TriadCity Message of the Day
2020-05-26

We're taking the unusual step of opening two new Zones before they're complete. This is to enable more extended grinding than has been possible within TriadCity until now, without TriadCity characters needing to maul the Midgaard chessboard as they've been.

The Forum Romanum is the NorthEastern Third's ancient civic center, now dedicated to remembrance of the military heroes and their campaigns which contemporary Third authorities view as precursors to their own policies. As of this writing, the geography is complete but its many contents are still in progress. The Zone is open today so that you can pass through it to reach Palatine Hill.

Palatine was the district of ancient Rome where the wealthiest Romans had their opulent urban villas, called "domi". TriadCity's take compares the legendary wealth of ancient Rome with contemporary fortunes, in a Zone which is unique in TriadCity because entirely computer-generated. Palatine's many thousands of Rooms are computed at server boot based on the size of the fortune of the owner of each villa. The larger the fortune, the larger the villa, and with it, the larger the loot each villa contains — and the more dangerous its occupants. The Zone that results is a ladder of opportunities and challenges, where climbing the Hill from villa to villa becomes more difficult and more dangerous the farther you progress. This design allows both individuals and teams to progress to the limits of their capabilities, while potentially gathering gobs of dinars, exp, and other treasures as they go.

This is the highly ominous warning sign at Palatine's entrance:

  • WARNINGS:
  • This path, the Clivus Victoriae, climbs Palatine Hill in clockwise spirals to the House of the Senate at its crest.
  • There is a guard station at each corner of the spiral. Based from these stations, 51 guards patrol at random. They will attack you the moment you're discovered.
  • Guards stationed at the first corner are level 11. Guards at the top are level 27. Each guard station hosts guards one level higher than the previous.
  • The guards stay within their arm of the spiral. Thus guards in the first arm are level 11; the next arm level 12; and so on.
  • The opulent Domi along the path belong to wealthy RL notables. Each Domus contains a number of rooms equal to the size in billions of dollars U.S. of the fortune ammassed by the owner of the Domus. A fortune of $1b means one room inside; a fortune of $350b means 350 rooms.
  • Each Domus houses a number of servants equal to the fortune in billions. The servants are at the same level as the fortune. A fortune of $200b means 200 servants of level 200 each. The servants are aggressive and will attack you the moment you're discovered.
  • Each Domus contains treasure equal in Dinars to its number of rooms times 1,000. A Domus with 250 rooms will contain valuables worth a minimum of 250,000 Dinars.
  • The Domi are ordered by size of the owner's fortune. The initial Domi at the bottom of the hill are $1b U.S.; at the top, vastly more.
  • The first room inside each Domus is the entryway, in Latin called the Fauces. Every Fauces is safe: no guards or servants will enter. Each Fauces has a copper plaque inset into one wall listing the name of the owner, the size and origin of the fortune, the number of rooms inside, the number of servants, and the approximate size of the treasure.
  • Ascending this hill and exploring the Domi demonstrates in a visceral way the magnitude of contemporary accumulation in the era of Neoliberalism, compared with the legendarily opulent fortunes of the wealthiest Romans.
  • THIS IS A DANGEROUS PLACE.
  • Enter at your own risk.
  • Pooh and Mark, RL date New Year's Eve 2019.

Take the warnings seriously. But also consider the opportunity. Approached intelligently, this is TriadCity's major reservoir of loot and exp for higher-level characters.

Along with the Forum Romanum, Palatine is geographically complete but lacking much of its eventual content. We'll prioritize both Zones over the next couple of weeks.

The Forum is east of the Circus Maximus. Take the Sacra Via all the way east through the Forum to reach Palatine. There, the Clivus Victoriae winds clockwise up the Hill.

Stay safe out there! Meet you in the city!

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