WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK WORLD BOOK 0088 0088
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some say, magical reinforcement) that only sandstorms
and the fiercest tempests rend the canopy asunder. Pavouk’s spiders and citizens live in harmony with each
other. To harm a single thread, let alone an entire web
or kill one of the spiders, is a serious offence and punished to the full extent of the law by the ruling council of
eight. Most buildings in Pavouk have a domed roof and
flat walls, open windows covered by very light layers of
spider webs, as if the spiders know the desires of their
cohabitants. The city’s spiders are more conventional
than the more dangerous mesachnat variety that can
affect the mind (see Chapter 7).
The people of Pavouk know to keep indoors at night,
when the lights are lit and the shadows come out. Shadows of giant spiders can be seen moving around the city
come the dark, yet not a single inhabitant has ever seen
one of those creatures and those humans or non-spiders caught outside without adequate protection have
been found as desiccated husks of skin and bone come
the morning . . . if found at all.
The city is constructed in several directions, resembling a large spider if viewed from above, each leg a major ward of this gigantic wonder. A wide, grey stone road
connects the central part of the city (the spider’s body)
with its other wards (legs). The central city houses various governmental, educational and military buildings,
including a court of laws and the prison. The eight legs
(wards) of Pavouk are as follows: Merchant ward; Nayak
(noble) ward; Warrior ward; Ward of the Mind; Temple
ward; Rumu (poisoners) ward; Unnata (council) ward;
and Svaramu (speaker’s) ward.
86
Pharanor
Just north of the Deepshadow Mountains, the Attite
city of Pharanor lies nestled between the Whitebone
Wastes and Greywood. Pharanor seems spared many of
the ravages of time and hostility that have ruined other Khitan cities. Its people, hard-working laborers and
crafters, strive to ensure their city prospers. Plentiful
game among the shadows of the Greywood keep people well fed, and resources from the nearby mountains
and woods keep the city growing and in good repair.
Pharanor has become well known as a place where one
could learn an honest craft.
The city’s solidity echoes in both its construction and
its elected ruler, the Landeo (meaning ‘grown’ or ‘lord
protector’). The current Landeo Okkas ensures stability and growth for Pharanor. His hyatchal-armed (short
spear) city guards, known as Coinshields for their golden round shields, are as much a trained police force as
a garrisoned military squadron. They have so far managed to drive back the marauders and their raiding
caravans, keeping Pharanor and its people safe behind
thick stone walls and strong wooden barriers.
An ancient Pharanorn Rau, their bearded philosophers, discovered long ago that the timber and wood
used to construct many of Pharanor’s buildings contained a peculiar fire-resistant sap. Naturally hard to
ignite, the sap actively suppressed fire when mixed with
refined pharaseen ore. For more than four generations,
Pharanor’s outer walls and prominent buildings have
