Meshy
The first thing a newcomer to Dimension 25 will notice is the massive, hideously deformed red being that floats around happily. Don’t be alarmed, that’s only Meshlokk, a really ugly, but quite benevolent being who only wants the best for you and your family. Nobody really knows where Meshlokk comes from, or even if it’s a boy or a girl, but none can debate that this ancient and powerful entity is most interested in people and things, and spends all day orbiting around a purple meteor that drifts lazily throughout Dimension 25.
Meshlokk controls the day and night cycle of D25. When it is awake, Meshlokk’s bright and happy smile creates daytime. When Meshlokk is tired and goes to sleep, it creates nighttime. This enormous red being acts in a manner very similar to the sun of some other places.
Some claim that Meshlokk is a God who created Dimension 25 and all the native inhabitants within. Others say that it’s trapped here, unable to escape and cursed for eternity to simply observe the flea-like beings it is trapped alongside. The truth is anyone’s guess.
A City on a Rock
If the first thing you’ll notice about Dimension 25 is Meshlokk, surely the second thing you’ll notice is the impossibly massive city of Skanko, which is built atop a purple meteor that drifts through Dimension 25. Skanko is home to over 2d4 Billion souls at any given time, and its residents are colorful and unique.
Expressing just how big (and crowded) Skanko is would be beyond my ability to describe. Just imagine New York City in the 70’s, and then multiply the population by like six or seven, then throw in a handful of extra-Dimensional visitors and you’ll have a basic understanding of just how wild Skanko can get. The traffic moves at a crawl, the streets are bustling, and its citizens are...interesting.
Calendar
Dimension 25 follows the same rules for dates and times as our normal Dimension. Weeks are comprised of 7 days, and the days and months are named the same. What a coinkydink, am I right? If it matters to you, the current year is 1997.
Technology
It’s very important to remember the general inspiration for the city of Skanko, which are gritty and realistic movies featuring New York City in the 1970’s of our Dimension. So, the residents of Skanko still use pay phones, catch rides in big yellow taxis, and take the subway to work. Massive skyscrapers stretch out high into the heavens, and the streets crisscross like some insane maze.
While the basic technology of the time has a distinctly dated feel, the Mango Corporation has recently introduced a slew of cutting-edge technology to the people of Skanko. So, there is a noticeable clash of Technological flavors going on in this setting. It isn’t uncommon at all to see a fashionable youth strutting down the street yapping away on their sleek, thin Mangophone and walk right past someone hunched into a classic phone booth to make a call. More modern technology exists alongside nigh-ancient things like typewriters and record players and the like. It’s just the flavor of the game.
Dimensional Travel
As stated previously, there are countless Dimensions out there, and it is not that difficult to travel to some of them. Airports in Dimension 25 don’t fly to other physical places, but to other Dimensions entirely. You buy a ticket, hop onto a normal looking airplane, zip through the clouds, and fly directly into Meshlokk’s mouth, which acts as a portal to a handful of Dimensional destinations that are often times quite popular. Some of the more well-known Dimensions are listed below.
Dimension 25 is home, sweet home. This is where Meshlokk lives, and where the massive city of Skanko resides.
Dimension 77 is the infamous home Dimension of the nefarious Goblin Army that invaded Skanko during the Great Goblin War in 1967. Dimension 77 is a war-like hellscape filled with angry and green M-16-toting Goblin Commandos who are heck-bent on Interdimensional domination.
Dimension 1 is a lush and tropical paradise-place where the water is crystal clear and the silken sand warms your overworked and bare feet. As you might expect, Dimension 1 is a popular vacation destination...for those that can afford it.
While Dimensional travel is most certainly possible, it is also horrifically dangerous. Some Dimensions have a downright insane take on reality, and it is not very wise to go hopping into a Dimension where the laws of reality are a bit less...sane than the ones where you come from.
Also, Dimensional rifts and portals randomly appear at times, belching forth strange and interesting beings onto the streets of Skanko. Sometimes these beings are groovy and assimilate with the culture and customs of the land. Other times, things don’t go quite that smoothly...
The People
As you might expect, the citizens of Skanko are a diverse and wildly intriguing bunch. The vast majority of the residents of Skanko come from one of 5 native Species to Dimension 25. Gurfs, Pixens, Monochs, Unkzo and Slabfists are each born and raised in Dimension 25, and are by far the most common residents you’ll come across.
That being said, there are small communities of strange visitors from countless alternate Dimensions that also populate the city, so don’t be at all surprised to see Lizard-people, Martians, Elves, or androids going about their lives in the biggest city around. They surely won’t be surprised to see you.
The City
Skanko is split into 3 Districts, with each District further being broken up into various Neighborhoods. Neighborhood pride is a very real thing in Skanko, and where you were raised is an integral part of your personality and behavior. Many a fistfight has broken out because of one person badmouthing another’s home town, so be mindful. While listing every neighborhood in Skanko would take ages, some of the more notable Neighborhoods in each District are presented below.
