[eldaldo]

Hello Everyone. 

It’s been a while since my last MD attempt.  I got really bogged down in story telling and then ended up losing my cities due to stupidity.  I recently started playing Sim City again and have been working on a region since January.  I play in some vein of natural growth and tend to enjoy looking at region views more than close ups.  I think for now i will just be introducing the cities of the region and perhaps tell interesting short stories about some places. 

I am naming the journal Elkisma, after the name of the city that is in the very center of the region.

The region is called the Vantas Coast.  It is a harsh cold, wet, and windy place for most of the year.  The region is newly discovered and most of it is still wilderness.  The seemingly endless resources and job opportunites have brought many immigrants to the area, and more are arriving each day.

Below is a region view of the largest city so far in the region.  The city is called Mandrake, and has a population around 130,000.  it is the industrial heart of the region and is full of factories and plants.  It will be the focus of the next update at least.




Take care! and thanks for reading.

[Tokugawa]

Oh wow that region view is magnificent  I'll be looking forward to more

[art128]

Welcome back to the MD world!
As far as I can see, this region seems very well !

I like how the forest bends very well with farms and cities.

Looking forward to more.

[vester]

Looking forward for some close ups.

Seems great.

[jmyers2043]

Cool region. Good luck with your new MD...

- JIm

[eldaldo]

Hi Everyone,  Thanks for your comments and compliments! Vester, you get your wish to see some closeups today. 

Unfortunately I haven't spent much time on closeups because I am constantly upgrading areas and roads, or putting rail systems in.  But hopefully they are still enjoyable.  I try to think of my region as a living and growing thing.  My hope is that in a few months you can come back and look at these images and see how much things have changed since then.  In fact these pictures are already a month old, and the region already looks much different.  anyway, onto the update. 

Today we will look at the city of Mandrake.  It is currently the largest city in the Vantas coast and has a population of around 130,000.  See how it is central to the current development of the Vantas coast. (click to enlarge)


 
Below is A mosaic of Mandrake City Proper



And here's one with the Neighborhoods Labeled


Mandrake is an industrial center, and processes almost all of the raw materials of the area, be it lumber, iron ore, or even sand into glass.  The benefits of this are that there are always jobs available here, and new immigrants to the continent are constantly flocking here for work.  the downside is incredible pollution.  Yet, the City Government has been extremely Hands off in terms of zoning and allowing companies to set up whatever factory wherever they want.  However, In the recent years as The downtown neighborhood grows increasingly commercial, and larger numbers of wealthy people have been moving in, the pressure to do something about the pollution problem is growing . . .



I will now just display the various neighborhoods . . .


Starting with downtown




Downtown is the oldest part of the City and has always been the business district of the region.  Downtown Mandrake is where people from the rural areas and neighboring towns come to get luxuries and fancy clothing or furniture.  It also features the headquarters for the various lumber and steel companies of the region.  It has some of the largest and tallest buildings in the region, though Waterford to the south has just begun constructing a few small skyscrapers of its own.



Next is Harbor Yard


Harbor Yard, is home to the Largest Factories of the City.  And is possibly the largest industrial park of the region.  Nearly all of Mandrakes lower income citizens work in The Yard as it is called.  On most days, just standing in the Yard will turn clean clothes to a dusty yellowish grey.  It's pretty foul, and most people who work here don't live very long.



Next is Edges


Edges is the Lower income neighborhood that is next to the yard.  This is where a large proportion of the city's workers live in very poor and dilapidated housing, it is a tough life to live . . . with little hope of social mobility.



Now I will take you to the other side of town and the neighborhood of Rosalyn.


Named after the main street that runs through it (Rose Lane), Rosalyn is the wealthy neighborhood of of the city.  It has rather newly risen to this status as, around fifteen years ago it was just another working class neighborhood.  But now fancy restaurants and mansions line the streets.  It also features the city's only park at the moment named Rosebush Park.  It is a good thing to live here . . .



Next is another nice but kind of isolated neighborhood called Esterby. 


