Meeraz
Year 568, era of the Movement
The city of progress
The city of progress, the city of the future! Our inhabitants all are working towards a better future for all of us, be it with improving farms, researching about portals, or even simply putting order in the city. We at Meeraz hope to make a bright future and to make our lifes easier!
Meeraz is one of the main floating islands of the Shattered, the third largest island and a giant city. Meeraz holds a great percentage of the People of Shattered and is surrounded by many small floating islands used as farms and similar.
Meeraz is where most technological and magical progress happens. It has a lot of schools (most are free!) so people can learn and help bringing the people to a better future, but they have history as a taboo, specially when talking about trying to learn what happened before the era of loneliness, when the first memories appeared.
Most of Meeraz's surface (and underground) is filled with buildings. Most of the surface buildings are living places, with a school or two in each neightbourhood and many different shops for the needs of the inhabitants; in the mountain is where most of the political buildings reside. The buildings underground are mostly for storage.
History
As the city of progress, the inhabitants of Meeraz grow to be more curious than other People. They have caused many breakthroughs but also many disasters. The most known disaster being the death of Nera, a star. This caused an end to the era of the starry night and start the era of darkness, a 90 year period where The Creator only showed darkness, with some occasional rains (will barely any light).
Since then, Meeraz is very careful on what they do. Nowadays, they are studying Portals and experimenting with them. They managed to use the Portals that appeared in the islands out of nowhere and some claim that they are almost done with learning how to create a Portals.
Districts
The island's terrain is occupied by a city, all claimed for the city of the same name of the island, Meeraz (although sometimes its called Meeraz city to differentiate the city and the island). The city is divided into four parts (even though the islands surrounding Meeraz are considerated a fifth district called "Outer islands").
Nika district
The Nika district is formed by many caves of different sizes, the bigger caves are used as storage places, while the smaller caves are not officially used. The main caves (the bigger ones, used as storage) are heavily guarded by a special group of the army that knows a lot about safety in caves. All the guards are there to ensure that the caves are secure and to stop any illegal use of the unused smaller caves. The map of Nika only shows the bigger caves.
There are many more smaller caves than what are shown, most of these are unused yet connected to bigger caves, but some are isolated caves, or caves that are connected to the surface by illegal tunnels. These illegals tunnels tend to connect to houses or establishment that use it as private storage, reunion places, dumps, etc.
Kitera district
The Kitera district is the bigger district (ignoring the Outer islands, which isn't always considered a district) and the main one used by passersby. It is filled with houses and taverns (with some also being inns for the travellers), and it has many harbours in the island's border as well as the outer islands' anchors to Meeraz.
People that work on the outer islands live in Kitera district, as well as the people working on the same district and some of the Thera district. It also has places to sleep for visitors and a lot of stables for animals that live and help in Meeraz and for animals coming with the travellers.
Thera district
The Thera district is a place for progress. It holds houses for people that work in the district as well as houses for who lives and works in the Nika district and the Erata distrct. It has many laboratories, research buildings, and higher studies schools (compared to the Kitera district).
The bars in the district do not have places to sleep in, and no inns are found in here, anyone needing a place to sleep should go to their houses or to the Kitera district. Entrances to the Nika districts are found in this district.
The streets are maze-like and many buildings that are supposed to be houses are used as illegal and unsafe laboratories and similars. It is the district with higher amount of guards per neighbourhood.
Erata district
The Erata district is the smallest of the districts and, unlike the others, is very green and grand. It holds the governamental buildings and the court, as well as the most important and prestigious school, laboratories, research buildings, and the biggest library in Shattered.
There are no houses or places to sleep in this district, and the buildings have a beautiful architecture, but do not display wealth. Not even the politicians live in there, they live in houses in the borders of the district.
There is a lot of guards in its borders, denying entrance to anyone who does not have a permit to go in, and escort people who are temporally allowed in the district.
Rumors
There is a cave entrance in a cul-de-sac in Kitera district that leads to a black market shop.
There is a hidden revolution to dethrone the actual government to have a new government that cares more about its people than its research and progress.
There are talks of someone who would trade anything in exchange of information, stories, or ideas. It is said they have everything you need or desire.
