Ageos is a good sized coastal city. There is much traffic in and out of it’s long and narrow bay. The long arm of Ageos (which forms the bay) is rough and rocky, formed by large rocks rolled down Ageos’s main feature. The only building on the arm is a tall light tower. 

Ageos is build around a small estuary that feeds into the bay. The Givan river is not broad or deep, but it is fairly swift most times of the year. 

The buildings here follow the same general design.  They are all rectangular, paralell along the streets or paths. Most are two stories. They are all washed with a yellowish white plaster (proof against the erroding power of salt) and topped with red tiles. The windows are square and glass.

The streets are narrow and roughly paved.  The weather is mostly dry, except for the morning fog, so it is seldom a problem. The streets are parallell to the coast, as most of the streets are squeeze in between the great rock and the lesser ones.

Ageos’s most striking features, and the basis for its name, is the huge rock that serves as the backdrop for the city. It is a giant rock, a significant part of a mountain that rolled down the Givan valley before the time of Elventi. It is roughly shaped like an egg. It is some 80 imperial strides tall and 50 strides wide.  It is not a cliff, it is obviously a rock.  The estuary runs a dozen or so strides to its left. 

There is a large tumble of rock, which for a loose cliff to the other side of the estuary. The tumble runs along the coast as well. These two sets of rocks and the bay sandwich the houses of the city.

StoneCrafting and BuildingSmithing are arts here.  All buildings from the most humble to the most spectacular are things of aesthetic functionality.

All buildings here are stone, a native white marble, that is quarried not far from the city. The curved circular city wall of Amar takes best advantage of the stones appearance.  The stone has a luster and partial opalescence that makes viewing the city at sunrises and sets (and to a lesser extend moon rises and sets) a spectacular view.  Said stone is slick and resistant to things sticking to it (so dirt and dust slides off it), hence the “A” groove in building stones, allowing them to lock tight with no mortice.

Most buildings here use the stone for their thick walls. Their roofs are normally flat, as the warm nights and beautiful make spending time on the roof a comfortable option.  The buildings of the lower class, use reeds (and reed mats) over cross beams as roofs. These roofs are accessed by ladders.  Buildings of the second and third tier of citizens have one to two story buildings with solid wood roofs. Those with pretenses, use the local blue clay to make deep blue tiles for the top roofs to mimic their betters.  The fourth and fifth tier citizens have buildings made entirely of stone, with balconies, domes, and flat roofs made of stone, adorned with blue clay tiles.  Local law prevents people from having homes taller than those of a superior tier, so the more noble the citizen, the taller their home… even if it is only with a spire. 

All but the poorest homes and buildings have attached walls which create a patio or atrium.  The lush plant growth from the hot, but not too hot, temperatures here, allows a family to create a beautiful retreat as well as grow decorative fruiting plants.  Some families have ponds with fish in these areas.  Those fish are both decorative and edible, allowing for the freshest food possible.

The blue tiles are made from the local clay.  It is a brownish grey before firing, but after firing it turns a deep blue.  Though used for roofs, the tiles normally find their way into houses on the floor.  The floors of all public buildings and most home are made of blue tiles and small tile sized bits of the white stone.  Most are arranged in a beautiful geometric pattern, but others use various colors to express pictures through the floor.  While rugs are used, many people can not bare to cover up the works of art on their floor. 

Given the Amarian ideal of beauty has to deal with symmetry and simplicity, the furnishings are fairly minimal.  While the furniture can be artistically pleasing, there is normally less of it that one would expect given the wealth of Amar. 

There are no glass windows here. Walls are thick and high ceilings help keep homes cool.  The occasional storm is normally brief and usually warm anyways. The humidity of Amar allows for lush plant growth. This combined with the Amarian love of beauty and sensory treats means plants are tucked in any number of places… high window boxes, wall sconces, open nooks in walls.

The wide roads here are made from hexagonal blue tiles.  The slight gaps in the tile allow water to drain slowly though them.  They are often lined with lush plants and flowers.  There are no sidewalks here, so pedestrians share the roadways with the occasional cart or rider.  Given the generous size of the roads here, there is little conflict. 

Since much of the city is two stories tall, some of the public areas have sidewalks of sorts at that second level.  These wooden sidewalks (board walks in the local parlance) provide some shade to those on the road below.  Beautiful arched bridges connect these walkways over the roadways below. 

The city is beautiful by night as well.  Hundreds of lamps are lit in the city, every night by young boys trained to the task, lighting every intersection and notable building. Add to this the light spilling from window, and the city glows well into the night. This night time beauty has only been possible in the last few centuries by the importing of Antioch Ball Lamps (circular globes with a nested smaller air pocket.  The oil in the globe magnifies and distributes the light. DaVinci has a similar design).

Anorrus, capitol of Marcosia, lies along both sides of the mighty and wide Rhenus River. It’s wall is octagonal in shape, with eight guard towers on each side of the river. There are a pair of gates in each side of the wall. The western gates are the Castus Gate and the Aelestus Gate. The eastern gates are the Crow Gate and the Theophilion Gate.

Anorrus’ buildings are mostly of stone, local gray granite and plastered riverstones, or sandstone. Distinctive black-and-white lightning marble brought in from the Thunderclap Mountains is also seen in the wealthy homes. The Mithraic style, an architectural movement begun by the temples of Mitras, favors squared-off, single structures with large windows to allow the sunlight to flow in. Anorrus does not get as much snow as many other Marcosian cities, so its roofs are not steeply-pitched. Many older structures are roofed in the famous red tiles, imported from Arcturus, though the expense of those is such that newer structures are often roofed in wooden shingles. This style is very popular in Anorrus, and most structures are built in this style. In the poorer structures of town, there are tenements constructed of timbers and plaster, which are prone to burn down.

Anorrus has much-wider streets than any other city in the Armorican Kingdoms, and is famous for this. Streets are wide enough for two ox-carts to roll abreast. The main streets are paved in thin blocks of granite, while the less-important fares are riverstone, or simple dirt. Market streets are packed-earth, scattered with straw. Streets are slightly bowed, higher in the middle than at the sides. That way, garbage, sewage, and water flow down into the gutters, which generally don’t go anywhere, and the sewage and garbage decay together into a rotting soup of hideous character.

Most of the Anorrian city is two stories. Some of the poorer folk dwell in wood-and-plaster tenements that may be three stories. But the tallest structure in the city is the High Hallow of Mitras, which is constructed atop a high artificial hill.

At night, the streets remain unlit, except where the owners of houses or private businesses have hung lanterns. These are infrequent, since wicks and oil are expensive, and the lights are often stolen.

The buildings in Antioch are of what we would call a Neo-Tudor style.  The exteriors are usually a white stucco, with some half-timbering (wooden beams embedded in the stucco, some for support others for looks. Other characteristics include high-pitched roofs (covered in slate), asymmetrical configurations, enclosed entryways, fireplaces with ornamented chimneys and chimney pots, and casement windows.  This design is fairly fire resistant, easy to replicate, and used local materials. 

Most buildings in Antioch are two story, semi-detached town home affairs.  They are longer than they are wide (usually a 3 to 1 ratio). This long and narrow town home design allows the largest number of houses to fill in along a street. There is seldom an alley way between the buildings big enough to use.  The second story usually extends beyond the first, allowing for enclosed or covered entries in front and back.  There is normally a tiny yard associated with the back of the house. The back of a house faces the back of another house. If there is a business in the building (which is usually the case), the business is downstairs, while the family and workers live upstairs. 

Many of the town homes have been broken into two apartments, lower and upper. There are places that just sell rooms of said houses, but they are only in docks area. 

A common variation for ventures that need more space is to create a court yard home.  These are created by buying three townhomes in a row, knocking down the central one, and connecting the outer two.  This is common for guild buildings. 

Almost every building will have a place for people to stay in it.  Given the presence of star stone in the ground, elementals occasionally appear in Antioch at night.  Most people do not like to travel the streets at night for any distance for this reason. Thus it is only polite to have a place for people to stay, even if it is just on the floor in back. 

The roads are a smoothed cobblestone, similar in appearance to the Imperial roads.  There are normally sidewalks made of a weak local concrete, giving a one and a half person wide space on the side of the road to walk on. The size of sidewalks may be the reason for the popularity of taxi carts in the city. They are faster and allow you to avoid being jostled by pedestrians.

The roads here are also slanted to flow water to the center of the road.  There are under channels in the center of the roads, covered by square masonry pieces with short gaps between them.  Water flows into the center, down the gaps and into the under channel. Smaller streets flow into the under channels of larger streets, and so on.  Houses are connected to this system by their own underchannels. This system works fairly well on Earth, and works better in Arth were there are no germs, only mold.  

The sameness of the buildings in Antioch over the centuries has two causes.  The first is that the city was rebuilt from its last sacking by the Goblins 276 years ago.  It was rebuilt using plans incorporating the most advanced elemental associations and building technologies. Since everything was built on a central plan, everything had the same look.  Things that survived the sacking have frequently been torn down and appropriate buildings put in their place. The second cause is the perceived “way” of the city.  Once people thought the neo-tudor look was the “way” the city should be, the people of Antioch made sure that every new building fit that way/ pattern.

The city of Assalus is surrounded by a sea of deep green life. It surrounded by jungle. It requires magic and/ or constant attention to keep the roads clear to and from the city. 

There are no city walls here, just a large arch at edge of cities on the incoming roads.  The jungle and GeoMancers here are all the protection they need.

Buildings come in two types, square and sturdy or tall and round.  All the buildings are made of the same dark gray stone. These stones look slightly mottled, but it is just spots of mold or lichen that are growing on them.  Most of the roofs are made of, or trimmed in, a red stone. This red is the only trim color one sees on the buildings. 

The square buildings just look massive, with their thick walls and heavy details.  Flat walls are often given bas relief murals upon them (some of which take advantage of the moss that will grow into the deep parts).  The doors are heavy, round, and made of stone.  They are rolled into and out of the doorway inside the building.  (keeping small children and most women inside if a man does not assist them).  The roof is often trimmed in red, and there may be a rooftop garden or patio upon them.  Some of the larger square buildings have small towers upon their roofs. 

The towers are round and have the same doors. Their roofs are almost always “Domed” with either a full round dome or a flattened dome.  Many of these towers will have either windmills, ether catchers, or cisterns on their roofs as well.  Wind, water, muscle, and magic are the only power sources here, and if you are not a GeoMancer, wind is preferred. 

All the buildings are large, at least as tall as the jungle trees around them.  Any windows here are high up in the buildings, as they have no glass here.  Smaller buildings are assumed to be easily swallowed up by the undergrowth and are not built.

One can believe that they may be swallowed, because every area not paved or built upon has ferns, bushes, flowers, and other wild plants growing up in them.  So there is a lush green garden between almost every building. If there are only a few plants, it is because someone trimmed them back recently.  And the paving has to be maintained constantly, as anywhere there are cracks, green appears.

The city has no planning and the builders here do not believe in straight streets or a four way intersection (only three way ones, Ts or Ys).  One has to meander to get from one place to another, often times using the tall buildings and towers to navigate from one place in the city to another. No one seems to mind this, at the comfortable pace of living the locals have. 

It is near impossible to determine what is used for what from the outside or even by general area.  This technique is used to confuse any strangers or any wayward spirits that might haunt or curse a place.  So a house is next to a shop, next to a water tower, next to the High Temple.

Avon is a city more by Imperial decree than actual size or purpose.  It looks like many of the sea side villages that dot the southern coastal region, just larger and with a city wall (two imperial strides tall) which it has yet to grow into.   The walls do not enclose the water side of the harbor area.  The piers jet out over the rocky shore lines into the water.  Since Avon makes most of its living from the sea, there are nearly as many boats as adult males. 

The streets are packed earth with additional stones packed in.  They get bog like in the spring and fall, but when the weather changes drastically, they become functional. 

Most of the buildings are tudor styled cottages (one to four room affairs), with slate roofs rather than thatch.  This means they have half-timbering (some of which is decorative), steeply pitched roof, prominent cross gables, small narrow windows, and large brick chimneys.  They are covered in an off white local plaster, with the half timbering showing. 

The larger buildings are tudor and neo-tudor in style, all with high pitched slate roofs.  They may have overlapping gables, enclosed entry ways, parapets, and beautifully patterned brick or stonework.  Newer buildings are taking their cue from Antioch, with asymmetrical configurations (one side lighter/ lower than the other) and a longer, narrower floor plan. 

These designs are fairly fire resistant, easy to replicate, and use local materials.

The only building of notes are the Imperial Hall and the Temple. 

The Imperial Hall is where the local clan/ guild council meets.  It also holds the Imperial Gate as well. 

The Temple is a huge affair, the size of a French Catholic Grand Cathedral.  It has a sleep hall and a community hall as well.  The clergy here supports the needs of all the Deities of all tiers in one building.  The beliefs here are more monotheistic, focused on Ge-Em than pantheistic as in most of Second and ThirdLand. 

Note: If you had visited a fishing town in England in the 1900s, you might think Avon a larger one. Until you saw the odd appearing MaskLanders and the furry folks of course.  Avon is closer to Mask and ForthLand.  Though the currents take one up the coast, many ships stop at Avon.  Being so close to the plains and lost biomes, there are a proportionally larger population of furry folks.  The people here treat the non-peoples more fairly than most other ThirdLanders.

Barrowtown grew up in the area that was a Royal Necropolis. At first it was a ramshacle place built with anything that came to hand, apart from the stones and earth of the royal barrows. Those that tried were slain by the wights within them. It was noticed that the wights would slay any criminals in their area, not just those that disturbed their barrows, and so traders and merchants came there and slowly the city improved. The houses were built of wood from the nearby forest. Pico-wood for the richest citizens, and oak for the middle class.The poor who cannot find a menial job as servants are moved on by the Barrowtown Constabulary.

By day the city is as busy as any other, by night nearly all people stay indoors. Mori rock is used to light houses as torches are considered a fire risk.

In the centre of the city is the Barrowtown Market, famous throughout the continent for it’s size and splendour.Anything legal and certain illegal things can be brought here for the right price.Some of the magical books are of black magic, amongst some of the spices are forbidden drugs, and assassins mingle with the crowds looking for someone to hire them, although they rarely kill anyone within the city or the Barrow-Downs, because if the city guards do not kill them, the wights almost certenly will when they try and leave the city.The wights know a lot of what goes on.

Everyone more or less knows what they can and can’t do in the area.Traveling along the roads is fine, going near the barrows is not.Once Queen Yocasta sent an army to try and take the city but they looted a barrow on the way and the wights came out en masse and slaughtered nearly the whole army.

Bayaallatalstonescha is a beautiful city. That by itself is not saying much, as all Elventi cities are beautiful. Bayaallatalstonescha is called beautiful by Elventi, one of the few places they actually apply that term to. It is on level peak on a tall mountain not too far from the shore.  In fact, on a clear day, one can see the ocean from appropriate places in the city.

The HomeTrees of the city are enhanced Redwoods and Sequoias. To say they are tall and large does not do them justice. No HomeTrees are larger and thicker in all the Elventi world. While they do not spread out like other home trees, they are quite tall… ten to fifteen levels are quite common, rather than the standard three to six. (That is to say they have ten to fifteen “floors” where buildings are nestled in their large branches, huts are snugged to the outside bark, and rooms are nestled into the trunk itself, and other tree shaping spaces, including branches that serve as paths, rope pathways, and the occasional stairs).