Uptown
The swanky upper portion of Skanko is designated as Uptown, where the rich and cultured make their homes. Entertainment and decadence are the nature of the game Uptown, and only those with overflowing bank accounts could ever dream of settling down roots in the high-price soil of this haughty realm.
Silverlane: The entertainment capital of Skanko, Silverlane is flush with movie studios, red carpet premieres, and high-end parties. The legendary Dusk Club is located in this lofty Neighborhood. In this decadent place, hopeful actors and actresses risk it all to mingle with the Silverlane elite in hopes of becoming a legend of the stage and screen. Very, very few are successful...
Blingmont: Dotted with casinos and gambling parlors, Blingmont is where fortunes are won and loss at the turn of a card or spin of a wheel. Famed for its bright lights and romantic reputation as a place where anything can happen (though the odds are against it), this neighborhood is blighted by a seedy criminal underbelly of clashing Mob families all vying for control over the endless stack of chips that pour in from the suckers—I mean, gamblers who flock to this risky destination.
Trilloway Court: The financial epicenter of Skanko is without question this high-stress, business-obsessed Neighborhood that countless corporations call home. Big business is the order of the day in Trilloway, and the place is stuffed with Bankers and Businessmen just waiting to cash in on their latest high-risk schemes. Trilloway Court is home to the legendary Mango Corporation Headquarters, among others.
Midtown
The Center of the City is the Administrative heart of Skanko, and houses the BSF Headquarters, among other famous cultural landmarks that define the City. Midtown Skanko is where the common man punches his clock day in and day out, and this feisty part of the City is the lifeblood of Dimension 25.
Dervil Square: Located in the dead center of town, Dervil Square houses the both the Skanko PD and BSF Headquarters, and is quite possibly the safest place to live in the entire city because of it. Besides housing a number of Administrative buildings, Dervil Square is home to Skanko Stadium, where the Skanko Sluggers baseball team plays to a packed house, taking on any and all Interdimensional Baseball teams within the hallowed walls of this legendary Stadium.
Mottsburg: Factories and Warehouses make up the majority of Skanko’s main hub of industry, with countless factories belching noxious smog into the air. If it was put together in Skanko, chances are good that it was made in Mottsburg. Junkyards and scrap heaps dot the landscape as well, and it isn’t uncommon for defective, refurbished machinery to run amok throughout this gritty Neighborhood.
Fizz Park: Sprawling green lawns, playgrounds, and patches of wilderness constitute the (generally) serene Neighborhood of Fizz Park. More rustic than most of the cluttered city, the Park is home to strange wildlife and houses those residents who feel more home near nature than the asphalt maze that is the rest of the city. People from Fizz Park are seen as a bit backwards and simple by most folks in Skanko. Fizz park also has a bit of a Werewolf problem, mind you.
Downtown
The desperate and violent Downtown area of Skanko swells with the unfortunate, destitute souls that yearn for a better life and the brutal criminals that prey upon them. As you might expect, Downtown Skanko neighborhoods often resemble urban warzones and economic nightmares that the wise are keen to avoid. The fall of Downtown Skanko is directly linked to the Great Goblin War, which the majority of was fought in this beleaguered place. The scars of the invasion have yet to heal, and have left Downtown Skanko in serious financial ruin.
Dubley: Home to popular Gurf Gangsta rapper Big Mealz, the neighborhood of Dubley has been torn apart in a relentless gang war that sees countless bands of violent thugs battling it out for supremacy over the streets. Currently, a band of gay Demonic delinquents from Dimension 666 known as Los Bonitos Diablos have entered a bloody turf war with a Zombie Biker Gang known as The Sons of Necromancy. Fatalities are on the rise in Dubley, and the body count doesn’t seem to be evening out any time soon. Dubley is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Skanko, and is filled with liquor stores, junkyards, and all the telltale signs of a place where hope is scarce and reloads common.
Marpepper: Spirited and determined, the people of Marpepper pride themselves on being self-reliant and stalwart. Marpepper was where the forces of Skanko rallied to stem the tide of the Goblin invasion during the war, and residents of Marpepper have no problems reminding you of that fact. Seen as a bit stubborn and standoffish by most, your average resident of Marpepper is fiercely proud of their home. While Marpepper is the safest neighborhood in all of Downtown, it is still a place where knuckle sandwiches are always on the menu should you say the wrong thing.
Triple Neck: Once a promising neighborhood, Triple Neck was shattered when the Goblin Army poured through a portal and began its frenzied assault. Goblin tanks rolled uncontested through the streets until a resistance could be formed, leading to the Great Goblin War. Triple Neck was occupied by the Goblin forces, and the final battle that ousted them back to their home Dimension shattered the neighborhood ever since. A very literal warzone, Triple Neck still smolders from the cataclysmic events of the war, with the vast majority of the Neighborhood being abandoned, and only the truly desperate being left behind to somehow scrabble together some form of life.
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