There is more
beneath the surface.
Explore the places, histories, people and social structures of the city. All entries come from the publicly approved original reader website, without private plot spoilers.
Geography and districts
The river, the canyon and the neighborhoods built between them.
The Canyon Metropolis
One vast city spans both rims of an extraordinarily deep and narrow inhabited canyon.
READ ENTRYDistrictUpper City
An immense metropolis beyond the canyon rims, with grand civic architecture and everyday neighborhoods.
READ ENTRYDistrictUpper Heights
The highest Lower City level, where routes approach the guarded Upper City entrance.
READ ENTRYDistrictMiddle Heights
The busy middle terraces of homes, workshops and neighborhood commerce.
READ ENTRYDistrictDeepwater
The lowest inhabited level: working docks, warehouses, markets and riverside homes.
READ ENTRYGeographyThe River
The waterway beneath the city connects its docks with settlements beyond the canyon.
READ ENTRYLife and power
How people work, trade, travel and belong.
Trade Between the Heights
The Upper and Lower City rely on one another while sharing neither status nor power equally.
READ ENTRYSocietyAccess Between Levels
A single guarded legal entrance separates the Lower City from the Upper City.
READ ENTRYSocietyCitizenship and Belonging
Living and working in the city does not grant everyone the same rights.
READ ENTRYSocietyThe Governing Council
A council whose authority grew alongside the city's first great crossing.
READ ENTRYSocietyA Divided City
Shared work and unequal rights shape disagreements across the heights.
READ ENTRYSocietyThe Arch
The city’s everyday bronze coin, bearing the image of an architectural arch.
READ ENTRYHistory
How a crossing grew into a city.
People
Faces from the published world and story.
Elias Varek
A young Lower City worker still searching for his missing younger sister.
READ ENTRYCharacterMira Varek
Elias's curious, independent younger sister, eager to travel beyond the canyon.
READ ENTRYCharacterMaren
A young Deepwater trader protecting her family business while seeking a larger role in it.
READ ENTRYCharacterBram
Maren's father, a dependable but stubborn working river captain.
READ ENTRYCharacterAn Unnamed Figure
An enigmatic figure seen among the Lower City's working communities.
READ ENTRY