City Image - Assalus

The city of Assalus is surrounded by a sea of deep green life. It surrounded by jungle. It requires magic and/ or constant attention to keep the roads clear to and from the city.

There are no city walls here, just a large arch at edge of cities on the incoming roads. The jungle and GeoMancers here are all the protection they need.

Buildings come in two types, square and sturdy or tall and round. All the buildings are made of the same dark gray stone. These stones look slightly mottled, but it is just spots of mold or lichen that are growing on them. Most of the roofs are made of, or trimmed in, a red stone. This red is the only trim color one sees on the buildings.

The square buildings just look massive, with their thick walls and heavy details. Flat walls are often given bas relief murals upon them (some of which take advantage of the moss that will grow into the deep parts). The doors are heavy, round, and made of stone. They are rolled into and out of the doorway inside the building. (keeping small children and most women inside if a man does not assist them). The roof is often trimmed in red, and there may be a rooftop garden or patio upon them. Some of the larger square buildings have small towers upon their roofs.

The towers are round and have the same doors. Their roofs are almost always 'Domed' with either a full round dome or a flattened dome. Many of these towers will have either windmills, ether catchers, or cisterns on their roofs as well. Wind, water, muscle, and magic are the only power sources here, and if you are not a GeoMancer, wind is preferred.

All the buildings are large, at least as tall as the jungle trees around them. Any windows here are high up in the buildings, as they have no glass here. Smaller buildings are assumed to be easily swallowed up by the undergrowth and are not built.

One can believe that they may be swallowed, because every area not paved or built upon has ferns, bushes, flowers, and other wild plants growing up in them. So there is a lush green garden between almost every building. If there are only a few plants, it is because someone trimmed them back recently. And the paving has to be maintained constantly, as anywhere there are cracks, green appears.

The city has no planning and the builders here do not believe in straight streets or a four way intersection (only three way ones, Ts or Ys). One has to meander to get from one place to another, often times using the tall buildings and towers to navigate from one place in the city to another. No one seems to mind this, at the comfortable pace of living the locals have.

It is near impossible to determine what is used for what from the outside or even by general area. This technique is used to confuse any strangers or any wayward spirits that might haunt or curse a place. So a house is next to a shop, next to a water tower, next to the High Temple.