Catacara

Catacara is a desert City, located in the great-kingdom Ocularo, close to the famous sight, the Pyramids of Catacara.

## History

### Arrival at Catacara

Catacara was built by the Anubi, who fled from the desert Dudael during the War of Chaos when Mushusu attacked their original city. The Anubi found their way to the continent Gaomaso, sailing on ships of wood, protected by Apzu and guided by the winds of Cetezalcoatel. When they arrived, they found a lonely temple and their king went to it alone to pray for help, as their food was almost empty and they had no idea what awaited them in this foreign land. When the king of the Anubi entered the temple, a sandstorm came up and swallowed the temple. The Anubian folk feared that, by entering the lands without permission, they had the wrath of the gods on them and they would initiate their punishment by taking their king away from them. However, amidst the sandstorm that consumed the temple, the Earthborn Setu, sent by the Spaceborn ♂ appeared to the praying king of the Anubi and showed him what is to come next. Setu took the king out for a walk in the desert and when he stopped he said to the king:

> *"Here you should build the city of your people, for the desert was the home of your kind and will remain your home until the end of eternity. You were brave to come here and your will to protect the folk of yours is unquestionable, so here I place for you the founding stone of the city that has yet to come. Its name shall be **Catacara** and people of all races will come to it and will be astonished by what you and your kind will have created!"*
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> **Setu** then took up a gigantic stone from the desert ground and made it a perfect cube, placed it in the desert sand and with his staff wrote the name of the city, yet to be built, on it in the language of ancient Dudael:
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> -The history of Catacara I, Library of New Catacara, Cemeto
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So the history of the city that should become Catacara begun.

### The process of building Catacara

Setu watched over the Anubi, as their fire- and sand-magicians, sorcerers, and sorceresses created hard sandstone, which the others used to build the city. The magic users and the non-magic users worked closely together, and the witchers, and witches provided potions to enhance the physical strength of the architects of Catacara, as they built the city within ten years. There were no real problems, as the stones, used to build the large temples, palaces and houses came from a stone mine not that far away and were transported via ship over the river Elin to where they were needed. Whenever a small problem arose, the king, aided by Setu was able to fix it. After ten long years of hard working and perfecting, Catacara was finally finished and to honor Setu, the Catarians built a temple for him and never forgot, that it was him whom they have to thank for their survival in the desert.

### Catacara's blossom age

Catacara quickly rose to power and when the government was stabilized, they started to look for trading agreements with the other countries who all ignored the desert, as they were not able to handle it. The Anubi were creators of many pieces of jewelry made from lapis lazuli and their glassmiths are unparalleled in the entirety of Gaiga. Catacara established a great economy and the once homeless Catarians became a rich folk of the desert. Between the end of the War of Chaos and the War of Wrath, Catacara was in the greatest position in their entire history, the city being expanded immensely, at least according to the remaining sources, that survived the Calamity that happened afterward.

### Decay of Catacara

Catacara was indeed in their best state when the War of Wrath broke out and all turned down for Catacara. ♇ sent a Horror to Catacara, this one was Ammit, the devourer and it secretly invaded the government of Catacara, until it became the advisor of the king of that time. Ammit influenced the king and so the king commanded the worship of ♇ instead of ♂. Indeed, Ammit's manipulation was so strong, that even the magicians of that time helped ♇ and this made ♇ grow in power. However, it was then discovered by outsiders, that the city was under the reign of Ammit, as the king, being killed by Ammit, wrote in his last words, he wishes for his advisor to become the next ruler. This change in power led other magicians to the conclusion, that something was definitely off, as the king, before his passing had two healthy and righteous children, a daughter and a son, who could have easily taken the throne. After Catacara was closed to tourists, the walls enhanced and the city overall shut, a delegation of magicians, two warlocks, two Sorcerers and three Elementari was sent to investigate the situation. What they didn't know was, that the government of Asinuro never believed the delegation to return, to begin with, and sent an army behind them, in case the guess was correct. When Ammit, ruling as a man called "Ashar" (), refused to let the delegation in, the warlocks sensed the wrong presence of a Chaos Invader and drew their staffs. Ammit enraged that its disguise was shattered so easily, transformed into a gigantic beast and the War of Catacara broke out.

