Ere'eah

I am Simarimes, Queen of the Dangling Gardens, Ruler of Ere'eah, and planter of the Verdant Mesh.
What brings you before my throne and the august members of the Hanging Council at the dizzy height of Sem'lap's Cliff?
Chose your next words carefully, for they will determine at which speed you will be reunited with the ground below.
~ Garden-Queen Simarimes

Built directly into the face of a sky-high cliffside, the city-state of Ere'eah is widely famed for the breathtaking beauty of its numerous, freely suspended gardens. Stretching all the way from the cliff's ridge to the bottom of the deep ravines laying at their foot, these "Dangling Gardens" are a true marvel of botanical architecture.
In addition to the visual beauty of its gardens, Ere'eah is also known for the various high-quality herbal products, which are created from their yield. These products include numerous types of prized fruits, potent medicinal herbs, and a lightweight variant of Resin-Bronze known as O'gitrev ("Windflower Copper").

Demographics

Ere'eah is mostly inhabited by Curnias, yet a small yet stable population of Golotian also call the city home.

Government

Ere'eah is Simarimes' garden and we are its most prized flower.
And just like real flowers, we can easily be plucked.
~ R'aneg A'pilut, Member of the Hanging Council

The city of Ere'eah is ruled over by Garden-Queen Simarimes, who has served as the regent of the city since the day of its founding. Which makes her one of the oldest and most influential rulers of any Curnias city-state, a fact that she likes to frequently emphasize, especially in the presence of "younger" rulers.
Simarimes is supported in her governmental work by a small council of six individuals, known as the Silis'nep Sutanes ("Hanging Council"), which is staffed by the current favorites of the Queen.
While the individual members of the council might anytime be replaced according to the fickle favor of the Garden-Queen, the overall composition of the council remains the same.
Therefore the occupants of the council's nooses -it isn't called the Hanging Council for nothing- always includes at least one Rebmu ("Hound of the Green Hunt"), one Xefitnop ("Master of Sacrifices"), and three A'iraipot ("Shaper of Flowers").
Highlighting the exalted positions those that walk upon the path of the Gardener hold at the court of Simarimes.

Industry & Trade

Ere'eah's primary exports are various types of liana and vines which are utilized as either building material or food items by other Curnias city-states.

History

I can still smell the musky odor of the Cattle Moos I used to herd at the bottom of these cliffs.
~ Garden-Queen Simarimes

The Seeds of a Garden

The settlement that would later become Ere'eah, was founded by Simarimes during the closing years of the Principal Sun and initially served as a small farm for the cultivation of various animated plants such as Cattle Moss or Sloth Grass.
Given that the founding took place at the bottom of a titanic cliffside, whose surface was covered in viridescent mineral veins the settlement was originally known as Sem'lap Sulup'ocs ("Branch Cliff").
Though this was later changed to Ere'eah ("Hanging City") once the ongoing vertical expansion of the growing city began to cover up the surface of the cliff.

Vines to the Heavens

While the vertical expansion of Ere'eah had initially merely been the result of the jagged ground at the cliff's bottom being unsuitable for large scale constructions. It soon became a cornerstone of the city's construction planning.
The reason behind this decision was that the numerous protrusion and recesses of the cliff's surface turned to be ideally suited for the cultivation of various types of lianas, climbing vines, and rootless plants, whose sturdy yet highly flexible nature made them excellent building materials for the growing city.
Additionally once chopped into bite-sized pieces and macerated in either sweetened water or plant saps, these cliff-grown plants also make for some rather tasty food ingredients.
Following the expiration of the Principal Sun, these plants gained a third and arguably even more important application. As their Vitae-rich nature made them an excellent sacrificial power source for the vast resin-filled pools -called the Amber Suns-, upon which the Simarimes and her kind relied to stave off the abhorrent curse of their species.
This naturally led to a massive acceleration of Ere'eah's vertical expansion, which resulted in the construction of the first building at the cliff's summit within the timespan of a single year.

