Ciguri (chi-GUR-ee) is the largest city in the [[Azi Highlands]] region of the continent of [[Arzach]] and serves as the capital of the [[Azi Highlands|Communal Highlands of Azi]]. Ciguri is a cliff city, built directly into the tall desert mesas and buttes of the [[Azi Highlands]]. Famous for its rock-cut architecture, Ciguri is also called the "Golden City" because of the color of the sandstone from which it is carved. > [!infobox|right wikipedia] > # Ciguri > ![[Ciguri Cover.jpg|cover hsmall]] > ###### General Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Also known as** | <ul><li>Golden City<li>City of the Pillars</ul> | > | **Established** | ~900,000 B.U. | > | **Leader** | None | > | **Current Leader** | N/A | > ###### Location Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Planet** | [[Mobius]] | > | **Continent** | [[Arzach]] | > | **Region** | [[Azi Highlands]] | > | **Districts** | <ul><li>Al Siq<li>Al-Khazneh<li>Nabatea</ul> | > | **Points of Interest** | <ul><li>City Centre Plaza<li>The Treasury<li>en-Nej Theatre<li>Colonnade Street<li>Ciguri Pool and Garden Complex</ul> | > ###### Societal Information > | | | > | ---- | ---- | > | **Population** | ~525,000 | > | **Predominant Species** | <ul><li>[[Arctander]]<li>[[Krogh]]<li>[[Hjort]]<li>[[Lax]]<li>[[Riesz]]</ul> | > | **Affiliation** | Communal Highlands of Azi | > [!Table of Contents]+ > 1. [[#Description and History]] > 1. [[#History]] > 2. [[#Environment]] > 3. [[#Districts and Points of Interest]] > 2. [[#Map]] > 3. [[#Society]] > 1. [[#Culture]] > 2. [[#Government]] > 3. [[#Demographics]] > 4. [[#Notable People]] > 4. [[#History]] # Description and History Ciguri sits high atop massive sandstone mesas and flat-topped butte mountains deep in the center of the [[Azi Highlands]]. The cliff-city has been built directly into the faces of the lofty stone towers, with ancient stone bridges crisscrossing between districts. Ciguri is difficult to access by land. No official roads connect to it, and even the lowest-altitude districts are built several hundred feet in the air. Virtually all travel in and out of Ciguri—as well as a significant amount of local travel within the city—takes place by air through various means of flying conveyances. Ciguri is well-known for its network of "sky gondolas," which provide freely-accessible public transportation. > [!grid] > ![[Ciguri Gondola.jpg]] > > A Ciguran sky gondola The city is renown across [[Mobius]] as a place of stunning beauty and idyllic lifestyle. For millennia since the communist reformation of 5 A.U., Ciguri has maintained a completely moneyless and classless society where the needs of every single citizen are met without any expectation that they work for what they take. Cigurans perform labor entirely out of a sense of community and an innate desire to contribute and be fulfilled. And all of this is accomplished without any form of centralized, standing government. Instead, Ciguri's entire economy and society is coordinated by the administrators in the city's Allotment Offices, assisted by Al-Nizam (literally "the system")—the city's automated logistics tracking system (see [[#Government]]). ## History The [[Azi Highlands]] region of [[Arzach]] was first settled by sentient species around 1,000,000 B.U. when some of the nomads who left the [[Lake Gorgo]] region moved west and founded [[Altor]]. Some of those nomads, however, decided to continue west into the desert, drawn by the mineral-rich mountains. The first communities in the central region of the [[Azi Highlands]] were formed in the desert valleys between the mountains, subsisting on the rivers that would rise from dry riverbeds during the rare rains. Over time, these communities began moving up off the desert floor and into the mountains, relying on hydrology to pump water from aquifers deep below the ground. One of the first such communities, founded around 900,000 B.U., was Ciguri. Ciguri was originally a part of the Kingdom of Elsewhere, a massive association of city-states all founded by the people who migrated out of the dangerous jungles around [[Lake Gorgo]], looking to find a home anywhere else. The Kingdom of Elsewhere encompassed most of the Azi Highlands peninsula as well as the [[Barnier Islands]] and the regions surrounding the city of [[Gir]] to the north. Ciguri served as the capital of the Kingdom from 700,000 to 500,000 B.U. Eventually, as the cultures of the disparate regions of the Kingdom became more and more distinct, it broke apart. Ciguri became an independent city, ruled by a sovereign known as a "Malik." The role of Malik was a non-hereditary title, and new Maliks would be chosen by a council of elders composed of the 100 oldest citizens of