Nothing's Like Before
Tarkváros
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To codify the capital city of Vengler
- Image Credit: N/A
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: N/A
- City Name: Tarkváros
- Classification: Metropolis
- Location: Vengler
- Affiliation: The Commonwealth | Imperial Commonwealth of Dosuun
- Population: Crowded
- Demographics:
- Age:
- 17% 0 - 15
- 60% 16 - 64
- 19% 65 - 100
- 4% 100+
- Gender:
- 44% Female
- 40% Male
- 16% Non-Binary
- Species:
- 52% Human
- 15% Chiss
- 10% Echani
- 7% Zelosian
- 5% Epicanthix
- 5% Pantoran
- 3% Keshiri
- 3% Other
- Age:
- Wealth: High - Tarkváros is a wealthy city by Commonwealth standards, driven by its immense industrial output, strategic trade position, and cultural exports. Its foundries and manufactories supply vital technology to the military and civilian sectors, while its markets and cultural centers attract galactic visitors and investors alike. Though the wealth is most visible in elite zones like Zefír Promenade and Király Lane, even working-class neighborhoods benefit from extensive public infrastructure and social programs.
- Stability: High - Tarkváros is among the most stable cities in the Commonwealth thanks to a deeply rooted bureaucratic tradition, robust military oversight via the Tarkhan Citadel, and a cultural respect for order and civic duty. Dissent exists but tends to manifest in formalized debate or intellectual circles rather than rebellion. Outsiders are generally safe, especially in public areas, though access to certain zones may require clearance or sponsorship due to the city's strategic importance. The Watchspire Bastions maintain security both on the ground and in orbit.
- Freedom & Oppression: Structured, with strong civic freedoms within an industrial-bureaucratic order. Tarkváros operates under a highly structured governance model: civic freedoms are respected and artistic/intellectual expression is encouraged, particularly in coffeehouses, guild halls, and academic institutions. However, industrial regulation and surveillance are strong, especially in zones tied to military and technological assets. While the average citizen enjoys rights and upward mobility, activities that threaten industrial productivity or security are closely monitored. Unusual beliefs or fringe tech use isn’t illegal—but it's often scrutinized. There’s little fear of arbitrary enforcement, but there is a cultural expectation of loyalty and contribution to the collective good.
- Description: At a glance, Tarkváros is a city of spires and steam, where marble citadels rise beside humming railways and glowing mosaics. It looks like a place caught between epochs—where artisans hammer brass into beauty next to drone-guided freight carriers and holographic symphony halls. The city’s air carries the scent of roasted caf and engine oil, its skyline pierced by industrial silhouettes and opulent towers. Both elegant and efficient, Tarkváros is a fortress of progress—a bastion of order, invention, and cultural pride at the heart of Vengler’s transformation.
The Dózaváros Core: D.C.
- The Forge District: The pulse of Vengler's industrial might. Massive manufactories churn out starship components, cybernetic assemblies, and grav-train engines. Noise, heat, and light are tightly regulated via refined eco-ventilation towers with latticework intakes and chimneys designed to resemble cathedral spires.
- Miner's Gate: Gateway for mineral and raw material intake from the Venglerian hinterlands. Trains and freight haulers converge here in a ceaseless flow of supply, monitored by AI-controlled loading docks and customs droids.
- The Great Foundries: Linked complexes that fuse industry and science. Within, everything from military hardware to civilian prosthetics is crafted with precision and pride.
- Velasztát Rail Nexus: Central terminal for Tarkváros’s maglev freight and passenger lines. Features towering neoclassical facades and kyber-powered clockwork systems. Serves as the main logistical artery for the city and beyond.
- Steelwake Yards: Vast repair and assembly grounds for war machines, droids, and transport vehicles. Includes restricted-access zones for classified Commonwealth military engineering projects.
- The Anvil Ring: A wide central plaza surrounded by machine shops, gear suppliers, and open-air repair stalls. Popular with independent mechanics, off-duty engineers, and parts traders. Public sculpture centerpiece: "The First Hammer" — a towering kinetic statue that rings once per cycle.
