Goldcliff

Description
Goldcliff is the financial center of power, and is located East, as a cannonball shoots, from the Bureau of Balance's Moonbase. It is, by all accounts, beautiful -- scenic and full of natural beauty. It's located in a fairly bleak landscape, which only serves to highlight the beauty of the city. Goldcliff is situated on the edge of a cliff, and it's sort of carved out of a bleak landscape by two crystal blue rivers. The rivers split to flow around the city, and tumble over the cliffs in a pair of large, breathtaking waterfalls. It's been described as an oasis.

The city is one of wealth: skyscrapers rise from the surrounding flat landscape to shimmer in the sun. Despite the dryness of the surrounding desert, the city itself is lush and verdant, an emerald jewel in a golden, dusty desert.

Civic Institutions
As a major city, Goldcliff has many institutions, from keepers of law and order to finance, to recreation. We don't get to learn a lot about the governmental structure, but the town does boast a non-canonical octopus mayor.

Goldcliff Militia
Keeping law and order in Goldcliff. Magnus accuses them of being corrupt enough to steal the 900 gold pieces.

Members:
 * Captain Captain Bain
 * Barry Strawberry
 * Berry
 * Lt. Hurley
 * Several Medics, who are possibly also German gangsters

Goldcliff Trust
The largest building in town is the 20-story skyscraper housing the Goldcliff Trust. The largest bank in the realm is, in fact, made out of gold. It has a great lobby (or... had a great lobby, until The Raven grew plants everywhere) and a fine example of elevators and elevator shafts (which are not usually filled with vines).

The elevator is made of glass, like a Wonkavator (if Wonkavators existed in this universe), and the view is stunning (when the building is not surrounded by vines).

Most of the public-facing business takes place in the lobby, and floor 14 is a very Dilbert-esque cubicle farm. The vault is located on floor 20, which is not usually occupied by a being who is as unto a god.

Goldcliff Zoo
It’s a shitty zoo and a terrible place. Do not give them your business. They use stun batons on the animals.

Little West End of Huntington
Not everything is golden skyscrapers and glass Wonkavators, though. Near to the cliff, and presumably across some fantasy railroad tracks, Goldcliff gets a little seedy. Everything is a little shabbier, and there’s a barrel that’s on fire. This part of town is run by gangs of battle wagon racers and serves as the center of the battle wagon racing community, as most of the garages are located there.

This is where the Hammerhead Gang’s headquarters is, as well as Hurley’s garage where she stores her battle wagon.

Hammerhead Headquarters
The Hammerhead HQ is surrounded with a 12-foot high reinforced wall made of scrap metal and topped with two spirals of barbed wire. It also has a very imposing gate and a guard booth. Inside is a courtyard with three buildings. One of the buildings is a big garage and has people inside, with sounds of general mechanics coming through the door. One of the buildings is a very small garage. The third building is a plain cinderblock barracks looking thing that is later revealed to be a barracks.

Center of Town
In the center of the town lies a shallow pool where the rivers converge before heading to the waterfall on the edge of town. After the events of the Petals to the Metal arc, the pool boasts the most beautiful cherry blossom tree in the world.

Cliffs
Toward the edge of town, beyond Little West End of Huntington, the houses get nicer, because there’s actually a pretty scenic view around. There are beautiful waterfalls cascading off the cliffs, and a big basin of water that the Goldcliff falls tumble into.

When you’re disposing of a corpse, though, the view is pretty secondary to the task at hand. Not that we would know.

Battle Wagon Racing in Goldcliff
A major Goldcliff pastime is Battle Wagon Racing. It’s by far the most popular sport, among both the downtrodden Little West End-ites and the rich and famous alike. The aliases of successful racers are major celebrities. Gambling is a major part of the sport, and even the rich and powerful and government officials are involved.

Battle Wagon Racing can be a brutal blood sport “from time to time,” Hurley says, but those in power who run the city can’t live without the races, so they are allowed to continue, largely unchecked. Some, such as Hurley (and Sloan, until she was seduced by the Gaia Sash), “run clean,” which means that the racers attempt to disable wagons without harming or killing the other racers.

Outside the city, in the desert, is a track made for racing Battle Wagons. It is flanked by black pylons that serve both as spectating platforms and demarcations of the edges of the Battle Wagon Racing area. When Merle, Magnus, and Taako first fly toward Goldcliff, they see a Battle Wagon Race in progress. Long lines of dust spew up into the air, tracing the routes of the Battle Wagons Racers.