Ciguri. Despite spending most of its history under statist forms of government, Ciguri has always maintained a culture of independence and deep respect for community, collaboration, and equality. Thus, when the communist revolutionaries returned from their initial, failed revolution in [[Altor]] during [[The Undoing]], their message found a much more receptive home in Ciguri. In 5 A.U. the city officially declared itself a communist, non-statist city and founded the [[Azi Highlands|Communal Highlands of Azi]]. ## Environment Ciguri located within the [[Azi Highlands]], an area characterized by tall, near vertical mountains of iron-rich, erosion resistant, sandstone separated by flat-bottom valleys of alluvial sediments, aeolian sands, and salt pans. The area experiences a desert climate. Rainfall is scarce, often occurring as flash floods, and results almost exclusively from thunderstorms. ## Districts and Points of Interest ### Al-Siq Al Siq (literally "the shaft") is the original main entrance to Ciguri from the ground. It is a dim, narrow gorge (in some points no more than 10 feet wide) where an unimproved trail winds its way through miles of desert canyons before ascending up hundreds of feet of sheer, switchback trails carved into the cliff faces. A wide valley outside leading to al Siq is known as the Bab as-Siq ("Gateway to the Siq"). The walls that enclose al Siq stand between 300–600 feet in height. > [!grid] > ![[Al Siq.jpeg]] > > Al-Siq Al Siq was used as the primary entrance into Ciguri prior to the advent of readily available forms of flying transportation. Along both walls of the fissure are a number of votive niches containing ancient carvings of various local deities. Along al Siq are some underground chambers, the function of which has not yet been clarified. The possibility that they were tombs has been excluded, and archaeologists find it difficult to believe that they were dwellings. The majority consensus is that they housed the guards that defended the main entrance to ancient Ciguri. ### Al-Khazneh Al-Khazneh is the largest and most prominent of the flat-topped butte mountains that form the city of Ciguri. It was the first mountain to be inhabited when the founders of the city ascended from the valleys below to carve a home into the cliffsides. There has been a concerted effort to maintain the historical architecture and the ancient character of Al-Khazneh. So technological enhancements here are kept to a minimum and travel up and down the mountain takes place primarily by foot, along the long, winding, Colonnade Street that wraps up and around the mountain. * **City Centre Plaza:** At the top of al Siq switchback trail, a carved sandstone gate opens onto the southern end of City Centre Plaza. The plaza is a massive open space that sits on a plateau carved into the eastern side of Al-Khazneh. Along the western side of the plaza, structures are carved directly into the cliff face that extends another 200 feet above the plaza. These include some of the most prominent structures in Ciguri, including the Treasury and en-Nejr Theatre. The plaza also contains stalls where the city's import/export administrators handle the exchange of goods and services with other cities in the Communal Highlands of Azi as well as the rest of the world. Trade with other communist cities that are part of the Communal Highlands is handled in much the same way as the administration of labor and production within the city—the local Ciguran administrators and the visiting porters both access their respective cities' automated systems to tabulate the appropriate exchanges of surplus and needed goods and services. For the few necessities which cannot be produced within the Communal Highlands and must be obtained from a capitalist society, the administrators negotiate barters out of the city's surplus. * **The Treasury:** one of the largest, most elaborate, and oldest rock-cut structures in all of Ciguri. The lithographs and sculptures on the front face depict [[Olearius]], goddess of death and the Underworld. The Treasury was originally built as mausoleum and crypt for one of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Elsewhere, in approximately 700,000 B.U. At some point following the collapse of the Kingdom of Elsewhere in 500,000 B.U., the building was converted to a treasury, used by city leaders to store surplus goods for trade and future use. After the conversion of the city to communism in 5 A.U., the Treasury became the first Allotment Office (see [[#Government]] below) and is informally considered the "central" Allotment Office and the closest thing to a seat of government in Ciguri. By tradition, it is typically the meeting place for committees whose