Ajavet (Ah-Jah-vet)

Ajavet is the largest and most profitable of the Kima Cities - the underground, Prism-led cave-cities common in Samvara - in the Eastern Rejevet mountains. It is a factory, a metropolis, and a powerful system of subjugation all at once.
Whenever someone describes the evil of the Kima Cities, Ajavet is inevitably brought up as an example. Of all of Samvara's underground metropoli, Ajavet is the most infamously brutal and species-divided. Ajavet is the profitable jewel of the Kingdom of Siashi, where disposable un-personed peoples are sent to die in darkness. People, dragged off by Siashan pirates, go in and coins come out. It is said that much of the silver in circulation in the Northern Hemisphere can be traced back to Ajavet, though no one knows exactly how true that is. The brutal reputation of Ajavet is well-earned, but is often exaggerated in its details; it functions as a kind of living hell in the Siashan imaginary, a place for the wicked to be righteously punished, and there are many lurid stories of the wicked being tortured in ways that Ajavet would find horribly inefficient. 
The actual city, then, is a shock to many visitors. Its surface districts are weirdly friendly and charming; most places merchants or visitors would visit are not only unusually welcoming for a Kima City, but are downright luxurious. Of course, any visitor who strays from the recommended paths will inevitably break this illusion. This city has violence built into it, and that is a physical truth - many rooms can be sealed by administrators and flooded with poison gas, a way to easily exterminate unruly groups. This hyperviolence is visible, but rarely deployed; rather, the primary vehicle of violence here are the Vessels, the city guards and military police of Ajavet. The Vessels are friendly (especially in visitor areas), but are quick to punish extended disobedience. The ruling philosophy of Ajavet is a kind of "carrot and stick" mentality taken to a logical extreme: obedience is rewarded, disobedience is punished to excessive degrees. Much effort is put into making the security apparatus clear in communication and disciplined and unbiased in demeanor. Commands are given three times, slowly and clearly, and if a subject has registered the command and still disobeys, it is time to break them in a very public and clear way that will hopefully minimally impact their working efficiency. This can include blinding for some miners (who are used to working in the dark anyways), tongue removal, or just old fashioned beatings and torture. 
The elite culture of Ajavet is also one of unabashed species supremacy. Prisms are simply better in the eyes of the state, and any other species has no hope of entering the administration. While there is some dispute between the different political factions as to whether this should change, the current ruling faction (the Heartspeakers) have no intention of letting non-prisms ever dictate the behavior or socially honorable prisms. There is a culture of resistance buried deep here, though. Rebel groups keep the fire of resistance alive and work to protect those individuals who lash out or find ways to resist. And even those who are "complacent" work together to blunt the worst of it - they protect people from disfigurement, lobby against the cruelest mine bosses, and pool their resources to give one another comfort.

Demographics

150,000 humanoids live in Ajavet. 50% are prisms, 28% are human, 20% are dryad, and 2% are Haltia and Vesper.

Government

The Chamber of Ajavet rules the city as an autonomous unit, with a small amount of oversight from the Kingdom of Siashi. The Chamber is an anonymous governing body of four elder priests that rule absolutely over the city's bureaucracy. Their identities are kept utterly secret, as the religious law of the city disqualifies any ruler whose identity is known. 
Below the Chamber are the Authorities, the oligarchical bureaucrats who rule most of the smaller spaces. There are 7 Organ Authorities, who rule departments, and 11 District Authorities, who manage spaces. Each has their own bureaucratic circle. The Organ Authorities are generally more powerful than the District ones, and not all of them are equal to one another. 

• The Head, the architects, lawyers, city planners, accountants, and magicians, are at the top
• The Heart, the building managers, construction managers, police, and investigators, have almost equivalent power
• The Lungs, who manage the air flow, smelting operations, and lighting, are below the leading two but hold immense power - unusually high for a Kima City 
• The Arms, who manage mining and city expansion
• The Feet, who manage labor control
• The Stomach, who manage food and water processing, are unusually detached from political power in this Kima City
• The Thighs, who manage trade and artisanal production, are out of power traditionally but have their own connections to the Siashan government that allow them power

A resident governor-ambassador from the Kingdom of Siashi also exerts power here, though they have difficulty penetrating the purposefully-obtuse legal system of the Kima.

