Giulmar

Sometimes called the City of the Drowned Lady, Giulmar is one of the most beautiful of the 9 Cities. Built atop a foundation of solid rock shaped by ancient arts to a perfect circle, the city is crafted largely of marble and other rare stones unavailable to younger cities, and is laid out in a circle with a 3.14 mile radius. The city is a single huge structure much like an arena, higher around the circumference, and descending inwards in terraces. The outer circumference is 50 feet tall and descends in 10 foot terraced increments towards the partially submerged middle in a sort of waterborne colonnade. At each of the 4 cardinal points a large fountain stands upon the wall, spouting thier water inwards to flow down the terraces in fluted waterfalls to replenish the waters at the bottom of the city. Twenty identical delicate marble bridges span the trickling waterfalls coursing down thru the city. In the partially submerged center nadir there stands the storied Temple of the Drowned Lady. Famed throughout the lands and a popular destination for pilgrimages by the faithful of Guilme, the water-goddess. Around the circumference of the city wall is an impressive and extensive pier and dock system, complete with warehouses, shipyards, and a thriving foreign district. Outsiders generally cannot afford to live inside the city proper, as space is at a premium, so most can be found living in the Docks here along with poorer natives. The entire dock structure is continuous and is an exact 3/4 of a mile in width from the city walls, with piers extending a uniform 1/4 of a mile from them in an evenly spaced pattern. It is said to be the largest docks in the world, and in fact the inhabitible area of the Docks is greater than that of some of the smaller cities. Four cubical double gates connected to the docks by pivoting ramps give access to the city. These gates are built in an ancient manner lost to modern understanding, with a double lock system that allows them to be compartmentalized and drained in case of flooding; this has saved the city proper from a watery doom several times when waters have risen. The docks and piers are built on floating supports and attached to the wall in specific locations by a groove and guider apparatus that allows them to rise and fall with the tides and occasional floods. The city is open and clean, crime has little purchase, and the people are happy in thier belief that thier goddess watches over them. They are a friendly and generous people on average, and not given to violence. Natives are generally passive and approach life with a ‘what will be, will be’ mindset. It is quite possible that aside for the professional armsmen of the city's watch and the famous elite gaurds known as the Seaborne that stand viginlance over the Temple of the Drowned Lady, none of the natives would bother with arts of the blade if not for their adherence to tradition. The practice of the fighting technique called the Art of the Drowned Lady is older than living memory and stretches back into antiquity; it is seen as a holy observance to the water-goddess. Many devout worshipers learn the styles teachings to become closer to their chosen deity, though they avoid its use if at all possible. Pilgrims from faraway lands often seek out training in the style as part of their holy journey. Outsiders have learned to their regret that though not overly aggressive the style is deceptively dangerous and usually do not press a known master to cross blades unless sure of thier own skill.