The City of Virtue

Description.
Virtue is the name of the city home to characters such as Spike, Zero and Thorn.

While the story of Virtue is driven more by it's cast of characters and their relationships,

Virtue has seen some fleshing-out over the time of it's existence.

Location and Origin.
Virtue is known to be somewhere in Eastern Europe, during the 'near-ish' future. The particular country is not specified.

Originally, Virtue was a penal colony established by it's mother country to rehabilitate it's criminals by introducing them to a more limited society, as opposed to forcing them into a life of confinement in a traditional prison. Depending on the crime committed, inmates would be assigned to a variety of occupations, housing and allowances. Prison wardens acted as a police force, though they were always armed and dressed in riot armor.

Eventually, Virtue became vastly over-populated due the reproduction of it's inmates. Given the shift in power, the original generation of criminals and their spawn began a violent uprising, which would go on to be known as 'Bloody Virtue' by generations to come. Once the inmates had forced the opposing forces to surrender, Virtue demanded independence from it's mother country. This demand was never met, however Virtue's status as penal colony was lifted. A governing body was established to manage the city, made up of some of the lasting security and some of the revolutionary leaders. Many promises made by these leaders were never acted upon, and ultimately life in Virtue would suffer because of it.

Hard borders were established between Virtue and it's mother country, and it became very difficult for the original inmates or their children to leave. Unknown generations later, in the current day of Virtue, inhabitants are rarely if ever allowed to exit the city if their criminal record bares any mention of previous crime. In addition, the citizen of Virtue are surveyed constantly so to keep record of the individuals they regularly associate with, so background checks can be performed on those close to any individual who would attempt to leave the city.

Anthem and Flag of Virtue.
An anthem for the City of Virtue was composed by the talented musician, Kramoris.

A flag for the City of Virtue also Exists.



Environment and Aesthetic.
Virtue's architecture is described as blocky and claustrophobic. Most of it is dismally grey, and the weather is miserable. The air is polluted, filling the sky with a dense fog. At night, Virtue's streets are lit by a variety of neon signs. Many of these are guarded or fenced off, due to frequent vandalism.

Government and Law Enforcement.
The closest thing one could compare to a Police Force in Virtue would be the  'CMF' (Civil Moderation Force), an oppressive, violent group made up primarily of those who descended from the security officers and wardens that had survived Bloody Virtue. The CMF are known to carry shock-batons, used to harshly beat any criminals they might apprehend, usually without concern for the severity of the committed crime.

 

V-Punk (Vunk) Art Movement.
Inspired by the real-world Punk movement in the western 70's, Virtue's youth is largely involved in V-Punk Culture. Where our world's punks started off dressing dark to oppose the bright and colorful aesthetic of Hippie culture, Virtue's 'Vunks' often dress brightly to contrast the grey, miserable backdrop of Virtue.

Petty theft, vandalism, graffiti and other similar crimes are common practice among the Punks of Virtue. Gang fights are popularly disrupted by the CMF, which are regarded as the central enemy of the V-Punk movement. While expression of sexuality and identity are not encouraged by Virtue's general public, the V-Punks are particularly passionate in their expression of self and sexuality.

Often, the exchange of currency is forbidden or detracted by V-Punk establishments, opting instead for the practice of exchanging favors for goods, or other methods of trade without the use of actual money. It is common among V-Punks to use aliases, so to avoid being identified by the CMF.

Crime.
Given Virtue's origin as a penal colony, crime has always been abundant. In modern Virtue, it has reached it's record height. Virtue is known inter-nationally as the birthplace of many popular drugs, and it is regarded as something of a safe-haven for crime-lords. Moving to Virtue is a risking move however, given the difficulty in leaving.

Presence of Mega Corporations.
Virtue is a popular location for the establishment of factories and workhouses producing for inter-national corporations looking to spend little money on worker salary. Treatment of the Virtue workforce is similarly valued.

Trivia.

 * Virtue is an incredibly Ironic name, and that is funny.
 * Initially, the V-Punks would wear powered roller skates. This was a relic of Spike and Ace's origin as Jet Set Radio inspired Dungeons & Dragons characters.
 * Even before Virtue was said to be located in Easter-Europe, it was never confirmed to be anywhere else. However, the primary language spoken in Virtue is Russian.
 * The Chains on Virtue's flag represent not only the city's origin as a penal colony, but the focus on strong attachments between the characters living within.
 * Virtue has had several video game concepts, none of which made it to development.
 * Steam Users who list Virtue as their home are often automatically removed from third-party game servers.
 * Canonically, if a character were to travel to Virtue from another dimension, nobody would have any idea what they were saying, on account of the population speaking mainly in Russian.