Government
The city (and island) is governed by a group of seven people. Each one controls an aspect of the city and its people, but everyone has to agree to accept changes and take final decisions. They spend their days in the Erata district but live in its border with the Thera district, many guards protect their houses and escort them to the Erata district.
These titles change bearers from time to time, but the process of the change is unknown for anyone that has not beared any of the titles before. Publicily, these changes are announced by the person leaving the charge, by one's own choice: "Decided to leave the job to someone who is younger and open minded, to improve the city".
Former politician are allowed to enter Erata district after they leave the charge, but have no official power when the government take decisions and make changes.
Government's pillars
EconomyMilitary
Law
Work
Research
Education
Medicine
Army
Rank
Commander
Sergeant
Soldier
Meeraz's territory (both the main island and its surrounding islands) is extensive, thus being a guard is one of the more common jobs, only surpassed by farmers and almost by investigators. The bigger groups of guards are posted in either the outer islands or the Kitera district. The most expert guards are posted in the Erata district or protecting the politicians, while the newbies are usually sent to the Kitera district.
The army is divided into five groups, based in where they are located, and there are four ranks. These divisions are shown on their uniforms with two badges: one representing the location, and one representing their rank. These badges are attached on top of their chest, where the heart is usually found.
Each district has a general, under them, there are multiples sergeants who command multiples squads of soldiers. The Kitera district and the outer islands have an extra rank, the commander (which is between the sergeant and the general, as the districts' area are too big. In the outer islands, each island is taken care by a commander, while in the Kitera district, a commander does not take care of a particular place but a group of sergeants.
There are two special groups in the army: the riders and the structurals. The riders are a group of soldiers from both the outer islands and the Kitera district that have specialized in controlling the travels from islands to islands, to both protect the people and take care of the animals making the traveling. The structurals are the soldiers working in the Nika district; they have special knowledge about how to take care of the problems caves can give.
Life in Meeraz
There is constant movement, constant life in the main island of Meeraz, specially in the Thera district. It is one of the things that distinguish Meeraz from other places and cities.
People in Meeraz work at different states of The Creator, based on how people are or what want to do that cycle. If someone is an early bird, they work during the day state; if they are a night owl, they work during the night state.
It is not cared when a person works, as long as they work their hours per cycle. They can work partially during the day state and some during the night state, or maybe they do all the hours non-stop.
This causes the life to feel alive at any time (rain states are the most calmed times), which sometimes surprises the travellers.
Helping Fauna
Flora is undervaluated in the city, ony having it allowed to grow in the Erata district. But fauna is helpful, and so there are many species used and living around the city. Most of the species kept are used out of necessity; pets are a very rare ocurrence. Some of the used animals are:
- Squefly, a long giant flying squirrel-like animal that is used as transport (for both people and goods) from the main island to the outer islands.
- Threpal, a big and strong quadrupedal mammal used to transport cargo from the Nika district to everywhere else in the main island. They are slow but can move a lot of heavy cargo.
- Fidel Cardvals, a bird used as messengers around the city by the couriers. They should not be confused with their cousins, the Common Cardvals, who are growing to be considered a plague.
- Lethrast, a flightless bird used as a method of fast terestrial transport, specially by the couriers.
All of this is so interesting! I get the feeling that those caves hold more secrets than you are letting on... I love the different animals you described and I also find the government and army sections really informative! Though Meeraz is described as a bustling place full of progress, I can't help but feel that it would be exhausting to live there. So much pressure to always be productive! And no pets? I simply could not survive without my cat!
Perhaps there's more to the caves, perhaps that's all that there is in the caves, who knows? >:3
I do see Meeraz as an exhausting place, not only because there's pressure to be productive but having people work at any moment of the day feels like there wouldn't be a silent and calmed moment to relax at. I do need my doggos too, so its a shame it doesn't have pets :((
Cool reads: Reaching the Meeraz | University of Delavar | Meeraz Morrow | Catoblepon's rambles
The thing that made me the most interested in the caves is the fact that they are guarded! If the city spends resources to keep people out of them... that's suspicious !