- The Cinderpan: Working-class sandwich stop. Known for hot smoked-kyber ham sandwiches and fermented kraut wraps.
- The Grub Clutch: A 24/7 food stall under a rail overpass, popular for grease-fried lentil cakes, spiced energy caf, and mineral water pulled straight from the district's filtration towers.
- Sawtooth Tap & Tool: Pub carved out of a decommissioned smelter, with drinks served in old gear-cups and machinery repurposed into bar tables. Every drink comes with a welding story.
- The Oiler’s Respite: A quieter cooling lounge near the Steelwake Yards. Synthwave music, cooling vents, and medicinal steam soaks for exhausted limbs.
- The Ironroot Conservatory: An experimental fusion greenhouse and rest area for workers — part breakroom, part air-purifier, part meditation garden with trickling ferro-ponds and moss-covered steel benches.
- The Rattlecrank Exchange: Where workers trade parts, tools, and custom mods. Run by an old guild family whose motto is "Nothing Wasted, Everything Recast."
- Weld & Weave Co-op: Union-run shop offering re-spun fabrics, flame-retardant gear, and upcycled worker coats lined with old synth-silk from Zefír Promenade rejects.
- The Bolt Bazaar: Every seventh cycle, the square near Miner’s Gate transforms into an open market for refurbished droid parts, grav-hauler pieces, mech servos, and black-market artisan mods.
- The Smeltline Rows: Compact housing blocks with modular architecture and shared rooftop canteens.
- Redshift Courtyards: Enclosed social spaces between factories — include shade, filtered air misting, and low-cost food vendors.
- Vaporfold Saunas: Communal steamrooms fed by geothermal runoff, where workers talk politics, labor rights, and mechball scores.
- Alabárd Plaza: A mixed-use plaza of artisanship and modernity. Merchant guilds, cafés, public holography installations, and exhibition courts blend into a humming ecosystem of culture and commerce.
- Coffee Houses of Király Lane: Candlelight and glowing tilework illuminate these hubs of society where deals are struck over spiced caf and abstract philosophy. Each café bears a distinct motif—some with embroidered velvet, others with kinetic art murals.
- The Masquerade Row: A historical street of theaters, salons, and speakeasies. Known for ornate murals, avant-garde performers, and political subtext.
- Civic Forum of Echoes: A large open-air amphitheater and debate forum. Holographic projectors recreate legendary debates from Vengler's intellectual past.
- Tarkhan Cultural Hall: The soul of Vengler’s performing arts. Safavid-influenced arches and domework frame massive performance chambers where holographic operas and kinetic ballet are performed under shimmering crystal light.
- Restaurants of Királyudvar Heights:
- Szerelem & Steam
- Cuisine: Nouveau Vengleri
- Atmosphere: Romantic-industrial. Brass piping, soft amber lighting, velvet booths, and a view over the Zefír Promenade.
- Notable For:
- Smoke-cured venison
- Pomegranate-glazed nerf with saffron
- Musicians playing clockwork violins
- Popular With: Politicians, artists, and couples celebrating state honors or engagements.
- Aesthetica by Chef Lyra Domm
- Cuisine: Upscale Safavid revival with off-world delicacies
- Atmosphere: Floating platforms in a starlit atrium, crystal-draped lattice walls, and aromatic smoke drifting over jeweled platters.
- Notable For:
- Chimeric flamefruit sorbet
- Spiced dráak lamb with luminous mint glaze
- Skyberry and date blossom wine pairings
- Popular With: Art curators, off-world dignitaries, and avant-garde designers.
- The Gilded Anvil
- Cuisine: Reinvented worker’s fare with a luxury twist
- Atmosphere: A bold industrial-steampunk tavern aesthetic with polished stone floors, riveted beams, and massive chandeliers.