Blossom of a City-State

With the expansion of her city nearing completion, Simarimes began to shift her focus to the political and military growth of her city.
This caused her to engage in a series of power-political moves in order to strengthen Ere'eah's influence within the surrounding A'irtap basin.
Given the increasing wealth of the city-state as well as its strategic location, Simarimes' political maneuvering proved highly effective.
Yet it also began to draw the attention of the newly formed Sevenfold Alliance, which had only recently managed to establish itself as the biggest player within the basin's political arena.
It took Simarimes all of her rightfully famed negotiating skills as well as a lot of concession, gifts, and "unfortunate accidents", to convince the leaders of the Alliance to abandon their planned subjugation of Hanging City.

Architecture

The central piece of Ere'eah's architecture is the so-called "Verdant Mesh", which is an extensive meshwork of lianas, climbing plants, and hemp ropes that covers nearly the entire surface of the Sem'lap's cliff and which serves as the suspension system for the entire city.
Every other piece of the city's architecture from the smallest brazier to the largest vertical garden complex is either directly or indirectly connected to this meshwork.
This great deal of interconnectivity, therefore, enables the Mesh Maidens to modulate the absolute and relative position of all of the city's buildings, which in turn, allows them to remodel the shape of the entire city.

Notable Buildings

Hall of the Garden Queen

Located at the very top of Sem'lap's cliff the Hall of the Garden Queen is a flower-shaped building formed from an intricated meshwork of permanently blossoming lianas. The ever-changing colors of these flowers are even said to reflect the current mood of the Garden Queen herself.
While most of the city's nobility regard this idea as mere superstition, Simarimes herself has neither denied nor confirmed the supposed emotional link to her palace. This has allowed her to exploit the color's ambiguity to her advantage, by subtly changing the building's color with her immense shamanic powers and thereby add a powerful mysterious undertone to every single of her words.
In addition to its primary function as Simarimes' personal residence, the Hall of the Garden Queen also serves as the seat of the Hanging Council.

Alternative Name(s)

Hanging City, Dangling Gardens, Garden of Simarimes

Type

City

Inhabitant Demonym

Ere'sunu ("Hanging One")

Location under

A'irtap Basin

The White Hunters

Triumph in the sky, or don't botter landing.
~ Unroc Unnip, White Mantel

The "White Mantels of Ere'eah" are the Rotanev ("Hunter") of the Hanging City's middle class that follow the example of the Ideal of the Gliding Huntsman, which is a male sub-ideal of the Ideal Huntress.
They commonly clad themselves in robes and mantels woven from the seeds of dandelions and other anemochorous plants, which is the reason behind their name.
While small in number and regarded with far less prestige than the other paths, they are nevertheless very good at their job and the foremost experts on the hunt and capture of flying and gliding plants.

Maidens of the Mesh

This district is my assigned garden and I shall shape it like my Queen desires.
~ Al'ugart'su, Mesh Maiden

Mesh Maidens are a subtype of Rotara ("Farmer") unique to Ere'eah that handles the maintenance and repair of the Verdant Mesh.
They adhere to the teachings of the Garden Queen, which serves as their Sub-Idol in her function as the Ideal of the Floral Maiden.
Given that Simarimes is highly talented in the art of shamanic plant breeding and furthermore an old friend of the Ideal of the Gardener, it is no wonder that the Floral Maiden is revered by a sizable number of female gardeners outside of her city.

Leap of Faith

The "Jumping Priests" and "Tumbling Priestess" are the Rotatem ("Priest") of Ere'eah and specialize in the midair oblation of the numerous types of sacrificial plants, which are grown within the city's Dangling Gardens.
In order to perform these elaborate ceremonies, they frequently throw themselves from the protrusions and ridges of the cliff, trusting in their innate Rivergliding abilities as well as several elastic ropes to decelerate their fall before they hit the rocky ground at the cliff's bottom.