[center][h3]Meridi-at-han - the City on the Rock[/h3]
Primrose’s [@Yankee], Roland’s [@Archmage MC],  Level 8 Goldlewis (78/80)
[b]Word Count:[/b] 748 (+1)[/center]

In the northern reaches of the World of Light, further still than the Forbidden Kingdom that lay between the frigid winterlands or Midgar’s wartorn valley, lay a wild and untamed borderland of jungles and giants that only ended where the mind-numbing Transmission began, giving way to the bleak dereliction of the pale city’s hinterlands. There, beyond the Forbidden Kingdom’s fields of rolling gold and temperate forests sprawled the arid Tyrannian Plateau, home to mammoth monsters of prehistoric origin, and untamed tropical forests sustained by the faintest aftershocks of the monsoons that pounded the Garbage Wastes.

Of course, even in a wilderness such as this, bastions of civilization still stood, and none stood taller than the acropolis city of Meridi-at-han. Equal parts [url=https://i.imgur.com/yOqOGgI.png]fortified citadel[/url] and [url=https://i.imgur.com/x9uV2eX.png]flourishing city-state[/url], it towered above the land of jungles and rivers atop its central mesa, connected to a handful of outlying spires by bridges of astonishing scale. The city’s colorful buildings dared to rise even higher, stacked atop one another like a child’s building blocks, and over it all reigned the grand pink parapets of the Palace of the Sun, from which the Satrap and his Sun-Court ruled. After being denied access to the elevators and instead climbing up the interminable staircase from the port at the river’s edge, newcomers could pass beneath the hot and piercing gaze of the all-seeing eye that adorned the city’s main gate, and step into a fragrant haze of sweet incense and acrid smoke. Within lay dense, noisy, and colorful market streets, alive with the shouts of merchants and lively melodies accented by the patter of dancers’ feet that, like the silken tapestries that hung overhead, swayed to the rhythm of the winds.

After losing track of time in the city’s [url=https://i.imgur.com/zVtSiC3.jpeg]bustling heart[/url], a visitor could climb higher to the balconies and hanging gardens of the [url=https://i.imgur.com/1Fdx2C1.png]upper district[/url], where they could be enchanted by the movement of countless kites that schooled and darted like so many fish, and the flight of pink [url=https://archives.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/0/07/0973Flamigo.png]flamigos[/url] over the sparkling waters.

Of course, for all its wonders, the city had its fair share of troubles. In addition to the criminal activity, its people contended with woefully frequent incursions from raiders and hostile creatures that came by land and air alike. Life in place like this, even by World of Light standards, would never be easy. Still, Meridi-at-han possessed an unassailable splendor, and it was that glory that captivated the Seekers the moment they rose from their hellpods near the base of the nigh-ceaseless stairs. 

“Damn,” Goldlewis summed up, one hand on his hip while he used the other to shield his eyes from the morning sun. “I mean, it ain’t as big as Midgar, but it looks a helluva lot prettier, huh?” He chuckled. “Here’s hopin’ its half as nice on the inside.” Wherever plenty of people congregated, conflict would surely follow, but even after a lifetime of acute familiarity with just about everything that was wrong with America, he still believed in the Land of the Free–the dream of America the Beautiful. If he could believe in that, he could believe in Meridi-at-han. Being better than Midgar was a pretty low bar, anyway.

Looking up at all the stairs, Goldlewis winced. Back in the Sandswept Sky, he’d bowed out of the mountain-climbing expedition, in part because his ponderous build did not lend itself to such Herculean feats of cardiovascular exercise. Today though, he had no choice. It wasn’t like the team could have dropped their hellpods right into the city, after all, so he would need to make this ascent the old fashioned way. And even getting to the top wasn’t the end; there began the daunting task of establishing a foothold in this new and unfamiliar region. Given its position at the crossroads between several regions, Meridi-at-han was too valuable of a strategic asset for the Seekers to leave it unattended, but digging in here would be no easy feat. For Goldlewis the coming days would take a lot of thinking on his feet–provided that he could still stand after all these stairs. The veteran took a deep breath and sighed, steeling himself for the climb.  “Boy howdy. This is gonna be a rough one.”