- Notable For:
- Hearth-roasted rootflour flatbreads with melted Balaton cheese
- Smoked beef stroganoff
- Bartenders reciting historical toasts in between courses
- Popular With: Inventors, engineers-turned-entrepreneurs, and Commonwealth officers on leave.
- Amaranth & Alloy
- Cuisine: Vegetarian and botanical-forward
- Atmosphere: Floor-to-ceiling bioglass walls showing curated garden terraces, glowing tables set with living crystalware.
- Notable For:
- Hydroponic tempura flowers with floral foam
- Vengler barley-and-greens tart with solar reduction glaze
- Pheromonal teas and ethereal wines
- Popular With: Think-tank scholars, eco-lobbyists, and high society youth making a statement.
- Trón & Table
- Cuisine: Traditional Vengleri noble cuisine with aristocratic presentation
- Atmosphere: Gold-framed portraits, dark wood panels, waitstaff in formal military dress, candlelit with softly glowing safavid lanterns.
- Notable For:
- Imperial pheasant
- White truffle dumplings in bone broth
- Bloodfruit cordial served in gemstone goblets
- Popular With: Retired admirals, nobility, and legacy families holding court.
- Szerelem & Steam
- Tarkhan Citadel: Command and governance converge here. A durable marvel of marble and durasteel, its council halls and war rooms are adorned with stained-glass kyber-light windows, casting tactical maps and diplomatic parchments in living color.
- Watchspire Bastions: Colossal towers dot the perimeter with magcoil artillery, high-frequency scanners, and orbital threat deterrents. These bastions form a defense net unmatched on Vengler.
- Hall of Honors: A solemn space commemorating Vengler’s greatest minds, soldiers, and engineers. Contains holographic archives, statues, and ceremonial halls for state functions.
- Triumvirate Courthouse: High-security judicial complex where Commonwealth and planetary law is upheld. Known for its architectural grandeur and precise legal proceedings, reinforced by AI-assisted arbitration systems.
- Fort Tarkhan Academy: Elite officer training institution, combining military drills, tactical simulation domes, and philosophical education modeled after Safavid scholarly traditions and Hungarian military schools.
- Fort Maróthy: Primary Commonwealth Army command and garrison on Vengler. Hosts combined arms regiments trained for mountain warfare, siege defense, and cold-weather combat. Includes a multi-layered training yard, weapons testing grounds, and a war-room complex with strategic simulations. Headquarters of the Vengler Ground Forces Command.
- Motto: “We Endure. We Hold.”
- Named for: A legendary Vengleri general who held the high passes during the War of Shattered Wards.
- Camp Harkan: Forward operating base for Marine Commando units, built into a sheer cliff face with retractable landing pads and subterranean tunnels. Houses rapid-deployment squadrons, stealth recon teams, and orbital insertion crews. Training includes close-quarters combat, breach tactics, and exo-surface drop maneuvers. Known for its brutal 'Harkan Gauntlet' trials — a rite of passage for Commando hopefuls.
- Motto: “Strike Before the Sky Falls.”
- Nickname: “The Cliff-Knives”
- Skywatch Spire: Towering airbase and orbital coordination center for the Commonwealth Starfighter Corps. Manages patrols over Vengler airspace and flight lanes into Tarkváros. Connected via undercity maglev to NullDome V34, where combat sims are held under harsh gravity-fluctuation scenarios. Includes a launch vault system with vertical grav-shafts allowing rapid deployment.
- Motto: “No Sky Unwatched.”
- Iconography: A pair of wings flanking a planetary horizon.
- Várúr Bastion: Oldest fortress in Tarkhanhold, now the ceremonial and operational HQ of the Vengleri Planetary Guard. Staffed by native-born officers loyal to both planetary tradition and the Commonwealth Charter. Protects vital infrastructure and serves as reserve reinforcement in city-wide emergencies. Guard regiments wear stylized armor combining old Vengleri design with modern plating.
- Motto: “By Blood, By Stone.”
