The Zhizhu Wall

Safety from Spiders

The Zhizhu Wall is a large structure that blocks off the Jihdi Peninsula from the rest of Elone, built to keep out the giant spiders of Nyx. It houses a population large enough to classify it as a town, despite initially serving only as a fortress. Zhizhu means spider in the Jihdi language.

The Inhabited Wall

For a time, the spiders from the Lair of the Spiders to the west would just roam around the Jihdi Peninsula, making life difficult in the cities, let alone the countryside where there is not such a large military presence.
Wars were waged, but they were in vain. A delegation was sent to the Temple of Nyx, the Spider Goddess of Shadows, asking her to stop the spiders in any way she could, but she refused.

"It is not the place of the Gods to intervene in every situation mortals consider a nuisance, nor is it my place to traffic in Izanagi's daylight.

Nyx by Jarhed

I am the fringes of the world you know. I am the edge of your sight. I stick to the shadows, and if you wish to survive the onslaught of the spiders it may be best for you to do the same.
Pray to me, and the shadows will protect you. Fail to do so, and your empire falls to my children."

— Nyx

Needless to say, the Jihdi left her temple defeated and with the wrath of the Goddess.

Lair of the Spiders

To the west of the Zhizhu Wall are two great threats to the Jihdi Peninsula: Nyx's Temple and the Lair of Spiders.
Nyx is the Spider Goddess, as she is associated with all creatures of the darkness and it is said she created them.
However, her followers keep to themselves more often than not. They only ever attack at night when provoked, yet the Jihdi do often provoke them in minor ways.
The greater threat, however, is the more constant one. The Lair of Spiders, a cave to the west, is home to millions of giant spiders and even more little ones. It is ruled over by the Great Spider, a ruthless, unstoppable creature that is said to have the intelligence of a mortal. Some even say the Great Spider is a demigod child of Nyx herself.
Expeditions into the Lair of the Spiders have proven fruitless, as the spiders repopulate quickly and there are enough of them to repel any invasions.
The only hope is to protect the peninsula from the threat of the spiders, who instinctively travel east towards the Jihdi.

Building a Wall

Nyx did not speak falsely, as it took only a handful of months for the spiders to gather around the Jihdi peninsula's entrance, and soon they spread. Many Jihdi settlements were overrun, as spiders attacked all over the empire. Most soldiers and politicians said they needed to repel the invasion.
But the Empress, Páng Nài, insisted it was fine. She gave the go-ahead to an architect to begin his plan, and said in the meantime the army needed only to keep the spiders away from the citizens. If they roamed the peninsula, it was fine for now.
The Zhizhu Wall plans were made, with the architect naming it after the spiders it was built against, but the architect died while the second level was being built, overrun by spiders and eaten. The spiders were driven away from his corpse by soldiers, and it is said that he was buried within the wall somewhere, some even say he lies in the bricks to ward off the spiders. The soldiers told the Empress they needed to give up, drive the spiders out, but she stuck to her plan.
She remained in power for another forty-five years, sticking to her insistence that her plan was going ahead. Finally, when the wall's skeleton was completed, she gave the go-ahead.

Empress Páng Nài by Jarhed

"Like rats in a cage, we have our foes where we want them. They are in our streets, in our countrysides, climbing our mountains as if they were citizens. However, there is a great difference between them and us. We can swim... and we can leave our nation. But there is no escape for them. No spider will enter... and some may flee.
Let them try. Let them feel the fear of your blade as you drive it through them or drive them out. Either way, I grant each citizen the freedom to exterminate the spiders. There is no escape for them. Light the nation on fire if need be. We will endure, as we always have."

