Chapter Text
Hey, stop jostling me, you stinking piece of… wait, I know you... Neo-Ishgard right? The one with the bright gaze that hadn’t quite had all their hope torn out and ground under a filthy boot. Yeah, good to see you around. Managed to make it out of the Brume, huh? Me too, me too… although out of the frying pan and into the fire, one could say. Did they get you too then? Those thrice-damned bloody traffickers are the scum of the soil, I tell you. They pick up those lost and vulnerable, those with nowhere else to go and those with an ache in weary bones, trying to escape their sorry lot. They whisper poisoned promises of riches and a better life, and before those naïve fools even have a chance to breathe in the false echo of freedom, they’re down the cerulean mines in one place or another. Always more hands required to fuel the need for more power, any dream of a better life under the banner of Garlemald crushed and burnt and turned to ash before they even step off the airship.
How did I fall for it, you say, if I know so much? Well, I didn’t! Hah! I was sick of my life in Neo-Ishgard, creeping closer to rock bottom with every heartbeat. I could see the trajectory of my existence and it was only going down. So, I figured I’d try my luck elsewhere, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been in New Doma. Always good to see what’s changed in the world, life and experience both can turn stale so quickly if you let it. I’m hoping I’ll be able to escape in the hubbub of that massive sprawling melting pot before they ship us out to one of their outlying bases.
You’ve never been, you say? Oh well, my friend, you are in for a treat. Neo-Ishgard may be a vertical neon-filled technological marvel of a city but New Doma… I’ve never seen a city more diverse, vibrant, so rich and so alive. The stratifying lines that are so inflexible in Neo-Ishgard are practically non-existent in New Doma, rich and poor and destitute rubbing shoulders at every busy corner, markets and stalls serving all equally and with no care of who you are as long as you have the means to pay the invariable bribes that exist everywhere.
Oh, yes, corruption is still present, I didn’t say it was a perfect city and let’s be honest, the world isn’t perfect either so it would be folly indeed to expect a city to be able to succeed where the rest of humanity has failed. If anything, you could argue that New Doma is more corrupt – at least on an individual level. Illicit gil changes hands with officials and stallholders both as much as it would from more legitimate means. Dirty money is still money after all. But here there’s a strange dichotomy when compared to Neo-Ishgard; for while individual bribery and corruption may be more… expected here than in Eorzea, the level of backstabbing and high-level organisational corruption seen in the megacorporations of Neo-Ishgard would be intolerable.
Which isn’t to say it’s not done, of course, just that it must be kept hidden from the prying eyes of the Shazenkai: the ‘official’ council body that rules New Doma. They are – were – considered as a respectable, if a bit plodding, governmental body; ruling by committee has its disadvantages after all. Comprised of leaders from each of the main organisations and tasked with keeping New Doma running, the will of the people was at least considered on a regular basis. Much was codified by law and tradition to ensure that individual levels of corruption – while rife and understood to be a part of everyday life here – didn’t spread to businesses and organisations, and at least the megacorporations were kept as honest as they could be.
Hmmm? You caught that ‘were’ I see... Hah! Yeah, from what I hear, since Garlemald Technologies overthrew Rijin Enterprises in its entirety four years ago, a failed takeover gone horribly wrong, most of the Shazenkai has either been bought or threatened into silence and Garlemald Technologies rules the city with an iron fist instead. With that delicate balance between individual and state in tatters, corruption now runs rampant within the city at all levels, and the only rule in place now seems to be ‘just don’t get caught’. All of which is to say that much like Neo-Ishgard and pretty much any other corrupt city state, the rich once again get richer and the poor get poorer, and the increasing gap between the two only leads to further discontent.