It is located on the East Peninsula, and has some really unique industrial ventures, but is otherwise a charming little town within the limits of a big city.  Unfortunately it is quite isolated from the rest of the city, being connected to it by a single road.  However, one of those industrial ventures is in the final stages of inventing electrical trains that can run underground . . . this could bring the community in quick contact with the rest of the city.



Lastly we will take a look at the farthest reaches of Mandrake.  Also Known as south mandrake.


South Mandrake originally started as this small town the used to be called Mercer Shore.  It was originally a farming community that supplied mandrake with food and grain.  But as Mandrake spread south, people started calling it south Mandrake.



About five years ago development swallowed the rest of the farms that separated it from Mandrake and the whole area was absorbed into the city proper.  It is basically the first suburb of Mandrake since alot of the rural and slower aspects of life are maintained, yet many people from here travel north into the city for work.  because road traffic and coach traffic cannot keep up with the commuters, plans for a trolley are in the works to connect this neighborhood with the rest of mandrake.  It will only be a matter of time before all the rural aspects of the original town are lost to the big city.

Hope you enjoyed today's update.  Next time we will look at the small city of Waterford to the south of Mandrake.

[RickD]

Your region shot and aerials are just unbelievable.  And I also like to read the information on the different parts of the city.

[eldaldo]

Reply:
Thanks Rick!  I'm glad you enjoyed it.


Entry 3: Waterford


today we will look at the city of Waterford and the small towns surrounding it.

Waterford was founded as a small farming community back when the first settlers came to the Vantas Coast.  Waterford and the rich soil surrounding it grew to support the growing industrial town of mandrake to the north.  Over time as Mandrake grew to its massive size Waterford became the agricultural center to the region bringing in crops from the surrounding farmlands and packaging them to be sold to Mandrake, Elkisma, and even across the world to Simnation. 

Recently it has become a commercial center in its own right, Filling its downtown with offices and tall buildings.  Also, the farmland that buffers it from Mandrake is quickly being sold and developed as the price of land goes up throughout mandrake peninsula.  There is a train that connects Waterford to Mandrake and there are several thousand people who commute between the cities each day.  There are plans in the works for a commuter only rail to be built soon.  It will not be long before Waterford and Mandrake fuse into a single huge city.

below is the overview of the region to show Waterford in the context of the region. 



Here is an overview of the city.  The two main roads that intersect in downtown are Water Street (which is a continuation of Mandrake’s Main Street), and Darden Rd, which goes to the town of Darden west of the city.



A closeup of downtown.



Below is Waterford Station.  It is in the middle of the Young Industrial Park, where many of the food processing plants and various agricultural goods plants are.  Industry is pretty heavily regulated in Waterford and it is difficult to build plants in other parts of the city.



This is the western edge of Waterford. To the south you can see Darden Rd, and In the center is the Overland Rail line that connects Mandrake with the Mallson Hill ore mines to the southwest.  While the rail was initially for industrial purposes only, the Southern Coast Rail Company has added passenger service from Mandrake through Waterford to Mallson Hill, and also a spur that goes through Darden to Lancet in the west.



The massive forest that separates Mandrake and Waterford is called Alden Forest. 



It Has become a controversial topic in the region.  When The Vantas Coast was originally settled, Alden Forest escaped agricultural development due to its extremely rocky soil (except for a small section of incredibly rich soil that was the ancient location of a dried up lake).  It was known for its great quantities of llama, moose, and deer and was a popular hunting area among early settlers.  however, as the cities of mandrake and Waterford grew the game became more scarce, and one of Waterford’s first Mayors, Elitzo Carpenter, bought the majority of the undeveloped land between the cities for his own personal use.  Here is a picture of the region at the time.