The HomeTrees are built to emulate a redwood cathedral, where a nearly perfectly round meadow exists where the now gone central tree has spawned eight to twelve offspring around it. From the internal central ring, there are five other rings outward. Each ring has younger and shorter HomeTrees (who’s growth is slightly arrested to make sure you can still see beyond the city from every ring).

Most of the Key Paths are circular, two for each ring, with occasional branch paths linking the rings.  Of course you could walk along the ground to reach the center of the city, but then you would find the hidden traps that are both well crafted and cunningly effective.

There is one stone arch at the edge of the city. The stairs that rise up from it are guarded. It is the only way in or out of the city with known safety.

It inner ring of the city is lit by many directed Glowspheres, the light dimming slightly as the night goes on. There is an occasional Elflight spread through out the city at night as well.

The city is nice, such that it is. The very center of the city… the center of the cathedral is what makes it special. It is a tower like no other in the world.

The Base is a grey black stone, two maybe three levels tall. It is circular and wider than the widest redwood based HomeTrees, some twelve Elventi across.  It has a few runes, reminiscent of HearthStone inscriptions. Extending from the base, some seven levels up, is a column of blue water. Inside this water are living fish, otters, seaweed, and an entire ocean ecology. So skillfully was it created that it takes no magic other than to slightly warm the water (and lighting it slightly during the night) and keep it in place,  to maintain this aquatic forest.  It was created to pay homage to the great living bay just off the coast that can be seen on a clear day. Those of the first few inner rings vie for locations that a glimpse or view of the livngskyshea or beautiful blue tower.

(In modern terms, the center tower is an aquarium some sixty feet in diameter and one hundred feet tall).

This Kerrenese town is of classic design.  It’s strong walls surrond the Cluster on three side, a large rocky cliff side closes the square.  It is not too far from the river, in fact on the occasions when it floods the walls act as a dyke protecting the city.  The walls are not as high as some cluster’s, but nothing too large lives in this region. 

The buildings are of the classic square adobe and plaster style (echoing the Cliff Dwellers of the SouthWest).  They are of one to two stories in height, asymetrical in roofheight (one side is one story, the other is two or one and a half).  There are ladders on the roofways, to facilitate travel up and down the roofs.  The buildings are washed white, but the light tan of the local clay and plaster mix makes everything a beige. The logs that are used as roof support jet out from the plaster as a decorative touch. On some of the older buildings, the logs have been carved with a dragon motiff and painted with the local Warren colors (HighBlue’s Skyblue and River BlueGreen).  Certain homes have put a light blue wash over their white, just to be different. 

The Streets and Pathways are narrow here, even by the Kerrenese standards. The streets are paved with river rocks and shale, with pathways being packed earth.  Most people take to the rooftop paths, lightly leaping the very short gaps that present themselves. 

The cliffward buildings are higher in altitude (and number of stories 2.5 to 3, instead of the normal 1.5 to 2) than their riverward counterparts.  From the roofs of these buildings, one can just make out BlueFord’s counterpart cluster on the other side of the river valley (BlueHill).

BlueFord has two sets of stairs that lead up from it to the Warren. The HighBlue warren is of a good size, with three full wings of Ryders for the entire Blue Valley Ward. 

On a flat plateu that forms the roof of the Warren, is the tourney grounds.  It is too cold and windy to be inhabited most of the time, but when the BlueValley tournament occurs, visitors can see the entire course from its vantage point.

Check out Kerren to understand everything about this post.

The underlying terrain of the city defines it. It is a large, broad mound. It is 30 meters tall, and 120 meters in radius. It was carved out by iceflows millennia ago. The rest of the area is fairly flat and somewhat marshy. 

The cluster is not perfectly Kerrenese, not being against a cliff or rocky outcropping. It does hold the highest ground for a good kilometer or two.  The city wall extends beyond and around the base of the mound.  It is fairly thick, five meters tall, and curved as it rises to prevent certain climbing saurians. 

The buildings are plastered adobe, with the traditional square shape and extending beams. They are all built out from the mound. They are of one to two stories in height, asymmetrical in roof height (one side is one story, the other is two or one and a half).  There are ladders on the roofways, to facilitate travel up and down the roofs.  The buildings are washed a brilliant blue white. The logs that are used as roof support jet out from the plaster as a decorative touch. Mounders tend to hang colorful streamers from these posts.  There is a complicated code of colors and lengths that communicate the achievements of the occupants of the house.

Many of the buildings above the top of the wall have large ballista like crossbows on their roofs. Just to deter the very persistent jumper or saurian. 

Broadmound actually builds into the hill as well. There is a warren like area inside the hill for clusterfolk. It is where most of the economics of the city are held.

The path up the mound is a spiral. Enterprising people who don’t mind being rude, can go straight up by climbing up and over people’s homes.  The spiral road is narrow by western standards, but there is very little space on this mound.

The Warren occupies the top three spirals of the mound (and all the hill inside there).  It is a small warren but BroadMound is not a big place.  It only supports 1 full wing and two broken wings. The broken wings are made up of people who have no place of their own, being between assignments from wings that have dissolved for one reason or another.

Bonzalia is a city on a site that has been inhabited for many, many centuries. Since earliest times, it has been known for its metal work (copper and bronze specifically) and this shows in its architecture. Its love of tradition also shows.

The city wall is circular with nine gates oddly spaced around it, each road that exits it leads either to the mines in the nearby hills or to another city site (which are either a trading partner, ex-trade partner, or a port).

Though all the buildings are square or rectangular, the plastering rounds every corner. Stairs leading to buildings are all low and rounded, puddling around the raised doors (done so to avoid oh so pleasant large rodentia that inhabit this region).  The building corners, both on top and bottom, have such stacked molding puddling around it (so it is stacked rounds of increasing size). The rounded edges are both decorative and give the rodentia less purchase to climb up on.

Towers, or two or three story stacks of smaller floors, are a common sight in the city. Bells are often installed in uppermost parts of these towers (both to beautify them, signify wealth of the house (as only the wealthy could commission a bronze bell), and to be rung to scare away evil spirits). The roofs in the city are normally thinly beaten copper (though some bronze is used) mounted to the actual roofing material.  Given a variety of mixes and the frequency of roof polisher visits, the angular peaked ribbed roofs vary from shiny reddish copper/bronze to a full green copper patina. The roofline is a symphony of harmonious metallic colors mixed with similarly colored smokes.

Outside Doors (and many older inside ones) here are always rounded upon the top, creating an arch effect. This is a hold over from an earlier peoples who lived on this site. 

Windows in the city always come in sets of three.  They are narrow and rounded upon the top. They always rise slightly from left to right. This inspiration comes from the ancient arrow slits, the size of the old horn windows, and the lack of skill of the early local glass makers who could only make smaller pieces of window glass. 

Any iron worked accessories of the city have a copper paint covering them.

All the woodwork in the city is of a local wood that becomes dark when stain/ sealant is applied. Copper or Bronze flakes are often added to the wood treatment to give it all an enhanced sheen and echo the metallic look which is so prevalent of the city

Calanderas is a beautiful city of hills, a tight cluster of hills.  It has a long and complicated history, all which can be seen in the city streets. Yet it is not for the buildings that it is beautiful.

The tallest hill, called "The High Point", has an Old Imperial Fort. Being the highest point for a days travel, it has a commanding view of the outlying terrain (the scattered trees and the vast farm and fields) and the two great roads. The stones were quarried from quite a ways away and brought here by Imperial soldiers, over their 90 year rule. The stone temple like structure and its courtyards are surrounded by stout low walls. While much of it is in disrepair, it is still magnificent in its size and column design.  The parts that are not in disrepair are being used by the current territorial governor and The Fifth Flag (military unit) which is assigned there.

The Old City is bounded by the Old Trench Wall and the second ring hills. The old trench wall, nor the original trench with sharp sticks is there. The only betraying clue is the dip and off colored ground that runs the rough circumference of the old city. The Old Imperial Laws prevented the village from being close to the fort, so it grew up on the low hills. The village developed into a town over the time of occupation. The buildings here are traditional Low Imperial with a small scattering of High Imperial.  So most of the buildings are one to two stories, squarish, wedged tightly together, with one to three families living in the various apartments. The streets were designed to be so narrow that only a single man, not a horse warrior, would be able to pass. That way the village served as a defensive wall in its own right. The few High Imperial buildings are the traditional bath homes, as well as a small circle theater and a tiny race track.

In the times of transition, the grip of Imperial law was weakened while the Orcen tribes and rebel Imperials ran rampant. The new city needed to be inside the actual walls constructed at the trench.  The outlying colonists pulled in towards the fort and built homes and businesses here on the hills between the Old City and the Fort. The roads are a bit wider, but they are steep and constantly switching back and forth along the hillsides. The alleys are frequently stairs, shortcuts between the streets. The houses are much the same as the old city, but taller, narrower and with more windows (since a glass smith must have arrived around that time). 

As times have changed and the barbaric has become the civilized, the outer city, the colonist city, has sprung forth. In actuality, the Outer City has officially expanded several times, each time in an approximate ring. As the property inside the city wall increased in value, those who were poor or new to the city found themselves living/ working outside the walls. (The stock and tallow yards have always been outside the walls). As these new "colonists" developed outside, new walls were built to protect them. The streets were wider than in another part of the city and the occasional home with a garden atrium was built.  The roads and alleys travel at odd angles and do not always link up with other streets outside the its ring. There are a few odd segments of wall standing, as the old wall is mostly cannibalized to make the new wall, and a few parts are left behind for various reasons. The current breed of colonists (as opposed to OldCityfolk) are currently building a new wall to surround the growth from the last fifty years.  

It might be noted that people seldom paint their outside walls. They use a white rough plaster. The city should be tired and boring, but it is not.  Calanderas is one of the most beautiful cities in the world not for its architecture, but for its wild life.  The city is a wild riot of color for most of the year, as greens and colorful wildflowers cascade down the roofs, gutters, and walls. The local vines Treller Vine harbor other plants that are seldom seen on The Marches. Most walls are half shaded by vine walls of Treller Vines and flowers, growing from the top down, rather than ground up like in other places.  Many roofs have become gardens due to the vines and the flowers.  The scent of the city is similar to a high garden or tropical jungle. While it causes many newcomers to have watery eyes and sneeze, it is a source of pride for the Colonists and the Cityfolk.

Cambria is built along both sides of the Kalander river as it empties into the Greater Bay.

The buildings in Cambria are of a Neo-Tudor style. The exteriors are usually a white stucco, with some half-timbering (wooden beams embedded in the stucco, some for support others for looks. Other characteristics include high-pitched roofs (covered in slate), asymmetrical configurations, enclosed entryways, fireplaces with ornamented chimneys and chimney pots, and casement windows.

Most of the buildings are two to three stories tall. They are longer than wide (more like a 2 to 1 ratio), with their main entrance facing the street. The second story usually extends beyond the first, allowing for enclosed or covered entries in front and back. The back of a house faces the back of another house on the next block. If there is a business in the building (which is usually the case), the business is downstairs, while the family and workers live upstairs.  Manor homes are larger, squarer, and only two stories in height. They share most of the same features as more common homes.  They are also surrounded by large fences normally.  There are alleys between the various buildings here, mostly for fire control. Some of these alleys have been converted into small shady gardens.

Many of town homes from long ago have been broken up into apartments. So there will be five to ten people living in the same "house".

The roads are a smoothed cobblestone. There are normally wide sidewalks made of the local concrete. The roads are slanted to drain off the side of the roads into the gutters.  There is a deep undercity here where the sewage drains.

There is a horse drawn trolly system in much of the town. The Green Cars and clanging bell add both noise and an odd charm to the city. Long ago, the locals tried to prevent so many horses and people on the city streets. First the carts occurred, to avoid the horse tax, they caused almost as many problems as they solved. One ingenious council member whos business worked with the nearby mines thought of the track system to standardized things (like paths, schedules, size of carts, and so on.

The river is spanned by three bridges, all quite large and thick.  The bridges are practical affairs, not artistic by any stretch. However, they are large enough and tall enough to allows full rigged sailing ships (river schooners) under them.

The "Great Buildings" (those that break the mold) are all in the city center (portside bank going up river, the center of the city of that side). Here the buildings are four, five, even ten stories tall. The buildings here are stone, granite block, affairs. Great Businesses (exchanges, banks, regional governmental offices, grand guilds, various societies) are side by side with the supporting businesses (scribers, messengers, appraisers, enchanters, and restaurants/ clubs).  Even the great temples for the region are here. Very few people live down town. They travel to manor homes or apartments in other parts of the city. Given the trolly, it takes no more than an hour to reach any part of the city. 

The Great Buildings have become roosts to various Gargoyle troops. These creatures watch over their towers and buildings, asking nothing more than to be left alone.

During most of the year the nomads of the Bushlands wander in small groups, seeking pasture for their animals and food for themselves, over a vast area. But during the coldest three months of the year they come together for warmth and to trade with each other and pool supplies if things get really cold.

Outside Canvas City is a wooden wall of stakes that is seven feet tall.Horses will not charge such a wall,and nor will any dangerous animals on the plains, and it also keeps out the troublesome who break the rules and the downright dangerous. Half a mile away downwind are the latrines where people must go to releave themselves.

Within the city the tents are spaced in blocks with streets running between them like a military camp.At the centre are stalls where the trading is done and a central firepit sunk into a whole in the ground.Whilst normally the nomads have no need for police, in the city it is different with so many strangers all crammed together, so the Tent Police, who wear blue armbands and headbands and carry clubs,keep order, and make sure that all but the guards who take turns to man the walls hand their weapons in to a central point.

Criminals are beaten and expelled from the city, and murderers are burnt alive in the firepit, but in practise there is very little crime, and only about one murder every decade.Partly this is because there is very little difference between rich and poor amongst the nomads.

Near the centre of the city is a great gong of brass that takes three people to ring it-this is for use in the most dire emergency should they come under attack, and summons a great Brass Dragon from his hills to the west.
Since they have been feeding this dragon with a tenth of their flocks for decades, he has a personal intrest in keeping his “tenants” alive.So far they have never had to use the gong.

Carnous is the famous Boardwalk city, built upon the toxic lands of The Wastes. Here the land is slowly corrosive to the touch, causing illness with prolonged contact. The bubbling sulfur and ectomass pools (HellPits too) are especially lovely, if you have the right aesthetic. The soil is soft and any heavy object slowly sinks.  If it was not for the special resources here (dyes, alchemical elements, resins,  Grimrock, Verner glands, etc), it would be a place that no one would come.

Carnous is a wooden city that is never stationary. All the buildings are wooden, built upon wooden platforms.  They are usually one story, but there are a few two story buildings. There are boardwalks and bridges (wood and pitched ropes) that connect the various platforms. The longer the platform is in contact, the more likely it is to fall apart. Thus the older parts of the city are not that old, as the truly old part have collapsed into the soft soil, first being rubble, then a green globby mass. The City Pilot, the head councilman, keeps plotting a new course… where new buildings/ platforms are built in that direction.

