What would it be like if your city was taken?

Fallen London
#1

By this I mean what would it be like if your city was taken by the bazaar?

For Example I live in Sydney, Australia so these would probably change:

Mr Wines would probably become Mr VB
Mr Apples would probably become Mr Pavlova
Mr Hearts would probably become Mr Meat Pies
Knife and Candle would probably become Knife and AFL/NRL
And the city would probably be taken because Tony Abbott wants to stop Asylum Seekers

What would the Bazaar be like if your city was taken?
edited by Deanscig on 5/4/2015

#2

A Fallen Vienna would be very exciting, especially considering how the city is represented in Sunless Sea!

#3

Fallen Cairo would certainly be something, I think!

#4

A shame, because I doubt the Masters want anything to do with Egypt ever again.

Meanwhile, I’m a resident of suburbia, but if the Masters wait until August, they’d get the Big Apple. Probably the more succulent choice.

#5

Hong Kong.

Moon-milk Teacake.

Ultra dense housing estates. Closet-sized lodgings cost 10 Overgoats. Skyscraper Bazaars.

#6

I don’t think much would change from Fallen London in Fallen Cairo, everything would be much more cheaper and the Masters of the Bazaar would be Mr. Hassan, Mr. Ahmed, Mr. Ali… And you’d have people asking you for cash. That is, unless it was in 1889, where it would be much better, although I think we were under English invasion at the time…

#7

Good grief. Life in a small Welsh village can be claustrophobic enough without being underground into the bargain.

But of all the cities where I’ve lived (apart from London, of course), I think a Fallen Edinburgh would be all kinds of amazing. It already has underground streets, after all.
edited by Lady Eris on 5/7/2015

#8

This actually got me thinking a lot.
See, I live in a quite odd town, its really big, 1.2 million citizens plus the fact it is the connecting network between a whole half of the state… yet its quite boring when it comes to everything imaginable, seriously. The thought of a fallen version of it and how I could twist the dullness of the town is quite entertaining, maybe I should make something with it, maybe a post-apoc version of it or something.
edited by Violet on 5/9/2015

#9

Hm, well, it’s stretching it a bit, but I live near enough to DC for this to be about Fallen Washington.

Which has several interesting parallels, to be honest. There would be another Stolen River (the Potomac), with plenty of outlying Suburbs for another Archipelago.
Ward 8 would probably be the new version of Spite, call it the Far Bank.
The White House would become the Barred Mansion (like the shuttered palace).
Georgetown would be the closest thing to Veilgarden, I think.

I could go on, but honestly a reskinning wouldn’t be difficult to do. But the contrast between the White Marble of most of the Buildings with the dark cave would be all kinds of interesting. And what electricity would do in the Neath…

#10

Moscow would be significantly improved by the Fall.

#11

Fallen Calcutta (NOT Kolkata, not while I breathe) would be quite similar to the city where we all reside, with a dash of Parisian favour and side-helping of oriental mysteries. Methinks we’d fit right well down there.

For some flavour, I’d suggest reading Dan Simmons’ Song of Kali, I believe it’d suit your tastes.

Moscow under the world sounds very intriguing, since they have their own underground cityscape (if Metro 2033 is to be believed).

#12

If Virginia Beach was brought down into the Neath I’d find myself far closer to the Drownies than I’d ever want to be.

#13

I live in Hamilton, New Zealand. Mr Spices would probably have to get involved in the conventional drug trade, Mr Wines would have a hard time keeping his girls clean, and Mr Fires would have to jump from industry to farming.

#14

I have been thinking a bit about a Fallen Edinburgh - it’s one of my favourite cities and is pleasingly gothic already, so I wondered how it would lend itself to being a possible Sixth City. And so I ran with it and this is what I came up with. It fits surprisingly well!

It is easy to see why the Masters might take Edinburgh. The Old Town is a maze of streets and closes - some where two people can only pass by flattening themselves against the walls. Flights of steps so long and steep that you cannot see the bottom from the top. Such places are perfect for moving unseen and trading in secrets. A Castle, perched high on its hill, with a view over the whole city, and an esplanade below and shops lining a mile-long street to a Palace? (Holyrood would make a great Shuttered Palace). What could be more perfect? The Cathedral of St Giles lies between the Castle and the Palace. The Grassmarket would be a bit of a Veilgarden, and the Cowgate below the bridges would probably be the rookery and the haunt of the less reputable. In Edinburgh, the people who wanted to keep themselves a bit apart would probably go down, rather than up, and instead of the Flit, would populate the maze of streets and vaults under the city.