At that time this caused an uproar amongst the citizens who were now unable to hunt freely but had to sneak around and poach with the risk of imprisonment.  a couple generations later Elitzo’s grandson Greckory Carpenter who still owned the land opened it up as a wildlife park for those who needed to escape the pollution of the city and it became a popular destination for wealthy city-goers to stroll and try to catch a glimpse of the now recovered wildlife populations.  For the next twenty years the forest thrived and the Carpenter family’s reputation was improved from greedy bigwigs, to philanthropic environmentalists.  However, as Mandrake creeps south and the price of land is ever rising many of the area’s wealthy developers wish for the land to be sold for development.  There is a great clamour for “progress” and many outrageous offers for the land have been thrown at the now 60 year old Greckory.  But Greckory is holding fast to his ideals and refuses to sell. 




This is the small town of Ditten across mercer inlet from Waterford.  It is known for being the location of the Fairgrounds.  Many people flock here on summer weekends, but the rest of the year it is a very sleepy town.



Lastly here is a picture of Manchester point.  Manchester point is the peninsula directly east of Mandrake Peninsula.  This small town has developed as a suburb of South Mandrake after the construction of the High Street Bridge.  While many people have been moving here, it still retains alot of it’s original small town charm.



Thanks for reading!

[eldaldo]

It's been a long time since I posted an update.  But I've still been playing on the Vantas Coast region and have been wanting to start writing stories again.  So this update is sort of a setting for the things to come.  Here it is!

___________________________________________________________

Entry 4: The Times are a Changing



Twenty years ago, the boats came once or twice a month. 



at the time they were welcomed.  there was much work to be done.  industry needed hands, land needed to be cleared, houses needed to be built.  there was a communal attitude to things.  everyone was a refugee or an exile, it didn’t matter where you came from you were here now. 

the people set themselves to building up towns



and villages,



farms



and factories. 



they organised themselves into communities of elected elders who oversaw planning and settling disputes.  life was hard, alot of people didn’t make it through the dark winters.  However over time a society was formed, two cities emerged as the population centers, simply because of the nature of the coast. 


 
As the years march forward things are changing.  The boats are coming from the old world at an increasingly frequent rate, sometimes two boats in one week.  The neighborhood of Edges in Mandrake is teeming with “Cargo.” as the exiles are often called.



The Cities are in a construction boom trying to keep up with the rising population. Socially the cities of Mandrake and Elkisma are losing some of the communal underpinnings on which they evolved. Some of the first exiles have made quite a life for themselves and their children have grown up with no knowledge of what it is like to wake up in a completely new world and have to fight for every meal. Prejudices are being formed against new exiles and the “Native generation” as they are being called is making it harder for the exiles to make a living, seeing them as “cargo” to be used solely for their cheap labor. Yet there are many more exiles than there are “natives,” and they are increasing in number each week. Those exiles who are suffering at the bottom in neighborhoods like Edges are starting to become restless and feel like they deserve better treatment than they do. The Vantas Coast is developing into a volatile part of the new world, whose name is simply . . . Regions.

[nbvc]

Nice town. Maybe you can add some seawalls to your shorelines.

[sunv123]

Very nice small town!

Nice town. Maybe you can add some seawalls to your shorelines.

I don't think the city needs them right now, it still looks pretty small.

Keep up the good work!

[kj3400]

I like where this is going so far. Little towns, farms, dirt roads, all building up to giant cities.

[Dantes]

The overview maps are so awesome  So realistic. Great work 

[Mr.Lin]

Great work ！

[eldaldo]

Replies . . .

nbvc and sunv123: haha, it's funny you guys should bring that up, The wealthier neighborhoods of Mandrake have already started putting seawalls in.  maybe i will showcase them, or . . . I will do an update on them . . . who knows.  But thanks for the advice and thanks for reading.

Dantes:  Region views are my favorite.  Thanks!

kj3400, Mr.Lin :  Thanks!


Hi Everyone.  I've been trying to finish this thing up for the past several days.  it was inevitable that i would start writing stories to go with my region . . . that's just how I play the game I guess.  I hope you enjoy this thing as it develops!





