In the original tongue, the city's name translates loosely into The Gates Built Before the Inferno. It was only after the Republic fell, approx. 853 BG, that the city was renamed Hell's Gate.
A serial killer talks the streets of Hell's Gate, and seems to be targeting the members of a specific religious order known as the Order of Thorns.
Hell's Gate straddles the line between the savage Wilds and the Wastelands. To the north and east lies the inhospitable stretch of desert that makes up nearly a quarter of the Terran continent and which is home to the Shawnee Glacier. To the south and west stretch hundreds and hundreds of miles of unbroken savanna and plains land. To the far south is the Great Pine Barrens, the largest forest in Terrenus.
North: ~1300 miles to center (not peak) of Dead Peaks.
North-East: ~850 miles to heart of High Desert.
East: ~650 miles to Forbidding Hills.
South-East: ~1000 miles to Dark Forest.
South: ~650 miles to Black Range.
South-West: ~650 miles Langley Keep.
West: ~1700 miles to Blaurg Mountain.
North-West: ~1900 to heart of Coconino Marsh.
Stepping within the city limits of Hell's Gate, one feels the full weight of Terran brilliance bearing down from every angle. The architecture is unlike any other in the whole of Terrenus. The buildings reach to dizzying heights.
Tectonic faults have been patched up by Gaian Engineers, removing virtually any threat of earthquakes. The bases of the buildings are modeled after massive trees, with complex root systems reaching down into the earth and anchoring the buildings against powerful winds. The buildings themselves are truly massive. Several of these are 'micro-cities, internally self-sufficient and capable of being completely isolated from the rest of Terrenus with regards to energy, food, and waste disposal. For now the micro-cities are built with educational entertainment and leisure in mind.
Hell's Gate's ambient temperature was originally to the point that only Wasteland natives were capable of settling. A massive underground aquifer fed by various channels from a water source far west was the city's only source of water. In the flourish of knowledge and magi-technology since, Hell's Gate ambient temperature is at a more tropical and an artificial river running through its direct center is used for trade and washing but kept clean enough by internal purifiers to classify as potable.
Eustace Monroe, esteemed civil engineer before becoming mayor of Hell's Gate, has been quoted as saying that "if I see Gaia in anything, I see her in nature. As much in the elegant mathematics of a flower as in the intrepid manner that all life. Even life-less forms seek to defy their chains. So as the storm rages and the lightning cracks, so as the waves swell and drown the lands, so as the fire blazes and consumes all, so as the mountains reach for the heavens I tell you that man is more audacious yet!"
Hell's Gate is the largest manufacturer of magi-tech both national, and as Terrenus is the father of magi-tech globally, internationally as well.
Airship Docks: What commercial air traffic there is in Terrenus finds a major hub in Hell's Gate docks, the largest, most popular and most secure of the nation. There are three (five as of 26 AO) primary docks for enterprise vessels and a slew of smaller ones for private vessels.
Archaeology Laboratory: Dedicated to research for anthropological archaeology and biological anthropology. Lab houses space for garbology, lithics, spatial archaeology (GIS), zooarchaeology, forensic anthropology and, recently, the addition of a small cryptozoological department. Declared bankruptcy due to lack of funding from private investors.
Eustace Monroe's Laboratory: The Monroe Lab is the converted mansion of the last lordship, and previous regent, of Hell's Gate. It is a castle, a veritable fortress, retrofitted with cutting edge technology to service chemical, biological, and engineering research.
Monroe Foundation: The commercial arm of the Monroe dynasty. The Foundation now specializes in automating technologies, after being beaten out of the medical field by House Trasimene. The president is Eustace's younger sister, Henrietta. A master in engineering and software development, Henrietta piloted complex golem intelligence and has pioneered the first Artificial SuperIntelligence (ASI) housed in an organic matrix.
The Weary Orc: The generic tavern and inn, acting as the de facto meeting spot for anyone that doesn't want to shake-n-bake one of their own.
The Slipstick River: Giorgio Slipstick (natural philosopher and civil engineer) designed the Slipstick River in the last year of his life. Despite Hell's Gate bordering the Wastelands, this magi-tek driven river remains cool and clean, constantly recycling and purifying itself.
20,000 soldiers: Trained by the military and assigned from all across Terrenus.
20,000 Enforcers: The local police are a structured militia, for all intents and purposes. Since they are made up primarily of the citizens, as opposed to having been assigned by the military, the police are more likely to be corrupt.
12,000 Wastelands Border Patrol: Hell's Gate is their headquarters.
Hell's Gate education focuses primarily on engineering, magitechnology, and natural science.
Armand Maray: Armand moved to Hell's Gate due to a lifelong passion for technology but employs ancient and esoteric methods in his occupation as artificer.
Eustace Monroe: Esteemed engineer and previous regent. Alongside Odin Haze and Edward Brown, Eustace was one of the pioneers of the magi-tech revolution that swept over Terrenus shortly after the Crusades.
Henrietta Monroe: Engineer, software developer, automation specialist, and current president of the Monroe Foundation. Henrietta is Eustace's younger sister. She has a skin disease which makes her look much older than she is, and in spite of her physical fitness.
Trilith: Although not strictly speaking a resident of Hell's Gate, becoming the champion of the MOBS tournament has catapulted Trilith into the local spotlight.