The New Town’s elegant squares and wide, straight streets would probably be the preferred milieu of Society types. As for gardens, the Nor’ Loch would have been drained and made into the Gardens before the Fall - and probably would have a different name as I doubt the Masters would retain ‘Princes Street’. It would probably be a good setting for the Carnival, being the pleasure garden - and situated between the old and new towns.

And there are the Meadows near the University. (Yes, the University - I admit some bias! There is, of course, the School of Arts, which will later become Heriot-Watt University, but for now, I shall concentrate on the University). How might that turn out? There are the New and Old Colleges, which might form a bit of rivalry (although as New College is the Divinity School it wouldn’t work as a Benthic analogue quite as well!) But perhaps in the Fallen City, the university might not shove all the scientists out on the edge of town, leaving the centre as the preserve of the arts and humanities (as it does in the present day). That might make things interesting.

And of course there is a river, the Water of Leith, and there is Leith, where there are docks, and there is the sea…

As to the Masters, Mr Pages would probably find plenty to occupy itself in Edinburgh. Mr Apples would probably trade in oats, or tatties (although that rather lacks dignity). Mr Veils might have to move over to slightly warmer fabrics, given the northerly latitudes, especially if Edinburgh is still plagued by the haar (the sea mist, which is bloody freezing) when it comes underground. Mr Wines would probably move over to ale - ‘Mr 80 shilling’ has something of a ring to it (although I’m not certain of the shilling to Echo exchange rate)…

Thank you for the writing prompt, Deanscig - I’ve had a lot of fun with it!

#15

Fallen Durban:

The city would fall when someone got tired of the constant electrical blackouts (“load shedding”) and sold out to Mr Fires and Mr Iron for the promise of infinite power.

Surfing would become Dodge the Drownies.

The Starveling Cat would have a hard time not getting chopped up for “medicine” by witchdoctors. I shudder to think what eating that kind of concoction would result in.

Finishing the University storyline would require Watchful, Persuasive, and Shadowy of all 200, and about a ten thousand actions’ grind, with repeated unavoidable excursions into A State of Some Confusion.

Hell’s Embassy would be located in the Gateway shopping center, as one of my colleagues calls it the “Gateway to Hell”.

Knife-and-Candle would certainly be popular here. Jack-of-Smiles would find plenty of victims…and opportunities to spread.

(However, despite the hype I’m not convinced that the violent crime rate is all that much higher than in large cities in Malaysia…I’ve been away too long to draw a good picture, but a Fallen KL would be interesting too.)

#16

Fallen Los Angeles:

Mr Wines would probably re-name himself Mr Films

Hollywood would become the new Veilgarden, and bohemians from all over the Neath would relocate here in hopes of &quotmaking their big break.&quot

Instead of schools of poetry, schools of film would compete for prominence and Notability.

Mrs Plenty would become the new owner of Disneyland (Plentyland?) – granted, this isn’t technically within LA, but it’s close enough that it’d probably be taken as well (ironically enough, it’d probably end up approximately in the location where Mutton Island is currently)

Hell would be positively delighted at their new customer base, as nearly everyone of Importance in the city would want to sell their soul.
edited by protonsinthedark on 5/28/2015

#17

Fallen Indianapolis-
The indy 500 would be replaced with Shroom Hopping.
I’m still a bit new to the neath, and I live in a fairly secluded bit of Indianapolis, so I’m afraid that’s about all I’ve got.
edited by The-Gentlemen on 5/29/2015

#18

Fallen Baltimore would be…Is there anything the masters would want from Baltimore? Well. The Neath would certainly be improved by a surplus of crabs. The harbors are quite nice, too…

#19

As someone working in infectious diseases research who’s also read a little bit of American medical history I think a horror-steampunk Johns Hopkins would be AWESOME.

Not to be overly critical of other people’s ideas, but on this thread I feel like some people are missing the OP’s point a bit and trying to shoe-horn parts of your city into FL… whereas London didn’t become re-shaped into Fallen Karakorum when it fell on top of the Fourth City. I read the OP as asking what would your city be like, as in what’s unique about your city, not what’s London-like.

#20

[quote=Lashkar]
Not to be overly critical of other people’s ideas, but on this thread I feel like some people are missing the OP’s point a bit and trying to shoe-horn parts of your city into FL… whereas London didn’t become re-shaped into Fallen Karakorum when it fell on top of the Fourth City. I read the OP as asking what would your city be like, as in what’s unique about your city, not what’s London-like.[/quote]

Both are fun and interesting! Shoe-horn? I will show you shoe-horn.

…On second thought, I know far too less about Hong Kong than a normal citizen should reasonably know. We… have some rivers here and there, and a tiny dinky clock tower? And some street with never-closing pubs that could substitute for Veilgarden in a pinch?
edited by Estelle Knoht on 6/3/2015