You shut the door behind you and find yourself standing on a city street in the shadow of the building you just left. Buildings with similar architecture made of tan stone and sweeping arches sit pushed together across the road from you. Every building is several stories tall with their gabled roofs resembling a tree line. Foot traffic moves to and fro in front of you, not quite human people talk and call out to each other.
Frozen for a moment, taking in the scenery, your gaze moves over the buildings and is met with a wall, one that seems impossibly tall. You can tell it's far away but it still towers over twice as high as the three or four story building across from you. Elevators slowly make their way up and down, while all sorts of humanoid winged creatures dart across the blue sky. People near the wall are but specks compared to the great white monument, towering what must be nearly 200 meters above you.
The wall stretches ten times it's height in either direction, but seems to suddenly end instead of encircling the town.
You stand there silently staring skyward.
After a moment you look back to the cobbled street and its inhabitants. Human-animal combinations go about their ways, all with unique shapes and colors. Some are more human than others with only small traces of animal. You think you can spot a few full humans out of everyone on the street, but it's difficult to tell with the bustling movement.
You snap out of your trance and look back down at the card, it now points to the right. You glance at the wall again and join the flow of traffic in the direction of the arrow. As you walk you notice many of the citizens you pass seem to have a job suited to their animal side.
A hulking man with feet and a horn like a rhinoceros pulls a cart of vegetables, a young boy with wings swoops down and drops a parcel on a doorstep.
An old woman with the head and legs of a black dog unlocks the door to her corner bakery.
Upon passing the bakery the card points to a road to the right, away from the wall. You look to your left and see that the road continues in a straight line all the way to the dam like structure a half mile away. You round the corner and behold a similar street, this one a bit less crowded with foot traffic.
You squint down the road, about ten blocks down it the city seems to end. There is no wall to match the one behind you, only sky. Still you walk, keeping your eyes on the empty space where the buildings turn to nothing. You're a third of the way down the road when a large object completely blocks out the opening.
It's a ship.
As you get closer you start to hear the sounds of a port, the buildings also start to be more oriented to seafaring, with storage warehouses and fish shops. Finally you get to the end of the street and emerge into a bustling port. Instead of an ocean or a bay though, a 60 meter wide artificial canal carries boats from side to side. The canal bends away from you slightly, forming a steady arc, of which you're in the center
On the other side of the canal is a short wall… with seemingly nothing other than sky beyond it.
You crane your neck to see what's behind it, but the water is too wide and boats block your view. You look back to the card for your next step, the glowing arrow points to the left, along the busy canal. Again you walk, some ships pass you by while smaller boats moor along the canal wall.
As you make your way down the busy street you're greeted by all sorts of smells and sounds. Fish, salt, exotic plants, kegs of mysterious liquids. You know many of the smells, but you cant remember where you've smelled them before. Passing citizens also all have a unique aroma and sound, which only flit through your nose and ears for a second at a time.
As you round the arc a small building comes into view from behind the wall. This one is directly next to the water, unlike the others. A steady flow of citizens are coming in and out of the open doors. When you arrive at the building you see it's merely a cover for a long set of stairs that extends 20 meters downward. At the bottom of the stairs a torchlit tunnel shoots off to the right, directly under the canal. The card points directly at the stairwell, and after a moment of consideration you begin your journey down.
As you enter the dim torchlight of the tunnel the sounds around you change, the walls and floors morph from stone to concrete. Horns honk and people yell from the street behind you. Those around you are all human, not an animal trait in sight. the change in scenery catches you off guard and you slip and miss a step. You go tumbling down the last eight stairs and end up in a heap at the bottom.
With your face pressed against the rock floor you can only see it and the wall if the tunnel, until a huge pair of bird feet clicks into view and stops in front of you.
"Woah there friend, that was quite a spill! you okay?"
You slowly get to your knees, nothing appears to be broken.
"I… think so"
The birdman outstretches his wing, on the end of it is a set of claw-like fingers. Hesitantly, you grab on and he pulls you to your feet with surprisingly little effort. You steady yourself and blink the blurriness out of your vision.
"Thank you"
"No problem friend, where ya headed anyhow? To the lower level?"
You look over the man's feathery shoulder, you know you just remembered something important, but it slips away before you can get anything from it.
Behind the birdman there's a bright rectangle of light.
"Yeah, I was actually. Thanks again"
You bob your head slightly and begin to walk towards the light, the birdman follows you.
"No problem friend… say, I've never seen you around here… Where are you from?"
You show him the card.
"On my way to find out right now."
He cocks his head, then reads the card and nods.
"Ah, a hex… interesting, well, if you need a ride down to the lower level I'm your guy, way better than the elevators"
As you draw closer you hear the clacking of gears, the creak of wood, and the chatter of a small group
"Elevators?"
You emerge from the tunnel onto a boardwalk, and are immediately greeted with an incredible sight. Below the boardwalk is a second section of the city, this one over a hundred meters below the first. The lower level sits nestled within a massive semicircular hole. Like the wall above you, the ones below are immense and intimidating. You stand above the relatively flat side of the semicircle, looking at the unbroken curve encompassing 180 degrees of the district below, which even at a birds eye view is obviously more geared towards industry than the one above. Smoke and steam rise from various tubes and chimneys of less extravagant buildings.
With the boardwalk you're standing on being a good deal below the edge of the walls you cant see over the opposite side of the radial wall, but the top of it is dotted with battlements, and has similar infrastructure to the one above hanging from it. People on the boardwalk shuffle around you as they go to various elevators and alternate routes down the flat side of the wall. Staircases snake down it's height and a precarious looking ladder leads all the way down. Winged humanoids streak past the elevators beneath you.
Your bird acquaintance laughs.
"A bit overwhelming isn't it? I remember the first time I was here… Anywho, I only charge nine credits for a ride down if you're up for it"
You peer over the edge of the boardwalk. The huge drop looms below you, and the sounds of industry echo from below.
"D-down?"
The birdman gestures to your card;
"That address is down there no? Flying is the fastest way, and I can land you right out front"
You look at the card again, It points to a nearby elevator, which people are paying the attendant to board. Its almost full.
"How much is that elevator?"
"They charge five, but nothing beats front door delivery"
You look in your money bag, each coin inside has a seal and a number stamped in, the number seems to correspond to the size and weight of the coin.
There ten ones, six fives, Four tens, and a twenty. 21 coins and 100 credits in total.
All the coins are similar in diameter and made of the same material, but the lower denominations are lighter, less dense. You consider the offer for a little too long and the elevator fills up and starts its journey down. You look at the birdman, he smiles.
"Alright fine, here"
You hand the birdman a five and four ones, which he rolls in his feathery fingers and puts into a pocket.
"Alright, here we go"
With a flap of his wings he jumps into the air and lands on your shoulders, he's impossibly light for his size, only weighing around 80 pounds. His huge talons grab you around the armpits and although it doesn't hurt, you immediately start to regret your decision.
"Grab on to my ankles"
You reach up and hold on tight.
"Here we go, just climb right over that railing there"
The railing is the only thing separating you and the 100+ meter drop to the roofs below. It's only a little shorter than you with three cross beams, forming a perfectly manageable ladder.
"You sure you can hold my weight?"
The birdman laughs;
"Only if you're not as dense as you look."
You step onto the first crossbeam, then the second;
"Very reassuring…"
The birdman bends his knees slightly and takes a breath.
"Okay, now step onto the top and jump as high as you can"
You do as he says, you plant your foot on the top of the railing and put all the force you can into a vertical jump into the open air.