For simplicity, Civilization areas are towns that maybe also have things attached to them like Mines. In the Lore, they sprung up *around* the mines, which are quite rare. Heck maybe they're metal deposits left by the Precursor civilization -- this would explain a lot and be pretty neat to build out.
I'm not sure how many areas there are total -- I'm leaning towards 8 to start out with -- 2 cities, 6 smaller towns.
The lack of population is explainable by plagues or something that almost entirely wiped out the precursor civilization. Bits of this should be covered in the Lore.
Presumably the Polymorph thing made things even worse, and maybe the precursor civilization didnt have that problem so that's why it's such a huge problem now.
The civilization is a Magocracy ruled by the most proficient magic users with elders in each of the eight elemental schools and a couple from other disciplines like alchemy. At least in theory -- power consolidation has changed that quite a bit.
Their power is tempered somewhat by the heretical Cult of the Aleph, which is based on old legends about the actual Aleph fixture and mythological nonsense based around it.
Civilization Eras
There are four eras in the civilization that'll affect the way I lay it out:
Precursors -- not a whole lot is known here but it's humans that came through to this dimension and built the Aleph. They're also the ones that seeded the different planes with imported (possibly altered) flora and fauna, who are now pretty ubiquitous. The metal they brought with them forms the basis of the mining operations.
The precursor civilization was wiped out somehow -- maybe the influx of magic messed it up or something, so all that remains of their cultural influences are legends, such as the one informing the Cult of the Aleph.
Hub Civilization -- this civilization built the Hub and populated the planes it has access to. This civilization was quite large -- every dimension was populated with fairly large cities.
When this civilization began experimenting with Biomagical Compounds, it caused a series of plagues that wiped out most of the civilization -- a few cities survived but as they were constructed of magical materials the cities themselves largely scattered into the terrain.
Modern civilization -- the remnants of the previous civilization that rebuilt along the Hub. This is where the lore is focused -- this civilization was aware of the Hub one at least but their population was much much lower.
Because of the experiments done by the Megapolis that tapped into the Aleph (based on those old legends and the stuff the Cult knew) the world itself started to lose its magic, eventually resulting into polymorphed people and crystallized flora/fauna.
A Last Outpost was built by scientists who were trying to find a way around the anti-magical effects but while they were successful, they couldn't create the Potions needed to restart the process without creating you.
Current timeline -- obviously this is the point where you are where you're the only living human. I guess a lot of the Last Outpost and Megapolis stuff fits into this era as well.
The modern civilization was based on several industries that formed the basis of its various cities:
Farming -- while cities have local farming for some amount of food and resource generation, the city Tiger's Citadel is entirely geared towards the production of it, which they transport to the rest of Civilization for fairly cheap.
Mining -- as mentioned, old ruins of the precursor civilization are mined for metals, which are abundant in those locations and sparse or nonexistent elsewhere. While mining exists everywhere (because that's the basis of why those areas are civilized in the first place), the city Smithward has the most dense concentration of it. In addition to mining, there's a heck of a lot of metal fabrication / weaponcrafting / etc.
Mageopolis -- the central power of the modern civilization. This hosts the Sage Council that kind of indirectly rules over the rest of Civilization with religious fervor, has schools dedicated to the art of magic, and the second-largest Alchemist Lab.
Aleph Temple -- the (current) name of the Megapolis, also the HQ of the Cult of the Aleph. Due to political pressures they relocated out in the Wilds and are largely self-sufficient, though smugglers do transport goods back and forth (with penalties if caught by either faction).
Fabrication Town -- this city was dedicated to the production of magicotechnology and was one of the two main donors of the Last Outpost.
Hub Villa -- What started out as a town for the maintainers and builders of the Hub during the Hub Civilization (and were also the main political players of that time period) has turned into more of a retirement / vacation area because of their enormous old wealth. And also the lack of knowledge about how to continue building the Hub. Not that they really can anyway since the population is significantly lessened since the hub Civilization collapsed. A lot to explore here I guess.
Inquisition -- A research-based city and has been that way since the Hub Civilization. The Biomagical experiments here led to the decline of the Hub Civilization, something they're still pretty salty about even if there was a lot of back and forth between the two cities initially. Inquisition is one of the two backers of the Lost Outpost. It also contains the largest Alchemist Laboratory, which is likely where you worked originally -- your house would be here if so.
Frontier -- dedicated to adventurers that go out into the Wilds and planes in general to collect new flora and fauna. Also a second home of the Cult of the Aleph due to looser regulations. Also where Smuggler groups are situation. Kind of a wild and unruly place at the best of times. Frontier is what maintains the smaller towns, which are essentially homogeneous procgen Outposts in otherwise uncivilized regions.