- Notable Regiment: The Red Mantles — elite honor guard unit that patrols state events and the Unity Spire.
- The Tri-Crux Node: A subterranean tri-branch intelligence and coordination hub jointly operated by Army, Marine, and Starfighter command. Designed to interface directly with the Commonwealth FleetNet, planetary defense systems, and satellite arrays. Also rumored to house black ops coordination and Commonwealth Intelligence liaisons.
- Security Level: Tier Sigma-Class
- Nickname: “The Crucible”
- Zefír Promenade: Riverside luxury and artistic flare. Floating gardens, open-air theaters, and terraced housing crafted from synth-marble and crystaglass make this the playground of Vengler's elite.
- The Sky Market: A layered nexus of trade, suspended via grav-lift scaffolds and hypercarbon bridges. Here, rare goods, alchemical reagents, and heirloom crafts are bought and sold alongside off-world delicacies.
- The Unity Spire: The tallest tower on Vengler. A national icon, the Spire houses diplomatic suites, observatories, and a rotating gallery of historical artifacts. Its apex beam projects the Vengler sigil skyward each night.
- Highspire Heights: Luxury residential towers and embassies. Home to off-world diplomats, CEOs, and nobles. Features strict zoning codes, private sky-lifts, and shielded courtyards.
- Kyberglass Walk: Upscale boutique lane with fashion houses, jewelry shops, and fusion cuisine restaurants from across the galaxy. Known for its glowing pavement tiles and musical fountains.
- Aetherys University Ward: Home to the Commonwealth’s premier university on Vengler.
- The Kyber Institute of Applied Sciences (focus on energy research)
- The Ameline Conservatory (performing arts, sponsored by the Tarkhan Cultural Hall)
- Commonwealth Naval Engineering College (associated with the Foundries)
- Velari Think-Tank Complex: Independent research labs and policy councils. Known for its public forums on ethics, AI, innovation, and culture.
- Archivum Megális: A digital and physical archive repository of Commonwealth history and science, housed within a crystalglass domed library complex.
- Tarkváros Institute of Mechanized Sciences, Technical College / Applied Engineering. Nickname: “The Gritschool” or “TIMS-Gearbox”
- Industrial design, starship mechanics, robotics, and materials engineering.
- Grav-ball scholarship program
- Underground AI ethics societies
- Mechanoid dueling exhibitions
- Velari Academy of Biosciences & Regenerative Medicine (VABRM), Elite Medical and Biotech University. Nickname: “Velari Med” or “The Spiral Tower” (from its iconic central library)
- Dual enrollment with Vengler General Medical Bastion
- Cybernetic integration, genetherapy, planetary biology, and biotech ethics.
- Cultivation of organic-healing kyber
- Hosting the Commonwealth Medical Symposium
- The Blue Furnace: Industrial-chic student haunt; named after the foundry glow from across the skyline. Known for black caf, hard rolls, and thesis-length conversations. Walls are layered with graffiti, research equations, and past student manifestos.
- Cafe Felsőég (“Upper Sky”): A sleek, glass-walled rooftop caf near the Kyber Institute. Popular for stargazing, soft instrumental music, and slow-drip spiced brews. Academic elites and think tank fellows favor it for quiet, cerebral conversation.
- The Varia Grind: A colorful, boho-style café known for creative drinks and live readings. A friendly, anarcho-socialist zines always stocked. Art student showcase wall updated weekly.
- The Null-Slot: Underground bar near TIMS where engineers blow off steam with Null-Hockey recaps and synth-ale. Home of the city’s largest wall-mounted parts exchange. Popular with tinkers, hackers, and anti-corporate crews.
- Bastion Beat: A towering industrial-chic dance club housed in a repurposed defense substation. Safavid-inspired lighting, spinning kyber-lens projectors, and bass harmonics tuned to architecture. Three stories, each themed: military-industrial, cosmic gothic, and baroque synthwave.
- Kémcső (“Test Tube”): A glowing, biotech-themed cocktail bar founded by med students. Beverages are served in labware, and drinks glow under UV.Professors show up more often than you’d think.