The local woods are blond in color, quite flexible and light. (Local is an approximate, all good wood is from the edges of the toxic lands). In the end, all buildings here are temporary. Though you would never know that given the craftsmenship invested in them.  Door frames, Frame beams, and Roof Trims are intricately carved. Various clans in the city have their own distinctive patterns, so you can tell ownership of the building (or at least who built it) by carefully looking at the patterns carved in. Interior walls and some exterior ones (for less secure buildings) are made of thick lacquer paper to save upon weight. The presence of these translucent walls helps "light up" the city at night. One would think fire would be a constant danger here, but the resins used to preserve the wood from the corrosion help to make it fairly fire resistant.

There are airship docks and Verner/ Giant Wormish pens spread along the edges of the city. These are the only safe entrance and exit ports for the city. Walking or riding a normal beast is not an option here. In fact, the cry "Soul Overboard" will galvanize every native to action, gathering ropes and vaulting on poles out to the person in an attempt to save them before the soil claims them.

Celedor by the River is a city of brick and river stone. The same famous brown bricks and dark brown earthen stones that built up Celedor of the Hill’s famous walls are ever present here. Except for a few dockside shacks, every building here is made of the sturdy stuff. The high-pitched roofs, covered in the reddish brown native slate, help fend off the winter’s thick snows and spring’s heavy and unpredictable rains. Every home has at least one cosy hearth with an extended chimneys. Enclosed entryways and overhangs help to protect the warmth of the house and those entering and exiting from the extremes of weather found here.  

Glass is ever present here. The city was built after the glassworks was built by the large brick works up the Rodean River (a good stonesthrow up the river, nearly halfway to Celedor of the Hill). Every house, even the most modest, has windows. Small windows dot the buildings letting in light. Most open, so summer breezes can help cool the sweltering and humid summer heat.

“No street is straight in Celedor by the River” is a quip as much about the actual streets as it is about the honesty of its officials. The cobblestone streets either parallel either river or follow the contours of the many low hills that funnel the two rivers together. The buildings are uniformly square or double wide (two squares together) and face the nearest street squarely. The property lines are just as “wavy” and usually marked by low cobblestone walls. These walls often have moss lines showing where the most recent floods reached up to. Most of the spare space in the property are filled with well maintained gardens and small statuary. Businesses always have odd alleys between them. It is quite difficult to navigate the streets if you are not familiar with them. They bend and curve and there are no signs anywhere.

Bridges

There are five bridges in the City.  Three cross the Mighty Blue Arrow. Two are north of the junction, one to the south.  These were built after the destruction of the original two after the Pylarthian War. The three identical brown spans are made up of eight arches bridging the river. The size of the arches is dictated by the Prince, who uses it to determine the proper size of each river flat moving up and down the river (thus the freight tax is based on size of load, one raft for one tax token. The Middlemost Bridge has the name of the Trade Bridge, as it links to Grand Ave and most traders move good across the river on this one.  Twenty large docks made of stone and wood, and dozens of tie offs are spread between the three bridges on the eastern side. There are a few tie offs on the western side, but those are reserved for city craft not trade.

The other two bridges, the incredibly wide “Closer” and the more conventional “Farther”, link the two sides of the Rodean River coming down from the north east to merge with the fast running Blue Arrow. Closer Bridge links Grand Avenue Norte and Surte. This wide boulevard has trees and wondrous plants in the center and wide boardwalks on either side. The Doshin road (no longer just being a caravan trade route) begins at the south end of Grand Ave.

The Districts

The hilly Norte district (east of Blue Arrow, north of Rodean) is filled with fine homes of the Elites with their large sided lots. These are fine older homes, many smaller than one would expect. While wealthy, some do show their age.

The Surte district (east of Blue Arrow, south of Rodean) has the beautiful temple district as well as the Forum Hall - a greek styled theatre with “stadium seating” enclosed in a hall, with huge glass panes set in the roof to let in the light. There are many inns and places of entertainment here as well, as travellers passing through usually first enter here. There is a Mound Field on the current south eastern outskirts of the district.

The Oeste district is all west of the Blue Arrow. Closest to the river, traders trade, workmen work, crafters craft, and the noise proves it. The Salles, the Elite Swordsmen schools (see Battle Sashes) are found here as well. A ways from the river, those that profit from the trade as well as those who can wish homes in the Celedor district but are not blue blooded enough to have a ancestral home in Celedor on the Hill or the Norte District live here. Farther out, the city begins to sprawl outward with new buildings.

The famous Towers of Celedor

All around Celedor by the River there is no wall, only Post Towers. These two story defensive posts are built on the “outskirts” of the city at the time, often along main routes and choke points. They look like small castle rooks, or end towers: with arrow slits, crenulated tops, and stout doors. When manned, they are manned by two to four warriors. One can measure the growth of the city by seeing where the lines of Post Towers are.  There are Post Towers dotting the river, especially since the river campaign that destroyed the twin bridges. There are many towers in the Northern area of the city, facing the Pythorian threat. Currently there are a few on the westernmost section of Oeste, a large line of them demarking the line of between the “new buildings” New Oeste and the houses of the Old Oeste (those of the wealthy). There is a full line around the Norte section and much new growth along the current edges Surte, especially towards Grand Ave. Given the history of marching armies in the area, they do not disassemble the inner ones to make new outer ones like other cities do.  They know the battle can be anywhere in the city or riverfront.

The city of Chedru is one of the strangest Elventi cities in existence.  It echos the traditional giant HomeTrees and catwalks between them of "normal" Elventi city.  Yet there is no forest here.  The Elventi were deposited here, far from the green trees and mountains of their traditional homelands.  The mechanism of this travel is not discussed by the Elders.

The area around Chedru is warm, dry, and rocky.  Grasses and Mushrooms were the only plant life here, and the mushrooms were only along the riverbank. Using their knowledge of Elventi Enchantment, they adapted to this new land. 

Chedru is a city of giant Mushrooms and bamboo catwalks over a wide and slow flowing river. The Mushrooms take the place of HomeTrees, mystically shaped trees that serve as Elventi homes.  These mushrooms are the size of sequoias and redwoods and three times their diameter. The Elventi live in and along the stalks of these giant Mushrooms. There are rooms carved into stalks and under the caps of these mushrooms.  Along the stalks they have made shelves of bamboo.  These shelves stick out like a shelf fungus on a tree.  Some of these shelfs are open air patios, others have grass huts built into them.  While there are HearthStones here, they are rare and only used for cooking.  It simply is warm enough here to not need home heating. 

Each extended family has one HomeShroom, and others are used exclusively for storage, craft work, and future considerations. There are 80 HomeShrooms in Chedru. All are protected by the artfully hidden CityCairns.

These HomeShrooms are connected by a maze of bamboo catwalks.  (The Bamboo is not really bamboo, it was merely a marsh grass when the Elventi first got here and shaped it).  They stretch incredible distances across the watery expanses, supported by delicate rope strands intricately woven together.  The patterns of the weave are visible only from a distance.  Each walkway is railed, unlike most Elventi walk ways.  There seems to be no good reason for it, just that is how the first one was, and all the rest followed that example.  Along each railing, there are blue glow ball lamps. 

The presence of Glow ball lamps 1283 along the walkways, and in the underside of the Homeshrooms (creating a overlight effect), make Chedru a City of Lights. The Elventi adapted the local glowbugs, trapping their essence in orbs, for illumination.  Each one puts out a gentle white blue glow. (These are very different from the highly magical and difficult to make greenish MageGlobes that illuminate most Elventi cities). Since they are able to easily and quickly make glow balls, they are everywhere here. 

A side note: In the Evenings, many blue glowbugs flit around the city, attracted by the blue glows of the GlowLights. Some of the bridgeway designers have taken advantage of this fact.  They have placed glow balls and scent pots in their woven bridge supports.  The glowbugs are attracted to certain strands and illuminate hidden patterns at night. 

Floating at the water level of most HomeShrooms are ring walkways.  Fish pens and river fronds are walkways.  They are only reachable by rope ladders that are easily pulled up. There are certain animals that would climb up on these rings and up any stairs for a meal.  Thus they are only accessible by their rope ladders. 

The Elventi do not have any water craft of their own. They do not know how to make them, but they are aware of their existence. If there was no bridge, someone would have to swim to shore (a difficult task given the distance). 

There are only three bridges from Chedru to the riverbanks. This is how the Elventi hunting and gathering parties, and the rare traders,  reach the lands about them.  While they are guarded, they can be made to break and fall apart by the guard on the city side pulling a single cord.

Most people assume The Marches are a broad flat plain, maybe with a few low hills. In the Northern parts, there are a few mountain spurs (very small chains) that creep into the plains. It is fairly hot here, like in most of the Marches, but the winters are dry and cold.

Chelokhan is nestled between two close mountains (north and south, with plains to the east and west).  These two small mountains have a number of valuable mines honeycombing them. Like all of The Marches, the signs of multiple ownership show through, as there is no one over themed style but a mishmash of Eastern, Western, and Souther building styles. The houses are mostly white, but there are a variety of earth tones added to their paints and plasters. Most of the buildings have a red clay roofs just because of the clay deposits in the nearby river. The tiles are in a variety of styles, some even emulating shake and shale roofs.

Chelokhan has three distinctive features besides being between two mountains. The first is The Skycart. At the foot of either mountain there is a well travelled large mine entrance. In fact there are many stalls and carts selling things in that long entrance shaft.  At the end of the shaft, there is an elevator which brings one up to the platform.  Strung between the platforms on both mountains, a good twenty feet above any building in town, is a strong metal twine. The wooden Skycart which will carry about 15 to 20 people based upon weight. It is pulled to and fro between the platforms by a Grantz that turns a gear. The Skycart has a canvas roof to allow its use in slightly inclement weather. It can afford someone a great view of the city and really is the fastest way across town. It is practically free, being only two pins (small coppers).

The second is the Cinemal, a large open air theater (or very small colosseum depending on who you talk to).  Built here by the Scallians to help ensure their claim here before their civil war, it has become the center of civic life. It can hold a good 2/3s the current population of the city.  Here plays are performed, public debates are held, exhibits are presented, and the occasional duel (private or sponsored) is held. (Remember dueling is allowed here, just not spontaneous duels).

The third is the small Underground community here.  There is a strange polyglot of deep dwellers here, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Goblins all united in their desire to live underside. They have put aside cultural and political differences here, realizing that they have more in common with each other than with the topsiders. The Underground is a fairly new area, so it has little in the way of artistic and craftsmen flairs one would expect of an Dwarventi tunnel or vault.  The entrance to their community is off the entrance to the Northern Skycart. It is a small community, but a strong presence here in the city.

To really appreciate this city image, please check out the Nekron first.

Cheza Betaze is the 17th Nekron urban area found in the Northern Cascades. The reasons why it is the best known of all Nekron cavern cities is that is has an easily accessible surface entrance/ exit which is just off the main Cascade trade trails. Being of recent construction in a time of prosperity, it is a city the Nekron feel proud off.

The entrance to the city that Light Siders come from provides a spectacular view of the city, being it enters the cavern some ninety strides up from the floor. There is a steep and winding trail that leads down to the city floor. The trail from the cave entrance was excavated out, but is used for mushroom farming and as bat warrens. It is currently being widened, as it was not created to handle the amount of traffic it does.

The buildings are tall and square. They are large edifices of large block quarried stone. They can be up an unheard of ten stories tall.  Each building has a uniformed one window every three strides or so.  The upper corners of almost all the buildings and all visible lintels are all decorated by master craftsmen.  The main theme here is bats (being a several large bat warrens in this area of the cavern system).  There are bat heads in fierce repose, bats rampant, bats seemingly flying, and the occasional bat like gargoyle lurking on the rooftop looking to swoop down at any reason. 

Many of these squarish buildings are linked by bridges, walk ways really. Used to living in a three dimensional environment, and with seemingly no fear of heights, the Nekron can traverse the city quite quickly despite its size on any number of levels. Some of the decoration on the underside of the bridges is both frightening and highly artistic. Spiders are their dominant motif. The scenes are amusing to the Nekron despite their sometime horrific and graphic depiction of being being eaten. (It is some kind of social commentary that you have to know the history of the place to get). 

There are also a few mobile disks that float through the air, carrying Nekron up and down between levels and along certain paths. These marvels of magic are somehow tied to the three dominant towers in the city.

The buildings and their decorations are dramatically under lit by the odd harsh purple light that the Nekron seem to favor.  While normal light occasionally peers out of a curtained window, most of the light here has that purple cast. This choice in lighting adds to the macabe feel of the city. It is also what makes it hauntingly beautiful.

The four most striking buildings in the city are the City Center and the three magic towers. The Civic/ city center building is a series of blocks, smaller blocks built upon larger blocks below them.  Each tier houses a different aspect of their local government and has its own entrance.  All the doors here are flanked by two statues of fierce Nekron warriors, much suits of platemail flank doors in castles. The Civic center is lit over every square inch, the reflected light illuminates the ceiling of the cavern.

The tall three magic towers are beautiful. Different from the square blocky buildings, they are round and tapered. They are made of a mix of stone and glass, allowing one to see what one supposes is the “flow of magic” inside the tower. (There is also some kind of spinning mechanism insides the towers, which empowers an artistic chandelier in the rotunda at the bottom of the tower).  They are topped with silvery sphere. On those spheres perch large bat like gargoyles artwork, once facing each of the cardinal directions. Those gargoyle’s eyes glow with a bright purple glow.

A horrific, but beautiful place to visit.

The golden age of Chiaroscuro is best remembered in it’s glorious architecture. During it’s heyday, the city was home to over a quarter of a million inhabitants, each playing a role in a thriving cultural, industrial, and agrarian superpower. The city started as an agricultural trade point straddling no fewer than three major trade routes. From the north came iron, coal, and exotic cold water good such as ambergris and whale oil. From the east came shipments of rare and exotic woods, cloth of silk and worked turquoise and gold. From the south came amethyst, rubies, black obsidian, and wheat by the ton. All of these came together at Chiaroscuro, where dozens of markets hawked wares from the different regions. Cloth was traded for gold, jewels for spices, and in some less savory markets gold for flesh.

The heart of the city was the Grand Market, an area of six acres devoted solely to concerns of trade and commerce. The market was bisected by a wide canal that served to move heavy barges through the heart of the city, as well as making a convenient sewer for sweeping animal manure and human wastes into. As such, the water was considered the dirtiest and most foul liquid to be found in the four kingdoms! The Triptych statue of the Queen is located in the heart of the Great Market and was to be a monument to her.