Mark Daltev was both an exile and a child. His Father was Georgi Daltev, His Grandmother Rosette was the only other relative he knew of. He had never met his mother. They were recent exiles, he can still remember being boarded onto the ship that brought them here, and the rotten smell of the old ship as it rocked through the waves on it's 6 day journey. He remembers coming with his Father and Grandmother above deck when the mist departed and seeing the distant mountain.

Warrior mountain is often the first sight of Regions that the exiles see



When they sailed to it their captain was given the choice to sail north or south of the island. Mandrake or Elkisma. They chose south, and the port of Mandrake seized their boat and shuffled them to the smoky neighborhood of Edges.

1: a picture of the neighborhood of edges


The huge smelly factories filled the sky before them and in the distance they could see the skyscrapers of downtown Mandrake. They entered the Edges Exile hall.

2: exile hall is the blue and white building in the center.  all exiles are processed through this building. 



There they stood in a line and were processed and given papers that held their names date of arrival and exile number, they were told to remember that number because it would be the number by which they were paid and all of their official matters would be processed.

They were then given a room in one of the temporary residence halls. Then told to report to the work office the next morning. His father was given a job in a nearby steel mill

3: the Harvey steel mill



and Mark was given a job in a textile mill.

4: Clara's Cloth textile mill




Rosa was too old to do any real work and decided not to look for it. Georgi was certain that the two of them could provide for her. They leased a one room apartment in an edges tenement from which they could both walk to work.

5: The large tenement in the center is where they first moved



Rosa found that she could make a little money knitting socks all day and the three of them slowly earned enough money to move to a nicer neighborhood.

The new apartment was in a small house in the neighborhood of West Kettle.

6:




Mark was quite excited about this neighborhood mostly because of all the other children in it. They were often playing in the streets, and their house was only two blocks from something that amazed young Mark. It was a diamond shaped field. Half of it was dirt and half of it was grass. There were almost always kids on it playing a game he had never seen before. And on most weekend nights there would be adults playing the same game on it as well.

Mark was kind of a shy kid, but there was another little boy who lived next door named Yosef.  Yosef was also an exile and invited mark to play with him in the street one day after they both got home from work.

“what is that game they always play in the park?” Mark asked Yosef.

“That's Baseball. You've never heard of baseball?”

“No, not until we moved here. How do you play?”

Yosef took mark to see the kids playing baseball at nearby Tennet’s park.  The only baseball field in mandrake proper.  it was right next to the railroad tracks just south of Mandrake station. 

7: Tennet's Park



During the weeks it was almost always full of kids playing baseball from sunup to sundown.  There would often be a few different games played at once since the field was too big for the younger kids.  this often resulted in a chaotic sea of children.  however on Wednesday nights and on weekends adults on club teams would come out and play each other.  mark immediately fell in love with the game.  he watched games for about a week before asking to join in on a game with some kids one Tuesday night after work.  he was terrible and struck out each time he was at bat, and he couldn’t throw worth a darn.  the kids didn’t let him play with them again. 

For a few days he was depressed and discouraged, but he went back to watch one of the adult games on Sunday . . . his day off.  these games often had many spectators.  he found a spot in the outfield near the train tracks and watched.  the team at bat was the Mandrake Kickers, they were from his neighborhood and they were winning against the South Mandrake Cod Shacks.  Their greatest hitter Tolbe Gunrude actually used to work in the same textile mill that Mark works in until the club paid him the same salary to practice and teach the other members of the club how to play better.  He was the Captain of the Kickers and one of the first Mandrake Baseball stars. 

This Sunday game would later become part of Mark’s legend.  It was the bottom of the seventh inning and the game was tied.  Tolbe Gunrude was up against the fearsome Cod Shacks Pitcher Kernel Mannerly.  On the second pitch he hit a long fly ball out to the back of the field and the crowd reached up to catch it.  As people toppled into each other Tolbe ran the bases and scored what would become the winning run as the Kickers kept the Cod Shacks scoreless for the remaining innings.  Back in the outfield Mark picked himself up from the ground in possession of his very own baseball.  It was just the beginning of his story.

here is an image that shows where each picture was within Mandrake.