The long road home: A criminal trio travel to Hell's Gate. After realizing they are low on funds, two adopt the guise of random women and manipulate a few men into purchasing a room. Rodan (one of the criminals) mutates a man into a rug, another into a copy of the innkeeper where they're staying (Nature's Repose) and telepathically manipulates the real owner into deliberately walking into a trap. As the dust settles after this bloody takeover, Lunara (another criminal) makes a local contact who helps smuggle Rodan to Weland while she travels with Agony (the third criminal) to Yh'mi.
The cost of victory: Michael Commager's Oculus crystal is removed and repurposed to house a limited instance of the Victory ASI, developed in Hell's Gate. The purpose of this is two-fold: to gather data on field-test combat and investigation scenarios as navigated by a PeaceKeeper, and to observe Michael's mental and physical state after the combat in Last Chance.
Chasing Damaged Threads: Caeceila Glasmann has captured three persons of interest from the Red Festival and delivered them to a Hell's Gate military outpost for advanced interrogation.
Consider the roots: A Gaian priest and two apprentices (Yates, Mae, and Kai, in that order) are on task to explore an underground access tunnel discovered by a commercial construction crew; a common enough task for an order of geomancers. Underground they discover a murder, the town of Anchorage with its stone-people, and a volatile religion with an ominous creed.
Emergence from Hell's Gate: A new crime family begins to rise in Hell's Gate eastern district. Their leader makes a simple offer: join, die, or disappear.
First steps of a long journey: One exiled king's quest begins with a single step in Hell's Gate.
Corruption in Hell's Gate: Investigating rumors about corruption in the police force in the run-down sectors of Hell's Gate, the police discover a mysterious group known as Bushido Blade, led by master thief Lexi Sterling. They are stopped but the motives behind their infiltration are still unclear.
Hunting for the broken hearts killer . . . wait, another?: A group has gathered in Hell's Gate to investigate a copycat of the Broken Hearts Killer. They find and arrest the suspect.
Bad Times in Hell's Gate: An orc and a former assassin work together to protect the people of a tenement from three vicious gangs looking to exploit the location for their own desires. Using poison, the orc and assassin are able to turn the gangs against one another and succeed in saving the citizens from the gangs.
FIST - A deadly melody: Detective Hawk was sent to Hell's Gate to investigate the Broken Heart Murders, only to find that the murders were being carried out by multiple people. Further investigation dispelled the idea of a cult and Hawk uncovered a dangerous musical enchantment at the core of the mystery. Hawk gathered survivors of the Song to fight against the Infected and has requested a quarantine over part of the city where the disease is worst.
Truth of Bombing: A while ago a primary dock in the Hell's Gate airport was bombed. After the rebuild effort, Heina (Terrenus Military) and her colleague Alex began investigating the cause. They combat mercenaries dressed as fake soldiers and send collected information to Central.
Quarantine: During a quarantine, an unknown group of assailants make their way onto one of Hell's Gate's three primary airdocks by inciting a riot and using this as a diversion to sneak into the dock's power control center and blow it up from the inside.
Hell is Within You: A star labelled "Ggatho" rises, and one of the resident astronomers brings with it ill tidings and has, in some manner, unleashed the White Death (Infected is afflicted with a lethal chill, skin turning white and gleaming, before becoming stiff and dying) upon the western quadrant of the city.
To Kill A Mockingbird, Pt. 1: Unknown personnel infiltrate Dr. Monroe's manor in the wake of the Docking Station explosion. Research on pheromones as well as the student conducting the research has gone missing. This is the second kidnapping, including that of one Eustace Monroe, to happen on the manors ground within 48 hours.
A sell sword selling his sword: For some time now rats have been a problem in certain parts of Hell's Gate, but recently the rats have gone from nuisance to legitimate threat as they have been seen swarming and attacking citizens. Elijah, retired Wastelands Border Patrol, found that the source of the rats mysterious aggression was some manner of mutant rat-man. Eijah then acted out his role as pest-control.
Some say that Last Chance is the home of all criminals; Hell's Gate says that our criminals are so crafty that they get paid for their crimes. Some say that Biazo is a haven for decadence; Hell's Gate asks, can there be a level of indulgence above that which scientists undertake every day, probing into the deeper mysteries of God?
Hell's Gate is the Research & Development center of the whole of Terrenus. Habitation in Hell's Gate is not exclusive to the greatest minds that the nation has to offer, but engineers, analysts, and logicians are among the brainier bunch and they can be found almost exclusively in this futuristic city.
Technology in Terrenus is unlike technology in the rest of the known world of Valucre, and conflicts even with the electricity based technology to be found in those strange realms outside of Valucre's physical scope.
Technology in Terrenus can be defined by more abstract "knowledge" than it can by material components, which is why it is magi-tek. A refinement of technology, then, comes from a better understanding of magic as opposed to an addition or subtraction of physical components to a machine, which is merely used as a conduit for the magic anyway.
Dr. Eustace Monroe is the model citizen of Hell's Gate. His ultimate search is one for knowledge. In his search for Truth, Monroe has sacrified trust, love, integrity, pride, friendship, and innocence and he shows no signs of slowing. The man is warm, amiable, charming, and distinctly intelligent but, if around the man at certain times of crisis, one wonders to oneself if the man has any limitations. Any boundaries that he wouldn't cross in his infernal quest.
Hell's Gate is the locus of the scientific progress and technological revolution.