Defences

Ajavet, like any Kima City, is no easy nut to crack. The surface defenses are less intense than something from further West, but the gates into the Upper City from the surface have heavy gates and horrible kill-zones. These are just as much to keep people in than out, but that doesn't make it easy for intruders. The only reliable way for an outside force to take Ajavet would be by tunneling in. 
The more impressive defenses are those inside the city itself. Ajavet was rebuilt into lockable segments some centuries ago - the doors and vents can be sealed by locking mechanisms to make it difficult for people or gasses to move out of the chamber. Most rooms are also connected to gas valves, which can be flooded with either tear gas or chlorine gas by the operators in the Lungs. So, most any room can be locked in by heavy stone gates and flooded with deadly toxins - a nasty death, and not one most intruders would be prepared for. Thankfully, the locking and gassing process requires some effort and communication, so small groups of rebels or intruders can avoid being killed this way unless they try to settle in for a protracted fight. Again, this is more built to suppress rebellions and riots than fight off invaders or thieves - but it could probably be turned against attackers in a siege.

Industry & Trade

Ajavet is a great mining city. Great volumes of low-quality gold and silver ore are dug from the earth and processed into coin-worthy metal. They are then processed into coins - chances are that any silver piece you see came from Ajavet. Coal, iron, asphalt, and concrete are other notable products of the mining system here. 
Luxury goods are traded for in bulk from the surface world, while common goods like textiles are made by the artisan cliques. These groups take in requests from the other work-groups - mining teams will pool their money to order clothing in bulk, for example. The Thighs play a role in mediating potential disputes and ensuring everyone gets the basic necessities. So it is a mixture between a command economy and a free market when it comes to things that aren't food and metal. 
Food for prisms is mined in large volumes here, but for everyone else it is potatoes, Halpara Mushrooms, crickets, and the occasional bit of pork for humans and haltia.

Districts

The city is generally divided into three parts: the Surface Districts, the Upper Districts, and the Lower Districts, based on how deep into the ground that part of the city is. The depth of a district doesn't necessarily indicate its wealth, importance, quality of life, or reputation - those entirely depend on what the district is for. Every district has a clear purpose, just as every room was built for a specific reason; this is a very intentional city. Given the raw effort and time required for any room to be carved, it has to be.
It should also be noted that all of Ajavet is constantly expanding. There are exploratory mineshafts and room expansions in nearly every direction and attached to every non-surface district.

The Surface of Ajavet

The Terrace District: The Terrace district covers the Western side of Ajavet's surface. This is an agricultural district, essentially elevated terrace farms with an intricate irrigation system suspended up in the mountains. Each series of terraces are walled off from the others, and small agricultural outposts host full-time farmers. The purpose of the terrace district is to augment and diversify the human and dryad foodstores of Ajavet, as well as to provide a place for visitors to the city to stay. Outside merchants will often sleep and store their goods in the agricultural outposts, and there are a few market-like trading houses here for commercial negotiations. The Terrace District is staffed overwhelmingly by the most happy and obedient humans and dryads, and the quality of life here is good. To have your children assigned to the Terrace District means you "made it" as a human or dryad family. Many call these people "Suntouched", and they are stereotyped as pious, moral, obedient, cheery, and affluent. 
The Stacks: The Eastern part of Ajavet's surface is less arable and more polluted - this is where the combined air pollution of the metal foundries below pours out. Prisms on the edge of society are sent here, to clean the stacks, gather stones, and maintain the surface cisterns. They live in scattered compounds that are often forgotten about by the city as a whole. The prisms here are low-status, far lower than the Suntouched of the Terrace District - a humiliating reversal of roles, as prisms stand at the top of society below the surface. Being sent to the Stacks is a kind of exile, and a culture of bitter competition and repression permeates the district. Some take this exile literally and wander out from the Stacks to other Kima Cities or even broader Siashi (though the latter is very rare - what place does a Kima prism have in Siashi?)

