Timmon's Guide to Limbo
Delightful Eats From the Center of the Multiverse
Timmon's Guide to Limbo
Delightful Eats From the Center of the Multiverse
Ah, Valaris. One of the most popular Drifts I’ve visited in all of Limbo. Famed for its massive Gate City—Valaris City—this place didn’t just survive the Gatefall, it thrived. While other cities crumbled under the weight of closed portals and failing trade, Valaris turned inward, focused on its people, and built something enduring.
The citizens rallied under strong leadership, transforming what could have been a death sentence into a defining era of growth. This gave rise to a few key things: massive indoor farming centers in the Plaza Tier, the Guildsfolk who now supply most of the city’s goods and services, and the social structure that divided the city into distinct tiers.
The Tiers of Valaris
Paramount Tier
Sprawling spires and sleek skyscrapers piercing Limbo’s crimson sky. Here, speeders hum between towers, airships dock midair, and the elite of Valaris rule. Political powerhouses, industrial magnates, and cultural elites reside here. As the old Valaran proverb goes: "The Seat of Power must look upon its children to protect them.” Expect glass gardens, vertical tea salons, and guild meetings that last for days.
Plaza Tier
Street-level Valaris. The heartbeat of the city. Home to honest, hardworking people raising families, running shops, and keeping the gears of society turning. The Plaza is where deals are made, crafts are perfected, and children race past drift-forged fountains without a care. It’s a place of rhythm, tradition, and constant motion.
Underfoot Tier
Shadowy and subterranean. The Underfoot is where you go when you need something… off the record. Smugglers, gamblers, black market tech dealers—you’ll find them all. It’s grimy and unpredictable, yet essential. If the Plaza is the heart, the Underfoot is the gut: messy, honest, and sometimes dangerous.
The Hollow
A vast network of tunnels and maintenance systems deep beneath the city. Power, sanitation, water, communication—it all flows through here. No one lives in the Hollow for long. It’s dark, vast, and always humming with activity—but not the kind of place you linger unless you’ve got business or a wrench in hand.
Now that you’ve got a taste of the city’s layout, let’s get to the real reason you’re here: the food. Because no matter what tier you visit, Valaris eats well.
Five of Timmon’s Favorite Delicious Stops
Note: I received no payment or compensation for these reviews. Every meal was purchased out of my own pocket, and my opinions are my own. I take food—and integrity—very seriously.
Pak’s Level 89 – Valaris Ortha Strip
Location: Paramount, Garden Tower 4, Level 89
Price: 300–400 Dits
They don’t raise Ortha on Valaris—yet Pak’s has been importing the finest Ortha meat from Daventhorn for two centuries. Flame-grilled with a proprietary blend of herbs and spices, it’s like tasting a hymn. Chef Gorama trained for seven years before being allowed to cook one. The moment it touches your tongue, it’s all over. You’ll dream of it for weeks. Be warned: more than one traveler has seriously debated relocating to Valaris just to eat here once a week.
Augie’s Garden Hutch – Diotsy Salad with Pique Dressing
Location: Plaza, 10 West Harrison, Warehouse District 7
Price: 10 Dits
One of the great achievements of Valaris during the Gatefall was learning how to grow and adapt alien plant species indoors. The Diotsy is one of those. A vibrant rosette vegetable with nutrient-dense leaves and a subtle peppery flavor, it’s harvested daily from Plaza-tier vertical farms. Tossed with sweet peppers, crisp onions, toasted root croutons, and then shaken with their signature Pique dressing (a citrusy, herbal vinegar blend), this salad feels alive. Light, refreshing, and strangely energizing—like your cells just got a motivational speech.
Kut Stalls – Valaran Street Pizza
Location: All over the Plaza and Underfoot
Price: 3–5 Dits
Flat dough. Red sauce. Cheese. Fold it. Eat it. Love it. Called "Kuts" because they’re cooked in big rectangular trays and sliced down into hot, foldable rectangles. A true working-class staple, Kuts are the fuel of engineers, couriers, and late-night poets. Best eaten folded in half so the sauce doesn’t slide off (a rookie mistake). Everyone has their favorite Kut stall, but if you’re brave enough to try the ones in the Underfoot? You might just taste something transcendent—illegal mushrooms, black market pepper oils, and all.
Sade’s on the Rift – Limbo Cloud Quake
Location: Plaza, Dock District C, Pod 17
Price: 10 Dits
This tiny retrofitted pod diner is owned and operated by Sade Nine—the eighth clone of the original Sade, who vanished mysteriously over a hundred years ago. Race? Unknown. Gender? Unimportant. Culinary genius? Absolutely. The Limbo Cloud Quake is a glass of whipped vapor and chilled syrup that defies logic. Swirled with essences extracted from edible drift gas and topped with brittle sugar netting, the first sip feels like joy. The second feels like a memory you forgot you had. Order one. Only one. (Timmon once saw an Orc Aetherwright try to drink two. His friends had to carry him home.)
The Sleeping Giant – Mystery Soup #27
Location: Underfoot. Ask around. Price: Cheap—or free, if you’re nice.
This place is a legend. A labyrinthine entertainment palace built into a crashed vessel that embedded itself in the Underfoot centuries ago. The Giant has everything—arcades, dueling pits, drift fights, even semi-legal betting dens. But it’s the soup that calls to the soul. Biffle, its eccentric Pawakin owner, offers only one thing on the menu: Mystery Soup #27. It’s gray, smells like eleven spices fighting for dominance, and somehow tastes different every time you eat it. Creamy but sharp. Earthy but electric. Don’t ask what’s in it. Just accept the gift. Every time you finish a bowl, you feel like you just learned a secret. Whether or not it’s yours is the real mystery.
Whew. Writing all this is making me hungry. Alas, I’m far from the great Gate City now, setting up camp with only an Ortha jerky stick and my memories.
Until next time, friends—may your adventures be grand and your bellies full.
—Timmon