The Triptych Statue
The statue depicted the queen in three ages, the youngest as a child, frolicking with her companion, a tawny kitten. The second age shows the Queen as an adolescent, the kitten having grown into a healthy lioness. The last image shows the queen as an adult, her face serene and wise, the lioness now laying at her feet.
The Queen accepted the statue with grace, but inside she knew it to be a slap in the face. The face of the child was wide eyed with ignorance, stumbling over her own feet, and the adolescent was arrogant and had the vanity that is afforded only to youth. Only the eldest of the three, the one that had seemingly submitted to her king’s will was unmarred by an undertone of some other meaning. That face was smiling and serene…blank.
Yet when the Shadow rose to its malignancy, and the King and his elite soldiers were taken by it, the Queen was ready for the shadow menace. She scaled the Triptych and placed the jewel around the neck of the adolescent queen. Once in place, the jewel flared to life, casting a scarlet light that drove the shadow creatures from the main plaza where the statue stood. The Swollen Shadow had been itself deceived by the queen, and had been trapped. It had sworn a pact to cover Chiaroscuro from the sun in the place of the Golden Eagles so long as the city stood, a fact that it had planned on changing as soon as possible.
Now, the heart of the city, its monuments and palaces were protected from the Shadow and it’s haints and shades. It could not extend a tendril to crack the stones or snuff the life from those who dwelt in the light of the stone. Nor could it leave the vicinity of that light, for it had sworn a pact to stand sentinel over the city until it’s end…

South Ward
South of the Market is the Towers District, easily recognized for the broad palaces that line the wide avenues and the ornate facades that decorate the buildings and hide the roofline from the street. Each block is host to dozens of Belvedere, or viewing towers that are as ornately decorated as the facades. More surprising are the machiolated, or murder-holed, positions in the facades and towers. In more violent times, the city would be attacked and the locals defended themselves from their homes with boiling oil, lead, or fire-hot sand. Those times ended well before the prosperity of the city, but the martial aspect remained a popular feature, one that would serve the residents of later generations.

North Ward
North of the Market is the Hammer District, a working region that was once host to scores of tanners, blacksmiths, and butchers. Their tasks and goods were essential for the survival and function of the city, providing it with food, leather, metal goods and the like. But these industries were filthy, loud, and foul smelling. Placed to the north, the southern winds blew the fume away from the city except for the worst of the summer months when the Eagles would take the southern wind in their talons to let the cool wind from the north bring the needed rains. During this time, many of these industries would go to a low production mode, or even close up shop for a month or so.

East Ward
The Eastern portion of the city was dominated by the royal palace of the noble Lord and lady, as well as the governing halls of the guilds, the homes of the wealthy, and their gardens and stables. The most notable feature was the canal as it cut across the eastern district into a series of noble financed terraced pools and watery labyrinths to be navigated by gondola. Separating the eastern section from the rest of the city was the much small Gate and Barracks districts that housed the city guard, the royal cavalry, and the barracks of the militias.

The Palace of Broken Columns
Formerly the King’s Hall, this magnificent structure dominates the Eastern District, its many towers giving a commanding view of the city and its surrounding environs. It was here that the Swollen Shadow was first summoned, and it was here that the King and his Royal Cuirassers faced the shadow and were slaughtered. The building is massive, its face decorated with panoramic bas-relief sculptures and statues of noble kings and queens, lions and eagles. Inside the great hall are rows and rows of pillars that support the vaulted ceiling. The ceiling itself is painted in frescoes of eagles grasping the winds, and of lords plowing the fields, purely symbolic of course. No king in the history of Chiaroscuro ever plowed more than a single furrow a year, and that was only for ceremonial purposes.

Sitting in the throne of the king is the heart of the Swollen Shadow, a lump of darkness so dense that it has weight and substance to it (the umbral clot). From this seed grows the vast sheets of darkness that create the entity known as the Swollen Shadow. Many years ago, Nayer and his band of slayers penetrated the district and made a frontal assault against the Shadow in the King’s Hall. It was by the power of Glosamagar that many of the columns inside were splintered or shattered, and would known afterwards as the Palace of Broken Columns. He despaired as he discovered that his sword could cut stone, but not shadow. It was this weakness that allowed the Swollen Shadow to infest Nayer, making him into one of the fearsome Haints…who still wields Glosamagar, though its power to cleave materials has fallen dormant since the shadow infestation.

West Ward
The Western district was the commoner side of the city and by far the largest. Warehouses crowded along with cheap taverns and inns, multi-story wooden tenements houses the multitudes who worked the bellows, and swept the streets, and who would ride the morning wagons out to the lord’s fields. This district was subdivided into no fewer than 17 wards, each the jurisdiction of a royal Gendarme. Cobbler ward was home to shoe makers and others who worked leather, while the Trotts ward was among the poorest and best known for 2 copper whores and lice infested flop-houses.

The Undercity
The most unique thing about Chiaroscuro was the long and elaborate construction of the undercity. While there was no labyrinthine maze of corridors and passages, several large avenues were dug under the earth, their walls sealed with a stone and lime aggregate (concrete) and a ceiling supported by wooden and stone beams. Through these under streets, lit by grates in the ceiling and braziers of southern peat, cattle were moved to the market, or to the butchers. Fodder and flour were moved through these passages too, the carts and oxen rested and watered in stalls 8 feet underground. An entire guild and community grew in these passages, expanding some of them into miniature mansions under ground, moving often as much earth in the wagons as they did grain or fuel for the forges.

Under the Shadow
When the Shadow came, some things changed. With the first crop saved from ruin, the market remained open, but the rain flooded the canal. Many of the noble’s gardens were turned into swampy bogs and morasses. Some of the undercity was flooded too as the banks of the canal breached, but it was simply a test of ingenuity to waterproof the walls further up and to add a superior drainage system. But things were still not settled. When the malignancy of the Shadow was revealed, and the King’s charge failed to defeat it, the shadow settled across the city.

Now that the city had been displaced from conventional reality, caravans and traders dried up to almost nothing, the market languished, and bathed in the red light of the Queen’s Stone, the people became disheartened. Much of the northern district flooded with water and raw shadow. It became a place of teeming evil and crawling things.  The palaces and keeps of the Noble District were struck worse, as the Swollen Shadow sank its great tumescent mass into the King’s Palace. Its minions, the new Haints took their abodes from the most powerful of Chiaroscuro’s elite. If the north district became a hazard, the eastern became a nightmare of terrible proportion.

The western district faired the best, receiving more of the ruby light and being more strongly warded by the queens magics than the abandoned Eastern district. While many of the streets became water-logged and home gardens became cauldrons of soupy mud, the district survived. The buildings are gray and green with mildew and creeping molds, the windows grimy and dirty, those that haven’t been filled with plaster or boarded over to keep in the light. Inside is little better, with houses either being cluttered with sentimental wreckage, or being so clean that austere doesn’t even begin to describe them.

Roleplaying Notes
The city of Chiaroscuro is the City of Shadows, and is an integral part of the Swollen Shadow Codex.

De Maddenville sprawls across a sixth of the island of Banhoesea, and was built when the De Madden Company was young, around a bay that provided a handy deepwater port for traders. The harbour is packed with seagoing craft, from the fishing smacks to the ten masters with a great variety in between. All around the city is a great wall to withstand the worst that the sea can throw at it.

Space is limited so most of the houses only have three or four rooms, and they are tall flats.Unable to expand outward any further, the city has expanded upwards.There are strict building regulations as the buildings have to be strong enough to withstand a direct tusnami strike or an attack by the giant G’Thrann.

There is a great warren of tunnels, sealed off from the heat of the dry season and the rain of the wet season with slabs of stone supported by mutiple pillars,with gaps to let a few rays of daylight in.By night people often carry torches to light their way.At most times of the day and night the tunnels are packed with people, going to and from their jobs, their ships, their schools and the shops.

Interesting parts of the city include the marble Company House, where the city is run from, with it’s ornatly carved gargoyles in the shapes of Sea Spiders and Sirens,and the tall Tower of the Dead, where smoke billows out day and night from the cremation pyres, and the sounds of weeping and wailing is heard from the relatives of the dead.

At the tallest part of the city is one of the few quiet places, the fenced off Noble’s Graveyard,where the bodies of the richest nobles and one or two commoners who preformed a truely splendid deed in life lie in tombs of green jade, with golden coins upon their eyes.In a place where sea burial is greatly feared and land burial is almost impossible, a grave for one’s dead body is the greatest honour that can be given after death…it means that even in death you are seen as very important.

Gaslight is a city-state of the Byzant Empire.  Nestled among the hills, it was once a simple trading post between the horse breeders on the vast plains, and several small Dwarven Kingdoms-in-exile (moved to escape Hobgoblin persecution in what is now the Kingdom of Formour).  Gaslight is now well known for the feature that earned its name:  the multitide of gas-fed street lanterns.  While surveying the area for mineral resources, the Dwarves had discovered a pocket of dangerous and highly flamable gas directly underneath what is now a growing city.  Knowing that the pocket would be safe for millions of years, barring an unfortunate and severe seismic incident, the Dwarves were unconcerned.  That is, until the growing population meant that the Humans needed to drill deeper for water…

The tapping of this pocket could have been potentially disastrous.  Not only is the gas highly flamable, but it forces breathable air aside.  Fortunately for the inhabitants, the one who breeched this bubble of hazzard, was one Akaviah Surtsblood, a Dwarven technomancer.  Surtsblood’s idea was simply to create a controlled burn, possibly connected to a new forge for himself.  It was a Human alchemist of Surtsblood’s acquaintance, Malchia of Al Biqa’, who suggested using the gas for a lantern (Al Biqa’‘s original idea was only for Surtsblood’s home & workshop, with a very large lamp above).  Al Biqa’ proved invaluable in helping Surtsblood in gaging the exact fuel-air mixtures needed for maximum light & safety, with minimum smoke & soot. Akaviah Surtsblood’s workshop still stands; its thick iron domed walls containing the redundant pressure regulators that prevent disaster, and pipe the gas to the various lampposts throughout the city.

Disasters of the past have occurred.  Some of the older buildings still bear black marks from the last incident involving rampaging flaming destruction.  The citizens of Gaslight are now quite content with the series of safety measures in place currently.   While it is illegal to tamper with the lanterns, some citizens emplaced coloured lenses over the clear glass to give streets or neighbourhoods a distinct tint in the light.  In some lesser areas of the city, those homeless or otherwise very poor huddle around the green-painted poles, trying to cook from the heat rising from the shielded tops. 

The lamps are lit day and night, and are tended to by the lamp guild, on exclusive contract to the city-state’s government.  Their job is to ensure that no leaks, blowouts, or pressure irregularities occur.  Since the multiple redundancies and guild have been emplaced, there has not been any incidents.  However, the inhabitants still do not build wooden structures.  Even street vendors are likely to be seen in a stone or tile hut, or none at all.  The citizens of Gaslight are a pragmatic folk, while they feel safe—and love the lights—they feel that having wooden roofs & walls are only inviting disaster.

Ages ago, some peoples transported hundreds of stones from a quarry fifteen days away (by normal travel).  Most of these stones have been carved into stele. Most stele are heavy browed, tiki-esk faces. Others have animal faces. There is a semi-random pattern around The Geon. There may of been some reasoning behind it but that has been lost to the winds of time. No one knows the original reason for the stele. All can agree to that the Geon is a holy point, a place where the spirit world touches the Earth.

Geon’kic is a city of blankets stung between stele and tents supported by the same. The ties have been secured into steles over the centuries and are reused by every one. The pathways in Geon’kic are every changing. In many ways they resemble the trails. Groups making up temporary neighborhoods can be seen by their blankets/ tent patterns. Every few intersections there are public cooking fires.

Water is the only problem here. There is a number of rivers that run around the Geon’kic. It is on raised land, so it might flood once every century or two. So a group will send someone with a water vase to the river and they will carry it back, so the group can drink. Offal and other garbage is taken out in closed skins and buried somewhere beyond the Geon’kic. This is a holy place, so nothing soiling it can be allowed.

Geon’kic centers around The Geon. The Geon is a huge round stone. Thirty men, linking hands can barely reach around the Geon. The Geon is raised a good step up from the ground level. At ground level, there are flag stones around it for another 10 paces. The reason for the Geon is the Trails of Existence. There is an intricate pattern of lines, swirls, and circles, engraved into it that still shows strong after centuries of weathering. Shamans, outlanders who study magic, and those of the people who seek wisdom contemplate the patterns. The patterns are known to draw a spirit out, to pull the living into the spirit realm and the spirts down to the earth. The trails are used in the making of magic as well. Oaths, Vows, and Wedding Vows made around the Geon are binding, empowered with the force of spirit/ magic.

Since no violence is supposed to happen with Geon’kic, on the other sides of the various rivers and streams that border it, where the offal and trash is buried, is a newly constructed ring. Here all the duels are fought and blood is shed. The bodies are sometimes carried home by various tribes/ bands/ groups, but in many cases the bodies are dumped into the offal pits.

Out here, off to the sides of the rivers, “herders” watch the horses of various tribes who can not bring them into the holy site. The existence of herders and people watching the herds has created two small “villages” of smei-permanent tents, where these people stay.

History
The city of Kaldarien is a major port on the Isle of Wildenmeer, often called the isle of the twin duchies, and is the capital of the southernmost duchy; Wildengreeve. It is from this city that the aging duke Valefinazzio rules. His benevolent government is a boon, a blessing even considering the grim years under the Dark Prince’s rule. Fortunately those days were ended by the tip of Valefinazzio’s sword some 35 years ago.

Today Kaldarien is a bustling port, ships around the world often display the dark green and orange banner of Wildengreeve and its sailors can be found in most dockside taverns anywhere on the globe.

Originally the city was a pirate’s shanty town built upon the five small isles that lie close to the southern coastline of Wildenmeer. Due to the fact that it is an ideal natural port, besides lying at the mouth of important waterway river Laro, it boomed into a prospering town and a nexus of several important trade routes. Eventually the pirates were driven away, its importance could no longer be denied, and Prince Leothon the Torch declared it the capital of the Principality of Wildenmeer. Eventually the town grew into a city, and houses were built upon the shallow water as there was no more room on the islands.

Description
When approaching the port city by sea, one would find the northern horizon dominated by thousands of dots of light at night. At daytime most first time visitors marvel at the fact that almost all of the houses are built upon brick or wooden pillars in the water.

Most of the important buildings are located on the five small islands. The largest island, Citadel Isle, is where the highest ground can be found, mere 100 feet above the waterline. Here the Citadel is located. Formerly it was renowned for the Prince’s dark dungeons, but nowadays the orange and green banner of Valefinazzio is proudly displayed all the way from the barbican and up to the very gates, a comforting reminder for the elderly that the days of darkness are long gone.

The citadel houses the city watch and the Duke’s own guard, the Orange Pikemen. During the days of the Dark Prince, the Orange Pikemen was the band of renegades that fought alongside Duke Valefinazzio against the oppressor and their deeds are legendary. Most often they are confined to citadel duty, but when they enter the streets on the winter and summer solstice masquerades, the population cheers and howls. Old men and women begin crying, remembering lost ones and honouring the deeds of the Orange Pikemen, and young women run up the handsome guardsmen offering roses as a token of romantic interest. Indeed it is a mark of accomplishment for a family to get their young sons into the Duke’s Guard and retired Guardsmen are awarded an honourable treatment and discounts in the city.

On Temple Isle, the main temples of worship circle the Temple Plaza. Here the pious gather to worship on the quarterly mass when all the Arch-Bishops and Patriarchs gather in the entryway of their respective temples. The religious leaders of every deity then collectively sing the Hymn of Divinity, a solemn praise to the Gods and their creation. At the end of the song the crowd joins in on the praise and the song can be heard all the way up to the Citadel where the Duke can be seen listening on his balcony.
Noble Isle is the place where old money and established nobility has built impressing mansions of marble and brick. Angelic statues and fabulous fountains is commonplace while the nobility here actually have small gardens surrounded by walls and fences. In a city where space is extremely limited, such luxury is rare.

