Nomadic city

“	A new urban system developed to cope with Catastrophes. Usually it only takes 2-8 weeks to completely evacuate from a Catastrophe area.	”
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Nomadic cities, sometimes also known as mobile cities, are a type of settlement in the world of Arknights.

Description

A city built on a giant vehicle. The frequent and destructive Catastrophes have forced all nations to move their cities regularly to avert massive losses. The birth of the Originium engine made it possible to industrialize Originium, and that was when people started to build larger and larger vehicles. The concept of nomadic cities was realized after vehicles became large enough to move entire cities. With the help of the Multimethod Catastrophe Prediction system, it only takes 2-8 weeks to completely evacuate from the Catastrophe area depending on the situation.

Overview

A band of migrating nomadic cities

The concept of a nomadic city is very straightforward: an entire city that can be moved as if it is a colossal vehicle. Nomadic cities are used by the Terrans to lessen the impact of, if not avoid entirely, the destruction caused by Catastrophes. The nomadic city is perhaps a key example of selective evolution within the setting of Arknights, as few sedentary settlements remain. The reason is clear: using Catastrophe prediction systems, a more-or-less accurate estimate of when a Catastrophe would occur allows nomadic cities to relocate to safe areaa in time, whereas only the inhabitants of an immobile settlement can be evacuated. This is best exemplified with the eruption of the Siesta volcano, which forced the city to be rebuilt as a nomadic city. Conversely, the Catastrophe that affected Chernobog is a perfect example of what would occur should a nomadic city fail to evacuate in time.

It can also be inferred that nomadic cities exacerbate economic disparities, since those living in static settlements are constant risk of losing everything they possess due to a Catastrophe. This explains why many sought refuge in the slums of Lungmen after the fall of Chernobog, as opposed to rebuilding sedentary settlements: the least fortunate in nomadic cities are still more fortunate than those at the mercy of Catastrophes. This further strengthens nomadic cities and weakens sedentary settlements at the same time.

Furthermore, nomadic cities utilize Originium reactors to both power their engines and provide electricity to the city itself. On one hand, the power of Originium provides the enormous energy needed to power these tons of metal giants. On the other, the over-reliance on Originium has spread Oripathy throughout Terra, especially affecting the poor and disenfranchised. As a matter of fact, many Infected live within the cities' slums or in underground structures, and there is frequently a vast class divide between the Infected and non-Infected.

A sketch of the control tower from an Ursine Nomadic City, published in the Ursus Construction News magazine in 1092

The existence of nomadic cities and sedentary settlements also differs from nation to nation and region to region due to cultural, economic, and geographic reasons. Due to economic inequality between cities and villages, Kazimierz seems to consist of fewer nomadic cities than most other nations. Kjerag has no plans to build a nomadic city thanks to its mountainous topography, which protects the nation from Catastrophes; on the other hand, Yan has managed to build nomadic cities along valleys or even migrate entire mountains onto mobile platforms. Despite Sargon's frequent Catastrophes, most prefer to stay in sedentary settlements. During its Golden Age, Iberia relied on oceanic nomadic cities which lined its southern coastline.

The nomadic city poses an intriguing question, as it is in complete defiance of the square-cube law, which dictates that the volume of an object inflates exponentially proportional to its increase in surface. Most real-world cities require a lot of planning to prevent them from sinking into the earth from their sheer weight, and those are static. Just how nomadic cities manage to remain above ground while seemingly unaffected by Terra's gravity, and nonetheless be capable of moving with several billion or even trillion tons of structures upon them remains unexplained. It can be inferred that the Originium reactors that power nomadic cities also provide some form of anti-gravity mechanism to counteract their colossal weight, as Originium is stated to have properties affecting the laws of physics.

Notable

• Chernobog (Ursus, abandoned)
• Lungmen (Yan, mostly autonomous)
• Wolumonde (Leithanien, absorbed into other nomadic cities)
• Kawalerielki (capital of Kazimierz)
• "New" Siesta (Columbia, nominally)
• Sal Viento (Iberia, abandoned)
• Shangshu (Yan)
• Tkaronto (Columbia)
• Trimounts (Columbia)
• Londinium (capital of Victoria)
• Volsinii/Nuova Volsinii (Siracusa)
• Vyseheim (Leithanien)
• Yumen (Yan)
• Zwillingstürme (capital of Leithanien)
• Reefsteep (Sargon, abandoned)
• Lingones (capital of Gaul, destroyed)
• Dzwonek (Kazimierz)
• Locomotiva (Siracusa)
• Kirara's hometown (Higashi, aligned with the Mitsumoto)
• Shiraziberg (Ursus)
• Fremonta (Siracusa)
• Dossoles (Bolívar, independent)
• Deity Grypherburg (Capital of Ursus, relocated in 1033)
• Sette Colli (Siracusa)
• Kazdel (since 898)
• Laterano

Trivia

• The idea of a nomadic city likely derives from Mortal Engines where cities were built on wheels to avoid natural disasters and political conflicts.