New Crobuzon

New Crobuzon is a sprawling, chaotic city with towering buildings that seem ready to collapse at any moment. The smog from countless chimneys and factories hangs thickly over everything, creating an oppressive atmosphere of dark and light. The streets are crowded and cramped, filled with diverse people hurrying about their business; human men and women in various states of dress, cactacae moving slowly through the crowds, khepri scurrying along rooftops, Remade begging for change. The air is thick with smells from food carts, rubbish piles, and industry; the soundscape a cacophony of engines, whistles, and clamour.

The architecture varies wildly - old tenement buildings with crumbling plaster sit next to grand houses or modern concrete towers. Graffiti covers many walls, adding splashes of colour. The streets are strewn with detritus, littered with broken toys and machinery parts scavenged by children for playthings. Gaslights flicker under the thick cloud cover.

The general feeling is one of gritty urban decay mixed with an industrial vitality; a place where everyone has their own struggles to deal with amidst the teeming masses. Danger lurks in corners, but so does community and strange beauty in unlikely places. The city feels alive with both human endeavour and alien presences, humming and crawling all around.

New Crobuzon is a city full of vibrant, eclectic districts with distinctive looks and atmospheres. Perdido Street Station is located at the center of The Crow district, an area crammed with railway tracks, factories, and warehouses. Above it all looms the enormous mass of Parliament building, covered in pipes and vents that spew out noxious smoke into the city's hazy sky.

Dog Fenn is a slum area full of rickety buildings made from whatever materials were available. The architecture is chaotic, with narrow tunnels between houses, walls thrown up hastily, and wooden bridges suspended above the streets. It has an ominous, decrepit feel to it. Cactus people, khepri, vodyanoi, and other races can be seen living there alongside humans.

Spit Hearth is where New Crobuzon's red-light district is located. The buildings here are more elegant and upscale compared to Dog Fenn. Men in fine clothes walk around under gaslamps with red filters, visiting the many brothels on offer. Some areas cater to niche tastes; for example, one spot has several houses featuring vodyanoi women.

Riverskin is a district where most of New Crobuzon's cactus people live. The southern part near Flyside contains mixed races like hotchi and khepri. However, the northern area is almost entirely inhabited by cactacae who have no room in the Glasshouse structure meant for their race. Riverskin has an atmosphere of sullen defiance from the youth that refuse to enter the Glasshouse.

Stoneshell is a slum full of shacks and makeshift structures built over the old city walls, making it feel more open compared to Dog Fenn's claustrophobia. The streets are wide and empty in comparison, though still filled with noise. Many khepri live here alongside humans.

There were a variety of sentient species living in New Crobuzon besides humans.

Khepri looked like human women from the waist up; from their head protruded the shell of an enormous black beetle, with large compound eyes and long feelers. They had no mouths: instead they chewed food internally to produce khepri-spit which hardens into a brittle pearly substance, which was often used for various purposes including art. Khepri lived in matriarchal societies that centered around the hive; if an individual left her hive or didn't follow the traditions of her people, they would treat her with disgust and suspicion.

Vodyanoi were aquatic humanoids living under New Crobuzon. They had slick blue skin covered in scaly ridges along their limbs and backs, with webbed hands, feet, and fins along their wrists and ankles. Their eyes are huge, staring, lidless orbs. Vodyanoi often seemed gloomy, moody and irritable, but they are also quite intelligent. Many vodyanoi were scientists, such as Ged, who was an ichthyologist.

Garuda were humanlike bird-people with feathers covering their bodies instead of hair, sharp beaks, taloned feet, and hollow bones. They lived in the Cymek desert to the south of New Crobuzon and had a strict code of honor. Garuda hunted prey or enemies using bows, whips, spears, and light blades. They were egalitarian but respected warriors.

Slake-moths were large creatures with furry, chitinous bodies, many limbs, huge mouths full of gravestone teeth, and two pairs of wings patterned like a kaleidoscope which hypnotized anyone who looked at them. Slake-moths could survive on eating mental activity, emotions, or dreams, using long tongues to draw out these substances from victims in the same way as an insect drinks sap. They were often used for torture because of this ability.

The Remades are individuals who have had parts of their bodies replaced with artificial components, usually as a punishment for crime or other transgressions against the state. They often become ostracized outcasts after their transformation but some find ways to earn money from their altered bodies, such as becoming prostitutes in brothels that cater to perverted fetishes.

Remade individuals can have wildly varied alterations depending on what they were punished with. Some examples include:

• A woman whose baby's arms were grafted onto her face so she wouldn't forget her crime
• "Snail-women" encased in huge iron shells they retreat into at night
• Individuals with squid-like tentacles instead of arms
• People Remade to fight as gladiators, such as those with bull horns on their head and tusks or shark teeth

Some Remades have entire body parts reversed - their heads turned around so their eyes stare out from behind them. Others are altered more subtly but grotesquely, like having a second vulva where their mouth should be.

The practice of Remaking is considered a debased form of art by critics who see it as perverse creativity gone wrong. Some of the most disturbing and extreme Remakes may come from illegal flesh sculptors rather than official government facilities. Remade bodies can also be built from the start for specific purposes, like Motley's Remades with reversed heads to guard against slake-moth attacks.

Isaac Grimnebulin: An accomplished scientist and physicist living in New Crobuzon; works at a university, but his passion lies in experimenting on the side with physics. He has short dark hair, a scruffy appearance, and a thick beard. His clothing is old and stained with chemicals. He tends to be absent-minded. Isaac values friendship greatly, particularly with Derkhan, Lin, Lemuel, and Ged; he works well in groups.

Lin: Isaac's girlfriend who works for Mr. Motley at the Grand Easterly Hotel, performing exotic dance routines with her headlegs. Her body is covered in fine fur of various shades; she has three long legs on each side of her torso that end in jointed human hands. She wears jewelry and dresses with split skirts to accommodate her legs. Lin tends to be quiet but observant.

Yagharek: A garuda who came to New Crobuzon seeking help from Isaac. As a member of the nomadic Kettai clan, his feathers are primarily gray. His face resembles an eagle's head, and his body is covered with small tufts of downy feather-like fur. After committing a crime, he was punished by having his feathers stripped; now bald, he hides his face behind a mask. Yagharek is intensely private about the details of his past.

Derkhan Blueday: A reporter for Double R magazine, with short purple hair and green eyes. She has many tattoos all over her body, covering up most scars from her criminal past; she wears revealing clothing to show off her inked skin. Derkhan is a passionate anarchist and activist, working to expose government corruption and raise awareness about the plight of the Remade. Her loyalty and protectiveness towards Isaac is intense.

Mr. Motley: An enigmatic crime boss who rules his gang, the Artifice Club, from an office at the Grand Easterly Hotel. His body is made up of parts of various animals, including a human head, bird feathers, fish scales and fins, antlers, insect limbs, and more; these parts shift around to different areas of his body while he sleeps each night. Mr. Motley's mannerisms are confident and flamboyant, often bordering on theatrical.