[hr][hr][center][h3]Morganyth - Cirith Anyr[/h3][/center][hr][hr]
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They emerged from the long darkness of the tunnel and into the perpetual twilight of the great cavern of Cirith Anyr, last of the cities built by the the Formori before the arrival of humans. The  enormous cave, large enough to house a whole city, had been carved out over the course of thousands if not millions of years by the river that trickled through its base - the Anyrun. A stone bridge stretched over its course to link the side they stood on to the city that rose towering above across the water. 

The whole city was built into the far wall of the cavern, a great steep sided natural ziggurat of rock face that had been carved into level upon level of stepped terraces. Bound by three dividing walls, the city was separated out into lower and upper districts, with the palace sitting atop the whole edifice. Outside of the lowest of these walls the floor of the cavern was planned and managed as well. The river was crossed with dams and weirs, turning it into a series of deep ponds and pools. There were even fields of a sort by its bank, cultivating fungi and tubers, which needed little light to thrive.

The architecture of the city was varied. The houses and squat towers of the lower city were plain and utilitarian, reminiscent of the construction of the fortifications which had guarded the entrance to this secret haven. This section of the city was the newest, hurriedly thrown up the days of his great grandfather to accommodate the rush of refugees that come here to seek shelter from the threat of humanity. Those refugees had gone on to become the everyday citizens of Cirith Anyr, those who made up his armies and operated the workshops and factories that the Morganyth war effort relied up. 

High above the lower city the great walls of the upper city loomed, draped in Ozragad's red banners. These had once been the original walls of the city, the buildings they hid were finer and more delicate than those below. Fluted towers, great domed halls, and arched colonnades stretched along the edges of the terraces. This was the old city of the Formori, the last of their ancient stronghold that they still clung to. It spoke of a very different culture than the one which had built the cyclopean defences at the mouth of this cave. A culture that had once loved beauty for its own sake and had indulged in whimsical flights of fancy. 

And crowning it all, glowing with ethereal white-blue light, was Ozragad's palace. Its elegant ivory spires almost seemed to hover like a mirage in the gloom of the cavern, disconnected from dark grey stone of the natural rock. It was an illusion of course, the palace had merely been built of white marble, enhanced with the magic of the glowing moon crystal that was set into its facade. It was not as large as the palace in Eorzia, Ozragad knew that, but he had always thought the craftsmanship that went into it was of a far higher standard. The Formori had spent hundreds of years carving every surface with ornament and detail, transforming bare stone into scenes so real they almost had a life of their own. He had seen reliefs of stone forests that swayed with the breeze, stone fish that leapt and swam in their stone waters. It was beautiful.

He envied the Princess for a moment then, see this for the first time, untainted by the past.

They brought their horse to a stop whilst still on the far side of the Anyrun. Horses could deal with the narrow, twisting, and often stepped streets of Cirith Anyr well enough, but the Princess's carriage would not be able to do the same. One of her guards had dismounted and opened the door of the carriage. She took his hand and emerged, bowing her head to Ozragad when she did. [i][color=f7941d]Good, she knows how to play at being dutiful at least.[/color][/i]

[b][color=f7941d]"Princess Elise Hydaelyn of Eorzia, this is my capital. This is Cirith Anyr."[/color][/b]