— Empress Páng Nài

Thus, the Jihdi army, supported by the people, led an extermination quest to hunt down every spider left in the empire. The spiders were trapped, with no way of getting support. Most were not intelligent enough to flee, instead dying to the extermination wave. Some of the smarter beasts ran to the wall, where they were mostly slain by the new soldiers, but some were allowed to flee, as it showed that this was what the Jihdi wanted. An end to the spider problem.
Of course, Nyx and her spiders will likely never give up until they are allowed to roam the peninsula as they did before the Jihdi settled it. But until then, the Zhizhu Wall will remain.
Empress Páng Nài died not long after the extermination began, and she never got to see a completely spider-free Jihdi Empire. But she, too, is said to have been buried at the wall, and some say her royal grave in Shixing is empty, as she cared more about protecting her nation than serving as the ruler of it. Her role as a symbol was not as a politician, but as its stalwart defender. Still, this is only speculation, as there was a grand funeral held in Shixing where spiders were burned to commemorate her loss as she was lowered into the ground.

The Wall's Layout and Construction

As it is also a settlement that houses an entire group of people whose lives are dedicated to protecting the peninsula, the wall must serve as housing for people and must have all the amenities they need to survive.
The wall has 12 stories, plus the roof of the wall itself, and is roughly 120 feet tall.
Merchants visit often from nearby ports, traveling to the southern edge of the wall where there is a gate that can be opened to the sea. Due to this, the lowest section of the wall is a river, technically making the peninsula an island, allowing boats to pass through the wall and making it so the spiders cannot travel through the lowermost section of the wall, as they cannot survive in water for long. Along this section of the wall, on the innermost sides, are stalls where merchants can set up shop and areas they can disembark from their boats, as well as some boats that can serve as a means of egress for the residents if needed.
The next level is the bridge, a raised platform with large drawbridges that can be opened to the ground as ramps, making it the only way onto or off of the peninsula via land. Other than that, this section is heavily guarded, as it is the most prone to outside attack.
The third, fourth, and fifth levels are housing for the soldiers. The Zhizhu wall is one of three major locations that the Jihdi army primarily station themselves, the others being the capital city of Shixing and the lighthouse of Fuzou.
The sixth level is not public knowledge. Outsiders that visit the wall, and those who are not military personnel, are forced to wear a blindfold while walking the stairs from the fifth to seventh floors. What secrets could be held on the sixth level are unknown, though speculation believes military experiments are done in secret here, where soldiers are everywhere and the land is protected. This way, the experiments can be tested on invading hordes of spiders.
The seventh level, as the center of the wall, is where precious items are stored. Treasures, wealth, and most notably most of the food storage is found on this level. Guards are always keeping an eye on it, even if there is very little treasure that the Jihdi keep here, it is still a target for enemies of the Empire.
The eighth level is empty, with plans to expand it in the future, though arguments of what could possibly be put there make plans difficult. Due to this indecision, some believe nothing will ever go on the eighth level of the wall.
The ninth level is a viewing deck, with holes in the wall where people can go to look at the view. This makes it a vulnerable level, and for this, the walls are lined with poison that can be released into the sealed level with a slight break to the walls. Due to this, few people go to the ninth level, and it ends up as a trap for spiders that seek a way into the wall.
The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth levels are the final levels of housing, with the twelfth level in particular serving as the one where those that man the battlement of the wall live. The eleventh is home to the highest ranking military officers, political figures, and any other high ranking individual that may reside in the wall. As for the tenth, it is fairly standard living space for everyday residents, which only came about years after the wall was inhabited, as it was initially only for military personnel. The tenth floor, as well as the fifth, exist now only so the soldiers do not feel alone.
Finally, the roof serves as not only the major focal point of the wall, but also its most prominent feature and its greatest point of defense. Despite its height, mages and archers are trained to fight from a distance where the 120 feet feel like five. They can obliterate any threat that is in sight, and patrol the roof with great attention and ruthlessness. If one approaches the wall armed, they are likely to be met with force before they are allowed near it or heard out.
The wall is made out of bricks and cut stone, painted a muted red with yellow and blue accents, it serves as a large warning to anyone that approaches of where they are. If one is an enemy to the Jihdi, they are entering their land and must face the might of the nation that built the Zhizhu wall. A strong mortar made with lime holds the bricks and stone together, making it one of the sturdiest structures built in the eastern hemisphere.