- The Quantum Pint: Oldest bar in the district, frequented by grad students and teaching assistants. Famous for its “Tenure Shot” — only available if you pass a 5-question oral exam at the bar.
- Vengler General Medical Bastion: A massive hospital and trauma center, built with the efficiency of an industrial complex but the elegance of a Safavid palace. Offers cybernetic limb reconstruction and Force-neutral healing therapies.
- Sanctum Vitae Clinic: A luxury private medical facility frequented by dignitaries and corporate elites.
- Bio-Mechanica Research Grounds: Hybrid lab facilities focusing on the interface between machine and biology, with Commonwealth military oversight. Known to collaborate closely with the Great Foundries.
- Életek Pavilion: A Long-Term Care & Post-Trauma Rehabilitation facility. It is a serene space with rooftop gardens, chromatic therapy wings, and exo-recovery pods. Houses the Wounded Veterans’ Memorial Ward, jointly run with Fort Maróthy and Camp Harkan. Offers spiritual and mental health services across belief systems, including secular meditative practices.
- Harmony Women’s & Children’s Hospital: Focused on Maternity, neonatal, adolescent care, and reproductive wellness. Geometric patterns with soft gold and white interiors, and floating crystal chandeliers. Hosts family resource centers and Commonwealth-subsidized childcare for working parents.
- St. Ravenna Trauma Center: Focuses on Emergency medicine and burns, A high-intensity unit, staffed by the Commonwealth Medical Services. Grav-stabilized operating theaters and medevac landing platforms.
- overseeing healthcare compliance, supply chains, policy research, and field logistics for the Vengler Sector. A sleek duraglass tower with biometric security and a rotunda filled with relief carvings of galactic healers throughout history. Coordinates relief missions and epidemic responses across nearby systems.
- Kyberos Institute of Regenerative Medicine: The heart of medical research in the Enclave. Specializes in cybernetic nerve integration, genetic repair therapies, and neural regeneration.
- Faculty drawn from Velari Academy and the wider Commonwealth scientific elite. Under heavy ethical oversight due to rumors of experimental nanotherapy and preemptive disease-editing projects.
- Nightbloom Commons: Mid-rise apartments for medical staff, rotating residents, and students from Velari Med. Modular, clean-energy units with small gardens, communal kitchens, and restorative pools. Lit with soft crystal sconces to reduce sensory fatigue after long shifts.
- Bastion Walk Residences: Upscale, executive housing for researchers, physicians, and CMS administrators. Neoclassical architecture with biofiltration systems and private rooftop observatories.
- Darvaz Dömpling Haus: Hand-rolled dumplings filled with saffron beef, rosewater sour cream, and spiced lentils. Also offers flatbread kebabs and paprika-stewed lamb biryani bowls.
- Eisen-Saffar: Specialties include bratwurst with sumac glaze, honey-sesame spätzle, and saffron kraut dogs. Beer hall atmosphere with clinical cleanliness and soft wood panels.
- Seoularian Sip Station: Seoularian street food (spice-heavy, colorful, savory-sweet). Soy-glazed rice balls, sour chili noodles with cloud egg, and fermented citrus sodas. Futuristic minimalist café with communal seating and interactive tabletop menus.
- The Lion’s Broth: Signature dishes include roast root stew with mint-lamb skewers, fried halloumi-stuffed pies, and herbal mead served cold. Feels like a knight’s tavern inside a sterile modern cube — stained-glass LED art and medical-themed riddles on the menu.
- The Bell of Quiet Mercy: A multi-faith chapel and reflection space, open to all creeds or none. Located near the St. Ravenna Trauma Center, it serves families, staff, and patients alike. Interior includes small alcoves for meditation, holographic calligraphy from various spiritual traditions, and a central bell forged from melted-down surgical metal — rung once daily at sunset.
