The City-in-Amber

We had a home once. Moored and unyielding. Ziggurat was a shining city, rich in culture, knowledge and wealth. It was a beacon that called merchants, mages and heroes from across Rurikad to dwell within it's spires and domes. We lifted mountains and broke the barriers of science and sorcery. But outside of our walls, jealousy stirred. The city states of Rurikad remained in a tenuous pace, so long as no single city thought to rise above it's station. And Ziggurat flew. Not just content to revel in it's own successes, it brazenly displayed them, acting as both broker and authority on all dealings between the states. Plots were rife, whispers in dark corners became daggers in hands. Soldiers marched in the fields and then the streets. Rituals were spoken to unleash dark forces upon all the peoples of Rurikad. And piece by piece, the world broke. And Ziggurat fled.   To escape it's demise at the hands of a thousand enemies, the last council of alders created a spell which unbound Ziggurat from its old world and cast it into a space without time or definition. An entire city, as well as a great portion of it's foundations, was transformed into a great ship surrounded by a vast, magical shield to keep out the unimaginable forces of the Nether outside. But the spell was incomplete. Though sail we could, we had no destination, no preparation for what life would be like in a world as small as Ziggurat.   Now, all is turned to survival, our diverse and densely packed populace dedicated to keeping Ziggurat intact as it flies through a hostile dimension. Navigators steer us through the dark with portents and omens, wizard engineers sustain the systems that keep life in the city turning, and paladins defend us against the alien trespassers that attempt to breach our shields daily.   Ziggurat is dangerous, but so long as the walls hold and the journey continues, it is all we have.   [SO ENDS TRUTH, ALL TRUTH. DO NOT PURSUE. THE AMBER HOLDS. IT MUST HOLD.]