[Dantes]

An interesting city. I like it a lot like the city center and connects to the suburban areas.
Very American city.

Great work! 

[eldaldo]

Replies:

Dantes: Thanks!



Chapter Six: Hargrove (and a story)

On a long island east of Mandrake is the city of Hargrove. 



One of the first towns to develop it has grown to become a part of metropolitan Mandrake.  It can be reached only by ferry, which makes it quite separated from the dirty hustle and bustle of Mandrake and Waterford, but in a fast private steamer you can make the trip to downtown mandrake in a little over 30 minutes.  With its proximity to Mandrake and relative quiet, Hargrove has become a place of respite for the wealthy of Mandrake.  Here you can find many weekend cottages or summer mansions of the richest of the rich. 



While the majority of the population is still working class, and many of them work in the fishing industry, the growing wealth of the city is attracting fancy shops and services to the town.  lawncare services, trouser pressing stores, feather quill calligraphy scribe shops, etc etc.



Another interesting part of Hargrove is the fact that it has the lowest number of exiles per capita in the region.  Even the working class are often at least second generation.  This island is quickly becoming quite hostile to exiles, refusing to rent houses to exiles or refusing them jobs.  Several city councilmen have been elected that are hostile to exiles and it seems like Hargrove may be the first city in the Vantas Coast that will pass laws against exiles.  It is so interesting because everyone has exile ancestors, and often it is even difficult to tell a poor 2nd Gen from an exile.  but wealth and isolation make people silly sometimes. 

For example we will listen in on a conversation that Everly Upton is having right now with his neighbor Thurston Moor. 

Everly:  Beautiful day today right?
Thurston: Mmmm, yes, quite, hmmmm.
Everly: You smell that Thurston? That is the smell of fresh cut grass. 
Thuston: Yes Yes, Heavenly, ‘Tis Heavenly.
Everly: I pay good money for it too, almost 30 rocks a week.
Thurston: (spits out his peppermint tea) ppthbth hem hem . . . what? would you be using Cargo? Surely! I pay 50 a week for mine, nope, not a Gen around here that would do such work for anything less than 40.
Everly: Haremph . . . Haremph, I must have misspoke, Hasth I said 30? I meant 60.  60 rocks a week that I might come out here to smell my fresh cut grass on the morn. 
Thurston: I see . . . I see, well I better get to the clothes room, bout time to change into my mid morning slacks . . . take care with your lawn, don’t spend too much money on it!
Everly: hmm yes quite good day sir.

As you can see quite silly.  Silly, yet powerful.  It will be interesting to see how things progress on the island of Hargrove. 






This is the end of the Hargrove update, but in case anyone likes reading stories, let’s check in and see how Mark Daltev has been up to.


For weeks Mark had been playing catch with his friend Josef after work, and was getting pretty good at throwing.  he had also been cramming lunch down his throat at work so that he could spend the rest of his thirty minute lunch break throwing the ball of the outside wall of the mill.  One day the girl who worked on the machine next to him, Mara Shank, asked him,
“what are you doing?”

“practicing.” replied Mark.
“for what?”

Mark was kind of annoyed at this girl, she was a year younger than him and small, and always asking questions.  besides at his age, mark wanted nothing to do with girls. 

“I’m practicing throwing and catching, for baseball.  You know, the game.”

“oh . . . can i practice too?”

“no, it’s not a game for girls.”

“says who?”

“says me, now run off and ask questions to someone else”

“come on, just throw it to me, and I’ll throw it back to you. I won’t say nothin else after that.”

so he threw the ball at her expecting her to cower away.  but she caught it and threw it right back at him.  Mark was impressed, and from then on the two of them played catch during every break they got. 

After about a month, Mark had made a makeshift bat out of a bannister pole and he and Mara began a game where she would try to pitch the ball to him and he would hit it gently back to her so that she could catch it and throw it back.  at first they were terrible at this and they almost broke a window of the Mill which would have meant serious trouble for the both of them.  But they got better at it. 

