Archades

Archades is the capitol city of the Archadian Empire which rules over most of Ivalice in Final Fantasy XII. The modern city of Archades is built on the poor, and the ruins of older cities. There are only two ways into the city of Archades. The most common way is via airship. This method is patrolled for trouble by the Archadian Judges. The second way is up through the Sochen Temple, into old Archades and across the bridge into Archades proper.

Archades
The city is divided in two levels: Nilbasse and Tsenoble. There are no poor within the city of Archades proper, all of the poor find themselves in Old Archades. Dr. Cid bases all of his research out of the Draklor Laboratories, found within the city in the Tsenoble area.

Archades residents tend to be rich and arrogant. Most people there are more interested in having a good reputation - usually of being well informed - than in money or riches. Well informed people in Archades can earn chops by giving information to other residents about a particular subject. The chops are then used as proof of someone's status, granting access to Tsenoble. Passage to and from Tsenoble can only be done if the traveler has chops to pay for the air cab. Certain areas in Tsenoble can only be acessed by those who possess a sandalwood chop.

Old Archades
Old Archades is where all of the poor and destitute from Archades wind up. It is run down and barely patrolled by the Judges. The Judges are more interested in keeping the poor in their place. The only way into Archades is with money, so all of the inhabitants dream of finding a way to earn enough to see them safely into Archades. Where chops are the most important trade item in Archades, information is the most important in old Archades. If there's one way to get ahead it is by finding out as much information as possible to make the way up into Archades through gaining fortune. Old Archades can be accessed via the ruins of the Sochen Palace.

Sochen Palace
Sochen Palace is an ancient palace overrun with undead, bats, imps and other nasty creatures. The only royalty currently residing within the temple are a family of Mandragoras led by the Onion Queen. These Mandragoras have caused problems for hunters in the Archadian wilderness. Several ancient and powerful creatures are locked away in the depths of the Sochen.

Draklor Laboratories
The Draklor Labs are the home point of Dr. Cid. He uses these facilities to create more and more powerful airships for the Archadian fleets. He also uses these facilities to create Manufacted Nethicite. The Laboratories are actually a series of rooms on multiple floors. Each floor has a garrison of Judges on it, as well as several smaller labs manned by Imperial scientists. The top floor houses Cid's personal open air lab.