Atlantis Introduction

A recorded tour of Atlantis from an unnamed source.

=Overview= So what's Atlantis like, you might ask? Good question. First get that image of some city of splendors out of your head. Done? Good. I've given a few tours. My name? No, you don't need that, do you? We're on the same page, then.

First, it's the Atlantis Network if you want to talk about the place. Starts with a few normal looking settlements about 200 miles away from the city itself. Big thing to know about those cities? That's the marked border. Anything that happens outside of them? We don't ask questions about. Keeps trade flowing. You see novices get raided just outside, follow the pirates into the zone and watch those towns' guns blast them to Hell because they didn't get that memo.

Anyway, inside that radius is a protected area. You do anything in there, Atlantis will take action. Just about anyone is welcome to travel through the area, though if you're carrying freight and you're smart you'll pay the protection fees. Just trust me on that one.

Only way into Atlantis is via sub. Most of the border towns run charters to and from on a regular basis, so that isn't an issue. Sub goes down, enters the lock, some water gets drained and takes a place in the docking bay. You get out, goods get unloaded, and off you go.

Big place is the bazaar near the docks. All kinds of goods there. Don't ask questions about where they came from, right? Bad for your health. Not too many weapons, though. They're a bit antsy about big weapons in a dome like that.

Right outside of that you have the Tube Inns to sleep in if that's all you need. Plenty of places offering support for visitors too. Women, girls, boys, whatever. Doesn't take that much asking around to figure it out. You get what you pay for, though, I hear the higher end ones have papers saying their 'personnel' are regularly screened. Games of chance of interest? Dice, cards and such are easy to find. There's full service casinos closer to the center of the city.

Closer you get to the center, more the Mafia's in charge. They aren't entirely unified. Make the right friends, and you can find whatever weapons or services you want. You've heard stories about their paramilitary ops. They are that good. Be careful, the novices usually get used as pawns in some feudal scheme to help some guy up the ladder.

Dangerous? Nah, even if you're a tourist. The big guys up top want people to visit and spend money. Trade's the lifeline, and it has to flow. Sellers'll get asked for 'extra tax', 'specially if they're less than above the line goods, but if you're buying, they'll be more than happy to take the cash.

Pretty orderly down here, all said. Don't mess with the guys in charge and it's not a bad place to live, even if you're just selling mundane goods.

=Geography= We're on the bottom of the central ocean, here. Chinese a ways to the north, Americans to the East, Russians to the West, and all kinds of others elsewhere. Being at the bottom helps quite a bit, keeps us out of trouble. No one much bothers us down here.

=Politics= Nominally, the Atlantis Council is in charge. It's a group of seven, elected. No, don't ask about how legitimate the election process is. The mob bosses run a lot of the show. City officials take care of the basics, garbage, water, all the stuff you need a city to do. Cops aren't that bad either, really, long as you aren't dealing with one of the bosses.

Mafia
I've said it before, the bosses run the show, ultimately. They don't run everything, but the big stuff they want? They tend to get. Unless they make too much of a ruckus, then the APD (Note: Atlantis Police Department) will get involved, like when dignitaries are brutally murdered.

Word of advice when dealing with these guys? Don't ask too many questions. They probably aren't out to do real harm if you don't give a reason, they're in this market for money.

=Military= Atlantis maintains a primarily naval force, most are subs. They patrol the region, they also deny the area to the major powers. You wouldn't believe how much money flows through this place, they can hire some decent people.

Okay, military is a bit overdoing it, but some work for the city directly, and some are... call it subcontracted. These are the ones that collect those protection fees for shipping, it's part of their deal with the city.