purpose deals with matters of city-wide or regional concern, though nothing requires them to meet there. * **en-Nejr Theatre**: a massive, 8,500 seat theatre cut directly into the rock in the northwestern corner of the plaza. Almost enclosing it on three sides are rose-colored mountain walls, divided into groups by deep fissures and lined with knobs cut from the rock in the form of towers. The theatre has long been home to a wide array of music and dramatic arts. * **Colonnade Street**: at the northern end of the City Centre Plaza, an avenue lined with rows of structural columns, which support covered, shaded porticoes, leads up and out of the plaza, wrapping around the Al-Khazneh mountain. This corridor serves as a market, gathering space, and processional route. Citizens who have taken jobs in commodity distribution operate various shops along the Colonnade, freely distributing commodities and serving food to their fellow citizens. The Colonnade is always filled with the scent of richly-spiced foods and roasted qahwa—a dark, bitter drink brewed from the roasted seeds of a gourd that grows in the desert. It is also always filled with the sounds of music, as the Allotment Offices offer jobs performing along the street in order to entertain and enrich both those visiting and working along the street. ### Nabatea The mountain of Nabatea is the second-largest in the city, after Al-Khazneh. It sits just a few hundred feet away from Al-Khazneh, separated by the gorge through which al Siq passes. An ancient sky bridge known as Alsayida Bridge spans the gap, connecting the Eamil District of Nabatea to Colonnade Street. Nabatea is the most densely populated district in Ciguri. The entire western-facing half of the mountain is devoted to the Eamil District where the majority of the city's population works during the day. And the eastern half is composed of the Aistiraha District—a mix of residential homes as well as various restaurants, theaters, taverns, lodging houses for travelers, and other leisure activities. The entire flat top of the mesa mountain of Nabatea is dedicated to the massive Ciguri Pool and Garden Complex. * **Eamil District:** The Eamil (literally "work") District occupies the entire western half of the Nabatea mountain, on multi-leveled, tiered streets that wrap up and around the mountain and are connected by a variety of stairs, ramps, escalators, elevators, funiculars, and sky gondolas. The district is known for—and named for—the fact that it is the hub for the production of most commodities and non-leisure-related services within the city. * **Aistiraha District**: The Aistiraha (literally "rest") District occupies the entire eastern half of the Nabatea mountain, also on a network of tiered, interconnected streets. The district is known for—and also named for—the fact that it is the place where most people spend their time when not working, either at home or enjoying various leisure activities. * **Ciguri Pool and Garden Complex:** at the top of the Nabatea mountain is an elaborate garden, which includes a large swimming pool, an island-pavilion, and an intricate hydraulic system. The complex is situated on a series of large terraces with ornamental gardens on them. The gardens are bisected by walkways and smaller structures. Further back from the ornamental garden lays a massive pool. In the center of the pool stands a pavilion on a sandstone pedestal. The whole complex is painted in dark red, orange, and bright blue, which, in combination with the water and exotic vegetation, creates an awe-inspiring sight for visitors. Behind the entire structure is a 45-foot high cliff face with a waterfall that feeds the pool and gardens. # Map # Society ## Culture Ciguri is a radically anarcho-communist society, characterized by total abolition of both the state and private property with free access to the articles of consumption and is classless, stateless, and moneyless. Natural resources and the means of production are considered to be held in common as opposed to them being privately owned. Although Ciguri has markets, shops, restaurants, and other facilities that appear similar to commercial businesses in other cities, all of the products in them are available completely free of charge to any Ciguran. Ciguri has little need for the "state" as it exists in a capitalist society—to enforce hierarchical economic relations, enforce the exclusive control of property, and regulate economic activities. The primary function of public institutions, such that they exist at all in Ciguri, focus not on the creation of laws and the control of people, but on technical roles as administrators of production processes. There is no professional specialization among