Geography
The nation of Anhara is crisscrossed by a number of mountain ranges, most prominently the Coquet Heights. Here, the
College of Vestrial Priestesses have their
Vestrial Tower, and the capital,
Meridia, has its mysterious Undercity. Prospectors, cartographers, and merchants have covered much of these mountains in search of
bluestone, precious metals, and sites for the expansion of houses' territory. However, rumors say
darker things lurk below.
Meridia
Beneath Meridia's Mist District, where the waterfalls, sewage, and
Lake Mira converge to flow into a series of natural and man-made caverns, lies the Undercity. This level of the many-tiered capital is unknown to most of its denizens, especially the wealthy, and its mysteries are innumerable. Here, the poorest of the city flock for a safety net of criminal enterprise, community, and Chaos.
"Execution was handed down today, and the traitor's body sent off the docks of Lake Mira, to rest wherever the waters take it." - The Whistling Observer, uninterested in the path to the Undercity
Chaos, chief amongst
The Obscure Ones, forces of the Void who slipped past
Meda's Eyes, embodies the oft-hypothesised sixth
agalma. This arcane statue, representative of the societal god
Labor, was lost to the rest of the city during the Age of Rule, when gods still walked the mortal plane. Corrupted by Chaos soon after miners from
House Verdi abandoned the bluestone mines of the Undercity to floods of water and poverty, it allows him a firm grip within the lands of men. However, most of the world, as well as many of the residents of the Undercity, are blissfully unaware of this.
"When the original sewer systems of Meridia were outgrown, construction work broke into a large cavern, believed to be referred to by the lower classes as the 'Undercity'" - Architectural Facets of the Capital
The location of the sixth statue, or even its existence, remains the source of conjecture and theorising. Darker still, Chaos and his unnamed associates are the stuff of myth and legend, with the crazed ramblings of those wretches of society aware of him dismissed, if they are even heard in the first place.
Vestrial Tower
"Informed sources say excavation was completed yesterday afternoon of a cavern dating back to the Creation under the Tower, the High Priestess, however, was coy when asked about the topic." - The Whistling Observer
On the opposite end of the Coquet Heights, sits the Vestrial Tower. This soaring marble structure was constructed by the gods themselves, and today is inhabited by the
College of Vestrial Priestesses. With the general air of secrecy associated with any religious group steeped in both history and ritual, many questions linger around this region of Anhara.
Chief among them, is the repeated rumors of construction work taking place beneath the Tower. Many theories abound about this work, with some politicians suggesting the High Priestess is subverting House Verdi's monopoly on bluestone by excavating a source found by the priestesses. Less highbrow ideas include that a divine artifact, or some other vestige of the goddess Vestria was discovered beneath the tower, giving the priestesses undeserved powers.
"While nearest the surface, the community of thieves, criminals, and the poorest of the poor persists, those who wander where even they dare not dwell will not be themselves much longer." - Excerpt from "Agalmas"
Only heard down among the denizens of the Mist District however, is that there is a cavern under the tower, burrowed by the scheming forces of
The Obscure Ones in order to bring down the Priesthood, and destroy Anhara's spiritual life. Within these theorists, dismissed by most educated citizens as nut-jobs who spent too long among the fumes of the lowest levels, there are two groups of thought.
Firstly, that the priestesses have been corrupted and are aiding these forces of evil beneath their sacred tower, thus profaning Vestria, and necessitating the seizing of the Tower by the government. Secondly, and more optimistically, that the High Priestess and her devotees are doing battle against The Obscure Ones in a pitched fight for the future of the mortal plane. All these suggestions are of course dismissed as ludicrous by informed Anharans, who suggest, if they have even thought about the matter, that the High Priestess simply needed a basement.
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