Cuit

Spiral Staircase

Cuit’s primary defense is its sheer verticality. The rock’s sides are smoothed and undercut, forcing attackers into one of two obvious staircase entrances that are easily watched from above. Though there are in actuality 5 entrances. The gateways are staggered, never aligned and lead to kill-corridors to funnel intruders through exposed courtyards.
  Double stairs connect a successive series of courtyards, chambers, pathways and terraces; each acting as their own threshold. No level offers a direct path upward; movement is usually lateral before vertical in a manner that exhaustes enemies. The stairs coil along the rock face, half is carved through the interior and half is constructed along the natural external contours. Its steps narrow as they rise to limit movement to single file. Balustrades are pierced with drainage slots and viewing slits, allowing defenders to observe - or strike - without being seen.

Gardens

The gardens of Cuit are divided into three distinct forms as vital elements within the city's water management and storage system.
 

Water Gardens

A significant series of ponds, pools and fountains encircle the major approaches. They are fed by concealed channels and serve as localized reservoirs and sediment traps. The fountains are powered purely by pressure and gravity to beautify and provide audio stimulation to residents.
 

Boulder Gardens

Natural boulders near the rock’s base are incorporated into shaded pathways and terraces. Rainwater flows through channels carved into the rock and disappear into cisterns beneath these gardens as a sort of filter.
 

Terraced Gardens

Higher up, terraces crown the rock like a green wig. Retaining walls double as aqueducts to distribute water evenly through the rock-wide filtration system while preventing erosion. These gardens also supply herbs, fruits and other non-saltwater plants reserved for the upper districts.

Top-Level

The summit as a living space is reserved for very few of the city's elite. Administrative halls give way to ritual spaces, which in turn yield to private sanctums near the summit. It is, for the most part, a public space to allow air, rain and sunlight to fiter into the rock's interior.
 

Mid-Level

The mid-level district houses administrators, artisans of prestige and most of the general population. Grain and water stoage is managed by officials. Control of water storage grants Cuit influence over surrounding settlements
 

Bottom

Warehouses and workshops occupy the lower district that handle stone goods, pigments and metalwork on occasion. Trade caravans stop at the base, where goods are sorted and hauled upward via ramps, winches and lifts.

Cuit Rock

Cuit Rock is a single massive outcrop that rises from the lowlands marshes with a flat summit and steep sides. From afar, the city appears unreachable, even invisible from most sides. Veins of granite and limestone dictated the city’s layout. Natural fractures became channels for water and pathways.