The city surrounding Noble Isle has in later years become a fashionable place to live. The nouveau riche and younger members of nobility make their homes here and the hottest location is Adel Canal, where exquisite mansions front the waterway. Here several outstanding establishments have appeared, catering to the rich and noble. It has become custom for the Gondolas filled with masked nobility to end their summer and winter solstice procession through Adel Canal at the fashionable festhall “Lady Caroussa’s Winehouse”, a huge mansion partially surrounding a small square. On the western side, the square fronts the canal and here the Gondolas are emptied of the partying young nobles wearing masques.

Another landmark is the Sunken Quarter. This is a Quarter commissioned by the Facchini brothers and built with extravagance hitherto unparalleled. Unfortunately the decor and huge buildings proved to heavy for the supporting pillars and the entire Quarter crumbled and collapsed into the sea, taking a couple of bordering buildings along. Today this is called the Sunken Quarters and rumours tell of the Sea Hags curse. Beneath the Sunken Quarters dwell a hag it is said and she will not tolerate men nesting above her submerged lair. While the rumour was ridiculed at first, a number of strange incidents have happened and willing investors can no longer be found, leaving the Sunken Quarter to remain as it is. This is most fortunate for a local band of smugglers who has taken to using the uppermost levels of the ruins as their base of operations.

The black crematory is an edifice soaring above the northernmost exit of Merchant Canal. Resting upon massive pillars, this building is administrated by the clergy of Aahr. Here the black robed acolytes and priests labour all day long, cremating the deceased citizens of Kaldarien. Two specially designed narrow canals, called the Canals of the Dead, run straight beneath the building and Black Burial Gondolas are pushed and prodded down the Canal and subsequently hoisted into the Black Crematory. While the rich gets beautiful ornamental Burial Gondolas filled with flowers, the poor are gathered and sent into the Crematory in plain black Gondolas 20 corpses at a time.

The Great Nunnery is a landmark that gets a lot of visitors. Erected near the docks, this convent is surrounded by a huge garden filled with bushes, trees and flowers of every imaginable kind. The Nuns of Ghaunar, the God of Earth and Fertility, carefully attend the Garden and the brown robed women can always be found tending the plants, even at night. It is a favoured spot for the first dates and young couples can be found on the benches, staring at the canals, the moon and the lantern carrying nuns of Ghaunar.

There are several more landmarks of note. The teeming Merchant Canal is the centre of local trade. The docks are where the huge merchant fleet has its base of operations and the Glassblowers Isle is where the important Glass Industry is centred. The Duke’s Armoury produces some of the best swords to be found and the River Quarter is where the River Guild has its headquarters.

Keepr is a unique city, built upon a tall standing rock spire.  This keeps it up above the floods, the worms, and the other “issues” that occur at ground level.  People came here to acquire the resources this region has to offer, despite the dangers. Years since the first came, this base camp has become not a village or town, but an actual city.

The city, when seen from a distance, has the appearance of shelf mushrooms growing on a tall rock outcropping.  The stone is a light golden color of most of the large rocks in the region. At sunset (and at a distance) the spire is said to be quite beautiful. 

As one gets closer, one sees the various round extensions made of the dark greyish hardwoods of the area. The outside of most sections have patio and verandas. There is no glass in the windows, only blinds drawn as needed.  Nothing dangerous flies in these parts, and the cooling breezes high up help fight the stiffling temperatures of the region. 

As one approaches the base of the spire, the first thing noticed is the keep walls made all the way around the base.  These are tall walls of large wooden logs supported and reinforced. There are gates dispersed around the keep walls. Water levels permitting, they are guards out on the walls to let people in and keep the local issues out. 

Two thick round stone doors can bar the entrance to the city.  As one enters the large cool stone hallway, relief from the heat can be felt.  The floor is smooth from all the use it has gotten.  The entrances to all the various hallways off the main corridor echo the round pattern of the entrance stones which are rolled into place. 

The hallways here lead to either storage hall areas or hallways that lead to stairs to higher levels. No one lives at these levels. There are no businesses at the base beyond the buying of collected things and the storage of said thing for later shipping.

There are lifts here, but only those with money to spare can afford to use them for personal use. 

As one rises in the spire, one reaches the Old Camp area. This is an area of outfitters, bars, foodmakers, and crafters.  The walls that face the hallways here echo the building fronts of other more civilized areas.  There is light here from occasionally posted lamps (with ventilation coming from a number of water driven fans).  It is dark, smoky, and musty here, despite the plants brought here. 

Above Old Camp, the shelves begin. Shelves are generally accessed from hallways carved from the rock. Some have stairways along the outside of the spire, a few have ropes, which allow you to get around withouth entering the spire.

Each shelf is circular in general shape, either a half circle or three quarter circle shape, with main supports fanning out from the spire benith it.  Inside a shelf, the corridors are either straight spokes, or round rims.  The rooms inside them have a round half arch shape, (like a piece of pizza slided in half widthwise), and a general area of 400 to 600 square feet on average. Rooms on outside blocks are bigger than ones on inside arcs. Some of the larger rooms have been subdivided over time, as families, groups, or businesses have taken them over.  Interior rooms get light from either lamps or skylights. (Usually each shelf has two or three rim hallways, thus two or three blocks of interior rooms, with one larger block of exterior rooms).

All the exotic woods here are stained and polished to a metal smooth degree. The older the shelf, the more likely it has some intricate carved details, as older shelfs have had more time to be worked on. The floors and ceilings are the local common wood, strong, easy to dry, and becomes a nice dark gray with a little work. The walls here are thick resin hardened woven mats strung tight between supporting wood beams, occasionally reinforced with timbers.  The reason for the mats is to save weight.  Some people use similar mats on their floors to protect them.  Doorways are normally sliding wood panels. 

Plants are a decoration here. There is a huge variety of plant life around the city and not all of it has “complications”.  A few domesticated fronds and flowers adorn the area. Not only do they make the area more beautiful, but they keep the air nicer.

The looks of the rooms is generally Balinese or Indonesian. Dark beautiful woods, woven mats (but ours are hard as a piece of thick plywood), and open feels.  The woodwork is exceptional here, as their business is exotic woods and similar materials. 
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Most shelves are a mix of sleeping areas and business spots.  (Any business or craft that requires fire must be performed inside the spire.)
It is all ramshackle in approach, making finding things difficult even for natives.

A few major business people even own entire shelves as their private domains.  They serve as housing and office space for their goods. If only one owner has a shelf, they are the law there.

Malarith is a city on the tall mountain like, nearly unscalable plateau call Portunethra (Rocky point to the sun in the old tongue). Through erosion or some catastrophe long ago, a huge gouge of rock under the city has “gone away”. It appears that an island was plopped off center upon the top of the mountain, giving it an odd “C” stuck in mud appearance.

There is some legend about the city that says it was transported whole cloth to the top of the mountain, but nobody believes that

The city is built in the style seldom seen. Scholars call it Pre-Imperial, one of the Great Cultures of Yore that the Imperial built their civilization upon (The Imperium having fallen over seven centuries ago). The city is a beautious mix of buildings lined with alabaster white columns, frequently roofed by domes, and archs leading to and from them, with lush green areas (some parks, some spilling forth from gardens on the buildings) and blue fountains in between. These buildings run from one to two stories tall. There are a number of large, fountain and statue filled, plazas, several amphitheaters (one of the larger ones is covered by a huge done supported by pillars), and many public buildings (baths, libraries, and gaming rooms). There are seven tall spires, that seem to flow upward made of the same gleaming white stone. Most of the buildings are trimmed (some of the domes are covered in it) in a gold like material called Olochrium which glimmers in the high mountain sun. 

Travel in the city is done by foot along alabaster paths lined by green planters or by small barge like canal boats that move along without a driver. None can detect the magic behind these magical boats. There are other touches of “magic” that the people of Malarith, who call themselves ‘Talantians, simply take for granted. They are not forthcoming with the secrets of these magics unless one undergoes years of training in one of their colleges under the philosopher-princes.

The City Gates is one of the Great Wonders in a city of Wonders. It is in a large plaza at the very edge of the city. It is a large metal ring, decorated by other metal rings in and about it, about 13.5 cubits (27 feet) across and about one cubit thick at its thickest. The Upper Gate is guarded by two of the Gryphon riding Ordermen (Militia/ Police/ Civil Servants) wielding two lighting staffs. It is a testament to the peaceful and philosophical nature of the ‘Talantians that this is the only “show of force” in the city. By going up the small ramp through the gate, one finds oneself at the counterpart, the lower gate. The Lower Gate is in a small walled in plaza at the foot of Portunethra. Here two Ordermen check your travel chits and log people in and out. They will also arrange from translator crystals if needed. Only when one of the Ordermen is touching a large red globe on a low pillar will going up the ramp and through the Lower Gate will one be transported to the Upper Gate Plaza.

The “road” to the Lower Gate is long and difficult to traverse. In fact, they will admit, the road was made to be long and difficult. There is little to no trade with this city, so only those who truly want to experience the city or learn its philosophical knowledge would bother with it.

Architecture:
The whole city is built low, and from high up practically invisible. Many trees, particularly fruit trees, cover the walkways, creating a permanent shadow. Most houses are wide, with thick walls and cellars sized for the whole family, if necessary; grass is grown on the roof. Most walkways are covered with cobbled stone, tree roots deform them in many places.

General mood:
With all the wonderful nature around, the danger is a part of living here. The locals are no-nonsense types, serious and careful. It is remarkably quiet here, unlike in most towns of similar population (on the other hand, it is more spread out). Even the street vendors do not offer their wares with shouting, they address potential customers with a calm voice, and cut back on the praises. Some dwarwes seem to favour this way of selling. No light is allowed outside after dark.

Economy:
Intense crop farming is limited in size, so fruit trees, and herding are the main sources of food. The sheep have excellent wool, it is processed into fine clothing, in high demand far and wide. Because of the irregular streets, goods are transported in two-wheeled carts, ponies or their owners pulling them. Caravans stay on the towns’ border only.

Outside features:
There are still several ruins of former cities, mostly broken down, but left to remind of the lesson. Soon after Death’s visit, a new Potemkin village is built, with fake houses of wood, to make them burn better. The young and curageous run amidst the burning houses in panic, to appease the dragon’s lust for destruction. Some fools occassionaly still try to kill him, and die in the process. The large herds of sheep also stay visible, to attract the dragon, let him feast and leave soon. So far, the dragon prefers to come back every 6-8 years.

A Dwarven Holding contains a single clan lodge, holding 50 to 300 people of the same clan.  Norhold qualifies as a Dwarven city, as it contains five clan lodges, and clan holdings (smaller places to stay) for the the nine other clans in the region. 

Norhold is of a moderate altitude in the second mountain of the GreyStone Range. 

There is an actual road that leads to the OutDoors of Norhold. It is packed earth with inlaid flag stones.  It is frequently traveled by traders who truck in Dwarven Goods. 

The Doors to the AboveLands are of moderate size as these things go, twice a dwarf height (two Imperial Strides/ 8 feet).  Each door opens to the side and out from the smoothed stone rock face. The doors are Bronze (thick coating) over Dwarven Iron. The Doors have a gargoyle motif. The Doors have centered “growling grotesque” faces and the hinges are protected by coverings shaped like gargoyles laying over them. 

The main corridor is small and narrow, barely a dwarf height and a half wide.  The stone is smooth and polished. There is no light to allow non-Dwarves to see.  It opens into a much larger corridor (which you must pass down a set of stairs to reach… a defensive hold over).  After ninety paces or so, one reaches the Main Hall. 

The Central Hall is the hub of the city. Dwarven Glowlights suspended from the ceiling bath it in a dull red glow.  The walls and ceiling are decorated in the gargoyle motif carried overfrom the doors.  The floor is etched andinlaidd, having a massive N (for Norhold) encircled by gargoyles in deep relief. 

The rest of the Halls, Lodges, and WorkHalls are under the Central Hall level.  All the hallways off the Central Hall are either downward slanted or stairwells. 

Dwarven home life centers around main halls.  Meals and social times are taken here. As things calm down, people sleep near the central fires.  The very old, the newly wed, or very young (and those who have them) haveaccommodationss off the main hall.  The rest of the rooms off the hall are used for storage of goods and food. 

Most of the living areas are face side (the side towards the mountain side). While the floor is even and smooth, the walls are rough - in the old style.   The hallways leading to the Lodges and the Holdings have gargoyle styled archways every twenty pace or so.  They are of a darker harder stone than the native grey granite. There are always two gargoyles near the top, holdingDwarvenn glowballs in their mouths. These places can be used to bracket a barrier, should fighting occur. 

There are five forge areas in NorHold. They are heart side (towards the center of the mountain). One of the forges is more of a workshop, taking softer metals for intricate work (since their own supply of soft metals has dried up, the metals are imported.)  The rest are good sized, supplied by the mines below them.  There is a butchering area near the forges. As creatures are brought up from the mines, they are processed there.  In addition farms are in the off tunnels of played out mine spurs. 

There are two waterflows through Norhold. One is used for drinking water, the other is for air. (Dwarven technology moves all the air from a forge or Lodge through a stream of lighted water to remove impurities and oxygenate it). 

This is one of the few Dwarven Holdings in these mountains not protected by a flock of Gargoyles.  Their gargoyles died protecting the city door from invaders.  The Gargoyle motif was installed after that night in their honor.

Payan is an ancient city that covers a huge area (40 some square miles), with over 4000 Temple and Religious buildings. 

All the permanent buildings here follow the Payan pattern:
For Temples, they are square step pyramids for the first few levels, with a flatten dome topping it. Upon the done is a spire which can add a good 15 to 25 cubits (2 feet) to the height of the building.

For Religious buildings, they are square for the first few levels, then are topped with the flat dome and a spire which is 10 to 20 cubits (2 feet) tall.

All buildings here are made of the local reddish brown stone. There is no paint or gilding on any of these buildings. All of the various statues and carved relief murals that decorate the temples and religious buildings are made of the same stone.  The statues and murals are painstakingly carved representations of the many (many, many more) gods, avatars, saints, and holy animals found in the Payan beliefs.  These statues cover almost every free square cubit on every wall and spire. 

The inside of the buildings are simple in design and function. They reflect the simplistic and aesthetic views of the Priest Kings. The furnishings are simple and of wood. There is no painting on the walls. Few lamps deflect the gloom.  The only exception to this is the main Quowan (main temple chapel). In the Quowan there will be a huge statue of the temple’s deity, and will be surrounded by statues of supporting avatars, saints, and holy animals. The carved relief murals will tell the story of the deity. The inside of the Quowans are the only area as “busy” in visual appearance as the outside of the temples.

Any other structure on the holy ground will be a tent. Here monks, visiting priests, travelling pilgrims, magistrates and nobles, and a few traders, will live for their time in Payan. Since the weather is quite nice, though occasionally wet, the tents suffice. After all, Payan culture says one needs to transcend the material world.

See http://www.worldisround.com/articles/5471/photo9.html for a view of the city

Petordan is a large city centered on a river and two trade routes, so there is always traffic in and out of the city. The newly refurbished city wall (the old lost to an earthquake and minor after-flood) is semi-circular two man tall affair that is gleaming with fresh white plaster over a cement/stone wall. Every thirty pace there is a pole. Each pole has a banner. Upon the Wall, the banners are most often alternating between Petordan’s Green and Blue with chalice colors, The Royal colors, and a banner by every "loyal to crown" noble house (each banner is actually supported by the house in question, renewed every few years). However the keeper of the Flags will change it to match the season/ holiday, special event, or who is coming to the city.

