Khalas ((Kah-lass))

Description:

A large city located on a tall plateau, situated at the entrance to the Adustus Desert. The whole city is of Arabic culture, with buildings made of mud brick, wooden logs, and granite. The buildings are built close together with only four main roads big enough for vehicles and such. The rest are all practically back alleyways crowded with people or various random objects, with these alleys winding in an almost maze-like pattern. The buildings are usually two or three stories tall, with some being only one story and others being four stories. All of them lack glass in their windows, but will sometimes have wooden shutters or iron bars. Around the outside of the city are forty-foot walls, thick and strong as to make the entire city a fortress. The whole color scheme is a sandy orange/yellow with few alterations of color.

Sub-Areas:

The city has five distinct sections, that somewhat mix a little in some areas.
Madaniun:
The civilian area of the city, being spread out in almost all the buildings up on the plateau, with tons of people being crowded into a small number of buildings. Though houses are furnished, they’re not fancily done so, with only the bare necessities included, if not a decoration here and there.
Bays Shira':
The cities market, where all manner of things can be bought, and the most visited place by travelers. This section is spread out over the four main roads, all of which connect to a plaza at the very center of the city. Along the main roads, market stalls are backed up against buildings as many people will sell from the windows of their own houses. In the plaza, many market stalls are erected around the large fountain in the center in an almost spiral pattern. All of the stalls are woolen canopies hanging over wooden desks.
Madkhal:
The front gate of the city, being a massive metal portcullis in an archway. This section is placed in the wall but rises up a few dozen more feet to be an impressive structure in of itself, with a second identical gate being out a bit on ledge of the plateau, giving access to the city from a road that winds down the side of the plateau. Soldiers are constantly stationed atop the Madkhal (as with the rest of the walls) that are armed with weapons to take out any aircraft or vehicle that approaches unauthorized. At night, the gates are closed (meaning the metal portcullises are down and massive stone slabs slide up from the ground to seal off the city from the outside), except during festivals where they are open until the night of the next day. Even though this area is heavily defended and is a formidable fortress, it’s the weakest point in the walls, having a road directly to it and not being unbreakable like the rest of the walls.
Qasr Alaliha:
The main spectacle of the city, being the massive palace that is the home of the Sultan. It’s designed to not only be a mosque, but to be a fortress in times of war as well, with the central unit being able to be sealed off. The left and right wings of the palace are usually used for worship or government meetings, but can also serve as military defensive positions.
The top of the palace is used as a watchtower or a sniper tower. Not to mention, underneath the palace is a massive reserve of weapons, ammunitions, and other things for defense.
The Khalians have very strict rules about who can enter the Qasr Alaliha, with those who unlawfully enter be punished by death.
Jundiun:
A small part of the city located at the bottom of the road that gives access to the city. Being a small town in of itself that almost functions entirely separately.
This area serves as the military camp for the entire city, with all inhabitants being soldiers or some type of military personal. Tents, bunkers, trenches, and low steel buildings make up the entirety of this area, with a few small motel-like buildings in which travelers stay in during the night. Military vehicles, aircraft, tanks, canons, etc, are seen in plenty around the area, often kept together in their various types, with many stationed 24/7 at the beginning of the road as another form of gates and guards for the city.

History:

Having first been formed as a  small campsite by individuals escaping the horrors of the Mesica Civil War, in which case many people became hermits in the area. It was hardly heard about with only a few individuals traveling to join the campsite. During the Great Migration, the growth of the camp swelled, almost immediately rising from a campsite, to a small village, to town, becoming bustling and well known. During this time, it's culture began to form more solidly and the inklings of its government formed. The town experienced another growth spurt in 4450, where it grew and became the city it's known as today, with its government fully erected, its hierarchy fully formed, and it's culture in full swing, with it being named as the capitol of the Adustus Desert a couple years later. It was attacked in 4587, but managed to hold off the Heralds of the Damned. In response, they focused a massive amount of effort on building their walls and improving their military, as well as creating new laws when it came to travelers, putting the city in its current state.

Night Rules:

The city has a rule where no travelers are allowed inside the city at night except during festivals. Instead, they must travel back out and stay in the motel-like buildings in the Jundiun. Any non-citizen individual found within the city during nighttime will often end up imprisoned for a couple of days. This is so long as it's not obvious they remained inside due to them being lost. However, many guards will roam the city right before the gates close in search of travelers and will (kindly at first) escort them to the road through the Madkhal.

No-mans-land:

There's a mile radius around the entire plateau (marked out with obsidian obelisks), which is known as the Authorization Zone. It's an area that only authorized aircraft and vehicles can enter. Should they be unauthorized, they will be immediately shot down by defenses along the city's walls. This also includes any unauthorized individuals, unless along the Entrance Road, in which case they will be allowed to go so far as the Jundiun where it will be determined if they are allowed entry into the city. Because of this, there's an area just beyond the beginning of the Entrance Road that has sand packed flat from the constant pressure of parked vehicles and aircraft of travelers.

Type

City

Amazonian:

The city's inhabitants are similar to the Greek Mythological Amazons, with the woman being tall, and strong, and the ones in charge, with the men, rather being almost entirely slaves and doing the majority of labor (such as building, soldiering, cleaning, cooking, running shops, etc). This allows the women to have lives of luxury and almost completely free of work (except if they are government officials). Not to mention, male travelers, while allowed into the city, are not allowed to do much (IE purchase products, services, etc), so much so that they're almost always required to have a female partner nearby at all times. Should a male be found wandering the city alone, they will either be heavily judged and persecuted at best or arrested for suspicious activity at worst. Should they be arrested, unless they have a female partner come vouch for them, they will be left imprisoned, stripped of all belongings and cast out of the city, or even enslaved as a laborer.

Solstice Celebrations:

The only holidays that Khalians recognize are the solstices and equinoxes, in which case they will hold festivals where everything follows the theme of that season, with winter being their favorite. These festivals are renowned for their extravagance and are one of the few things that manage to bring travelers from around the world to view the many spectacles that take place. These festivals have caused the city to become rich and prosperous, launching it out of poverty and into the capital of the Adustus Desert.