The Upper City

The Glowing Rows: Headquarters of the Stomach (the food production bureau) and central space for farming Halpara Mushrooms. Also includes a massive water filtration plant. Generally one of the more lax areas in Ajavet - there is no threat of poison gas, and there is intermingling between prisms and non-prisms. One might call this area "middle class" or "middle status", as it is sought after by many but not necessarily the best one can do. 
The Stampgrounds: The production district, unusually centralized for a Kima. Known for its massive screw-press mints, where the precious metals purified below are transformed into coins. The minting, weaving, parchment-making, and stonecarving areas are the most centralized and assembly-line-esque; the rest are run by small clusters of artisanal cliques that follow more traditional means of production. Can range from working-class to middle class work here, depending on the kind of production.
Oldcity: The bureaucratic center of Ajavet, full of clerks and managers. The older architecture here shows that this was the original Kima City, outgrown over centuries. While theoretically the priesthood and government is based here, it has partially moved down into the Gated Districts (especially the important parts). 
The Warrens: Mass housing and storage, built with ease of access to the other districts in mind. Also built with surveillance and population control in mind; each housing block can be locked down from the outside and either drained of oxygen or flooded with chemical weapons. Heavily policed, carefully divided to prevent easy cooperation, and supposedly full of spies. 
The Earthmaw: The center of commerce and higher education, home to the wizarding school, druid school, academies, archives, and luxury good distribution center. The Earthmaw is an upper class district with a surprisingly treasonous reputation. The administrators are fond of violating social rules and often refuse to enforce censorship laws, and it is said that illegal Lunar Cults secretly hold power here and undermine the government. This is also where some of the worst devices and theories of social control are engineered, though, so it is worth tempering any potential romanticism. 

The Lower City

The Gated District: Anything that needs to be carefully kept from any lower castes or outsiders is kept in the Gated District. Policing weapons and files, poison gas, precious metals, socially dangerous prisoners, and sensitive government information is all stored here. The Gated District is highly defended, a maze of security checks and watchful eyes built to both filter out rebel spies and resist any potential sieges from within. 
The Sorting Grounds: The second Stomach of the Kima, the Sorting Grounds process minerals from across the Lower City and sort them by prism nutritional value. These sorted minerals are then mixed in specific ratios and packaged for storage and consumption. While small mineral sorting stations can be found where a mine is in the Upper City, the large quantities of mined stone from the rapidly expanding Lower City are brought here for mass sorting and preparation. Solidly working class for prisms, but generally a place for with good conditions. 
The Foundry District: Where ore is processed into metal. The Foundry District is the place people think of when they think Ajavet: massive rooms filled with mercury-laden steam that scalds the skin, exhausted low-caste thralls groaning as they heave massive quantities of stone into the machines for processing. The death rate here is high, even for prisms. Work here leaves one physically weak and poisoned. This is where rebels and disposable people are stripped down and used by the city. Most people are cycled through here briefly; to be stationed here for extended periods is a punishment. Beneath the foundry is a massive coal-burning operation managed by the Lungs, who use the air pressure generated here to circulate fresh air around the complex. 
The Wormsden: A maze of mines desperately chasing after every possible vein of precious metal. This is where most low-caste people work. Conditions here vary wildly depending on the mine boss. Some mines are rough, but avoid undue suffering and death. Some mines simply extract every ounce of energy and life from their workers. Which mines you get sent to often depends on your behavior; the administrators know about the abuse, and even encourage it in certain instances (though not all - abuse in a "good behavior mine" is swiftly punished).

Guilds and Factions

The Heartspeakers: A conservative traditionalist faction in politics, the Heartspeakers believe in more power for the Heart - that is, the policing and management sector. The Heartspeakers want social order, the removal of foreign cultural elements, and the destruction of any Lunar cult. They wax nostalgically about the old days and want an expanded surveillance state. However, they are not necessarily for open violence. There is a certain faux-paternalism to the Heartspeakers, and they embrace Rational Choice Theory - which is to say, they want a society where it is easy to keep one's head down and exist without excessive suffering. They put distance between themselves and reactionaries who would import illegal slaves and return to the full brutality of the old order, even if that distance is partially just marketing. 
The Headspeakers: The pro-government technocratic faction in politics, who envision controlled social change and technology as the keys to all the city's problems. More industry, more experiments with social order, more outside ideas. The Headspeakers want more power for the Head, for the architects, city planners, magicians, and priests. They are also interested in controlled trade.
The Skyspeakers: The Skyspeakers are a political faction that is more of a tenuous coalition than any focused ideology - basically, they are an alliance of political cliques that have ties to the Kingdom of Siashi. They are closest with the Thighs, the commercial organ, though they also have some ties to the Stomach. The Skyspeakers are currently on the defensive and are being pushed out of power at every turn; they have a reputation for complacency and infighting. 
The Heartful Friends: Reactionaries who cling to the fringe of the Heartspeaker faction, who openly salivate at the return of the dystopian nightmare state. A collection of fringe groups that are considered unacceptable by the Kingdom of Siashi, and so are excluded from openly operating in the city's elite spaces.
The Manyface League: A shadowy network of Emesh paladins and allies, the only survivors of the great Lunar purges. The Manyface League once ruled this city; now they hide in the corners of academia and administration, keeping out of sight.
The Black Crusade: An infamous criminal group and the favorite scapegoat of the Ajaveti elites. Once, the Black Crusade was a real threat: an alliance of Desmians that worked to resist Ajavet, breaking machinery and killing mine bosses. It was a real hidden army. Of course, that was centuries ago. Now, there are only small cells of Black Crusaders, most of whom aren't even Desmian (but are rather Ishkibite ). Those who do retain their Desmian identity are, ironically, not even human - they are the Vespers and Haltia, the small-shaft workers who were beneath the notice of the administration. Mostly, the Black Crusade exists as an idea of a shadowy army of lower-caste people with an agenda of total genocide. 
The Deeproot Resistance: The much more active and relevant resistance movement in Ajavet, made up of lower-class Asivari Halikvar. These descendants of the victims of the Halikvar wars of religion have fought to preserve their religion, culture, and community despite almost two centuries of domination. Their religion and culture have transformed down here, in the dark and under constant pressure, but they remain persistent. They resist and wait for the second coming of Lily of Red, who will destroy the Kima Cities, free every slave, and finish her bloody work.

