Districts of Ishim: Ishim is divided into eleven separate districts. The district now called the City of Ishim was the original town, while Aviane, Hikasa, Harel, Linden and Pacifica were extensions of the city once Ishim Town expanded into a proper castle town; the Outer Boroughs were originally towns several hours to a day's ride out of Ishim before Ishim's expansion swallowed up the cities. Central: - City of Ishim: The administrative district and the original base of Ishim. The district is the second oldest in Ishim; Agreste is older, having existed in the area before Ishim was established as a town. The City district is home to the city's administrative buildings, including the royal Ishim Palace, as well as the city's Adventurer Guild and many adventurer guildhouses. Most of the city is built around the Erite River, which divides the city in half, with the three great bridges (Highwind, Farrell, Muir) connecting the eastern and western sides of the city in the district. Some of the more significant landmarks of the district include Drake Park, built around the dragon-shaped Drake Rock towards the northern wall bordering Ishim and Wilhelm District, the famous Erite Wharf which serves ferries upriver towards the Aureliana and Agreste Districts as well as across the City District, and the Peritz Library, one of the oldest libraries in Generia and home to many old texts. Many significant adventurer groups are based out of the City District, such as the Wharf Street Warriors, the Ishim Irregulars and, formerly before their relocation to Penultia, the Heavenly Emperors. The City is also the terminus for most of the Ishim Magitram lines at Troia Station, with a tramline crossing the Farrell Bridge to link lines from the east and west. Five Inner Boroughs: - Aviane: The merchants' district. Aviane District expanded out of the former Almace Market that was the northwestern border of Ishim when more shops began settling around the market and their propietors settled close by to stay close to their inventory, with warehouses springing up to avoid the cramped areas within Ishim. While Almace Market remains a popular destination due to its proximity to Ishim city centre and easy access from the Magitram lines, the largest market and most popular with adventurers is the Clement Market near Lake Rhea, named for the Goddess. The Clement Market is well-known for being an area for the sale of artifacts recovered from dungeons and bodyparts used by monster hunters to build their weapons, with many specialist adventuring shops setting up in the market. The major markets of Aviane are also infamous for scammers selling fake idols of Freya for a quick buck, causing conflicts between them and the temples in the Aureliana and Pacifica Districts. - Hikasa: The poorest inner-city district and the home to alchemists and other specialists, Hikasa is also the smallest of the Ishim inner-city districts, originating from the former mages' commune in the area that was absorbed into Ishim when the city expanded southwards. Hikasa has the reputation for backwater deals with potions and brews of questionable provenance and efficacy, though in recent years, especially with the Midgardia National Stadium bringing gentrification to the area, this reputation has been replaced by reputable chemists and brewmasters. Scientists and magical scholars alike have have also favoured Hikasa due to its low costs of living and low property costs allowing them to rent buildings for experimentation or meetings, though often lamenting the street fights between hooligans that spill over from Harel District. One of the more recent campaigns in Hikasa was the Clash of Heroes Launch Campaign, involving advertising boards being spread across Hikasa's buildings advertising the new game for tablets. - Harel: The home to brewers, taverns and the Midgardia National Stadium. Harel was formerly Ishim's tavern quarter, and is still a favourite hangout for adventurers who want to avoid the glitter, pomp and circumstance of Pacifica District. Harel in recent times has become the home of the city's football fans, who have formed factions known as 'firms' that occasionally get into fights on the street, owing to the perennial failure of Ishim City to win matches against even other clubs in the city, such as Gautland FC and Snicket Hotspur. Historical taverns include the Dancer and Scholar, a favourite of young men from the Linden District looking for something to cool down with after a long day, and the Salty Pirate, where the Heavenly Emperors famously planned the Selenid Raid that liberated Aviane from being besieged by the Demon General Mammon's forces. The Midgardia National Stadium is Harel's greatest attraction by far, however, drawing visitors for various events, such as football matches, shows and even adventurer exhibition matches where groups of adventurers fight each other for prestige and prize money. - Pacifica: The most famous district of Ishim, known for its casinos and dream brothels, as well as the Temple to