Thanks, Dimension Door! The hex grid is there both for scale and for planning purposes. I used S. John Ross' Medieval Demographics Made Easy to populate the city, so the hexes helped a lot to know the proper size of things.
Thanks, Coggleton! I didn't think of a stained glass, but sure is a great reference to think about... It's super colorful because there are so many neighbourhoods in there that I had to use almost the entire rainbow spectrum! haha
Alberich is called "of a Thousand Doors" because one of it's main features is a huge amount of magical portals and gateways — in fact the Portal Square (labeled "Praça Portal" in Portuguese) is one of it's main locations, surrounded by portals to and from elsewhere.
Thanks, Kel! One of my major concerns was the modern-ish look. My idea was to create something super symmetrical and precise, but taking the best part of computer graphics, without it being too... computer-ish? I like the blend between colors, texture and handdrawn elements and know it's hard to do that without being too messy, but I'm really happy with the final result!
By the way, the spark effects are a real element of the city — they're about 15-meters-long floating magical dodecahedrons that protect the city! They sure look good from afar!
Thanks, Bee!! <3
Hi, Bretton, thanks! I don't think I can tell too much about the city since it's going to be published yet and I don't know the setting that well, but: the lore says it's almost 3000 years. It was created a long time ago by a race of elephant-looking people called Elephus. They build the central heptagon, which was their main citadel. As the millennia passed, several wars, different peoples and even gods descended upon the metropolis and it expanded a lot until the elephus were wiped out. Today the city is inhabited by peoples from all over the world and only recently they've built the external heptagon to match the internal one.
Taking about real life... Things are super dire over here — the government isn't taking care of anyone and people have to work as usual, otherwise they'll starve. I'm lucky to work on a place that allow us to work remotely... I'm stuck home since March 16th! It's super harsh, but I'm doing well... Thanks for your concern!
Thanks, Ilanthar! I studied some principles of Giorgio Vasari on ancient and medieval cities; he says that the optimal city plan is actually an octagon! Alberich is seven-sided because it was commissioned this way, but I suppose the number 7 is there for magical rather than architectural purposes, haha.