The Hanging Garden of Soukara

Demographics

The Hanging Garden's population consists entirely of R'vathi, and most of them are females. They are either widows or lay false eggs because of a disease known as The Lash; these women are titled as matrons. There are only a few male residents who are all eunuchs and serve in two roles: guardsmen and windsmen. Guardsmen have a sacred duty to defend the rookery at all costs, while windsmen are responsible for maintaining the windblades.

Infrastructure

The Hanging Garden is an entirely artificial settlement, held aloft over an inlet by massive windblades and anchored to the surrounding mountains by large stone chains. The Hanging Garden is suspended by these chains, and the windblades help keep it aloft. If the windblades were to fail, the Hanging Garden would plunge into the sea below. The keep's exterior is designed with tiered sections of soft earth, which are used to grow many medicinal and other useful plants in abundance. At the top of the keep, under a thick canopy of trees, lies the rookery: a massive nest that carries all of the unhatched young of Soukara.

History

There are many legends of how the Hanging Garden came to be. Some say it was constructed elsewhere and then flown over the inlet for safety. Others say a mountain once stood beneath it, with a great city surrounding it, but the mountain began crumbling from within. The windblades were constructed, and the great chains were carved just in time to prevent the keep from falling into the sea. There is yet another legend that it began as an airship converted into a large platform upon which the R'vathi constructed the keep by flying over the necessary materials, one brick at a time.
But beyond the legends, the Hanging Garden has always been a deeply sacred place to the R'vathi of Soukara. All tribes return to the surrounding mountains once per year, and mated pairs enter to bear their next generation. It also serves as a refuge, the last stronghold of the R'vathi, in times of dire threat.

Alternative Name(s)

The Rookery

Population

850

Inhabitant Demonym

Rookmothers