I was. Am. A Peasant. Remember that.

Clufist, my home, was both incredibly vast and compact. Homes and businesses were built on top of each other and in a hardstone material with a drab red coloration that collected the sun. All had their roofs tilted in the same direction. Towards the center, Castle Huran.

It was indomitable. Scary. Less of the intimidation was from its perception and more of its perceived influence. It was actually pleasant to look at. It had four tall swirling towers that ended in balled tops. Each night they glowed violet with an intangible magical power. In the middle was the main construction, with its own tower above all else and a ball that radiated a permanent white. And in stark contrast with the surroundings, there was plant life. A Lot of it. Hanging gardens stuck to the sides with hundreds of tiny waterfalls each filling numerous gardens. Each droplet originated from the white ball.

No. The building itself wasn’t chilling. But its tight-fisted inhabitants were. The O’Wryn.

From the the center were four channels of rushing water that were so long that they reached some of the deepest parts of the empire. The city was built in four consecutive rings. The further away you traveled from the castle; the closer the buildings got to each other and the poorer the people lived. Closest to the center was the Sokai District. There lived the high-end commoners and the few nobles who resided in Clufist. Along with the more expansive restaurants, inns, and other places a person to choose their proclivity.

From there was the Vaninand then the Heigan Districts respectively. Vanin was mercantile in nature. Trade houses, open sales centers, and more. They also held the businesses for more of the base citizens living in Heigan. They lived modest lives without the treading trepidation of hunger or thirst.

The final ring didn’t have an official name. Because if it did, then citizens would live there and the royal family would be obligated to create another, longer wall around it. Aid would have to be handed out and regulation would have to be enforced.

That was something the O'Wryn's didn't want, nor dared to do. Criminal underlords had set their invisible thrones in the slums and their slow serpent strangle was all-consuming.

I lived there. Among the dirt.