Alba

Alba depicted on a map.

Alba is one the largest cities of Morley, located on the southernmost tip of the island. It is also a major port due to its relatively close proximity to Dunwall and main trading routes. Alba is known as Morley's grandest city, with its proud stone architecture and old cobbled streets running in-between. Notable landmarks include the famous Royal Morley Observatory with its golden dome rising high above the city, and the Historical Museum of Alba which holds many rare artifacts.

Once a year, during the famed Festival of Churners, Alban people celebrate both the living and the dead by donning red robes, erecting banners, and cooking feasts near the sea. Some of the foods are tossed to the waves to feed their dead relatives, and also the Morleyan eels whom they consider being the messengers of the dead.

The Veiled Terror

In 1852, construction of the Leviathan Causeway, a gigantic railway that rose a thousand feet above Alba, was started by the Leviathan Company. This railway was the beginning of a planned network, linking all parts of the Empire of the Isles with fast travel routes. However, the ambitious project was interrupted in 1853 when a giant Void rift abruptly appeared in Alba, cutting the city and the causeway in half.

The sudden formation of the rift, or the "Barrier" as it is called by the locals, apparently disturbed the delicate balance of power between King Briam and Queen Eithne of Morley. A civil war broke out, lasting for three days before the joint rulers somehow reconciled and ceased all hostilities. As brief as it was, the war had destroyed much of Alba and killed thousands of people. By the time Billie Lurk arrived in Alba, a massive reconstruction effort was already underway, spearheaded by the Leviathan Company and involving thousands of workers. Supplies, construction materials, as well as people seeking new opportunities, were being transported from all parts of the Empire to aid the effort. Prefabricated huts and shacks were set up about the city, next to piles of construction materials, while electric rail cars zipped back and forth on temporary tracks, transporting needed goods to their destinations.

Trivia

• Alba shares its name with the real-world Gaelic name of Scotland.
• There is a mausoleum in Alba. Breanna Ashworth found a black bone charm in it that turns summoned entities against their summoner.