Alpha

Alpha is the largest island in all of Waveside, and the name of the massive city that covers most of its surface. It is one of the three cities that founded the Grand Islands Alliance, the largest governing coalition in Waveside.

Alpha is home to hundreds of active pipes connecting to both Heartside and Ventside. One of the oldest surviving islands in existence, it has also seen the decay of hundreds or thousands of pipes, which now create the city's primary geography. Individuals have staked claim to sections of pipe to build homes and businesses inside them, and one or two of the biggest tubes even contain indoor streets connecting these structures. Buildings have also been constructed around and between the massive nest of tubes, making the city multidimensional and somewhat difficult to navigate.

City center is the most crowded and also the most cramped neighborhood of Alpha, but as you get closer to the shore, the pipes thin out, leaving room for larger buildings. The entire shoreline serves as a massive port.

Geography

Alpha is a nest of tubes and buildings, with residences and businesses built wherever there was space to be claimed. Its structure is chaotic and difficult to navigate.

Some parts towards the middle of the island are considered a pseudo-Heartside environment, because the over-layers are so thick that virtually no natural light hits what would traditionally be called the ground. The tubes are also quite thick both above and below the city, meaning that the boundaries between Heartside, Waveside, and Ventside are more blurred than in most other places.

As many of the fallen pipes are ancient, they bear visible signs of their age - parts are crumbling and filthy, and much of the city has been graffitied over so heavily as to completely block light from coming through. Some areas, especially closer to the top of the nest, are kept pristine and clean, and people wandering or residing in upper vents may even see as much sunlight as if they didn't have a roof over their heads at all.

Inhabitants

Alpha is a truly heterogeneous city, with enormous and well-integrated populations of most of the common races. Some cultural highlights include:

Dwarves: Alpha is one of the only cities in Waveside where dwarves don't tend to keep to themselves. As a result, they are pretty well-liked, and not considered as stuffy or condescending as in most other cities.

Ventsiders: there are many elves and aarakocra in Alpha, the highest populations in Waveside. Halflings are fewer in number and population density, but are also much more present than in other Waveside cities.

Tabaxi: Alpha is home to Foundshore, a small district towards the island's south, the only known population center for Tabaxi.