Zann is a place that has existed since before kingdoms, before the city, and before anyone can remember. Its lifeblood is a magestic waterfall that drops out of the sky: Chiuta's Tears. Named after the goddess Chiuta, of the Old Pantheon, the Tears are the lifeblood of the city. Falling from an unreachable height, its waters land in the Great Basin at the city center. From the Basin the waters flow through ancient plumbing below the streets, under the southwest walls and out massive pipes onto the desert. From there the water cuts a canyon through the land known as the Spray Gorge.
Outside the walls[]
The Spray Gorge[]
The Gorge get its name from the fact that the wind over Zann usually blows towards the southwest as well, spraying water from the falls over the Gorge and cultivating the luscious vegetation on the canyon walls and floor. The Spray Gorge is home not only to a plethora of flora, but a dangerous array of fauna that exist in a micro-environment where the rule is kill or be killed. Survival of the fittest. In addition, it is known that communities of elves eke out a living in the Gorge, often trading for commodities in Zann's marketplaces in exchange for salves, balms, oils, and ingredients that can only be found in the Gorge.
The people of Zann survive how they can, where they can. The working folk seek employment in the crystal mines below the city, or in the expansive farms that border the Gorge and feed Zann's inhabitants.
The Quilt[]
The Quilt, a ring of colorful tents around the walls of the city, is home to a significant proportion of Zann's population of 10,000, albeit the less fortunate proportion. The Quilt is where one might find immigrants, transients, and travelers, as well as guides, bards, and adventurers that make their living off of the mysteries of the Amravati. Thus, the people of the Quilt are just as colorful as its tents. The analogy goes further though, for as the saying goes "the shadows of the tents are some of the darkest places."
Inside the walls[]
Within the city walls are townhouses, apartment buildings, government buildings, marketplaces, embassies, shops and schools. The city streets circle the Basin in the center, with wide boulevards extending radially out to the walls along the cardinal and ordinal directions. The four quadrants are zoned according to Kazdan Law (clockwise from northwest to southwest they are the Magic Quarter, Royal Quarter, Commerce Quarter, and Residential Quarter).
Royal Quarter[]
In the Royal Quarter stands the Crystal Tower where the Zann Duke Exar Kan has his offices, as well as suites for King Ferindal when he makes his infrequent visits. Adjacent to the tower is the Courts and Council Building, where (you'll never guess) the City Council meets and the Three Courts hear trials.
Commerce Quarter[]
The Commerce Quarter is the hub of trade in Zann. It contains numerous rooftops outfitted for airship landings, as well as numerous warehouses, guild halls, and office buildings. While there are some marketplaces, the people of Zann can find necessary commodities from shops much closer to their homes, rather than having to travel all of the way to the Commerce Quarter.
Residential Quarter[]
The Residential Quarter is home to a large chunk of the population of Zann, most of whom are Kazdanian. Numerous groups of different nationalities or races can be found here too though, including sizable dwarven, goblin, gnome, and halfling populations that can comprise whole neighborhoods.
Magic Quarter[]
The Magic Quarter is the section of the city least befitting of its name. Save for the Zann School of Magic, the Magic Quarter has by and large fallen into disuse, and where families of magicians, inventors, and alchemists once lived there now exist either abandoned buildings or additional housing for the ungifted - a now rarely used slang term for non-magic users. That is not to say that magic has vanished from Zann, far from it, it is just that the Nashik Conflict has drained the city, and the Kingdom as a whole, of its magic users for over a decade now, and that effect can be felt in the everyday life of the inhabitants of this part of Zann.
Stone Sanctuaries[]
While most of the buildings in the city have been built within the past few centuries - with the founding of the Kingdom of Kazdan - the boulevards, walls, Basin, and the Stone Sanctuaries seem to be timeless. The very bricks and stones, although well worn from use and the blowing sands of the Amravati, stand impervious to any attempt at their destruction or removal. These structures have seen use for hundreds if not thousands of years and each, save the Sanctuaries, have kept their original purpose. The Sanctuaries of course are somewhat of a mystery. Having existed long before Zann was first annexed by the Kingdom of Kazdan at its founding, the Stone Sanctuaries are nine structures that at one time were shrines to Old Pantheon deities. When the first rulers of Kazdan brought civilization to Zann after the Founder's War, the Sanctuaries were refurbished to honor deities in the New Pantheon (including Abadar, Calistria, Cayden Cailean, Desna, Erastil, Iomedae, Sarenrae, Shelyn, and Torag). Since that time the people of Zann have forgotten the customs and old gods that were once associated with the Sanctuaries, contently worshiping when and how custom decrees.