But I digress, you’re not here to receive a treatise on the socioeconomic stratification of the class system in Neo-Ishgard versus New Doma. Or… at least, well, maybe later…
Ahh, but despite all of her current troubles, the sights and smells of New Doma are still something to behold! Scattered clouds racing across skies regularly dyed from red to orange to yellow to blue and echoed in the fast-moving waters of the One River below, the city is a riot of colour and life. Towering pillars and mountains not fully mined out for the precious resources below still hold much in the way of both flora and fauna, greens and greys casting shadow across squat buildings and skyscrapers alike. And yet even as they reach for the sky, they are lower yet than the massive wall that ends in the Dairyu Moon Gates that stretch across turbulent waters, staining the waters red with their wavering reflections. The wall splits the city in two, a physical barrier between the more industrial and manufacturing part of the city and the cut-throat business section, but to be honest the barrier doesn’t mean much to the people that live in the wall’s shadow. As with everything here, the price of entry is always to be haggled and you can see almost everything that New Doma has to offer if only you have the coin and the will to do so, or the wits to navigate around the inevitable bribes.
But the colour doesn’t stop with the sky, nor the water, nor the land. No, the city itself refuses to conform to any particular style or tradition and indeed why should it? It is a place that holds a veritable rainbow of different cultures and traditions rubbing shoulders with each other, and the glorious cacophony that is the result could fill your heart with joy, if you were of a mind to enjoy such things. And yes, I know I mentioned earlier that there is no stratification between rich and poor in the city, and there isn’t, really, not like Neo-Ishgard anyway. But you know, people like their routines and their own traditions, and most stick to the areas they’re used to and the lives they’re used to. Most would rather tread the same time-worn paths, the comfort of familiarity hugged around their shoulders like a warm blanket, and who am I to gainsay their comfort and joy if that is where they find it? But I suspect that is not you, is it? So – for old time’s sake – how about I take you on a whistlestop verbal tour of New Doma? No charge this time, my friend, if I can call you that.
So. Let’s start where most do, at the Gensui Chain on the south side of the Dairyu Moon Gates. A sprawling neighbourhood made of largely residential shikumen type buildings, the external walls of each belying the bright and airy courtyards within. Small winding roads trace through each of the small communities clustered together and even more experienced navigators have been known to get lost within those tiny alleys and streets. Sprawling across the banks of the One River you can find the Ten Thousand Stalls, a vast outdoor market of foods from nearly every culture known across the world, from Nagxia to Thavnair, Ilsabard to Sharlayan. There’ll be something to whet the appetite of everyone and anyone who visits, something familiar, something unfamiliar, and each a speciality of the stallholder that will make your mouth water and – depending on how well you can take your spice – perhaps your eyes too.
If you are more in the mind to have other appetites whetted, maybe take a stroll through those smaller alleys and roads I mentioned before. There you can find neon signs lighting up the different local businesses housed within the shikumens alongside the families living within; everything from scribes and money lending to schools and every kind of… personal… entertainment you can think of. While there’s no official red-light district in New Doma, Herons Way – the closest you could probably get to such a thing – can be found within this sprawling maze of light and life. If you do find yourself getting lost, then you only need to look up to where the famous House of the Fierce sits beside the wall, looking over its squat neighbours as the chimney from the exquisitely decadent bath house emits steam and smoke day and night. Runners from the House of the Fierce to the Ten Thousand Stalls are kept busy feeding customers of the bath house with any and every foodstuff they desire, and the skilled and graceful courtesans are kept even busier, providing… other relaxations and entertainments. Rumour has it that the House of the Fierce holds as many secrets as it does routes to happiness. I don’t usually hold to rumours, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that one was true.
Across the Eastern Ryurin Bridge you’ll find the more industrial side of New Doma, where the Yards mirror the Ten Thousand Stalls on the other side of the river, butting up against the Glittering Basin. Here, you will find skilled tradespeople of every description; Ul’dahn goldsmiths and Lominsan blacksmiths work alongside Garlean Magitek engineers to provide the finest implants for export across the lands, Gridanian carpenters specialise in New Doman techniques and lacquers that many in the craft envy, and Thavnair alchemists constantly push the boundaries of their craft, creating concoctions to rival those of bustling and bright Radz-At-Han itself. Anything and everything is available to buy and commission, and if the prices aren’t what you can afford, try your hand at another place down the road and feel free to haggle, it’s expected and is all part of the fun of taking on a tradesperson here.