- The Palebloom Institute of Mind-Body Balance: A research and treatment facility focused on neuro-energetics, trauma-informed care, and emotional regulation. Offers therapy animals, AI-guided dream integration, and cultural grief practices. Students from Aetherys University and Velari Med intern here, blending psychology, spirituality, and biochemistry.
- Solarweave Canopy Fields: Testbed for solar collection and atmospheric filtration tech, often hosting research tours and trade expos.
- Verdant Stacks: Multi-level hydroponic farms stacked alongside public greenways and vertical parks.
- The Harmonic Engine: A prototype zero-emission power core providing clean energy to the surrounding district. Designed with ceremonial beauty and industrial precision.
- The Canopy Labs Cooperative: Shared eco-tech research campus built beneath solar-filtering tree-like structures. Tenants include green material startups, atmospheric engineers, bio-design students, and climate policy think tanks. Reclaimed wood interiors and desk clusters arranged around open-root living walls.
- Atmosync Collective: Independent incubator focused on air quality, microclimate regulation, and breathable habitat technologies for deep space colonies and harsh worlds. Part greenhouse, part machine shop, part philosophy lab. Known for weekly public forums on ethics of terraforming and industrial footprint.
- Vízkarc Rink: A solar-cooled ice skating rink beneath a geodesic dome laced with stained kyberglass. Ice patterns shift color with motion, mimicking wind and water flow. Offers daytime skating lessons and nighttime “glide concerts” with minimalist DJs and holographic auroras.
- Greenputt Grove: A mini-golf and putting sanctuary built on modular floating greens amid shallow bioswales. Courses themed around endangered ecosystems and local flora, with biodegradable scoring tokens and slow-release seed prizes. Family-friendly but popular with local researchers competing in casual league nights.
- The Terrapad Commons: Mixed-use residential and co-working complex, with a courtyard built around a permaculture dome. Rentable pods for researchers, artists, or remote workers rotating through Zöldhíd. Includes open kitchen cafes, public bath terraces, bike-share hubs, and green-screen work booths.
- Szélcsend Hookah Conservatory: Open-air hookah lounge surrounded by slow-rustling bamboo analogs and water-channel seating. Offers herbal inhalants, Dosuunian-rooted blends, Seoularian spice-pipe fusions, and decaf vapor clouds. Hookahs feature crystal breath meters showing toxin-filter efficiency in real time.
- The Verdant Ember: Cozy nighttime spot with botanical cocktails, spiced smoke infusions, and bioluminescent plant décor. Each table has a miniature terrarium with local moss species. DJs spin ambient, electroswing, or Commonwealth folk fusion depending on the crowd.
- The Iron Colosseum: The Commonwealth-standard stadium for Limmie and Chin-Bret. Holds 120,000 spectators, complete with team halls, memorial galleries, and a holographic replay ring suspended above the pitch. [Home to the Tarkváros LC, and Vasfarkas LC, Halberdiers the Chin-Bret team]
- The Gauntlet Grounds: Home of Get’Shuk 7s and Commonwealth martial demonstrations. Open-topped, weather-adaptive arena with reinforced duracrete floors and seating for 60,000. Features magnetic pulse barriers to enhance high-impact gameplay. Often used for civic parades and military sports tournaments. [Home to the Tarkváros Ironbound]
- NullDome V34: High-tech Null-Hockey stadium cooled by subterranean geothermal vents. The ice rink can shift into a multi-surface sports court with kinetic stabilization for Grav-Ball matches. Known for its nighttime laser shows and glow-kyber rink boards. Equipped with grav-suspended box seating and panoramic digital walls for immersion. [Home to the Tarkváros Frostline, and the Tarkváros Ascendants]
- The Voxhall Arena: Indoor concert and performance venue built into a hillside, shaped like a carved megaphone with perfect acoustics. Hosts classical orchestras, pop concerts, galas, and off-world musical acts. Floating sound crystals enhance audio fidelity in every seat; interior decorated with Deco, meets, Safavid flair.
