Nestled on a trio of plateaus against the base of the prismatic mountains in northwestern
Avaritia, Paviyama was known mostly for its contribution to the gem trade. While the three different steps of the city each served a different function, all were host to richly-decorated structures that glittered in the light and emitted a light hum in the darkness. This was due to the stucco being made with mud from the nearby Glittering Morass, which had dozens of different types of superfine gem dusts mixed with it. It was destroyed in a cataclysmic explosion of the mountain against which it was built, and nothing of it remains.
The city itself exported one out of every four of the world's rare gems, and it hosted branches of banks from every major country and Grand Alliance in its walls. The Pale Grin held the city for the Emperor, and the gang was responsible for installing Paviyama's governor, who was Dame Catalan Rostelli, a first cousin to Lady Tiana Rostelli, the leader of the influential Rostelli Family. It was the governor that sat the trade value of the gems that are extracted from the mines, which gave the Pale Grin and the Emperor significant influence over gem prices across the planes.
The gems were mined by a caste of druids from the Circle of Stone, and the mines themselves were the only known entrance to the Glittering Garden, which was the divine realm of the god
Enos. These druids allowed no passage to the paradise encircled by the mountains at the center of Avaritia, and harbored no peoples in their caves other than the goliaths of the Crystalline Way, known for embedding crystal in their skin to grow closer to the earth.
Life in Paviyama
The wealth of the well-guarded and highest step of the city, known as the Step of the Stewards, did not find its way into the lower sections of the city. Those that resided in the Step of the Stewards, with its multiple bank hatcheries, exquisite manors, and often-debaucherous and lavish parties seldom shared their power or coin. The Corish'vaht sat at the center of the district, a vast tree whose canopy covered most of the step with its canopy of red, purple, and yellow leaves that never fell. A temple to Enos sat inside the tree's three-hundred-foot thick trunk.
The Step of the Artisans sat on the middle tier of the city, and was where many of the city's middle class and tradesmen lived and worked. Like the step above it, Artisans was walled and well-guarded by mercenaries and members of the Pale Grin, as most visitors that had business with those in the higher step stayed here when visiting. Its architecture was still the same darkened grey stone as the rest of the city, but wasn't as ostentatious or garish as the step above. This step hosted some of the finest jewelers on
Enos, and the masterwork craft of any kind that flowed from the many well-respected creators here were known for their rich inlays of gems and gem dust.
The Step of Ravens was the commons area of the city, hosting its lower class. While the walled section of the lowest step had passable neighborhoods near the sheer walls of the steps it rests against, the walls hadn't been tended to in hundreds of years, and only stood as ruins in most places. Shantytowns of cobbled-together living spaces hung against the cliffsides under the taller two steps, spreading out to the silt-laden farmlands outside the city, where root vegetables and other hearty plants were grown for sustenance. Most of the city's various assortment of gangs existed only on this level, never daring to make their way upwards and face the Pale Grin head-on.
To a viewer looking northeast towards what used to be Paviyama, Stewards sat some five-hundred feet above ground level, nestled against the mountain, spanning nearly two square miles. Two-hundred feet below that to the right of Stewards sat Artisans, also against the mountain, spanning just over five square miles. Two-hundred feet below that sat Ravens, which was nestled against the higher steps and sloped down to ground level. Great lifts powered by crystalline galeb duhr lifted people and goods between different parts of the city day and night.
