A City Worth Getting Lost In
A Guide for the Brave, Foolish, or Uninvited
So, to explore The Gate properly, I turned to none other than Lucian Wren—legendary travel chronicler, professional cynic, and the sharpest pen in the city. Over the coming weeks, he’ll be your guide to the underbelly, the rooftops, and everything in between.
Without further ado—over to Lucian.
Welcome to The Gate, where fortunes are made and misplaced with equal frequency. A place where towers climb so high they forget the slums they cast into shadow, and a man can live his whole life never seeing the ocean, even as it keeps his city afloat.
Allow me to introduce myself: I am Lucian Wren—professional observer, reluctant traveler, and your humble guide. Once, I walked where you’ll walk now: gilded rooftops, forgotten alleys, the grease-slicked arteries of a city too proud to admit it’s bleeding. Back then, I traveled not to observe but to belong. I thought, as most fools do, that The Gate’s many layers were mine to own, as though anyone owns this place.
That’s ancient history, of course. Now, I see the city for what it is: a stage. Its cast of characters wear their masks so well, they forget they’ve been written into someone else’s story. Lucky for you, I know the script better than most.
You will find no pamphlets here, no hollow promises of idyllic vacations. Instead, I offer what the city offers me: stark honesty wrapped in gilded spectacle.
This is not the Gate you’ll see in holo-ads. The official tours won’t take you here. I will. From the perfumed rooftops of Avalon Heights to the rancid sprawl of The Sink, I’ll take you where the smoke doesn’t clear and the truth bleeds through. You’ll meet the black sheep, the bored heirs, the forgotten workers, and the masked power brokers who think their secrets are safe—until they aren’t.
Why do I bother? Duty? Hardly. Altruism doesn’t pay the bills, and boredom only gets you so far. No, perhaps I do this because it’s better than day drinking at one of Fleming Island’s casinos. Or maybe, like you, I can’t help but hope there’s something left to find here—something real, buried beneath the grime and glitter, waiting to disappoint us all over again.
What you do with this guide—and whether you make it out alive—is entirely up to you. After all, The Gate welcomes everyone. Staying? Well, that’s another story.
And apropos Fleming Island—it’s the perfect place to start. Coming up in the next entry.
Yours, begrudgingly—Lucian Wren