The City of Shadows

The Cliff

It was a majestic sight to behold. Perched on top of a cliff on the planet Cyniful, the city of Aneron was surrounded by tall, jagged mountains. The cliff itself was in an alcove created by the mountains, the sheer drop of the cliffside giving a commanding view of the basin below. Here warm colors thrived with the vast sea of yellow grass rippling in waves with the wind, only occasionally impeded by a stout, red-leafed tree. The top of the cliff itself offered very little niches for such life to develop, but this was a trivial matter for the people that made the mountain range their home. The city of Aneron was an incredibly ancient one, older than any other civilization that still existed present day. It was a vast, expansive city, with outer walls of amber and stone. The design was a geometric one, every street, block, building, brick and paving stone planned out meticulously in shapes and patterns. The Outer Wall took the shape of a circle, and comprised of the wall proper, the two main gates, and the eight watch towers perfectly distanced from each other. Within the Outer Wall there were the agricultural fields that supplied the city with food and other products. Animals of all sorts made their home in these fields, from the small quad-winged duck to the strong bison-horse. All animals within the city were sacred, and never to be killed for any reason other than mercy, as the people who made the amber walls their home were strict vegetarians. Moving towards the center of the city, one would find the Center Wall, an ornate stone barrier complete with eight bastions and two more entrances, aligned with the ones on the Outer Wall. The Center Wall was the home of the Dawn Guard, soldiers committed to the ways of the light as well as knights of the city. Within this wall was what is commonly known as The Dial. This is where most everyone lived, protected by two impenetrable barriers. The Dial was home to the markets, universities, houses, government facilities, and industrial sectors, all cogs in this great, well-oiled machine. Then came the Inner Wall. A grand, smooth obsidian ring meters thick, it was the last circle of protection for the Palace. This wall had no noticeable entrance, as those who entered and exited didn't have a need for one. No one really knew what lie inside the Inner Wall, and furthermore, the Palace – although the puzzle was a great past-time among scholars and farmers alike. From the outside, the Palace was a huge obsidian monolith sloped at a perfect 45*, with the tip facing true north. For an outsider (not that they ever had any), it was easy to describe the empirical look that the city held, but for those who called Aneron home, there was not a language in the universe that could describe its magic. These people had lived here for centuries, eons even, and almost nothing was more important than their beloved city. Almost nothing, except for the curse that bound them there.