History

Early History and Lunar Period (714 to 1150)

Ajavet was founded in 714 ME by refugees from the Western Kima Cities, much like the other Kimas of the Rejvala mountains. Initially, Ajavet was one of the more open and commercial Kimas - the city welcomed in outsiders and was unusually open-minded in its philosophies. Ajavet was also known as the Moon Kima, for its prominent Lunar cults to Hiku and Jade. These cults helped Ajavet rise to prominence, guiding them towards the great silver deposits beneath their settlement. In exchange, however, the Lunar Gods asked Ajavet's leaders to exert power over the surrounding human and dryad tribes. Native prisms were forced into the Kima along with disobedient hill tribes, while the agents of Ajavet worked to influence the fledgling kingdoms of the lowlands. This led to lashback, with raids and counter-interference from the rising Halikvar tribes and kingdoms. After several brief wars, Ajavet made peace with the Halikvar and exiled their Hiku cultists in 900 ME. Jade cultists moved to seize total control of Ajavet's government, and founded the Knights of True Purpose to help them consolidate control of the military in 902.
In 940, the Knights of True Purpose and the Jade Cult were able to unite the Kimas to seize control of Siashi's government. Ajavet quickly rose as the leader of the Siashan Kimas during this time, even after they lost control of the kingdom in 960. From 960 to 1150, Ajavet weathered wars, rebellions, and raids, and saw the Jade Cult removed from absolute power. Finally, in 1150, Ajavet swore an oath of alliance with the Kingdom of Siashi that brought stability and commercial prosperity to the city once more. And, without ruling Lunar cults to siphon of resources for the divine squabbles, Ajavet was able to stabilize and expand once more. The alliance with Siashi slowly transformed into vassalage to Siashi, but Ajavet was given enough autonomy to not particularly mind - of the vassal-Kimas, Ajavet ruled supreme.

Early Siashan Ajavet (1150 to 1532)

Ajavet, as a prominent silver producer who was eager to foster a close relationship with the surface kingdoms, was the model Kima of the next few centuries. Their innovation and cooperation was not always a mark of kindness, though: as the respected alternative to the Halikvar world, Ajavet was where the people who didn't fit into the surface kingdom were sent to. Rowdy hill tribes, prisoners of war, religious minorities who refused to convert, all were pushed into Ajavet - and Ajavet produced more silver in return. Ajavet experimented with new technologies to expand their silver production, and Lunar cults waxed and waned as they were invited in to provide technologies and then removed when they became too powerful. This all produced great instability; Ajavet had the most revolts of any Kima City during the 1200s through 1500s. Ajaveti academics began to see social control as its own kind of technology to be experimented with. The stage was set for future horrors, though at the time one wouldn't necessarily have known.
Everything changed in 1532, when the Siashan government proposed a "Desmian Relocation Plan": Siashan pirates would capture Desmian villagers, and it would be Ajavet's job to safely deal with any Desmian over the age of 13 (those below that age would be distributed to Siashan families) and "educate them" in "moral behavior". These Desmians would be disposable labor for a new controversial technology known as "Mercury Amalgamation", which allowed for low-quality silver ore to be purified but often created horrific working conditions. This massive influx of new bodies, all trained in violence, was an issue for Ajavet, and the 'art of social control' became the pre-eminent topic in Ajaveti administration.

