the colour of magic used to charge it, these act and are used like what you might call “Batteries.” When a shard of Meld runs out of magical power, they turn clear again, ready to be reused. However when Meld is crushed a shard of Meld will expel the magic within in an explosion, so there is a very rare danger. The official language of nobility is Elsish, a language the sounds akin to what you might call “French,” or “Italian.” It is written with many swirls and curves.

Forest Tier: Sometimes referred to as the Royal Forest. For good reason. This is where the royal family and the highest ranking nobles go on hunting expeditions. None can stray from the main road connecting Cirth and Elsen without royal permission. In fact, very few Cirthan citizens ever get to visit Elsen, so even the road itself has very little activity. There are rumors of magical creatures in the Forest, but most creatures are either extinct, like the dragon, or fully in royal captivity, like the pegasus. There are royal gamekeepers than live in designated zones in the forest, which keep the forest stocked up on deer, rabbits and the like for hunting.

Cirth: “The City of Commoners.” This is where the bulk of Bastion’s population reside, they are dubbed Cirthans. A city with architecture similar to what you might refer to as “Victorian.” This city is a bustling city belonging mainly to the middle classes. Horses line the streets, gas streetlamps litter the sides of the roads, blacksmiths hammer tools into shape, bars swell with visitors from the tiers below. Cirth is a city that runs off of secondary and tertiary production, meaning it makes products from raw materials, and provides services such as entertainment and shops. The city is powered by gas and oil, unlike the cleaner and more efficient magic of nobility. The city of Cirth has it’s own equivalent to the Royal Guard, the Cirthan Constabulary. More commonly referred to as the Police. The Constabulary has two branches, like the Elsen Guard, but instead of Royal Knights and Guards, the Constabulary consists of Police and Detectives. The police maintain order, and the detectives solve crimes, there is no royal family to protect, as Cirth is officially ruled by the Elsen Royal Family, although it is often left to it’s own devices, and managed by it’s Mayor, who answers to the Royal Family, and has little real power as the standing mayor is fully chosen by the reigning monarch, and can be removed at any moment by them. The people here speak Cirthan, the most widely spoken language in Bastion, it sounds a lot like what you would call “English,” with touches of what you would call “German.”

Farming Tier: The Farming Tier is where, as you could probably guess, the food for the masses is grown and raised. An extremely large variety of foods are produced in this tier. This area is mostly farmland and grassland, with other areas such as orchards scattered throughout, with it’s population consisting of farmers, ranchers and the like. The people here speak Cirthan, as do the people from the Mining and Fishing tiers. The Mining and Fishing tiers are very closely linked with this tier, as they all fall under the title of the working class.

Mining Tier: The Mining Tier is where the many resources found in the ore rich bedrock of Bastion are harvested, lesser metals, such as iron or steel are promptly carted off to Cirth to be manufactured into products  While rare metals such as silver or gold, as well as precious gems like emerald or Meld are shipped directly off to Elsen to be made into jewelry, silverware, and in the case of Meld charged up by magic and used to power the city of Elsen.

Fishing Tier: The Fishing Tier is very self explanatory, it is full of docks, with nets and cages scattered around, with fishing boats going in and out and the Royal Navy sitting just out to sea, or docked in port. The Royal Navy doing very little aside from exploring and protecting the coastline from non-existent threats, as well as acting as lifeguards, they are commonly seen as people wanting a cushy job stationed in a port, getting paid a guards wages for much less frequent work than a guard would have. The navy is controlled by the monarchy, with officers mainly being of noble blood and connection, but is mainly staffed by Cirthans.

Ilder Isle: A mystical tropical island far off the coast of Bastion, recently spotted by the Royal Navy Exploration vessel “Venture.” It has yet to be explored, as the monarchy has covered up it’s existence, worrying that whatever might be there may endanger their fragile establishment, and due to this it is commonly regarded as myth. Myths and rumors also state that it contains mythical creatures thought extinct like the Dragons or Wild Pegasi or even another race of humanoid creatures.