Zion - Light of the New Moon: City of Myrh
Zion - Light of the New Moon
World Information, Part 4
Myrh, the City of the Waning Light
copyright 2011 comidacomida
The Good
The lands of the southern foothills, a geographical region south west of Zion is home to the City of Myrh, once sister-city of Myre. The land is one of gently rolling hills and valleys, smooth treelines and sprawling vistas. In its prime, the foothills were lush and green, carefully tended and alive with farming and ranching. Although the change brought onto the land by the 200 year war has all but destroyed agriculture across the empire, the immediate lands surrounding Myrh remain fertile with blessed abundance.
Myrh, which had prospered during the time before wars had grown into a vast community and, at its greatest, covered the most land area out of any of the empire's fine population centers, rivaling even the magnificent city of Zion. With the blight upon the land and severe losses during the 200 year war, however, Myrh was forced to pull back from its outer walls, atrophying greatly until it stabilized at less than a quarter of its greatest size. Although outsiders may look at it as a sign of failure, the clergy within Myrh consider it a hidden blessing; the Outer Walls, built during the greatest point of expansion, still stand today and are used to provide safe haven from the wilds for the wide agriculture base still present in the foothills.
The faith that venerates the crescent moon (known to them as the Sickle Moon), acknowledges that death is the conclusion to life-- it is an equalizer in all things in that no matter how powerful or how weak, how rich or how poor, how loved or how hated, all are equal in the eyes of the goddess, and all will ultimately die. The faithful of Myrh also realize that every death makes room for more life and, in that regard, death is at once both a conclusion and a beginning. To this end, the season of the harvest is most venerated in Myrh as it illustrates this aspect of death better than anything else.
Buildings are constructed out of whatever materials are available at the time of construction and, as an end result, the city is blanketed with a quilt-like distribution of brick, wood, adobe, and even metal structures. The ancient-streets that provided clean lines for construction are kept in decent repair while the oldest buildings are torn down and salvaged to make way for new ones. In almost ritualistic fashion the oldest sections of town are cleared to make way for the newest, thus Myre is constantly reinvented as it changes to accomodate shifts in population distribution and zoning.
The central home to the followers of the Sickle Moon, Myrh's beauty is appreciated more often with a knowing nod than a gasp or sigh. Myrh is the City of the Waning Light, identifying both the fact that it pays homage to the sunset, but also in reference to the faith's veneration of death. It is a somber place full of muted colors and predictable routine. The fascination the populace has with death, however, is not one of morbidity, rather, one of appreciation. Many rituals and festivals revolve around honoring the dead and the dying, identifying ancestors, and seeking insight into the next generation.
The church maintains a strong grip of the city, ensuring that all activity is done in accordance with the will of the goddess. The people of Myrh are some of the most devoted to their aspect of the goddess and treat life as a constant prayer of devotion, knowing that the end result will be the goddess' final and most important blessing. Though many would assume that life for the citizens is filled with drudgery and pessimism, this is far from the truth. The majority of the people of Myrh live with vigor, celebrating even the smallest events with great, albeit somber joy.
Economically, there are vast rifts between the rich and middle class as well as the middle class and lower class. The utilitarian approach most families within Myrh take result in the weathiest citizens never using their money, thus passing it on to their next of kin. On the other end of the spectrum, most of the lower class maintain a similar approach and thus substance abuse and gambling is less prevalent among them than the poor of other cities.
The Bad
Myrh was, at one time, the greatest city of the empire (second to Zion, of course). Through hubris and waste, Myrh was forced to contract until it was only a glimmer of its former glory. While the people within the city are content to learn from the past, it has created a degree of resentment within those who know their history and have creative minds willing to find and place blame. Due to this, Myrh is home the the greatest number of conspiracy theorists... some of whom are capable and willing to go to great lengths to challenge the status quo.