The Nightmare City (1532 to 1740)

From 1532 to 1555, thousands of people were sent into Siashan Kima Cities. Ajavet took in the most of any. That twenty years of mass enslavement transformed the foundations of Ajavet's society. The city was quickly restructured to promote social control, in layout and social structure. Ajaveti merchants raced to import chemical weapons from aquatic producers, and experimented with them and with using air-control as a kind of riot suppression technique. Gasses could blind, disorient, and kill human and dryad workers without much bothering prism enforcers, and the Desmians were too species-obsessed to make real allies among the prism lower castes. In 1539, the main problem facing Ajavet was the threat of slave revolt; by 1560, Ajavet had perfected the art of breaking human spirits. But a new issue was starting to emerge, that of population numbers. After 1555, the number of imported slaves drastically dropped. The Ajaveti elites could no longer kill with impunity or rule through a regime of endless misery; they had to keep their subjects having babies, which meant a living, functional, not-terminally-miserable population. Academics poured over data from the other Kima cities, looking for the perfect level of suffering to maximize profits while sustaining a population. The idea of 'rational choice theory' emerged from this in the 1600s - essentially, that a life dominated by clear, consistent, visible, and overwhelming carrots and sticks could prevent revolts before they even started. 
Ajavet was always first to receive whatever new prisoners of war Siashi enslaved, and bursts of new slaves arrived from 1560 to 1700. This period is best understood as a dystopian regime of overwhelming violence. It was perhaps too much violence to sustain itself; Ajavet struggled with labor problems and frequently resorted to illegal slave trading. Ajavet's reputation plummeted as a result; it was no longer a model Kima, but a predatory factory-city that eagerly devoured whatever flesh it could get its hands on. In 1700, Siashi officially ended their policy of enslaving non-Desmian foreigners and placed firmer regulations against selling people to Ajavet; Siashan elites even began debating whether Ajavet should be put under Siashi's direct control to prevent abuse. Ajaveti elites panicked and desperately reached out to the other Kima Cities for support in a potential rebellion, but the other Kimas were all too happy to let Ajavet take the blame for what they were all doing - many were irritated that Ajavet was essentially trying to control their governments at this point. When revolt failed and sanctions were put in place by the Kingdom, Ajavet's society turned in on itself. From 1700 to 1720, the elites devoured each other and almost plunged the city into civil war. In 1720, technocratic moderates took power and began to ease conditions; policing wasn't reduced, but much fanfare was made about how it was becoming less violent (though more publicly violent to those who openly opposed the government). Social mobility went up, and some voices were even allowed to question the foundational values and mechanisms of the surveillance state. The Cult of Emesh took hold in the academy, and began plotting to transform the state into something new and more benevolent; other Lunar cults soon followed, such as the Cult of Orchid and the Cult of Jade. It was the start of a revolution that never came to be. 

Failed Transformations (1740 to 1850)

The growing momentum towards radical social change was completely undermined in the 1740s, when the Halikvar Wars of Religion broke out in Siashi. The Halikvar Wars of Religion radically redefined religious dissenters in the Halikvar religion from "people who disagree" to "agents of cosmic evil", and Siashi was divided between the two main Halikvar sects. Those who did not convert to the Dakavari sect were condemned as traitors to Halcyon, morally almost Desmian. And so, they were sent into Ajavet to erase them from society, like undesirable groups before them. 
The sudden influx of slaves from across the Halikvari world completely undermined the reform movement in Ajavet. No longer was the question "what do we do now that slavery is untenable" - it was "is slavery in the form of low-caste work teams fundamentally moral". This created a more distinct moral opposition to slavery in Ajavet, but it struggled to really generate political power. The ideological extremes of Ajavet fought viciously in debates and memorandums, but eventually the extreme authoritarians took power and purged the government of all dissent. Society returned to a dystopian nightmare. Finally, in 1785, Siashi banned the enslavement of heretics and cut off the fresh supply of slaves. The regime moderated, merging with the technocrats to simmer back down to a status quo that was still more miserable than society in 1730. 