### Fall of Catacara

When Ammit revealed itself, the spell was broken and the citizens came back to sanity and revolted against the Shameth(), the city guards installed by Ammit, to annihilate anyone, who grew suspicious of the situation. And the folk won against the Shameth and they fled from the city of Catacara and the army of Asinuro cared for them and went into battle with Ammit. The fight was long and proved very difficult, as Ammit was able to turn into small and gigantic shapes within seconds. Ammit's rampage in Catacara destroyed a lot of temples and many many houses even the Palace of Catacara, which was protected manyfold by various spells lost an entire wall to Ammit's wrath and hunger. Catacara fell within hours to Ammit, but there was still hope. The army was not alone.

### Battle of Catacara

Setu, Patron of Catacara by the command of ♂, appeared midst the battle against the Chaos Invader and with him came the desertborn spirits. Ammit dared to threaten and kill people who stand under the divine protection of the Spaceborn. This was a sin that did not go without punishment. Everything went silent as Ammit in the form of a gigantic elephant aimed towards the Temple of Setu and when it drew back its proboscis the temple was veiled into a fierce sandstorm and in the center of it from the sand the earthborn Setu stepped and battled the [[|Chaos Invader|invader]]. Setu was able to distract Ammit and tricked it to follow it into the desert where Setu's power was strongest and most pure. If this didn't happen, Setu would have lost the fight within minutes. But Setu and the magicians of Catacara helped in the battle and were able to take down Ammit. Setu sent Ammit's ethereal body still weakened to the above, so the spaceborn would take care of it.

### Catacara reborn

After this, the city was rebuilt and many countries helped by sending their own architects to Catacara and so the rebuilt and restoration of many houses, temples and palaces did not take that long, but a great loss of knowledge was to be acknowledged, as libraries were destroyed during the War of Catacara. Catacara was rebuilt larger than it was originally and many new structures were added, a new underground tunnel system was integrated and served as a home for the Earth elves and Girtabiluri came to Catacara to also live with the Anubi again, like in times forgotten. Everyone contributed either physically, mentally or spiritually to the reshaping of Catacara and when it was done, it looked more glorious than before, a beautiful desert flower in the deadly sand-sea.

### Catacara in the War of Day and Night

While Catacara did not house any kind of Fatami or Nyotami, the city was nevertheless attacked during the Vimana War and this time, the sheer power of the today ancient war machines generated more damage than the War of Wrath and since the damage came from the sky, Setu wasn't able to do anything except distracting the vimanari by creating sandstorms, since he wasn't able to take the vimanari down by himself. Catacara was laid to ruin when a Rukama set its laser on the city. However, the citizens weren't completely defenseless as magicians, excellent in the magic of lightning and weather sorcery combined their forces and took down the Rukama that attacked without reason. Until this day it is unclear who the driver of the Rukama was, or if it was an automatic one.

### Catacara becomes a tourist hotspot

One thing was clear, the city was not rebuilt with all their forces and so they saw no other way to get the necessary money except opening the path to the Pyramids of Catacara to tourists. So did they do and Catacara was soon flooded with tourists wanting to see the forgotten temples. Hotels for all races were built and the money from tourist traps and similar was used to restore Catacara to its old splendor and even beyond. This goal was achieved rather quickly and Catacara became one of the richest cities in Gaiga, however, they paid the price of sacrificing their holy temples to the common people. There is still one building only the high priests and the king is allowed to enter and this is the Temple of Setu, their protector and patron deity. While Catacara now is back with their workers in all their old arts, creating rings and necklaces from gold, silver, lapis lazuli and glass, the future is uncertain. It looks as if Catacara is about to fall once more, as they don't seem to uphold the equilibrium of poor and rich citizens and the lower people grow angry against the rich. But the tourists take no recognition of that problem they just see stuff they want to see.

## Layout

### Center

Catacara is a circular, walled city with 25 towers to detect coming attackers. Its center, the Palace of Catacara, where the Anubian royalty of Catacara is residing, lies on a hill of sandstone, that was created by stacking up wet sand and harden it magically. Then follows a triangular moat, over which on all three edges a drawbridge is placed, as the palace has three entrances. After the moat, there are the residences of the richer social class and after this the city's own water channels. At the foot of the hill, there is the market square, that actually is shaped like a great octagon with a replication of the first stone of Catacara, created by Setu in the center, which is always crowded with people making deals and trying to scam off tourists.

