What do ghost cities look like
Ghost cities you say? Today we talk about...
Phantomhives
Ghost hives (also called phantomhives) are large, stable settlements of gregarious ghosts, generally forming around a feudal lord (or "overlord"). Often they don't look at all like human cities, because ghost dwellings require much less external space than human dwellings, developing within dimensional pockets that leave only part of the structure protruding (often just the door), and therefore can be "compressed" into less space.
Formation
Ghosts are normally territorial creatures and interaction with others is typically centered on the relationship with the territory. However, ghosts are not solely solitary: depending on the space and resources available, they can form social structures ranging from a small group of ghosts (rarely related to each other, more often in collaborative relationships) to large and dense groups in an urban environment.
This second category of aggregation gives rise to phantomhives. However, for the formation of a large and dense group of ghosts, it is necessary for there to be someone with the role of a powerful aggregator: this figure is known as a feudal lord or overlord.
The overlords are very powerful ghosts, with an extended aura, capable with their presence of changing the physical characteristics of the area of residence, for example by raising the temperature and attracting small ghosts which will feed on the residues of their aura and which will form the basis of the feeding of the ghost colony; they also have other important roles, such as protecting the territory from attacks by large predators, other possible overlords, and often nourish the paralarvae that would otherwise be left to themselves.
The very presence of an overlord favors the reproduction of "subject" ghosts in his territory and thus gives rise to more densely populated areas.
Geography and structure
Each phantomhive seems to be regulated according to a specific set of rules, mostly independent of the influence of communities external to it: although in the past some form of ghost government seems to have existed, modern settlements are self-regulating and have specific laws, as well as unique structures often dictated by the overlord who reigns over them.
An example of an overlord is Walker, with his prison: he is the feudal lord and his "policemen" are the subject spirits. The massive penitentiary in which they live is the phantomhive, created according to Walker's personal tastes.
Ghost chambers are small dimensional pockets, much larger on the inside than on the outside, sometimes visible only as a door/entrance, and are called ghost lairs or simply "lairs".
The exterior of the accommodation, depending on taste, can be bare or richly decorated.
The housing agglomeration appears different depending on the growth arrangement:
Chaotic: occurs when the hive develops as a conglomerate of irregularly sized ghost lairs, growing and connecting through channels and roads that seemingly make no logical sense. The chaotic cluster is the most common type of phantomhive.
Axial (or linear): occurs when the hive develops along a "road", a sort of corridor that connects all the accommodations, and takes on a long, narrow shape. They are, although rarely, also called "Western hives", due to the resemblance to the old US towns.
Grid (or checkerboard): occurs when the hive develops with regular conglomerates of ghost lairs with equally regular shapes, interspersed with escape routes. This pattern can have many variations including rectangular meshes, triangular meshes, parallel streets, hexagonal meshes.
Radial: occurs when many roads converge at a central point, often the result of successive growths over a long period of time. The hive develops around a central square surrounded by concentric canals or streets, where each expansion of the city implies a new circle.
(Yup, we expand, but we try, when possible, to keep our answers canon-compliant).
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