Freya, the largest temple to the goddess in Generia. The district sprung up around the Temple, with dream brothels and casinos set up to take advantage of the pilgrims to Freya's greatness; these pilgrims would, inevitably, require somewhere to entertain themselves given the long journeys from all over Generia. Among the most famous establishments are the Starlight Club, a famed dream brothel which fell upon hard times, the Bellevue Casino, which is the oldest facility of its type known for its surprisingly fair policies despite being a house of gambling games, and of course the Temple of Freya itself. Many tourists associate Ishim City with the Pacifica District given its fame, much to the chagrin of the residents of other Districts, who are often asked about the casinos and dream houses of their city. - Linden: The educational district, home to schools and libraries. The district was built around magical schools that rose up in the area as well as one of Ishim's adventuring academies, the Aviane Adventuring Academy. Though most adventurers make their home in the City District, many graduates of Aviane Academy have settled their guildhouses closer to their alma mater, which explains why fairly little gang activity is conducted in Linden, given fear of the adventurers who live in the area. Many schools in the area also provide free education for those who cannot afford further education, fitting given their borders with the poor Snicket District. The Linden District is also famous for housing many charitable organisations, leading to a stereotype for Lindenites among the city's residents as bleeding-heart intellectual types, though not ones to be trifled with given the magical schools and adventurer training facilities in the area. Outer Boroughs: - Snicket: One of the residential districts, relatively poor in comparison to Pacifica and Linden. Prior to being absorbed into Ishim, Snicket was a small fishing town not known for very much outside of fishing and the Harvest Festival, a relatively large festival of its type that takes place once per year and still draws visitors to the district, and was one of the first towns to accept absorption into Ishim to allow for greater financial support. There are rumours that a Thief's Guild operates out of Snicket, as a sort of 'thieves' brotherhood', but reports are unconfirmed. Coincidentally, Snicket is well known for being a hub for artists and other aspiring creative minds, who prefer the looser culture and atmosphere of the district to the inner-city districts while appreciating the relatively urban nature of the District; many ateliers and workshops make their home in Snicket and the more adventurous types tend to venture towards the district to find pieces of art. - Aureliana: Home to the temples of worship in Ishim and home to the second largest temple to Freya, the Temple of the Golden Idol. Aureliana had its beginnings as a temple complex with a surrounding small village that served both Agreste Manor and Ishim Town. As Ishim expanded northwards, Aureliana slowly expanded into the northern district of Ishim and a connecting area between Agreste and Ishim to house the increasing amount of migrants from the country and pilgrims deciding to settle in the area. Pilgrims turned off by Pacifica's casinos and dens of iniquity prefer the quiet of Aureliana District, seeing the district as a more pious and devoted alternative. Of course, given the nature of Freya's portfolio, the area rarely stays quiet during worship sessions, and many worship sessions have been broken up by calls to police by irritated residents mistaking the sessions for something else entirely. - Agreste: The richest out-of-town district and formerly a lord's manor, Agreste Manor used to be the home for House Agreste over their eponymous county until it was dissolved owing to the final count's abdication owing to being found in a scandal with an elven priestess of Freya. The Manor's village was then absorbed into Ishim, with many of the wealthier residents of Ishim moving into Agreste to lay claim to the village's beautiful scenery and open land. Many mansions were built in Agreste of varying architectural styles, not all considered aesthetically pleasing to the eye owing to the building boom in Agreste attracting multiple neophyte architects and many failed adventurers seeking to make a quick buck from the same sort of nobles implicated in the recent adventuring academy admissions scandals. Some of these mansions were abandoned once their owners had a sudden attack of common sense, and some are used for other purposes, such as being rented for functions or as bases for some of the gangs that operate in Agreste District. - Lipiz: The crafter's district. It, Sanada, Gautland and Industria were loosely connected villages to the west of Ishim before they became subsumed in the metropolitan area, with Lipiz specialising in smithing. Even to this day, many specialist artisans reside in Lipiz who aid adventurers who can afford their often high prices to