Centralia Island!

Centralia is the central island of the Rhine Archipelago. It is a large island that supports five cities. The three main cities are: Centralia City, Pregada and Prall.

The main city, Centralia City, is a shining spectacle of whitewashed buildings and happy, carefree citizens who spend their days at artistic, scholarly or religious pursuits.

On the western cost of Centralia Island is the resort village of Ocean Shore. Additionally there is a small merchant town placed on the southern shore , between Centralia and Pregada, called Little Karfelon.

Holidays and Celebrations

During holidays and celebrations that attitude of Centralia City turns to tolerance so all the people of Rhine may come together in celebration.

Sometime in Murh or Napen

The Festival of the Freeze. This festival happens during the first day that Centralia becomes ice-locked and its people can _walk_ to Is'Damor.

Napen 18-20

Karneval of Remembrance. This Karneval celbrates the completion of Is'Damor and the death of its creator, Master Telain.

Obern 16

Winter Festival of Games. Fun and a celbration of winterk. Lots of skating and the annual skimmer races.

Social Classes

Centralis is heavily class oriented and everyone is very consious of the rank of others and of themselves.

At the top of society we find the Nobility. Nobility in Centralia is a matter of money, politics and acceptance. The Nobility of Centralia exist entirely without restraint. Most are constantly under the influence of some drug or other and all on occasion. The nobility are a hedonistic lot that care nothing for the woes and misfortune of the lower classes. The cruelty of some of the nobility is legendary.

The Nobility sponsor artists and craftsman they take a liking to. These people tend to rise in their chosen field faster than a more talented associate who lacks the patronage of a noble.

The priests are free to devote themselves to the worship of their god and to put aside worldly matters. This is possible (again) because of the patronage of the nobility. The most influential temple (at any given time) is that temple with the greatest number of nobles granting their favor to it. This is a subtle and very political competition whose players are the Nobility and the upper echelon of each temple.

At the very bottom of the class structure we have the workers. The workers are again divided into two seperate groups: servants and menials. The servants live in either Pregada or with their employers. The menials live in the scum hole known as Prall. Workers come to Centralia City as they are scheduled. Workers have very few rights in the city itself.. in fact they have no readily apparent rights at all.

The Temples of Centralia City

The Solarium

The solarium is on the southern edge of town. The location was chosen to prevent anything from coming between the sun and its worshipers.

The solarium is always held in high regard by the nobility and artisans alike. The temple is surrounded bya nine foot wall to prevent random gawkers from interfering with the worship of those on the grounds. At the main gate is a lone priest who asks worshipers for their clothing and gives them a ring that may be used to gain their return.

Inside the solarium walls is a mostly wide open area where worshippers can bask in the glow of the ever-present Ra. Although there are some gaming areas inside (small swimming pool, volleyball, badmitton and tables for cards or board games) most worshipers prefer to just lay about and enjoy the cleansing warmth of Ra's light.

There is always at least one priest whose duty is to see to the comfort of the worshippers. He offers drinks, towels and tanning oils of various colors and scents.

The Erection

The Erection was deliberately built next to the Solarium. The Beacon of the Solarium, seeing the end goal, involved herself in its construction. The results were that the Erection got its observation deck (looking down upon the nude worshipers of Ra), and the Beacon made sure that the deck was open to the light of Ra. This setup allows people to view the nude worshippers without disturbing them and moreover insures that Ra watches the watchers.

The Enclave

The Enclave of Tor servers as a public service center. Although the priests still insure the justice of the area, their job in Centralia is made easy by the populace and, at the same time, complicated by the Nobility. In Centralia if you see a crime you punish it... if you are able. Under Centralian Law it is a crime not to intervene. A large part of the Enclaves job is to settle disputes of punishment of crime (ie unjust or excessive punishment, lack of punishment, etc) The priests server more as arbiters than a policing force. If a witness to a crime cannot punish it, then the Enclave is usually informed and they act upon it, quickly and effectively.

While most cities in the world look upon the Enclave as an effective policing force and local governments eagerly back the priesthood to gain use of their services, this is not so in Centralia. The Nobility of Centralia (which are in reality Centralia's only law making body) do anything they wish regardless of the right or wrong as viewed by the Enclave. The agreement exists but it could break if either side ever truly pushed the issue.

The laws of Centralia are kind of dim, there are no real written laws. There seems to be a general taboo against litter or anything that would give the city a bad look or feel. Your personal rights are determined by your station. Interfering with an artist at work could be a more heinous crime than murdering a street-sweeping Prall (providing that you did your butchering neatly and that the murder did not offend anyone who might care).

Some Good Places in Centralia

The Guild of Wizards

The Karfelon Portal

The People of Centralia!

The people of Centralia are truly what breathes life into it. The Centralian way of life has produced as diverse and colorful a group of people as is every likely to exist.

List 'O People