Here is also where the massive paper factories reside, tall buildings constantly humming with activity as paper is pressed from raw pulp. It could almost be said that this industry was the first to garner New Doma a reputation for skilled craftwork, and – perhaps surprisingly – it still exists and is revered to this day. New Doma paper is still used across the world, more of a luxury than ever in a time when tomestones and holograms and the aethernet are the mainstay of communication, and yet the feel of good quality paper under expensive ink is not one that loses its charm and appeal to many, especially if you can afford such luxuries.
To the south of this is Castrum Fluminis, grown and spread since the last time I visited to be sure, filled with soldiers who will happily shoot you down rather than ask a lost tourist to step away from the massive Garlean Steel walls, so take care if you wander that far down. That being said there isn’t much more down that way so maybe take a wide berth if you also plan to escape this particular caravan we find ourselves on, eh? Wouldn’t do to be caught again so soon after finding your freedom once more.
Further west and floating in the sky like fantastical technological marvels that rival Neo-Ishgard for pomp and splendour are the Rings. Four massive circular stadiums, each stepped up above the next and held aloft through a mix of Magitek and sheer bloody skill, the lights from these huge spaces flood the sky and surrounding spaces with colour. Here, the sharp, clean and curved spaces butt up against the ancient and the worn, for the Rings sit next to the Swallows Compass, and the massive carved face of Ganen – the first king of Doma – look over all competitors with a stoic passivity that is all that can be expected from stone.
From the shores of this western most point, you can gaze through the Dairyu Moon gates and see the glory that is Doma Castle, once home to Ryjin Enterprises and now the abode of the VP of Garlemald Technologies after the takeover. A study of the beauty in blending both new and old, the castle embraces the glass and steel next to the plaster and stone, every enhancement made to showcase and highlight the traditional crafts, not cover it up. Take a ferry through the Moon Gates, get a closer look, it really is a marvel. And while you’re now on the northern side of New Doma, you can always stop at Monzen and take a stroll through wide boulevards filled with blossoms of every available colour, peering at the houses of the rich and famous through gates of wrought iron and walls of painted stone and plaster. Each house is intricately decorated and detailed, a testament of the craftspeople in the Yards, and of what money can get you if only you had the excess required for such a place.
If you keep on heading east, you’ll find the boulevards narrowing, the buildings rising, and soon enough you will be in perhaps more familiar territory, glass and steel and concrete rising to the sky just like another city far to the West. Once again skysteel and glass meld with the glittering canopy above, reflecting the beauty of the walls and the river and the sky. It’s not all that is reflected in this part of New Doma either, for here also exists Prism Lake within the Valley of the Fallen Rainbow, and rainbow is an apt term for the cascading terraces of lakes, each stained a different colour courtesy of the crystals above and below the waters, a favourite place for rest and relaxation… if you have the coin to spend, of course.
And here is where New Doma – sprawling and ever growing as it is – holds its breath and shies away from expanding further, as the Azim Steppe lies beyond the massive red gates, and not even Garlemald is stupid enough to consider itself a match for the various warrior tribes that make their home in that vast grassland. Have I been there too? Oh yes, and I cannot speak highly enough of their hospitality, providing you don’t come with an invading force at your back.
Ah, and I see we’re at the end of our journey now, both of my tour and of my options on this carriage. What do you mean, what do I mean? Well, I may have paid handsomely for a little distraction at the upcoming gates, so may I suggest we both take this moment to depart this carriage right now if we do not wish to see the inside of a cerulean mine? With me still? Yes? Good. In three… two… one…