### North

Leaving the market to the **north** you'll find yourself in front of gates of black stone and a more dark feeling will come over you. About an eighth of the entire city is devoted to those, fallen in the countless battles and wars Catacara was involved in. Gigantuan family crypts and templelike structures, devoted to the Shinigami () and their leader, the earthborn Morticu. The enormous sacred ground is visited by witches, witchers and necromancers silent listening to what the ancients have to say. There were instances, where mighty spirits refused to come with the Shinigami and needed to be expelled by magicians on warlock level. Indeed the graveyards of Catacara are somewhat dangerous at night, but there are protectors walking on the graveyards paths as they do their routine checks and company everyone home who lost its way or was tricked by spirits.

### Northeast

Leaving the market to the **southeast** will bring you to the facilities of Catacara, where the main work of the general population is done. There you'll find workers of all classes, glassmiths, smiths,enchanters, and enchantresses who work to create both simple ornaments like (ear-)rings, necklaces, diadems, but also talismans enchanted to protect against different harsh conditions. The facilities are the second reason why Catacara's economy is so strong since their products are exported to even other continents. The facilities are all so perfectly built, that by the cooperation of technology and science the pollution of the air is reduced to an absolute minimum. Tourists are not allowed to have insight, as it could be, that under the tourists are spies of other jewel fabricators who'd like to copy their production technique.

### East

Leaving the market to the **east** will lead you into the district of vegetation, it was created as a beautiful garden to show the eternal survival of life in the desert and houses many plants native and imported into the desert region. It is this district you are most likely to come across the sand elves. The elven people work together with the Anubi and created wondrous plants and trees that ornate the streets of Catacara. The wood of the tree is used in artifacts made from the wood and crystal, as the goldlike color harmonizes with the darker colors of lapis lazuli and obsidian. Gardeners are paid to sustain the water network and care for the plants, also protects them against the harsh desert winds. It is said, that once the king of the Anubi married his wife in the garden of the violet roses, instead of the ceremonial temples that were originally used for such high etiquette festivals, because he loved the flora of the desert so much.

### Southeast

Leaving the market square to the **northeast** will bring you to the libraries of Catacara, filled with books and some of them are unique and only one of them exists in the entirety of Gaiga. This eighth of the city is called the "Alleys of wisdom" and the further you go into the district, the more you come across priests and sages, as there they find the ancient books of spells and prayers. Also, into the innermost circles of the alleys of wisdom, usual citizens are incapable of passing, as magic will prevent them from entering. The libraries are well structured, appearing like a grid and in the center of them, there is a memori library, which houses extracted memori of knights who fell during the wars. Left for the afterworld to never be forgotten. There is a spell on the outlines of the district, that no book or artifact that is displayed in the libraries is to be taken out of the lines of the Alleys of wisdom. If it is tried to be stolen, the book will be instantly teleported back to its spot in the library.

### South

Leaving the market square to the **south**, a road, that branches off multiple times, leads out of the city where the blue gates, made from sandstone painted in the color of lapis lazuli. The gates of Catacara alone are a sight to behold, as when the morning sun shines over them, their perfect combination of gold, glass, and sandstone makes them look like if they were engulfed in flames. Four of these gates are placed at the exits/entrances of Catacara in each of the cardinal directions. The gates were one of the first things that were reconstructed as they were a symbol of Catacara, called the "Gates of the morning". From the south Catacara is to be entered usually if any ceremonial activities are to happen. While the gates are strong, they are made from desert material and are repaired about every year, as they do not stand the yearly downpour.

### West

Leaving the market square to the **west** will take you to the temple area. The houses in this place are accompanied by a temple every now and then. In the center of that area, you'll find the temple of Setu, the original shrine to which only the Anubians of the "high priest" rank have access and those are not many. The temples are the most protected structures beside the palace and there are a wide variety of temples to visit as temples were built for the worship of almost all deities important to the Catarians, including lesser spirits like desertborn, but also high cosmic forces like the Lamassuri, from which one of them saved the Anubian crown prince in the second war. The temples are one of the reasons Catacara is visited that much since their unique architecture design is a pleasure to almost everyone's eyes. The temples are open to the general public and also for visitors of all races of Gaiga. However, to the hours of praying, only citizens of Catacara are assembled.

### Northwest

In the northwest-most part of Catacara, you'll be entering the district for the people who were wounded and have to remain in a different place away from the healthy and fine population. It is like a city of its own as it includes a minimized version of all other areas in itself. There are libraries with people who i.e. read those, blind, entire passages or care in other ways for the disabled. It is a place of mercy, but not so often visited by tourists. Understandable, considering the state of being the others are in, but still, there are few who actively donate to the district and help the disabled both financially and otherwise.