Imperial Attention 3 – Imperial Capital

Tenour.

The capital of the Sleeping Empire, the Leaf from which the dark elves had spread their influence, a city and a world with millennia of history on this Branch of the Omniverse. What had been rich under the administration of other realms and as a city state had become a structure that awed all the members of the party. Even Yuzuki, who had been there before, could not help herself but gawk once more as they descended the Stem.

The enormous city rose as a mountain created by civilisation. Countless towers rose on high from layers upon layers of stone, the tallest of them even piercing the grey clouds above. Concentric terraces separated the city into layers. Each time a new ring was added, all others were built higher. This process had played out a multitude of times.

Bridges that had once connected high places now lay in the shadows of manmade ravines. Aqueducts carried shimmering waters in conduits of stained glass. Massive gates were set in the sides of the retaining walls that marked the beginning and end of each ring of the capital. Every rooftop, every balcony, every street bore statues of ancient saints, beasts and gods. Most common was a hooded female, three overlapping eyes decorating the front of her robe. The goddess Aranea of Dark and Dreams, the creator of the dark elves.

“It just keeps going…” Korith mumbled. The party remained standing atop the Stem. It was the only place high up enough to get a good view of most of the city.

Even from the elevated position, the raw size of the central districts blocked all that was behind it from view. It was a gargantuan palace, built over elven generations by the finest craftsmen their long-lived species produced. It was uniquely colourful in this story of dark stones and stained glass. Materials from every corner of the Sleeping Empire had been hauled to the palace and plants from all fields brought in so all of the realm was tied into the imperial household.

“Our first stop,” Yuzuki guided their attention to the cathedral. It was located on the second layer of the city, east of the imperial palace. It, too, made a statement about having a little more colour than other segments of Tenour, primarily by using white marble in its cornerstones. “The bishop sits there.”

The party nodded and then began to move. They joined a steady stream of merchants that were rolling down the Stem in their carriages, sticking to the right side, while those that were leaving the capital stuck to the left. The order was entirely necessary to prevent congestion that would have lamed the lifeline of the entire metropolis.

“I had read that Tenour was large,” Aclysia muttered quietly. “My estimations were… grossly insufficient.”

Yuzuki smiled faintly and giggled behind a raised hand. “It has that effect.”

The scale of the city had been impressive from above, but the reality of its size only sank in once they were on the ground. Where the Stem connected to the Leaf, a massive courtyard had been created, carving a flat, diamond-shaped area into the layers of the manmade mountain. From its southernmost to its northernmost tip, the area stretched across three of the layers of Tenour and thus three different heights of walls surrounded it. One was a city wall that would have fortified any place, one was a mighty fortification reserved for vital fortresses and one was a smoothened cliff.

The party had seen many places like this plaza before. Where the Stem connected, cities usually grew and these cities surrounded the Stem itself with all the facilities needed to process new arrivals. Merchants lined up with their carriages with old familiarity. Signs in common above let the party know where pedestrians were supposed to walk. Yuzuki ignored standard instructions and instead headed straight for a golden gate in the middle of it all. It was kept open, for many were using it, but it was also heavily guarded and those that wished to pass through it were checked regularly.

“HALT!” The commanding tone had Yuzuki stop in front of the guard she had made eye contact with. “I apologise, milady, but procedure demands I ask you to identify yourself and state your business.”

“Lady Yuzuki of the Cracked Lake. With permission of the matriarch of the Yuki-Onna, I am assisting this Silver-tier party in finding their proper place in the Sleeping Empire.”

The guard’s eyes moved to the party for a moment. His gaze was casual and calculating. Though adventurers of this power were still a relative rarity, to a guard of the capital they were no uncommon occurrence. Had it not been for the Yuki-Onna with them, he would have immediately shunted them off to the commoner’s entrance. Even with her here, there was a choice to be made.

The guard elected to leave it be.

“Proceed,” he simply said, respectfully bowing his head to Yuzuki and only Yuzuki. “Welcome to the capital.”

Going through the golden gate offered them temporary reprieve from the size of the crowd. They were on a different track, on a paved road that went to a bridge that rose above the commerce below. ‘Like ants,’ Apexus thought, beholding the chaotic and yet ordered streams of people moving between markets and guilds.

Their privileged movement ended once they stepped through the cliff-like wall, entering Tenour proper through an obsidian gate. A short tunnel, decorated with gemstones laid out into patterns of valiant heroes fighting demons, saw them emerge in the bustling streets. Yuzuki kept guiding them confidently as one river of people merged with another, only to split again.

The streets were labyrinthian things. They went up and down, effective routes emerging organically after so many layers of city had been stacked on top of each other. Whenever they crossed a bridge, Apexus could gaze down. People lived even at the bottom of each gap in houses that only saw natural light when the sun was at its highest – if the sun ever pierced the steady presence of the grey clouds above.

“There is no reek,” Apexus suddenly realized as they walked along a road practically on their own. Yuzuki had guided them off the swiftest path so they wouldn’t be part of the mass of people anymore. “This city smells… neutral.”

“That is a task the Imperial Alchemists are heavily invested in,” Yuzuki explained. “They keep the city clean, from its water distribution to its alleyways. If I remember my history correctly, an event called The Retching caused the previous emperor to abdicate.”

“The… Retching…?”

“Let’s just say that the city used to rely on inadequate methods to deal with its waste and a particularly hot summer combined with a crack in certain storage facilities caused the stink to spread to most of the city.”

Yuzuki looked around with another proud smile.

“This is the capital of the Sleeping Empire. Gorgeous, mighty, unparalleled and yet its foundations of stone are not as sturdy as they appear. One day, it will all go catastrophically wrong. It is a historical certainty. Until then, we bask in the splendour that is the magnificence we craft with our own two hands.”

She twirled around on her heels and executed a little bow.

“Welcome, Inevitable party, to the heart of the Sleeping Empire.”