The Cities are large clusters of residences, business and buildings that are each surrounded by heavy-duty, multilayered defenses, colloquially known as the Walls.
The Storm remains an ever present threat. It cannot be quelled, and though it can be predicted with relative accuracy, nomadic towns and moving structures have seen little use, as the mangled terrain of The Outside limits how structures as large as nomadic towns can transport themselves. Not to mention, Storm Manifestations can bring monsters that pose threats beyond simple Oneirum containment and management.
The Cities offer a solution in the form of Oneirum containment fields produced by Hermes Transportation Solutions, and the many mechanical defenses built into the Walls. They are effectively the last bastion of humanity on the planet. Nomadic structures with containment fields are rare, but they do crop up occasionally. See The Storm on living outside of a city.
Cross-City Transport
When transporting people, goods or capital between cities, the Storm makes it very difficult to guarantee the safe transport of anything across the large stretches of ravaged land.
Of course, the classic method of transport is simply sending a caravan across the barrenlands to wherever you want it. This is a relatively cheap prospect for when you want to haul lots of goods or move around big objects, but of course it comes with the highest risk. People get swept in Storm surges, or just die.
More modern approaches to caravaneering suggest the best way through the barrenlands is by air, instead of by land. Some small factions and prototype projects have shipped things through the air, precariously balancing between flying high enough to avoid manifested terrain, but also flying below the brume of clouds that conceal hyper-charged Oneirum creatures.
A convoy across The Outside is too expensive for many people to afford, but Hermes Transportation Solutions have erected networks of teleportation between the cities. These can only support small, human-sized bodies or objects. It’s perfect for diplomacy or simply moving bodies from A to B, and comes with slim risk.