Veins
| Veins | |
|---|---|
| City | Kar-Thal |
| Realm | Terasil |
| Function | Residential and Market District |
The Veins is the residential and commercial heart of Kar-Thal, located in the central tiers of the mountain-city. Structured as a network of interwoven tunnels, open plazas, and family niches carved from living stone, it is both the most densely populated and acoustically vibrant district in the city. The name derives from the branching, capillary-like layout of its chambers, which pulse with daily life and ritual resonance.
Function
The Veins serves as Kar-Thal’s primary space for habitation, trade, and informal communal gatherings. While its civic functions are limited compared to governance or ceremonial districts, it plays a critical role in sustaining the rhythm of everyday Orasian life—housing stone-tender families, artisan guilds, and market keepers who maintain the city's essential material and spiritual flow.
History
Originally carved as a cluster of tunnel-dwellings during the city's expansion in the Era of Isolation, the Veins grew organically outward from central stone wells and mineral springs. Its layout was never imposed from above, but shaped by resonance-guided carving and community-led extension. During the Great Erosion, the Veins sheltered incoming families displaced from outer ranges, solidifying its role as a communal anchor within the city.
Notable Locations
- Nereth-Kazuun – A central communal plaza illuminated by glowstone harmonics, where traders, tone-keepers, and echo-choreographers gather. It serves as the acoustic heart of the district.
- Ulvek-Har – A shallow, mineral-lined basin where residents perform daily tone-cleansing rituals and resonance alignment. Its circular walls amplify the lowest frequencies of communal chant.
- The Kareth-Shoan – Ancestral dwelling rings carved around uncut mineral pillars. These spaces are passed through stone-oaths and contain lineage-bound echo-altars.
- Veshun-Taril – The primary market corridor, divided into pitch-aligned chambers. Vendors project their voices in rhythmic tones that follow district-specific cadence laws.
Cultural Practices
Residents of the Veins maintain a strong tradition of echo-rhythmic speech, using chantlike cadences for market exchanges, announcements, and inter-household communication. Many families maintain their own tonal signatures, identifiable by trained resonance-keepers.
The Veins also hosts informal ceremonies such as stone-feeding, where offerings of finely crushed minerals are placed in wall hollows to honor the daily labor of the city. During Cycle Days, many residents gather at the Resonance Well to share meditative tones, believed to keep the district in harmonic alignment with the city’s deeper layers.