Topic: Travel in the capital of Neonexus, where the story is located. The capital is not yet named.
The capital has gone through so many attacks, fires, severe storms, and even floods that many parts of it have been rebuilt over and over with little budget, giving the city a sort of patchwork look and feel. There are lots of alleys that lead nowhere, random ledges covering walls that used to have doors, low roofs over abandoned sheds, etc. Anyone who wants to move fast and is willing to break a few rules (eg. criminals, convicts, delinquents, some teenagers, etc.) will move through the city by running over low rooftops and cutting through back alleys. This is monumentally faster than walking over the wider and more commonly used streets, but can get you in trouble with people who don't want you galumphing over their roof all the time. If you're not careful you can also slip or fall and hurt yourself, or, in some rare cases, fall into a corner or alley that you cannot get out of at all. This is why only a few small groups of people are willing to attempt it.
That said, most people tend to travel through the city by more commonly used and wider streets, with tourists tending to stick to the widest thoroughfares and market streets nearest the castle and the docks. Because of the crowds these are the streets that have the most pickpockets, but deeper in the city and farther from the castle is where most violent muggings and gang violence happens.
Because of the rarity of wide streets, carriages are reserved for the very wealthy or those with status. Horses in general are rare in the city, with most people either traveling on foot, by bike, or something akin to a rickshaw. Market sellers also occasionally use small wagons pulled by sturdy ponies, and a good chunk of students use something roughly like a skateboard.