- The Starpetal Amphitheatre: Outdoor concert space and performance stage, carved into a canyon wall and surrounded by water-fed thermal gardens. Popular for opera, folk festivals, firelight galas, and Commonwealth patriotic celebrations. Accommodates up to 50,000 in open tiers with kyber-embedded seats that pulse softly to music.
- The Rákóczi Circuit: A grand, dual-purpose racing track and arena used for everything from speeder races to beast-drawn chariot exhibitions. Made with modern industrial aesthetics with elevated viewing galleries, holoflags, and dual pit systems. Home to the famous Vengler Iron Derby, a multi-species racing festival that draws spectators from across the Commonwealth.
- Intermodal Rail Nexus: Massive maglev terminal serving both passenger and freight traffic. Direct lines to Dózaváros, Zöldhíd, Tarkhanhold, and the Sky Market via subterranean and elevated routes.
- Includes shuttle lifts and off-world travel docking for orbital exchanges.
- Industrial Spine: Contains Tarkváros’s central manufacturing nodes: precision machinery, mechanoid assembly lines, modular vehicle frames, and grav-train parts. Overseen by a city guild known as the Velasztát Syndicate, composed of logistics managers, engineers, and trade union leaders.
- The Coilhall: An enormous vaulted concourse lined with administrative offices, scheduling guilds, automated cargo management systems, and trade adjudicators. Iconic for its rotating kyber clocktower, which syncs planetary time with off-world arrivals.
- The Central AI Conductor: Housed in a secure chamber beneath the station, the AI “Konduktor-0” manages routing, scheduling, and safety protocols for all freight and civilian lines. Rumors say the AI is partially sentient and was once an experimental Commonwealth battlefield logistics unit.
- Rail Cathedral: A dramatic, Gothic-Industrial structure anchoring the terminal, filled with stained durasteel arches, maintenance altars, and glowing power conduits. Houses civic ceremonies during major festivals and military parades; doubles as an emergency shelter during planetary crises.
SECURITY
High - While Tarkváros is foremost an industrial and cultural powerhouse, its deep military roots and elevated strategic importance have shaped a city-wide ethos of structured security without overt suppression. Drawing from Commonwealth innovation, the city boasts a highly integrated security framework — protecting its people, its foundries, and its legacy.
- Perimeter Defenses
- Sentinel Spires (Sensor Arrays): Distributed atop the city’s Watchspire Bastions and key ridgelines, these sensor clusters include thermal, seismic, motion, and low-orbit tracking systems. Linked to the Tri-Crux Node beneath Tarkhanhold, they offer real-time threat detection and orbital telemetry data, with protocols escalating from passive observation to active interdiction.
- Gateward Garrisons (Guard Posts): Manned security posts stand at all maglev entry terminals, freight hubs, and critical infrastructure bridges. Staffed by Commonwealth Military Police, Planetary Guard auxiliaries, and Dosuunian Security Droids, these posts assess, log, and monitor movement into the city’s industrial, academic, and civic centers.
- Automated Turret Arrays: Concealed within statuary and architectural motifs, non-lethal defense turrets are embedded across Dózaváros and Tarkhanhold. These systems deploy stun pulses, cryofoam, or electromagnetic disruption bursts, designed to incapacitate without causing permanent harm or property damage.
- Modular Defense Barriers: Retractable barricade systems are integrated into roadways and plaza thresholds throughout the city, particularly near the Sky Market, Alabárd Plaza, and key fortress routes. These can be activated during lockdowns, state funerals, or high-alert conditions without halting civilian transit entirely.
- Internal Security Operations
- Citywide Surveillance Matrix: The VigilNet system utilizes a blend of visible and passive surveillance, including holo-cams, audio triangulation arrays, facial recognition (tiered by security clearance), and anti-tamper AI nodes. Operated from the Tri-Crux Node, this network is carefully regulated by the Commonwealth Civil Liberties Tribunal to ensure due process and prevent abuse.