Winter had come and baseball stopped for most people, but still in the cold and occasional snow or ice Mark and Mara were out there each lunch playing their game with each other.  Mark never got as good at throwing to Mara and Mara never got as good as mark at hitting the ball back.  but they got to the point where from quite a distance Mara could throw the ball to mark and after releasing the ball run to the place where mark was going to hit it and catch it.  they would occasionally draw a crowd of spectators during lunch because it was so impressive to see a 7 and an 8 year old achieve such a trick.

the next spring when baseball started up again, Mark, Mara, and Yosef tried again to play with the kids who would play pickup games on Tennet’s field.  Mark and Yosef were immediately allowed to play, but Mara was told that she couldn’t play with the boys.  At first, since he had never played a full game before, Mark was mediocre, but after a few games he had matched the skills he had practiced with Mara to the game and became one of the best hitters among the kids who played.  he was now the first kid picked when the teams were chosen.  against a bad or mediocre pitcher he could hit the ball to the exact place he wanted to hit it, and while he was still too small to hit home runs, he almost always got on base or batted runners in. 

As the weeks wore on he grew tired of the kids not allowing Mara to play and one day refused to play unless Mara could as well.  Finally the Captain agreed to choose both of them, but refused to let Mara pitch.  She played outfield and caught three fly balls, but did not hit at all.  Still, she had proven herself decent enough to play. 

Later that year

“Way to Hit Mara!” yelled mark.  Mara had just gotten a grounder single between the second base and shortstop.  they were kicking butt today.  9 runs and a 6 point lead.  Yosef was on the other team and couldn’t help but smile when Mara got her single.  The kids had grown to like the inquisitive little girl.  They had probably twenty minutes before the older kids got to play and it was clear that Mark and Mara’s team had won.  Mark came out and batted Mara in only to score himself by the time the inning ended.  it was probably the last inning and Mara asked as she always had if she could pitch.  Julio, the captain that day, felt like they had clearly won and decided it couldn’t hurt to let the girl try. 

She walked up to the mound looking tiny and out of place.  the kids on the other team were smiling.  Yosef was up to bat.

“cross the tracks Yosef!” yelled his teammate Francis. 

Yosef went through his routine.  two half swings and a little twitch as he set the bat in it’s ready position.  Mara wound up with her long but skinny little arm and let fly.  Yosef swung but missed as the ball raced past near the bottom of the strike zone. 
“Woah!  Nice throw!” said Yosef.

a smile crossed Mark’s face as he watched.  Mara was stonefaced as she wound up for her next throw.  Another blazing fast strike this time near the top of the strike zone.  Now everyone felt the tension.  they assumed that this little girl would be terrible and all the sudden they were finding their assumptions to be wrong.  Yosef being a good natured kid was smiling out at Mara for the last pitch.  he knew that she was too good for him after the first pitch.  none of the other kids threw that fast and accurately.  neither pitch was in a place he was used to hitting the ball.  “I wonder who is going to get picked first tomorrow, Mara?” he spoke to her before she wound up and struck him out.  she struck out the next two batters as well.  and all the boys were cheering her on.  the rest of the game she stayed on the mound as the boys lined up to try and hit off her.  all they got were occasional foul balls.

From then on, it was no longer fair to have Mara and Mark on the same team.  As it turned out Mark was one of the only boys who could consistently hit off of her.  and word started to spread through the neighborhood about the little girl who could throw a fastball.

That's it today, Hope you enjoyed the update!

[Schulmanator]

I like your map and your town. A very interesting place.

[eldaldo]

Replies:

Shulmanator:  Thanks so much!  I also love your cities.  They are beautiful and inspirational to me.


Chapter 7: Drake Digby

This Entry is a journey through my region.  I always love seeing these types of entries in other people's journals, this will probably not be the last one in mine.  I hope you enjoy it.  Here is a labeled Map for reference . . . .





