Csizetterai

Lying on the established border between the Free Coast and Azeranzeri, the city of Csizetterai is the embodiment of the alliance between these two refugee states. Technically a Zeranzeri city under the governance of Sept Cathzeri - a civic sept specialising in scholarship and alchemy - the City of Towers is also home to a sizeable Free Coast community. The river Szet divides the city into two parts: North Csizetterai above the river, West Csizetterai below, with the latter the centre of the Free Coaster community.
In the extreme northwest of the city, Szetport is the main riverport, lying at the navigational limit of the Szet. Along with the neighbouring, but highly distinct, wharf districts of Weston and Guildbridge, it is the commercial heart of the city. Weston, connected to Guildbridge by the broad span of the North Bridge, lies in West Csizetterai, is primarily a working district, with warehouses and residences for the workers and officers of the port. Guildbridge is a far more affluent area, home to the merchants' guilds and moneylenders who own the ships and the cargoes which dock at Szetport.
The towers for which the city is known cluster around Black Hill, the upland on which the original fortress of Sept Cathzeri was built, and still stands. The towers themselves are high cylinders of dark brick, with deep foundations, which form the old city, before it spread out in rings of more conventional surface architecture. The fortress is now the Septry of Cathzerai, dominating the hill itself. Clustered around the Torflit, the river which runs from a spring at Black Hill's summit, the five towers of Underhill now house the lesser septs of the city, while on the higher ground to the north, other springs feed the industrial towers of the Black Heights. Like the hill, the Heights are named for the dark stone from which they are formed, but the smoke from the factory towers gives a double meaning.
Southbridge - named for its location around the South Bridge, a graceful affair lined with statues of civic leaders, Zeranzeri scions at the north end, Free Coasters at the south - is the 'good' neigh­bourhood of West Csizetterai. It houses the Autarch's hall - a set of central Offices for the use of national-level public officials - the Great Embassy - a diplomatic hub for the entire Coast - and the High Commanderie, which houses the military command.
The last district in the city is Crook, in the elbow of the river. This was once the religious centre of the city, but as fine temples have grown up in the wealthier districts its use has changed to become the cemetery district for both sides of the river.
The alliance which Csizetterai symbolises was established when the Free Coasters took advantage of the Zeranzeri emergence to push inland, seizing Hannah and Oxyura, and with them much of the peninsula, while Ophionic forces were occupied with the Zeranzeri. The Free Coast Irregulars them came to the relief of Jarara, the city where the Kindled emerged, now besieged by an army loyal to the Cult of Asphyx.
The alliance grew from this act of solidarity. The Irregulars raised the siege and the two forces proceeded to close the Road of Shackles for over a decade. Jarara became Herezerai, Oxyura became Harmos, and Hannah was destroyed by Virin-yal saboteurs before it could be fully occupied. The Free Coasters ceded the north to the Zeranzeri, promising support against the Empire, and in return all rights to the west coast and inland were recognised as belonging to the Free Coast.