- Rapid Response Teams (RRTs): Lightly armored, highly trained teams composed of mixed units from Planetary Guard, Marines on rotation, and Civic Emergency Corps. They specialize in rapid neutralization of threats, riot suppression, hazardous material containment, and first response to disasters within the industrial sectors or Sky Market.
- CyberDefense & InfoSec Division: Housed beneath The Harmonic Engine, this specialized team protects vital city systems, financial grids, medical records, and the FleetNet uplinks to Commonwealth command. Their protocols include firewall shielding, quantum encryption, and neuro-feedback systems for intrusion response.
- Security Forces & Urban Assets
- Tarkváros City Constabulary (TCC): The city's own law enforcement corps, distinct from Commonwealth military units. Equipped with stun batons, crowd-dispersal foam, and grav-lock restraints, they focus on maintaining civic order, handling civil disputes, and interfacing with academic protests or labor strikes peacefully.
- Dosuunian Security Droids: These bipedal enforcement units are programmed for de-escalation, equipped with shock prods, restraint nets, audio-hailers, and environmental scanners. Deployed in high-traffic zones and government buildings.
- ComNet Disruption Jammers: Mobile or rooftop-mounted jamming towers are deployed during high-risk events (terror alerts, large-scale demonstrations, off-world diplomatic summits). Designed to block unauthorized comms, slicing attempts, or drone coordination.
- Emergency Response Vehicles: Tactical vehicles equipped for medical emergencies, structural fires, toxic spills, and bio-threat containment. Units are outfitted with mobile medbays, magclamp stretchers, drone AEDs, and cryo-shielding domes for rapid triage.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Tarkváros was not simply built — it was forged.
Founded in the early decades of the Post-War Reconstruction Era, Tarkváros emerged from the fragmented territories of the Vengleri Highlands, once divided by industrial warlords and scattered principalities in the aftermath of regional collapse. The city was conceived during the Great Stabilization Campaign launched by planetary unification councils, but it was the arrival of Commonwealth architects and economists that transformed Tarkváros from a defensive redoubt into a planetary powerhouse.
Originally a series of military supply hubs and quarry towns along the mineral-rich ridgelines, the area now known as the Dózaváros Core became the epicenter of Vengler’s industrial resurgence. The city was officially declared a fortress-capital in 901 ABY, two years after Vengler's integration into the Dosuunian Commonwealth of Nations during the Third Expansion Wave. That same year, the Commonwealth’s Ministry of Infrastructure approved the construction of the Velasztát Rail Nexus, tying Vengler into the Home and Aetos sector routes. This marked the beginning of Tarkváros’s meteoric rise.
The city’s civic and cultural philosophy was shaped by several key figures:
High Prefect Márton Illés, a former metallurgist turned civic planner, envisioned an industrial city laced with elegance and green corridors.
Minister Sariah Krayt, one of the Commonwealth’s cultural envoys, who introduced a deliberate architectural synthesis of Safavid ornamentalism, Hungarian revivalism, and Neo-Germanic civic formality, aiming to reflect both local pride and interstellar solidarity.
Commander László Báthory, who oversaw the construction of the Tarkhan Citadel and helped design the layered defense systems that still shield the capital today.
Tarkváros quickly became known not just as a manufacturing and military asset, but as a model city for the Pax Imperialis Standard of Living, with clean energy integration, expanded medical infrastructure, and fully funded academic institutions.
Following the declaration of the Imperial Commonwealth of Dosuun in 904 ABY, Tarkváros reaffirmed its loyalty to the new government, and today functions as one of the Kaldwin Sector’s primary industrial, military, and cultural centers.
Its Sky Market welcomes merchants from the Inner Rim to the Unknown Regions. Its Zöldhíd Ward hosts Commonwealth innovation expos and renewable energy demonstrations. And from the Tarkhanhold’s walls, the banners of a united Vengler still fly — not just as a symbol of planetary pride, but as a signal to the galaxy: “Tarkváros stands. And with it, the future is forged.”
