Zarik-Val: Difference between revisions
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|Geography=The city is built across wide stone plateaus carved from the mountain’s spine. Each level is connected by ramps, tunnels, and cable bridges. Snow falls often but melts quickly on the warm black stone that makes up most of the streets. From the upper edges, one can see the distant peaks where deep-traders arrive through narrow mountain passes. | |Geography=The city is built across wide stone plateaus carved from the mountain’s spine. Each level is connected by ramps, tunnels, and cable bridges. Snow falls often but melts quickly on the warm black stone that makes up most of the streets. From the upper edges, one can see the distant peaks where deep-traders arrive through narrow mountain passes. | ||
|History=Zarik-Val began as a waystation for stone caravans traveling between the Citadel and the southern Murazkar Ranges. Its position—defensible and resource-rich—drew artisans and investors from Kar-Thal and beyond. Over time, it grew into a full settlement run by contract holders, guild leagues, and the charter council known as the | |History=Zarik-Val began as a waystation for stone caravans traveling between the Citadel and the southern Murazkar Ranges. Its position—defensible and resource-rich—drew artisans and investors from Kar-Thal and beyond. Over time, it grew into a full settlement run by contract holders, guild leagues, and the charter council known as the Heard Seat. | ||
|Districts=The city is divided by altitude and trade function. Key districts include: | |Districts=The city is divided by altitude and trade function. Key districts include: | ||
* Upper Vaults – Where the wealthiest families and contract holders live and negotiate. | |||
* Stonebreak Rows – Workshops and cutting yards where quarried stone and refined goods are shaped and traded. | |||
* Minthari Commons – A shaded, lower district where underground channels connect to Minthari trade tunnels. | |||
* Writwalk – The legal and record-keeping zone, where all contracts, trials, and deals are witnessed and signed. | |||
|Notable Locations= | |Notable Locations=* The Heard Seat – Council hall where city rulings are made by voice and mark. | ||
* Slate Pillars – Public monuments engraved with long-standing contracts and civic laws. | |||
* Mist Court – A fog-covered plaza where meetings and deals are made in private. | |||
* The Deep Window – A viewing vault where Minthari stone-cutting is demonstrated during formal trade cycles. | |||
|Culture and Society=Zarik-Val is orderly but not cold. Speech is respected, and silence is saved for decisions. Status comes from ownership, skill, or deal-making—not family line. Orasians here are clean-spoken and precise, and Minthari are given respect for their patience and craftsmanship. While not a spiritual city, many locals mark their doors with quiet blessings for fair weight and lasting stone. | |Culture and Society=Zarik-Val is orderly but not cold. Speech is respected, and silence is saved for decisions. Status comes from ownership, skill, or deal-making—not family line. Orasians here are clean-spoken and precise, and Minthari are given respect for their patience and craftsmanship. While not a spiritual city, many locals mark their doors with quiet blessings for fair weight and lasting stone. | ||
|Spiritual Significance=While not a place of worship, Zarik-Val observes several mountain rites—such as the | |Spiritual Significance=While not a place of worship, Zarik-Val observes several mountain rites—such as the Weighing Day, where goods are judged by fairness, and the Marking of Names, when children and new residents are given public stone marks in the city's record wall. | ||
|Economy=The city’s wealth comes from | |Economy=The city’s wealth comes from stone, trade, and quiet control. Contract houses regulate goods moving between the [[Murazkar Range]], the Anvil tunnels, and the plains beyond. Gem-cutting, vault-work, and metal refinement also play key roles. No good is sold without a name, mark, and weight. | ||
|Defense and Military=Zarik-Val has no standing army, but contracts with | |Defense and Military=Zarik-Val has no standing army, but contracts with Stonewardens and Minthari sentinels to guard its roads and treasuries. Its cliffs and paths are narrow and easily sealed, and every main gate has been cut to close by hand or floodstone if needed. | ||
|Dangers and Threats=Snowstorms, stone collapse, and rare smuggling attempts pose the main threats. Some worry about | |Dangers and Threats=Snowstorms, stone collapse, and rare smuggling attempts pose the main threats. Some worry about debt-duels, when contract disputes escalate beyond speech. The city's wealth has also drawn quiet interest from more shadowed parts of the highlands. | ||
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