As an extension of the wall, the two Bridge Walls over the river are also colorful. These large stone affairs are topped with a three cart wide road. The farsides have full city gates towers for defense. There are no actual gates in the under arches, but one or two simple bars can be placed across to prevent easy passage (one possible bar is a foot or so under the water line to catch people unawares). The bridges have flags poles lining their roads every thirty pace. The colors are mostly for the city, but special message flags (showing river conditions, tariff blocks, which arch/ slip for customs, and messages to line captains) are also found flying.

The six gates along the walls are in built in towers. They are wide, but gated. The city seldom closes it gates and the gates are mostly cosmetic (like the wall itself). 

The main streets are wide and well cobbled (that is to say, fairly flat less jarring). There are board walks (raised wooded sidewalks) lining the roads. They are traditional, left over from the pre-cobbled days and still used for the drainage of rain and other things (it does not rain here often, but when it does it is a deluge). Along the main streets there are flags and poles, an average three thirty paces between them. These are "city" poles, so they, like the wall, are controlled by the Master of the Flags (a minor position with more clout than any guild head!). There a pole flags along the mains streets, but also along most major ones. Minor and back streets are still colorful. They have citizen flags.

Almost every business and home has their own wall mounted flag pole.  Citizen flags (as they all called) serve a variety of functions. Many will duplicate the recommended flag by the Master of the Flag, but they are allowed some latitude (peer pressure keep things in line). Most post neighborhood flags, as each neighborhood has its own little identity. Citizens can put out season flags, (spring flags with flowers and bunnies, summer flags with trees and suns, autumn flags with leaves, apples, and pumpkins, winter flags with snowmen and such), faire flags, flags for their favorite teams/ tourney, flags advertising their business, flags telling family news (pink and light blue), flags showing the mood of the citizen, and a host of others. There is a complete system of heraldry behind these that those not from the region seem mystified by, but the locals seem to know intuitively.

Most of the buildings here are one to two stories. They are tudor-esk in nature, with white plaster and exposed beams, wood split roofs, and cobblestone hearths.  Warehouses are almost as common as homes here, as a main trading point. There are three chartered auction houses here. They are old buildings, made of mortared stacked stones and only partially plastered. Inside these places lots of goods are traded, as are shares in companies and guilds. Business of goods held outsides these walls are not legally binding, so while business might be conducted in the pubs around the auction homes and the parks on good days, real business happens inside the walls. Chartering of Merchants can occur in the First Hall. Each merchant is given an artistic scroll stating the limited areas he can legally practice trading (these (and copies) are posted in prominent places in every place of business.

Hoof care (the care of horses, mules, and oxen), wagon crafting, wheel working, and shipwrights are common trades here. There is no one district for any of these crafts (in fact one of the larger river craftwrights is actually quite inland… they hold a parade when they take a ship to the river). So one can have several homes, an inn, a warehouse, a shop, and a covered corral all in the same block.  It adds to the motion and confusion of the city. (It also adds to the cramped feeling of the city, as most things are built practically upon everything else).

Besides the plethora of temples to commerce, there is a plethora of temples to deities too. Twenty three of them covering eighteen different faiths found in the region and surrounding lands. The various faiths seem to be competing on who can create the "most grand" temple on the limited land they are allowed here.

The City Hall is actually in an old Temple of the Light. So it is a grand, but not that grand of a building. The guild masters and Trader’s Guild hold their meetings here.

There is a grand field here, larger than most, able to sit a huge number of people. The area around it caters to entertainment so there are inns and taverns here. In the same area there is a huge enclosed theatre (like The Globe). The city boasts two small stone bench amphitheaters as well. This city is too congested for plazas, but tiny parklets in odd places in the avenues add green to the riot of flag colors.

The city is known for its parades, market days, and faires. There is some kind of schedule to them, as everyone seems to know when to put out the right kind of flags.

The city of Pier Point thrives even more then most cities on trade. The entire eastern side is devoted to the docks and to housing the poorer dockworkers, and at all hours of the day and night one or more ships are normally being unloaded. The houses are almost all of wood as it’s cheaper then stone.The richer people tend to have houses of rare mahogany, walnut and pico-tree, whilst the poorer make do with the local elms. The chimneys are nowdays built of stone after the Great Fire of Pier Point that burnt down almost the entire city over four centuries ago. The markets are also located here. Most of what the city needs is brought in by ship and traded for.Without trade, Pier Point would begin to starve within weeks.

After the Great Fire pipes were laid that channeled fresh water from the nearby River Nine down channels set in the streets, and by law everyone is supposed to have a bucket in their house to use to help put out fires, and most people keep to this law, as otherwise it might one day be their house which burns down. The water also serves as their water supply so everybody has a personal intreast in keeping it clean.The gurgleing sound of the water runs through the whole city. Torches are frowned upon and instead people use globes of softly glowing mori rock to light their houses and districts, both on the tips of hand held staves for personal use and in large fixed wooden lamp poles.

There are many colours of this rock and each has a different meaning. Red is used to mark the “red light” district of the city where prostitution is allowed. Amber is only used in a few lighthouses out at sea and serves as a danger signal.Yellow is used in most residental districts.Blue lights up the markets and the docks, whilst purple indicates the richest areas of the city.

The whole city is built on a grid system. The further west one goes, the quieter and more peaceful it is as the markets and docks are in the west, and the more expensive it is to buy a house there.

The main building of the city is the Admiralty, a fine stone building with the symbol of an anchor chiseled above it’s oaken gates. Here, the Mayor has the title of Admiral, and each ward of the city has it’s elected captain who is supposed to keep down crime, keep trade going, the water supply clean, and to put out any fire that endangers life and/or property.Outside is a gallows to punish any convicted murderers, pirates, or arsonists. Officaly order is kept by the blue-coated Admiral’s Guards, unoffically by the secret society of the Anchors. But in fact most people are perfectly friendly with each other and serious crime is rare.

Whilst it is part of Vandersil, because it brings in a lot of money in trade, Queen Yocasta is kind to her subjects and people can normally grumble without being executed for it.

This is a city on the border of the two Eleventi States, that of the Northern Ice Elves and the Southern Forest Elves. Though on the Southern side of the border, it borrows heavily from the Northern styles.

It is a mountain city. The Valley that defines the city is quite deep, the river has cut quite a channel here. It is also quite narrow. Here the Forest Elves have crafted hometrees out of the giant Pines and Redwoods from the southern faces of the range. The tall narrow trees are so close to the valley rim that there are dozens of bridges that link the valley rims to the trees. One can walk along the tops (or near the tops) of these trees on bridges and walkways that form a latlatticetween the two valley rims.  The cairn barrier runs just along the rim of the valley, so one can occasionally see snow and such floating on it.

Since these trees are more narrow than broad, unlike most HomeTrees, there are more bridges, lines, and catwalks, than normally seen in an Eleventi city. It is practically a web of connections, almost like it was a city of spider elves. 

Even given the magical CityCairns that provide protection from the greater cold and snow in the valley, it is still much colder than most Forest Elves can deal with. They have adapted from the Ice Elves and their Human Neighbors to the west. There are small A-frame lodges on the valley floor nestled between the trees and the embedded agriculture. There are Ice Elf lodge huts built into the branches of the HomeTrees. These intricately carved and decorated long lodges are of the Nordic cut. It appears odd that Lodge Huts are suspended in mid air on branches, but Forest Elves find it odd when they are not living in the trees. There are dozens of HearthStones out in the open, acting as "rest areas" along the paths.

There is a mix of white haired Ice Elves and blond Forest Elves here. The local population has a small mixed population, with pale blond Elves with vibrant purple eyes. These hybrids are only found here.

Nestled between a plateu and a river that soon leads to the sea, is the Elventi city of Anshenestardaywadaden or more literally Place Between Sunset and Falls. The land is somewhat warmer than most Elventi places, a nearly tropical setting. Cascading down off the plateu is the magnificent "Sunset Falls" (the falls face directly west and the end of the minor valley frames sunsets beautifully), a 200 foot fall.  It leads to a small pool which spills out into the river.  There is a slight valley here, with hills on either side of the small river, which soon flows to a snow white sand beach and the ocean. 

All along this "river" is an Elventi city.  Like all Elventi cities, it is protected by an invisible dome of magical force, which mutes most of the inclement weather and averages out the temperature inside. (See CityCairns)The large trees on either side of the river are HomeTrees. HomeTrees here are a cross between an Oak Tree and a Redwood.  While it is not an evergreen and the leaves will change color in the winter, it will not loose every leaf.  These large strong trees are magically scuplted. Rooms and stairwells are created inside burls inside trees. They look totally organic and grown. In actuallity, they are. Every now and again, branches hold "tree huts", small huts camoflauged by branches.  The huts are used by the young who have not yet earned a more respectable place inside a tree.  Trees and places are connected to each other by bridges made out of woven branches.  You would never notice them, if you did not see an occasional Elventi cross them.  The city is quite new as Elventi places go.  It only has four levels of city, including the ground. 

This city has no purpose other than being beautiful. Anshenestardaywadaden is a riot of color, between Elventi magics and the near tropical climate, there are hundreds of beautiful flowers here.  Some have been grown to give off a soft glow in the dark. This makes the city beautiful day and night.  There are no specific crafts or resources here.  There are fish being raised in little marshes that disguise the pens and argiculture embedded in the natural valley plants, but only enough to feed the population here and a few guests. The city is a place of waiting.  Almost every sunset, a number of Elventi make their ways to the falls to see the sun set.  The founder of the city, the most elder Elventi here, once saw a perfect sunset while standing on the falls.  He invited others to wait here with him, waiting for the next one to occur. Thus the city was born.  There have been seven nearly perfect sunsets since that first day.  Each has been celibrated in poetry. Once another pefect sunset is witnessed, this city is mostly likely to be abandoned… as waiting for a perfect sunset is just a diversion for a century or so.

Punampu, who’s inhabitants call it the Anciently Dignified and Resplendently Aged City of the Punampu, was originally a very large and splendid city, the capitol of a forgotten kingdom, which, in age, has declined to a somewhat less grand state.

Punampu lies in the midst of a vast, foetid swamp, the home of strange alien vegetation, foul airs, and a most unpleasant group of semi-human raiders who call themselves the Frog Lords. Trade in and out of the city is facilitated by a raised causeway that leads to the edges of the swamp, where it joins more conventional routes. This causeway, like much of Punampu is now fallen into disrepair- after all, if nobody comes down the way, what is the point in fixing it?

Punampu’s character is now grown squat, grey, and decayed, much like that of its inbred population. The city looms upon a low mound (called the Mound of KhrQu after a long-forgotten hero), built of ancient, hexagonal blocks of stone. The walls are crumbling and were long ago stripped of the splendid painted murals of its elder years; the ancient domes and spires, collapsing and filthy with bird-dung and fungus, are barely visible above these cyclopean edifices. The main gates of Punampu are missing, but as any Punampuni will tell you, they were made of solid gold and studded with jewels the size of a fist. Punampuni maintain the rather insane belief that Punampu will someday be restored to glory.

The streets of Punampu are winding and narrow; the grey and mossy ancient structures of the town overhang them like leaning corpses, gutted of all innards. The Punampuni dwell in the remnants of these great halls, huge vaults, towers, domes, and ruined palaces, gleaning a living from scraped moss, fish from the marshy pools in the foundation of the city, and bits of ancient baubles found in the dust, which they trade to each other in attempt to get more than the common share; invariably, this fails.

In the center of the city is the monumental megalithic Fortress of Qhesh. This impossibly ancient, cube-shaped structure was fashioned from some gleaming black stone, so smooth that the fingers skid from it, and no mark can be made. There is a deep pit that encloses the Fortress, and none have entered it in the memory of the Punampuni.
Punampu’s mound is slowly sinking into the marsh below it, and every day, the foundations of the city gain more and more water. In some of the lower regions, one can find marshy ponds in the smashed pavement and dirt thoroughfares, and strange marsh beasts sometimes roam the alleys, among darker things which climb from the endless catacombs beneath the city.

It is strange to have a city between two towns, especially when the two towns were there first and are “famous” (i.e. known in the annuals and on maps), but such is the way of Sand City.

Sand City is nestled between the two principal towns in The Blue Bay: Carlita and Mozana. Carlita is a mixed Elventi - Imperial settlement. Here graceful hacienda styled homes (with rich families), flowing hometrees, and an old (is there any other kind) Imperial fort coexist in harmony.  Mozana is a fishing village just becoming a town on its own. It is a working town that took its cues from the adobe haciendas and their garden boxes of Carlita on a more realistic scale. Here, among the sea marsh, the Sea Clans claimed the land. No one who was not a sea clanner could live here.

Carlita and Mozana, though smaller, are the only settlements on any map of the area.

In between the two was Sand Town. Here the poor that worked the nearby farms (owned by hacienda families), at the haciendas as servants/ workers, and did scut work for the sea clans at the cannery, lived. The massive sand dunes stand between Sand Town and the Sea. The wind was constantly blowing sand inland and into the buildings here. The buildings of Sand Town started as shacks, but the weather destroyed everything that was not adobe (clay brick) and plaster construction.  The style of buildings here could be called more huts or cottages rather than hacienda style. This has not changed over the near century of habitation here. 

Over the years, more and more people moved to Sand Town. For the last seventy years, there has been more people living here than in Carlita and Mozana (and Mozana is not that small) combined. More businesses were centered in Sand Town (each one marked with a garish sign). With more businesses came all the structures of a town and city (Guild Councils, neighborhood rings, etc). Sand Town soon became Sand City just because of its size and complexity.

The ground here is a mix of sandy soil and slightly dry marshland. The streets here are boards imbedded in the ground, with raised wooden sidewalks lining the streets and linking houses to streets. The wood has a worn driftwood look because of the wind and sea. All the buildings here still have that “slapped up hovel look”. Artistic concerns are for Carlita and Mozana; real People live in Sand City. Given the constant abrasion of the sand and sea, everything has a worn and rounded look. Any artistic touches would soon be lost, so nobody does them. All the doorways have bristles on their bottoms and on their transoms. This sweeps the sand out and gives someone walking in the ability to clean their feat.  The windows are all covered in waxed paper and the occasional piece of glass. Even with the constant activity of sweeping, which is the main pastime of the local women and girls, sand gets everywhere here.  You can tell a female from sand city, as she always has a broom of some size.

Silver Gate is built behind a natural harbor upon six and a half steep hills.  Behind the city, and a few miles away across a grassy and occasionally marshy plain are the foothills and mountains of the Platan Ridges and their silver mines.

The buildings here are built long and narrow, stacked upon each other, creating a tiered effect up the steep hills here.  Most of the buildings are two to three story affairs, with a three to one length to width ratio. The upper stories extend just a bit beyond the first story, creating a sheltered porched/ entry area. Residential buildings often fill these areas with potted flowers. 

Most of the buildings are Para-Tudor in style. The exteriors are usually a white stucco, with some half-timbering (wooden beams embedded in the stucco, some for support others for looks. The roofs are high-pitched roofs covered in dark clay tiles with an asymmetrical configurations. There is no “one style” for Silver Gate. So many of the houses have colored stucco or lose the half timbering and take on a Spanish Revival look. No mater what the facade, all the buildings on the hills are stacked next to each other.