It was the end of august in the 207th year since the founding of Mandrake.  Drake Digby was packing up for his first semester of University.  He lives with his parents in South South Mandrake.  They are 3rd gen cabinet makers and have a workshop of their own in a warehouse near Waterford.  Drake is enrolled in the University of Elkisma. 

He wanted to go to Jarring University which is in a suburb between Mandrake and Waterford that is called Jarring, named after the University which was there first.  Jarring was the first university in The Vantas Coast and also was the first university in Regions.  But Drake applied as a humanities major and had neither the money or the grades to make the cut.  University of Elkisma is quite a good school too, and it is the only other university in Regions, but it suffers in reputation for being second in most things to Jarring. 

He has packed his trunk and is getting ready to leave for school.  It is a long journey and his parents are using the cabinet wagon they use to move and sell their wares to take drake to the ferry terminal in Mandrake where he will begin his journey. 

They pull away from the Digby residence in South South Mandrake and head north.






In Downtown South Mandrake they had to watch out for the street trolleys, luckily they didn’t see any.






They then headed west to South Main St. in the Uptown neighborhood of Mandrake.  they turned right/north on Main which would take them all the way to the Ferry.






When they reached downtown Mandrake they passed Main and Center, one of the busiest intersections of the city during the weekdays, thousands of workers cross this intersection on their way to the factories in Harbor Yard and Edges.






Finally they arrived at the Ferry Terminal and Drake’s parents said their teary goodbyes.  Drake hauled his trunk to the ticket window and bought a ticket for the next ferry to Cold Point across Egrand bay.  He had to wait almost an hour before the Ferry pulled into the terminal and unloaded all its passengers. 






Before long he found himself in Egrand bay. 






This was only the second time he had seen the open bay like this.  Mercer inlet which South Mandrake is built on is much smaller and you can easily see Manchester point on the other side.  In Egrand bay he could see the distant green mountains in the north, Warrior Mountain  like an anthill in the east, and the towers of Mandrake in the south.  but in the west the water stretched on until the horizon, and the waves were large and dark and caused the ship to sway from side to side.  it was actually kind of disorienting and before too long Drake began to feel ill.

Luckily they arrived at the Cold Point Rail Dock before he had time to add his breakfast to the bay.






The Rail Dock, while it has train access is mostly for freight and the factories that surround it.  the passenger platforms are actually two blocks away and Drake is forced to lug his trunk the whole way.  it is at this point he wishes his trunk had either shoulder straps or wheels.  but it does give his stomach some time to settle.  When he arrives at the train Platform he buys a ticket to the Elkisma Central Station.  Then he sits and waits for the train. 






Once it comes and he has boarded, the train leaves the platform and skirts the outer edges of the town of Cold Point.







Cold point is important as the town that connects Mandrake to Elkisma.  Before the train was built it could have taken the whole day to reach Elkisma from Mandrake on a slow boat, or if the waves were high.  While it is still a tedious process, it takes much less time.  Now Cold Point is a welcome halfway stop for those on their way between the cities.  While Drake landed at the freight terminal, there are many who land at the central terminal and stop for lunch or tea in one of the many shops in downtown, before resuming the rest of their journey.



Shortly after leaving Cold Point the train entered into the wilderness that separates Cold Point from Elkisma.  This wilderness is full of trees and various wild animals.  it is certainly a wondrous and beautiful sight for Drake, who has spent most of his life in the city.  except for a few excursions to Alden forest on class trips to see “nature.”  This wilderness is much more wild than the forest he is used to where you are always able to hear some human civilization noise, or see some pollution cloud rolling overhead. 






Finally  the train started to return to civilization.  Though Drake had no idea at the time, this small town is called Verna and is located at the bottom of Sterling Bay; the bay that separates Aliston and Elkisma.  The town is built at the intersection of the roads that connect Aliston, Elkisma, and Cold Point. It is a quiet and small town and mostly receives agricultural traffic.