Cigurans. An individual can enroll themself for work in a clothing factory one day and switch to food production the next day. In fact, job assignments are chosen based on societal need, and there is no requirement for an individual to work at all; yet, almost all Cigurans decide to work a varying number of hours anyway in order to feel fulfilled and accomplished. There is surprisingly little focus on or appreciation for the individual whatsoever in Ciguran society, but rather admiration arises from collective effort. Cigurans largely reject credit or adulation for any specific form of work, and view the labor of every person as equally laudable and worthy of praise. Art and music are deeply appreciated in Ciguri, but Cigurans also take a very dim view of other cultures' tendency to elevate the work of artists above that of other laborers. ## Government City administration takes place in a series of modest, unassuming Allotment Offices dispersed throughout the city. At the Allotment Office, automated Al-Nizam display boards provide continuously-updated counts of work opportunities where labor is needed throughout the city. Cigurans can simply check the display board to find out what jobs need workers. There is no requirement to sign up for whatever job you intend to perform, and no enforcement or accountability mechanism to ensure that you report to, or complete, your assigned job. Al-Nizam and the administrators monitor whether a job is being performed in order to update the display boards, but neither credit nor blame for the completion of a job are tied to a specific individual. You simply report to the job you want to perform, Al-Nizam registers that the role is being fulfilled, and it is taken off the display boards. Each Allotment Office is staffed by administrators, whose positions are similarly not permanently-held but are up for grabs on the display boards just like any other job. Thus, the role of administrator in any given Allotment Office can be held by a different individual on any given day or even change hands within a single day. The administrators are not considered government officials and vociferously refuse any implication that they exercise any form of coercive state power over other individuals. When decisions needs to be made on behalf of the entire city—such as entering agreements with other political entities or constructing public works—the city's administrators alert Al-Nizam, which creates a new, temporary set of job postings for members of a committee. That committee meets for the single, limited purpose of rendering a decision on the matter in question, and then their jobs are disbanded. The size of the committee is automatically determined by Al-Nizam, with the number of members scaling in proportion to the significance of the question under consideration. No committee may ever exist for greater than a single day, and may never deliberate or render decision upon any more than the single, discreet question for which the committee was formed. Outsiders sometimes find the Ciguran way of life, particularly their form of "government," disconcerting. People from statist cultures, who are used to having persistent bodies of government and representatives, can find it frustrating to have no single, permanent head of state or government bodies with which to interact. Non-Cigurans are freely permitted to visit the city, and are welcome to partake in basic necessities of food, drink, lodging, medical care, education, and entertainment so long as Al-Nizam determines that the intent of their stay is "reasonably transitory." If a non-Ciguran takes more than their basic needs or evidences an intent to remain in the city, Al-Nizam will populate a job listing at the Allotment Offices for a welcome liaison to find that person and extend an offer to either apply for citizenship, limit themselves to basic necessities, or depart the city. If a non-Ciguran submits a request for city citizenship, a committee will be convened to evaluate their commitment to the city's principles. ## Demographics The population of [[Ciguri]] is extremely diverse, with nearly every sentient species represented to some extent. The most common species are [[Arctander]], [[Krogh]], and [[Hjort]], all of whom are known for being adaptable to austere or mountainous environments. There is also a sizeable population of both [[Lax]] and [[Riesz]], species who are known for being at home in extremely hot environments. ## Notable People # References * [Wadi Rum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Rum), Jordan * [Petra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra), Jordan * [Red Star (novel)](https://archive.org/details/BogdanovRedStar) by Alexander Bogdanov