The Hidden City

The Hidden City can refer both to Chapter 7: The Hidden City, and the location of the same name. These are the vanished quarters of the city.

The City is sometimes referred to as the Eternal City for, despite disasters, wars, and burning riots, it always seems to rise again from the ruins with each iteration built upon the bones of the last. This has created a massive network of subterranean passages, rooms, and anti-chambers known as the hidden city. The deeper one ventures further back in history one goes.

Background
The hidden city or the vanished quarters contains the ruins of some of The City's oldest locations, going back to the roots of City's history. One city built over another. What areas were not outright built over, were destroyed by various fires, The Great Tempest, plagues (including Great Plague) and other disasters through the centuries resulting in various quarters having to be rebuilt again. Below each layer are even older layers, going back to the roots of the city.

Part of the vanished quarters lie under South Quarter/Riverside, and another part lies below the ruins of the last Hammerite Cathedral in the city (now a ruined home for old gods), and artifacts associated with the religion that worshiped The Master Builder (City Artifact). The remnants of the Old Quarter is located here.

At least one layer are the ruins of the city that once existed under the Bresling dynasty. These include the Underground Ruins below South Quarter and parts of the Old Quarter as seen in The Pit below the Old Cathedral. Following the Dark Age, many generations of progress were brought to the city by the Northcrests, and the old city became the foundations of the new.

Some of these old layers are still accessible, and some find a use for them. Parts of the old Keeper's Compound were converted into a brothel, The House of Blossoms by Madam Xiao-Xiao and Underground Ruins of the old Keeper's Library (Forgotten Ruins, Scriptorium, and Library Towers.

The Graven and Graven Dawn built The Pit in the ruins of the Hammerites' Old Cathedrial to utilize the Old City deep below. They carved through at least seven possibly as much as ten layers to make their Graven Lair. The pit cuts through several Cities, and Catacombs in between. About five or so layers from the top appears to be where the Hammerites placed their keystones (City Arfifact) when they came to power. But deep below that, below the Catacombs lies the Old City where an ancient Rotunda stands (apparently from the time of the Karath-Din).

Some parts of the City surface may be remnants of Bresling's or earlier Northcrest eras that were never built over. But this is not entirely clear. These may include the Customs House Bridge (from the time of Marlham dynasty), the Carlysle Mill (date unknown), and perhaps even the South Quarter Sluices. The Stonemarket Clock Tower (which was restored from when it was destroyed before the Dark Age) may be built a layer above the ruins of the old destroyed Clock Tower, or it maybe reconstructed, and restored from the remains of the old Clocktower on the same foundation it originally was built upon.

Locations

 * The Pit
 * The Hidden City
 * Loading Docks Exterior
 * Loading Docks Interior
 * Catacomb Chamber
 * Catacomb Shaft
 * Storeroom
 * Graven Lair
 * The Rotunda
 * Warrens
 * The House of Blossoms
 * Underground Ruins
 * Forgotten Ruins
 * Scriptorium
 * Library Towers
 * Catacombs under Mourningside Undertaker.
 * The Old Chapel
 * Keeper Ruins (Project Pendulum)

Possible regions of The Hidden City

 * New Quarter (it would be quite old by now, and possibly goes by another name)
 * North Quarter (Power City may have been built over it)
 * New Market (it would be quite old by now, and possibly goes by another name)
 * High Towne (unknown)
 * Downtowne (unknown)

Others

 * Wayside (a current Wayside exists in some form)
 * Shalebridge (a current Shalebridge still exists in some form)
 * South Quarter/Riverside (old layers of South Quarter exist underneath both South Quarter and Riverside.)
 * Dayport (a modern Dayport still exists in some form)
 * Eastport (a modern Eastport still exists in some form)
 * Stonemarket (a modern Stonemarket exists in some form)
 * Auldale/Auldale Bridge (a modern Audale still exists in some form)
 * Shoalsgate (a modern shoalsgate still exists in some form)
 * Docks (appear to exist in some form, part of Riverside and also Wayside)
 * Old Quarter (still exists in some form above and below ground)
 * Sealed Section (was reclaimed as part of Old Quarter in centuries past)
 * Karath-Din
 * Sunken Citadel

New Districts
These districts may have been built over older vanished ones.
 * Cinderfall
 * Greystone
 * Power City
 * Riverside

Trivia

 * The upper levels appear to be more 'gothic' to gothic stonework. Something closer to the Keeper and Hammerite buildings in the game.
 * The lowest levels of the Hidden City is constructed largely in pre-medieval to medieval style with mostly stonework, and rough wood. Architecture resembles closer to the The City seen in the original series. Which it is largely likely based upon. Compared to the newer Victorian-era architecture of Theodore Eastwick and Northcrest's age of industry.
 * The lowest sections of the city may be remnants of the Lost City of Karith-Din. In particular the Rotunda doesn't appear to match style of original trilogy city or the present city. The buildings outside it could roughly match some of the buildings found in the Lost City (with perhaps some additions added by The Graven).
 * The City Artifact appears one or two levels above where the Rotunda and Graven Lair is located above the Catacombs. Thus suggesting that Graven lair is probably part of the Lost City.