Modern History (1850 to Present)

And then, like a miracle, things began to change. In the 1850s, the new technocratic elites that entered into power began delivering reform beyond what they had promised - the social order thawed, surveillance went down, profits went down. The cult of Emesh, which slipped into power with the technocrats, was taking over the government from within. The academics began investing in education, particularly wizarding education, and Ajavet became the wizarding capital of Eastern Samvara by 1910. The old horrors continued, severely reduced, at the bottom of the city. All was not well. But the future seemed bright; the Lunar cults patted themselves on the back for a victory well-won. And then, like clockwork, they began undermining each other. In 1950, the Lunar Cult of Jade was revealed to have infiltrated the police and was violently purged from Ajavet; as the other Lunar cults fought to replace it, radical conservatives took the government. 
From 1950 to 1970, Ajavet returned to its old ways. The rise of Siashan piracy in Desmia (which generated many Desmian slaves) helped this process, though many illegal slaves also were bought during these decades. Finally, in 1971, the Lunar God Haru, the only one with a physical body, entered the city with a swarm of powerful solars and Theian paladins to "fix the city of Ajavet". Haru dragged off several of Ajavet's worst offenders and replaced the Chamber of Ajavet with "more compassionate leaders". The Kingdom of Siashi quickly responded with force, and Haru quickly withdrew his forces in a compromise: Siashi could retain control over Ajavet, if they policed Ajavet's leaders and helped the Lunar cults keep control in a stable government. Siashi agreed, and all was well for several years. But the new government was weak, confused, and perceived as foreign by many in the bureaucracy. In 1980, reactionaries raided the government and killed many key Lunar cultists. They also found a full roster of secret Lunar infiltrators, which paramilitaries used to ruthlessly purge the city. Siashi restored order in 1981, and then placed Halikvar paladins in charge of the city. These paladins struggled to actually rule the city, and lost all relevance by 1990. Finally, in 2000, the city returned to autonomous rule. The worst abuses had been curbed, but the city remained oppressive and domineering. The truth is that Siashi never really wanted it to be anything else; they wanted Ajavet to be less chaotic and unruly, but Ajaveti profits benefitted the Halikvar elites as much as the local elites. 
When Ajavet returned to being a self-governing vassal of Siashi, anti-foreign sentiment was baked into the new political culture. Lunar Gods and foreign religious were now seen as threats to the very basis of Kima living, and could not be tolerated. While the last few decades haven't been as nakedly cruel as the old Ajavet of 1560 or the reactionary period of 1980, that old domineering violence has been romanticized as part of "the good old days". The dream of change seems dead now - the failed changes of the last century have strengthened the new regime. What Ajavet becomes now is anyone's guess.

Points of interest

The Echoden: The largest and most beloved of all drinking establishments in Ajavet, the Echoden is a place of song and relaxation where people of all castes comingle. The Echoden has a rule of strict anonymity - you don't bring up your true name or your caste here, and ideally you leave the rest of the world outside. Fighting is strictly prohibited - this is a place of rules. Competitions, gambling, and all that jazz are allowed though. The Echoden's singing and dancing halls are just as essential to the experience as the drinks. While some elites reject the possible vulgarity of the drinking and mining songs, most everyone is welcome here. 
Four-Gates Academy: The wizard school of Ajavet, the finest in Eastern Samvara. The Academy is styled around the four elements, with the campus divided into four elemental quadrants. Home to an excellent library. Also very exclusive - to enter the academy as an outsider, you either need to already show magical ability or you need to bring in knowledge they don't already have for their library.
The Breathcage Sanctum: The poison gas control center, hidden between the Gated District and the undercarriage to the Foundry. Part of Lungs HQ, the Breathcage Sanctum is a massive nest of carefully labeled valves and keyholes. Also here is the stored gas, kept just close enough to the central airflow to be a silent threat to rebels - if you strike here too harshly, every non-prism in the city will die. Thankfully, there is enough concrete here to make that highly unlikely, and very few rebels have gotten anywhere close to the Sanctum. 
Skull Sanctum: A legendary vault of precious metals, precious items, and secrets held by the Head somewhere in the Gated District.
Heartcage Sanctum: The central hub of the security apparatus - a big fortified office where all knowledge goes to be filed and reviewed. 
The Chamber of Chambers: Where the supreme leaders of Ajavet meet. A small, secretive building hidden well from prying eyes, built more like an ancient cave-temple than an executive palace.

Founding Date

714 ME

Alternative Name(s)

Silver City, Hell's Gate

Type

City

Population

120,000

Inhabitant Demonym

Ajaveti

Location under

Samvara

Owning Organization

Kingdom of Siashi