To the south a small town of affluent manor homes is being created. Eventually these areas will all merge into one bigger city.

The most distinctive feature of the city is The Clamps or People Cars.  Inspired by the rail system used by the mines, people and things are moved in big semi-enclosed cars up and down the hills via rails set in the streets. Under each rail is a cable system. Each People’s car or “Clamp” has a clamp that hooks the car on to the cable and pulls it along (up and down the steep hills). At the top of each hill is a Car Stable with a windmill and a set of horses (for when the wind is not blowing). Here cars are stabled and power provided for the system. The Clamps are free to natives, and a penny to non natives.

There is talk about creating a Clamp system between the mines and Silver Gate. If nothing else, there will be a Clamp track between the fine homes to the South to Silver Gate

Note, on the other side of the foothills and mountains of the Platan Ridges, are The Marches

Sodius is The White City, known for its White Gold - Salt. Its tall white walls and buildings jut up from the small rocky cliff which serves as the city’s foundation and out on the small peninsula on the coast.  All around the city are shallows which are blocked from the sea. There the water evaporates leaving the salts. (The city and the flats are protected from the force of the Ocean Proper by a raised rocky bar). It is the largest city on the coast without a good port.

Given its (minor) altitude above the water and the fact there is nothing else around it, Sodius stands like a glistening white beacon in the sunlight and an oddly glowing spot in the sparse seaside fog when viewed from the sea or a good distance. Sodius is enclosed in a triangle shaped wall, point of the longer end of the triangle faces the sea. The buildings are plaster and adobe so common to the region. Many reach three stories. Given the odd shape of the city proper, many are triangular or trapezoidal in shape. The original walls enclosed an area vastly larger than needed, and the city has slowly grown to mostly fill it. Despite the trade and the wealth, there is only so much population this city can support with its lack of immediate farming/ fishing. So while the city is filled with white gold, it is not filled with people.

The White City grew up from a small camp where locals would come, scrape salt, and go home. With the influx of people along the coast, a few wise men (now rich men) built a fort that would become a city here. Knowing their wealth was based on salt, they made the walls and buildings here reflect that. All the plaster on the outside of the buildings is white, usually with small bits of salt added to make everything sparkle. The fairly flat roof lines of the adobe buildings are tiled in brown clay indigenous to the region. The only things breaking up the square and flat skyline of the city is the windmills.

There are several salt mills in the town proper, as salt scraping are brought up to the town from the fields by workers with carts. The Mills are powered by the winds, which thanks to the sea is ever present.

There is always a number of caravans and the occasional small merchant ship in town.  The inns and taverns are very full and very lively. The flow of salt out of the city and wealth/ goods into the city is constant. Everyone needs salt, so even the lowly salt bearers are well paid in comparison to other bearers. The salt trade flows along the coastal roads to both the people and the better harbours there.  It also flows to the large coastal valley to the north, where the Beef produced there is dried with it.

I always think of this as a coastal city against the mountains that border The Marches.

It is said that within walls of Stoneholt, once could place all of humanity and there would be room to spare. As one sails down the Saar river to where the great city sits at its mouth, one easily can believe this when the city comes into view.

The city was clearly built by a race of beings who would consider humans mere vermin to be ignored or stomped into dust.  The least of its buildings is the match of many of man’s most impressive structures. A single tower on it’s walls capable of holding a force sufficient to fortify a human castle.

As one moves further downstream, the cities walls come to the river’s edge, making the river feel almost like some underground channel, as the walls loom more then 100 feet in height. Periodically along the wall on either bank are massive towers that reach nearly 200’ in height. One gets the impression that each side of the river is fortified against the other.

Eventually the river forks and the island so formed is similarly fortified.  At this point massive structures - impossibly tall, slender towers, huge cathedral-like buildings and other grand structures can be seen over the walls. All three parts of the city sport these wondrous structures.

At this point one would realize just how long down the river they had been travelling!  From the first edge of the great city to this massive island the trip was a good ten miles, all walled.  After reaching the island, the city carries on for another 30 miles before it reaches the sea.

But enough about the outside - now through one of the gates, wide enough to admit a score of troops shoulder to shoulder, one enters the interior of the city proper.

The uniform stone of the City’s exterior makes the myriad of color and textures within a shock, for withing the vast walls of Stoneholt, people from all cultures and races have created homes for themselves.  A vast complex of pre-made structures, albeit too large without modification, sufficient to hold the entire world population of humanity was a magnet drawing disadvantaged and dispossessed peoples from the entire globe. Here one could claim their own castle so long as they could defend it.  So there are many mini-nations and kingdoms within the great walls - the world in miniature, and each ‘nation’ shows its own colors and building styles, adapted to the great stonework of the city.

As you move though the great city, you notice the roofs of most buildings are green, overgrown with crops, and so are the many balconies which extend from the upper floors. Within the walls, enough arable land exists to feed itself.

Stoneholt - the city of Giants, the city of Castles, the city of new starts.

To call TearDrop City a city is to be generous. It is one of the largest collections of SkyFolk on the north part of the east coast of ThirdLand. It gains its name from the TearDrop shaped rock on the natural set of the stone pillars not far off shore.

The city is a large collection of halls and apartments dug into the huge white cliff that dominates all the Eastern Coast of ThirdLand. Since the weather is reasonably calm and warm here, most of people’s social life is on their porch/ patio.  The porchs are the initial open and exposed areas of their apartment, usually with a table, a number of chairs, hammocks, some pillows, a few standing torches (like tiki torches), a brazier for cooking fish bits, and maybe an overhanging awning or shade net.  (They are also have open areas suitable for safe landings). Many things are made from woven sea fibers and seaweed, though grass mats and some wood are present. Woven/ macrame items are the norm. From the porch one can enter the apartment which consists of three to four carved out rooms, many of which are lit by “light tunnels” - mirrored shafts that bring light and some ventilation into the backs of the apartments. Since there is a large glass factory here (on the top of the cliff coast), openable windows are prevolent as well. 

Common places (such as stores/ shop/ workshops) are usually large halls dug into cliffsides. They tend to have very small patios that are more of a landing zone than an entertainment place.  The doors are usually solid and secure, very different from the glass framed French styled doors that most apartments have.

While there are the occasional stairwells (on the outside and dug into the cliffs) and walk ways (again along the outside of the cliffs or tunnels made), one really needs to be able to fly to get around.

The dominant color here is the white cliffs of soft stone. But there is color everywhere.  There are flags and pennants hanging off every patio and in some places inbetween. They are bright and mutlicolored in most parts.  This is how the skyfolk mark neighborhoods, addresses, storefronts, and personal moods of the inhabitants, via a complex system of heraldry. (The system is not difficult to understand, just a huge body of work to absorb). 

At the lowest level, there are docks for the raft like boats the Skyfolk favor.  They do not sail them (though they can), they usually drag them out into the sea and use them as a staging area and work shop for the fishers and gatherers.  There are often SeaClan boats off the shore, but there is no safe harbour here.

At the heart of the Dhargenaas continent lays Malcaresh the northernmost city of the Southern Empire of the Careshi. Originally it was an independent trade nexus; it became the first focus of Imperial military aggression.

The result is a huge city compromised of two vastly different building styles. The original buildings from seven centuries ago have not been torn down, for the Careshi value art, architecture and history above anything else. While symbols of national pride and importance are not allowed in the conquered nations, local ingenuity and cleverness is encouraged and praised among the Caliph Governors.

When approaching the city by the river one would notice its huge brownish red city walls and the numerous minarets soaring above the roofs. One would also notice the impossibly tall Clock Tower of white marble and a huge bridge with statues of majestic men along the rim.

Originally the city had fortifications of brownish red stone and interior buildings of white plaster covered bricks. These buildings are most carefully maintained, although the plaster is coming off some of the buildings located in the Old Quarters. These buildings are square shaped, as are the fortifications. Some of the Old Quarter buildings have an undeniably romantic feel with red tiles, white plaster and small forested gardens surrounded by 6 feet tall brick and plaster walls. In this section of the city, the cobblestones cover the streets and the brownish red city walls divide the area into small enclaves. Connecting these are small arching city gates whose portcullises are lowered between dusk and dawn. Only those with night passes can travel during these hours, so the Old Quarters see little festivities and night life. 

In the Old Quarters live the descendants of the original population and they still retain their unique clothing and way of life. Their original language is forbidden and its use is punishable by death, yet still it is being taught in damp cellars and dusty warehouses. Gauthians they call themselves and they walk with a strong sense of personal dignity and an air of superiority. Their clothing consists of sandals, togas and cloaks and they prefer to wield the broadsword if it comes to battle. A favorite pastime of the Old Quarter citizens is the gathering in the plentiful local cafeterias and eating vegetable dishes with feta cheese and olives. In addition they love board games and Badish is a game akin to chess that is often played outside the cafeterias.

Close to the River Firien is the Dock District. Here the local ferrymen wait to bring passengers up or downstream and here the is the Bridge of the Fourteen Caliphs, an architectural masterpiece displaying statues of the Fourteen Caliphs that have ruled the city since its capture seven centuries ago. Local fishermen make their base in the Dock District and thus the beaches are crowded with hundreds of small dinghies that have been pulled ashore. And every day at six in the morning, the fish market opens in the dock quarters, and servants from all over the city hurry to buy the very best for their lords.

The buildings in this area are more ramshackle than elsewhere and the Dock District is indeed the city slum. There is no cobbling on the streets and often the poor erect their tents and crude shacks on the smaller streets. The city guard cleanses the area once a week but still the shacks return just hours after the guards are gone. The nightlife is notorious and no sane man parties here without a few strong friends and a sharpened sword at his side.

Of particular note in the Dock District is the old Temple of Aahr, the god of time and death. It is a clock tower whose bells strike only at midday and midnight or when a funeral is held within. The tower walls are of a white rose coloured marble, and all corners of the hexagonal building has a statue protruding from each of the twenty floors. These statues depict humans in the varying stages of ageing. The poor are not granted burial within the catacombs of the tower, but once a week the priesthood sends forth their acolytes to perform the ritual mass burial in the slums.

The Imperial Quarters are dominated by huge avenues and streets which are often the scene of military parades and religious festivity. This is the primary area of Imperial architecture and the use of red bricks is predominant. As with all Imperial architecture, details are important and every arched window is decorated with delicate mosaic edges. The use of cobblestone is predominant except for the main avenues, where mosaic tiles cover everything and surround the base of the majestic birches that has been planted with regular intervals all the way from the South Gate to the Palace of the Caliph Governor. The mosaic patterns are not detailed, like those you find on the windows and indoors, but they combine to create a beautiful wholeness along with the architecture and trees.

The Imperials themselves favour Bedouin robes with deep hoods. Every male Imperial will be armed with at least a curved dagger and the sons of the rich will carry scimitars and round shields. Soldiers wear chainmail while the officers have the added protection of breastplates and steel gauntlets and helmets. The Imperials do not mix with the original Gauthian population, but there is no longer any hostility either. The Imperials favour horse races and there is a tremendous pride involved with the ownership of horses. The Malcareshian horses has a reputation to be incredibly fast and exceedingly beautiful.

At the heart of the city, on the Twin Hills of the Lord, one can find the Palace of the Caliph Governor. Here the minarets soar above the domed palace sections and the locals tell of the hundred gardens of pleasure, where the Governor plays with his harem all night long. In this palace rests the academy of the curved sword, whose swordsmen are among the finest of the land. And here one can find the Imperial Theatre where bards and musicians, actors and artists gather to outperform each other.

The city of Malcaresh is filled with charming locations and is more known for its open and friendly population than for splendid military parades. But as the frontier city in the ongoing war against the enemy from the north, they do have a large standing army. Trade has suffered ever since the declaration of war two years ago, and thus the city has seen some decline from its former position as the nexus of Caravan activity.

The City of Thierry is colored (literally) by two key beliefs of the city people (who are literally one step away from their tribal ways). The first belief is that the color red is the color of strength, prowess, and courage.  The second belief is that the Darbeast (an aggressive, omnivorous, herd oriented, mastodon like creature with a huge tusks) is the creature of great spiritual power (and the totem animal of their successful WarLord).

Cosmetic additions aside, Thierry would be an unremarkable place… a wall city of stone, plaster, and wood, poorly constructed. The walls are thick and made of rough quarried stone.  The local stone is dark grey. Since the stone is roughly finished, there are many places that are unplasterable.  The wood is softer than most woods, but still usable as a reinforcing support. It is used to make flimsy doors and shutters as well.  The plaster is one step away from a mud adobe. It is unskillfully splattered in many places. The roofs here are mostly thatch and plaster combined to make a multiple adobe like roof.  It is strong and fire resistants. It is a left over from the tribal construction.  The shape of the buildings here, which are roughly round, is also a left over from the buildings of their tribal days.  While many buildings (normally important ones) are square, the others are round or ovalish.  The streets here are unpaved, but since there is little rain, it is not a big problem.   The city folk here are only two generations from their tribal state, so the city is simply a copy of what they had conquered in other areas. So, in some ways, what they have created is quite remarkable. 

A red tint is added to most of the plasters here, as well as some of the paints.  This color creates a muddy red, the entire range of the color of blood.  Many walls, roofs, and most trim on the houses here the reddish color.  Some enterprising folks have crushed the plaster pieces up as a gravel, creating some brownish red pathways.

The presence of tusks, and wood carved to be tusks, can be a bit "scary" for people new to the city, until they are used to it. Tusks and horns adorn everything here. They are used along the city walls as decoration and defense.  They are used as rails along walkways. They are used as "crowns" (clusters of round upward pointing tusks) on the top of important buildings.  Horns adorn lentles and doors.  The few towers have two horns sticking out of the sides at the top to emulate the beast. 

The Darbeast’s face is frequently carved into doors used as a pattern for doorframes.  Buildings have them cleverly worked into their design, so windows are eyes, buttresses are tusks, and mouths are doors. 

In no place is this more expertly done than in the five story tall royal palace/ main temple step pyramid the dominates the center of the town.  If seen from a distance, each of the four sides present a Darbeast face, with the mouth being a massive doorway/gate.  As one gets closer, the large faces become harder to make out, and smaller repetitive versions of Darbeast faces make up the walls.  Inside the plaster has Darbeasts carved in relief.  It is all in an attempt to appease the beast-spirits and to harness their power. 

All in all, it is an odd place to be.

Three Pines is a good sized Dwarventi Hold built into the large granite side of the mountain - its heart stone as the Dwarves say. It is not far off the Far Eastern end of the Great Road, along the Kin Side Mountains.  The road leading to the Three Pines is fairly well maintained, especially strange given the normally reclusive nature of the Dwarventi in the region. Three Pines is their “grand city” and the only place they trade from. Only one clan “owns” this region, and every branch of the clan has hall at Three Pines.

Three Pines is identified by two notable features. The first is the three tall pines just a stones throw from the main gate. Three towering pine trees does not sound that impressive until you realize they are carved of stone. They are so lifelike that until you look at them closely, you would assume they are stone transformed trees. The stone is stained slightly to have greyish green needles, greyish brown bark, and even greyish red Redbirds. The detail is impressive even by Dwarventi standards.