Crime is a strange thing in Myrh as the most common property crimes (such as thievery, vandalism, trespassing, etc) are nearly nonexistent, while less common, much more severe violent crimes (murder, terrorism, assault, etc) are far more prevalent. The largest reason for this is that the focus of people in Myrh tends to be less on physical goods and more on individuals themselves-- the public perception of property and ownership are much more lax, while the importance of self and physical well-being are held in highest regard. This makes Myrh, laughably, the safest place crime-wise for one's goods, but the least safest place for one's health.
Even considering the high level of violent crime, the greatest threat to personal well-being, in Myrh, however is the prevalence of disease. While the land-size of Myrh has decreased over the decades, the population has not been shrinking at the same rate. As one of the most tightly packed cities within the empire, disease is an ever-present concern, causing a large percentage of the populace to maintain face masks, muzzle-wraps, or face-scarves to wear in public. Social rituals involving the sharing of blood further the issue, and the most popular form of recreation, prostitution, also increases the risk of various diseases. Thankfully, the majority of the houses of flesh are run by the temple and are purified regularly to ensure cleanliness, but there are enough non-temple run bordellos to still create concern.
The temple's sanctioning of prostitution is most often seen as a positive thing among the people, who seek the physical release as a conduit to mental release. One side effect of the widespread practice, however, is the opening of a broader range of tastes among the populace. While many of these sexual preferences among the populace are met with acceptance (or at least indifference), some are cause for extreme concern and enough to make even a Doenian vomit. The most alarming and prevalent of these recent activities, known as 'sword-rutting', involves creating new openings in a living 'partner', usually with a claw, tooth, or blade, through which to penetrate sexually. This practice, while not yet illegal, is looked down upon. What's worse is that there is not always consent... and, in such cases, it often proves fatal.
Death in Myrh is not a horrible event, which means there is little compassion for the needy. Many consider the most destitute, ill, and uncared for to be blessed when they receive an end to their life. The average individual on the street will do as much as they can to avoid beggars as the needy are the most likely to be carriers of diseases. The majority of the public considers being destitute akin to having leprosy, for it means that the rest of your living life will be spent seeking the longed-for embrace of the goddess' final blessing. The temple does have an outreach program for homeless, getting them off the street and safely stowed away, but most Myrhans think that the clergy should would work faster to qualify more of the gutter-dwellers.
While the richest can afford the best mixture of divine, alchemical, and arcane healing, mental health and physical health are poorly managed for the vast majority of residents. Suicide is a constant issue within the city, both due to mental issues and used as escape from physical ones. The clergy are content to allow those who do not wish to continue living to end themselves, and there are even self-directed rites that a suicidal follower of the sickle moon might enact before performing what the church calls 'the greatest prayer'. This outlook on death has even the most devout worshiper cringe, though nobody objects to the clergy's stance as it is obviously overseen by the goddess.
The Ugly
Known to very few, the lands of Myrh have long-since lost their ability to support food growth. Very few things will prosper in the once rich soil of the southern foothills without supernatural aid. That aid comes from the church, which casts great spells and powerful prayer across the land every season. While this in and of itself is hardly anything more than a well-kept secret, the true horror in this lays in what the rituals require... living sacrifices. The general populace does not dwell on what happens to law-breakers or the terminally destitute; this works to the advantage of the clergy, who are never required to provide an explanation for the disappearances.
Another little-known fact regarding the faith of the Sickle Moon is that much of their power is drawn from the act of death and dying. Prayers spoken over the terminally ill or wounded used to ease their suffering actually, in many ways, contribute to the afflicted's death. Some, who had a slim chance of survival may have actually lost it due to the energy-consuming rites of the clergy who then turn and use that life essence in the empowering of their faith-based rituals.
This strange association with ebbing life forces also brings many clergy to ritualistically harm themselves, drawing power from their own pain. To this end, many of the more powerful priests and priestesses do, in fact, develop masochistic tendencies. The truly frightening ones, however, choose to visit this harm on others in the form of castigation or punishment rites, feeding like a spiritual vampire off of the anguish they inflict. These rites are almost always private affairs and may include humiliation of the victim to such an extent that they are content to avoid speaking of it. Those who are most likely to speak out about the mistreatment are quickly and quietly 'invited' to assist the temple with their fertility rituals.