Lastly, after pulling through some farmland and another forest, the train at last pulls into Elkisma Central Station.  Which is kind of a laughable name to the residents of Elkisma, since the station is actually built on the outskirts of town.  But, it is a recently built station and the Elkisma Rail Company built it as the future hub for rail operations in the surrounding region.  It features a large main hall and two platforms.  It is currently the largest rail station in the region. 






At the station he ended up spending another chunk of money on a coach to take him the rest of the way to the university. 



Elkisma has grown explosively in the past few years due to the desire of its leaders to surpass Mandrake in population and in productivity.  Elkisma also has fewer rules and laws about exiles and has a better reputation for people who are trying to get out of the slums of Mandrake.  However, the city has struggled to keep up with improving its infrastructure and having adequate transportation to various parts of the sprawling city.  Thus a bottom-up system of coaches has arisen of independent drivers who use their vehicles to transport people from one place to another, for a small fee.  Or for people like Drake who are clearly new to the city, as much as they can take him for. 



when Drake finally arrives at the University there are upperclassmen who are directing new students to the dorms.  At the check-in table he is given a map of the campus and a key with a dorm name and room number on a card attached to it.  “Stye Dorm, Room 218.”  He makes his way through the campus amazed at how many new and different people are surrounding him.  He finds his dorm and room and finds the door open.  There is a tall kid with dark skin and a large, round face unpacking a suitcase into the dresser on the left side of the room.  He looks up at Drake as Drake pulls his trunk into the room. 

“Hello,  you in room 218?”

Drake holds up the card with 218 on it.

“Well, this is it.  I guess I’m your roomate.  My name is James, James Morganfield.”  He extended his hand offering to shake Drake’s hand.

“I’m Drake, Drake Digby.  It is nice to meet you.”  And he noticed a slight frown pass over James' face. 

“Drake eh?  Well, I guess there’s no question where you’re from is there?”

“Drake chuckled, heh, yeah.  South South Mandrake actually, Near the border with Waterford.  Where are you from.”

“Me, I was born in Lake Maureen.” Replied James.

“Hmm, I don’t know that I’ve heard of that town, where is it?  Is it south?  Near Avalon?”

“It’s in Inakaye, you haven’t heard of it because I am an exile.  I’ve only been here for about five years.  My father and I have been living in the neighborhood of Westham here in Elkisma since we were exiled.”

Drake wasn’t sure what to say.  He had never really spent much time talking to an exile.  His Neighborhood was almost entirely of Gens, and in Mandrake exiles rarely ever went to school.  Yet, here was an exile standing before him.  An exile who apparently had enough money and intelligence to go to University.  His assumption was that most exiles weren’t educated enough to go to college.  There was a part of him that wondered if this kid and his father were criminals.  I mean, how else would they pay for school?  His silence and inability to respond was noticed by James.

“Heh, yeah, I don’t mean to be confrontational.  You’re probably not used to talking to exiles are you?  My dad and I had a bad experience in Mandrake.  That’s why we are here in Elkisma.  It’s not great . . . but it’s better than where you come from.  Look, I got nothing personal against you, so let’s just try to be friendly with each other.  Ok?”

Drake looked at James who once again had offered his hand.  He took it and they shook. “Yes.  That sounds good.  Forgive my rudeness . . . . So . . . What is your focus here?” 

“Medicine.  and yours?”  Said James.

“Humantities, but . . . for the past few years I’ve been interested in journalism . . . “
Their conversation continued onwards.  They discussed small things and tried to avoid repeating their earlier awkwardness.  Drake decided that he would give James a chance.  after all, he had nothing against exiles, he was just sheltered and had some preconceived notions about the world around him.  Coming to Elkisma was his first step into the reality of the world around him.  He was unsure of where it would take him, but he was excited by the possibilities. 

[Swordmaster]

Whoa, I haven't commented here? I like it. The region views are very good, and your layout is nicely anti-grid. I think you could do with some more attention to flora, though. There are better options these days than CP's conifers.


Cheers
Willy