The Hold Doors are the other feature. They are four Dwarventi tall (16-18 feet, 5-6 meters). They will open effortlessly because of counterweighting inside the hinging. The locking bars slide home with the effort of a child. The doors themselves are made of beaten copper, silver, and gold, laid over some thick ironwood. The image is a thing to behold in the setting sun; three shining pines that echo the three stone pines. It is textured and placed so artistically, it makes Three Pines one of the wonders of the Known World.

The doors open to a narrowing corridor, defensive as always. The tree motif is followed down the wall with thick plaster relief murals. The stones that make up the walkway are large, smooth and put together without mortar. When you get to the central square hall, it is another breathtaking site. It is like you are in a cathedral of tall trees. (They are foreshorten to appear hugely tall, though the hall is merely four dwarves tall.) The mock trees are made of stone and expert plaster work, with preserved pine needles. The mock sky shifts from day to night behind the “trees”. The sky is lit at night by bright stars, enough to see well by. (no one will reveal this mechanism). There are dozens of tables and “camp fire” pits in this large central hall. (The floor is a beautiful stone mosaic, almost perfectly smooth, but with enough texture to keep you from slipping). An Elventi might actually feel at home here.

Each of the four sides leads to home halls for each of the clan families. Once you get past the central square, it becomes more traditional Dwarventi in design. However, these corridors still “echo” the forest motif here. Here the relief murals are carved into the stones of the wall. The finishing stones are all connected with such precision that they are morterless. The halls look like traditional Dwarventi Home Halls, with private chambers, work rooms, and storage off those halls - entries are normally hidden behind tapestries or screens. Each has a traditional hearth with the clan glyph in gold or silver above it.

There is undoubtable several passageways that lead to underground paths that lead to other Holds, but no Human is privy to their location.

At any given time there are about 1100 souls here, so it is not a City by Human Standards, but it is by Dwarventi Standards.

Look into Kerren in the forum or in the settings to understand more about this location.

Twin Pole, like most Kerrenese cities, are defined by their terrain. Twin Poles is in a deep and broad river valley, with broad color banded walls, built upon one long raised promontory from which two tall "spires" rise. The water is broad, but not too deep around the "island", keeping bothersome the aquatic megafauna to a minimum. (Though the local Dinosaur Watercows are quite dangerous).

The Island is a good 700M long and 200M wide (raised a good 5M, well bellow flood level). The valley is 70 meters deep at this point. The spires, thirty meters in diameter and flat topped, reach as tall as the lip of the valley. The Kerrenese live in a small cluster between these two spires. The homes all face outward, toward the valley walls.

There are two smaller "islands" between Twin Poles and the Valley walls parallel to each other… linked to the "island" by rope bridges. They are seldom used except on "Big Days"

The buildings are plastered adobe, with the traditional square shape and extending beams. They are of one to two stories in height, asymmetrical in roofheight (one side is one story, the other is two or one and a half). There are ladders on the roofways, to facilitate travel up and down the roofs. Those building closer to the center of the "island" are built up higher so all the homes seem to cascade down to the edge. 

The warren is actually a good distance down the valley. It is quite oversized for the number of wings stationed there, but that is for the convenience of others coming here for "Big Days".

The buildings are fairly boring. Yet you would never know that on Tournament days. Twin Poles is a perfect natural tournament site, with its large and deep valley (no cross winds), two massive poles (for circuit flying) , and warm temperature (good for thermals and for late night parties). There are six major tournaments held here a year, including the Grand Prix, the event only those who have won a major event are invited to. On tournament days, the streamers and banners for each Event comes out turning the buildings into a colorful sea. Though there is mining and limited farming in these parts, Twin Poles mostly supports itself through the hosting of tournaments. In addition to the six majors, there are 15 minors held here as well, including the First Ryders tournament (open to only those that have bonded to their beasts in the last year… it is cute watching these young kids and fledged dragons looking so serious in their tournament). 

The leader of the cluster is called "The Grand Marshall", with other leaders being "Marshalls". They wear distinctive fez like hats and shirts that match the "colors" of a given event. These people act as judges, line monitors, and organizer for the various events. The Grand Marshall actually seems to have more power than the Wardens in these parts.

Note: Many Ryders and tourists who can not secure lodging in the cluster or warren, will camp out on the flat lands above. The flats above the city become a sea of colored tents. Water is at a premium, but the view "ridge side" is almost worth it.

Humanity assumes that Elventi like to live in trees. That is a simplistic view. The Elventi Peoples wish to live as part of nature/ magic and amongst the beauty of the natural order.

Given the "disturbances of the world" over the last millennium, the Elventi have retreated farther and farther away, creating buffers between them and the disturbances to the way of the universe. UnderSkyWater has to be the most unique city, nature providing the buffer they crave. It is a uniquely Elventi solution.

One could miss the city gate if one did not know what they are looking for. Along the shore there are many rocky formations. One of the broad flat black basalt stones serves as a plaza where the Gateway stands. The Gateway to the city is two human sized standing stones. There are some very faint, apparently wind worn carvings on them. If one can see with "star eyes" (ultraviolet vision) and can read the SwirlingTongue-of-SpeachWithoutSpeaking (Elven writing), the proper phrase to open the way to the city in the MoonInk. (There are six lines of poetry there, thought only the forth of six is the key to open).

One walks forward into the surf. While there might be a spray, one remains fairly dry as one descends the curving path. The walls of the path are smooth blue green water, slowly growing slightly darker as you descend. Only a dozen steps or so and the water flows over your head. It is oddly quiet.

The path brings you to the underplaza. It a broad area paved with flat stone, the same stone as above. The entire location, and really the entire city, glows a soft blue light that filters down from the surface. This is somewhat dark for other species, but those with Star Eyes can see well. The edges of the plaza have coral walls with fish swimming around. One can reach out and touch the coral, but will discover that the sheer wall of water starts an arm span and a half from the beginning of the coral.

From here there are four pathways leading away to the four clusters of the city, all paved with the dark basalt rock. The paths are broad walkways, so you never should have to bump up against the sheer wall of water. The fish will watch you with mild curiosity as they swim by.

Note: if you examine the dark ground stones, there will periodically be Cairn Glyphs (See CityCairns) subtly carved in them. These glyphs are mixed in with other subtle etchings, so they will not stand out. There is just too much magic being used here to have a single cairn.

The pathways branch out into a net of nodes. There are symbols at each intersection directing people away from personal places. Each node is a good sized domed room where a family or person’s room is. The "walls" of the room are decorated with coral outcroppings (just out of reach), interesting rock formations, or fields of subtle sea grasses. Many nodes will be subdivided by folding privacy screens. A few will even put screens next to the walls, as they do live in somewhat transparent houses.

Folding screens are an art form here, as well as a major architectual element. The fabric is made with a combination of algea, kelp, various fish elements, and some local silicates. It can range from a matte white to a nearly metallic finish depending on processed. While beautiful in their raw state, they are so often painted with an eye for color and composition that only an Elventi could produce. Clothes and other fabric products are made of this material as well, making for many colorful products here.

Note: some of these products might look "odd" on the surface. They are normally created with the bluish tint of the city’s day light in mind.

The city is so very different. It is always some what damp here… and slightly chilly. No matter how much magic is used, away from a hearth stone, it is quite cool here. The city is oddly quiety. The watery wall absorb so much of the sound floating about (put your ear close to a tub of water). There is no ambient noise prevolent in any large gathering of people. During the day and somewhat into the night and dawn a blueish light is everywhere. While brigher lights may be around, every corner is illuminated by the glow of the ocean walls.

The aquatic theme has been extended everywhere. It is in the small carvings of the furniture or the painting of the screens or the light blue tinge to the Lighting Balls.  In tasteful places throughout the city, there are what appear to be tall Kelp Fronds. In addition to keeping the air fresh, they add to the look. They are magically enchanted to stay "up" (though a few have grown tall enough to extend into the water out of the node) and to sway slowly in the "current". The artisans here also create colorful enchanted toys shaped like fish.  These "fish" slowly float from room to room, hallway to hallway, wiggling (apparently swimming). They appear to be small colorful fish swimming inside the city. There are many shaped rocks and corals inside the city that are occasionally used as furniture, tables, and decorations, that were created by artisans. The city uses a prodigious amount of magic, even for an Eleventi City. If it was not built on a major quad ley node, it would be impossible to support.

There are several wet gateways that lead to and from the sea and reef. They are only accessible by those who are carrying a city seal. It is here that morphed Elventi or those carrying Talismans of the Ocean gather and hunt in the areas around the City. Very little is taken from the surrounding areas, but most of the food and products are grown inside. Despite their love of the sea, very few Elventi wish to go out in it. It is there as a buffer from the world.

The community here is of like mind when it comes to being "separate" from the disorderly world. The The water forms the first layer of buffer. Even if one dives deep into the water, one would be unable to see or find the city as it is offuscated. The coral and rocky out croppings in this area keep ships and larger creatures away from the city. The Elventi have enhanced both to ensure their privacy. The city is situated on a manna node, so it makes the surface weather and tidals pulls in this region treacherous. With a subtle push of magic, this has been enhanced. While gracious to "appropriate" guests, they are quite happy ignoring the world beyond.

The City of Walkabout Creek is based within the only pass in the Mountians of Quartz. All around it is a sixty foot wall of solid but perfectly clear quartz. Looking through it is like looking up through the most pure water you can think of. The houses are made of Milky Quartz, as nobody in their right minds wishes to live in a see-through house.The windows are of clear quartz and are very hard to break.Inside the houses there are tapestries, curtains and carpets made of the skins of buffalos, giant trapdoor spiders and wrappers.The rest of the furniture is traded for with the many traders from other cities.The worst that a fire can do(apart from causing death & injury) is to burn all the furniture in a house.

About half the population works in the mines, quarrying not only different types of quartz but also diamonds, which are traded for food, furniture, and all that the city needs. The diamonds have to be given to the Mayor and City Council, but the miners are paid well for them in silver coins.

To the West is the Bushland National Park, a region teeming with game.Limited hunting is allowed but only with expensive permits, or if an animal kills a human or makes a real nuisance of itself.Game hunters pay large sums to be allowed to hunt in the region,  which helps to pay the mine workers.

The Ruddy River runs through the city and water is piped using windmill power to people’s houses.The sewage is dealt with using other pipes and other windmills to maintain suction and is dumped into a volcano which is a mile away.

To police the mines and the National Park there is a large force of Ranger Police. One in every ten people is a policeman, to keep the smugglers and poachers in check.This has it’s good side however as crime within it city itself is low.Despite a high Ranger presence and hard labour without pay in the mines as the punishment for poaching, poaching still happens.

The Council Chamber is the only building made of wood-black ebony, with real glass in the windows.

When the Great King’s grandees liberated this city from the clutches of the evil cult of the Sarkukai, they renamed the place Herasayon, after the hero-saint Heras. But colloquially it continues to be called "Sarkushen", it’s old name, which in the Jjakkur language of the worshippers of Sarku means simply "place of Sarku". To merchants it has become Herasayon-Sarku, in order to distinguish it from a great many similar Heras place names in the area (remnants of the old Herasorn conquest).

Like many cities where of old the name of the Lord of the Open Tomb’s name was exalted, Sarkushen is located in the mountains; it lies in a vale in the eaves of the great peak Stayawar, surrounded by dry hills, and encrusts the slopes around a small lake. A road marches from out of the plains to the south over the hills up to the conquest-era walls, which were constructed to replace the original black basalt walls, carven with awful and blasphemous reliefs and symbols related to the worship of Sarku, which were pulled down and blasted apart with the explosives provided by Kaitaki sorcerors. It is a small city, and one which is dying and becoming more and more decrepit; over the generations, many free families have left the city, seeking to escape the memory of the grisly cult which ruled here generations ago.

If one were to see the city from the slopes of Stayawar, one would perceive that there seem to be two types of neighborhoods.

First, there are the two-to-three story tenements and adobe structures of traditional Herasorn construction, flat-roofed and with wooden porches, balconies, and stairs. The streets in these areas are mud, usually covered with a layer of straw in places- the streets are wide and typically organized in a regular grid pattern, characteristic of Herasorn city planning. These neighborhoods are the product of the Herasorn liberation of the city and the destruction of the Sarkukai coven. When the grandees destroyed the great ziggurats and razed the temple complexes of the Sarku worshippers, they constructed new, less blasphemous districts over them.

However, there can also be seen the strange (albeit small) neighborhoods where the fearsome, alien architecture of the constructions of the Sarkukai remains. In these neighborhoods, the structures are built from ancient dark stones, constructed in odd interlocking buildings with many nested courtyards and descending terraces. Many buildings are connected by bridges over the narrow paved alleys and lanes which constitute streets in these quarters. Walls and sometimes pavements are covered entirely in the blasphemous and frightening carvings and reliefs of Sarkukai rites and symbols and tales from the ghastly holy texts of Sarku, though when the warriors of the Great King conquered the city, many of these were defaced and smashed, leaving only those too resilient or less offensive to Herasorn sensibilities. More resembling large temple complexes than neighborhoods, these areas seem to have been constructed without concern for pack animals (some say that this is because the pack animals used by the cult of Sarku were indeed man-like rather than cart-pulling beasts).

Many of these ancient Sarkukai districts have been almost wholly abandoned. For most, the hideous carvings and foreboding architecture of these great arcades of the Worm God is too much to bear, redolent as it is with the memory of the foul rites and the terrifying magics of the Sarkukai. For some of the most pious Mitrans of Sarkushen (who cling to referring to the city by the less sacreligious epithet of Herasayon when even the lord governer calls his city Sarkushen), to even enter these haunted districts stinks of apostasy and witchcraft and participation in the zombie rituals of Sarku.
It is surprising, then, that some families remain dwelling in the dark Sarkukai neighborhoods. These live in the low-ceilinged but spacious column-studded apartments on the upper floors of buildings, or in the pillared arcades surrounding courtyards and overgrown gardens. Some of these families are simply poor, and cannot afford the rents in more savory locales, choosing instead to live as squatters in the empty apartments of worshippers of the undead; others are secret crypto-Sarkukai, ancient families of etiolated blood who have since time immemorial been devotees of the Worm God, practicing in secret and under cover of darkness in the galleries of their ancestors’ temple-mansions while maintaining the semblance of pious Mitraism.

In many basements and lower floors of the city, bricked-up or boarded over or filled with rubble, there are entrances to the ancient catacombs and tunnels that underly Sarkushen. In the more respectable Herasorn sectors of town, these basement entrances are typically totally impassable. However, in the Sarkukai districts, there can be found entrances which are less destroyed. In some of the more mazy galleries of these neighborhoods, there may be entrances to the tunnels left unhurt, never discovered by the Herasorn warriors who blocked off the evil pits beneath Sarkushen. None know how extensive or how large this underworld is, but if Sarkushen is anything like other Sarkukai cities, this undercity may be extensive indeed, and filled with unknown horrors engendered by the Lord of Worms and his foul cult.

The crowning glory of the city is the old palace of the governor, a walled fortress constructed to house the lord in charge of the city. It’s walls studded with classical High Herasorn statuary depicting the law-giving kings being guided by the Deities, with the symbol of the God of Gods on its great gates in bronze, the large blocky fort is a perfect example of Expansion-era militarist architecture. It is mostly square and castle-like in appearance, with the flat roofs characteristic of Herasorn architecture, its walls carven with verses from the High Book and the Tractate and its balconies decorated with statues of the old lord-governors (most descended from the line of the Heravi family).