make special weapons capable of greater power than the average weapon from the hawkers in the Aviane District, to the point that Adventurer Pantheon shrines are actually more common in Lipiz than the City District as a result of many adventurers praying to the pantheon to bless their weapons or for good luck; the Celestine Road heading out of northern Lipiz into Gautland and Industria is known for being a hub for monster activity, attracting quests from adventurers seeking to make a quick buck. - Wilhelm: A rich residential district, Wilhelm was the original resident of rich Ishimites seeking to avoid the hustle and bustle of the city before its expansion caused many of them to relocate to Agreste instead. Wilhelm has an unusually high proportion of retired adventurer and military families in the area, with many second and third generation adventurers in Ishim coming from Wilhelm. Wilhelm thus scarcely sees any gang activity or any activity from the rumoured Thief's Guild, for fear of angering many of the highly-trained and skilled adventurers in the area. Ishim's police training academy was relocated to Wilhelm as a result, allowing many adventurers to convert to police trainers; many Ishimite police officers are thus technically eligible for adventuring licenses and are actually qualified to aid adventurers in quests within Ishim's jurisdiction. - Pwyll: A middle-class residential district. Pwyll is well-known for its pegasus stables; pegasi husbandry was the chief occupation of the village before it became part of Ishim, and Midgardian pegasi are generally imported from Pwyll, with the adventuring academies in the city collaborating with Pwyll District to train those seeking to become pegasus riders at their stables. Pwyll District also collaborates closely with Gautland and Industria Districts for farming purposes; pegasi fertilizer is nutritious and well-known for creating bountiful crops, and well-grown wheat in turn is used to feed the pegasi stabled at Pwyll. Pwyll is also often the victim of thievery as pegasi are valuable mounts for thieves seeking to sell them for a quick buck. - Sanada: A residential district serving Lipiz and renowned for its knife culture; the butterfly knife originates from Sanadan crafters, who famously stuck their knives in coins to show off the sharpness of their knives by denting coins with them. Sanadan butterlfy knives are prized among adventurers, soldiers and collectors alike, and premiums are paid for when a genuine, high-quality Sanadan knife is sold. Imitators hawk their trades in the markets at Lipiz and Aviane, but to relatively little success. Outside of their knives, however, Sanada is relatively unremarkable and primarily only known to its residents as a district where many of the crafters from Lipiz live; many commute out of Sanada into either Lipiz or the inner city to get work. - Gautland and Industria: The farmers' districts and the northeasternmost part of what can still be considered part of the city of Ishim. Very few people live in Gautland, as it is primarily farmland with a few scattered houses with a small town center towards the border with Aureliana District, while Industria has even less inhabitants. Many of the residents of both districts thus often travel to Sanada to commute into the city proper, and both have campaigned for some of the Magitram services to pass through their districts. Outside of the odd musical tradition of Gautland District involving what Revivians have described as a 'rap battle', nothing is particularly remarkable about either district. Other: Ishim Magitram: A magically-propelled series of trams that allow for rapid public transport around Ishim, with similar systems being tested in Initia, Lugunica and Dernier. These lines serve Ishim's residents and are a point of pride among Ishim's residents. Adventurers generally tend to avoid the Magitrams due to the trams being too crowded to carry around equipment and loot in during rush hours, though some use the early morning trams and the late night trams to move out of the city to pursue quests outside the city. The lines are as follows: - Lastroedal Line (Serves Agreste to Ishim) - Caermo Line (Serves Lipiz to Ishim) - Vancia Line (Serves Aureliana to Aviane) - Geumho Line (Serves Hikasa to Ishim) - Perus Line (Serves Snicket to Agreste) - Jaiep Line (Serves Pwyll to Ishim) - Tardore Line (Serves Lipiz to Pwyll) - Circle Line (Serves all districts except Gautland and Industria, one terminus in Snicket and one terminus in Sanada) Ishim Ferries: The ferry services that allow people to get around the city of Ishim through the Erite River and Lake Erite. Wharf Street in the City District was historically the terminus for many of these lines, though wharves have been built in Agreste, Aureliana and Wilhelm to allow boats to be kept there, in addition to the public and private marinas where boats are kept. - Kumawani Ferry (Serves City to Agreste) - Alain Ferry (Serves Agreste to Aureliana) - Adler Line (Serves Wilhelm to City to Agreste)