Osulas

Osulas is the ancient capital of Serora, founded when the very first pegasi came into this world. For 17 centuries, it was the heart of Seroran life, a vibrant city in the vastness of Sedo. Osulas was one of the wonders of Hireath until its destruction in the war against Aodh in the early spring of 1701. In modern day, Osulas is little more than a tent village, containing no permanent structures.

The cliffs and rocks around Osulas often give off the appearance of a rainbow, as they are streaked with a variety of stones - sandstone, limestone, shale and siltstone.

Osulas was the capital of Serora until December 1701.

## Town

Modern Osulas is located in the devastated landscape of its predecessor. The landscape is rocky, filled with sharp cliffs and countless small craters that mark the earth like pockmarks. The largest crater, located in the heart of the old city, is now a lake. As Osulas was mostly carved into the rock itself, and the mesa’s that made up its bones were rendered to dust when the city was destroyed, very little remains of the original city landscape. A few ruined standalone structures can be seen on the edges of the town, but otherwise it is almost impossible to even imagine the original shape of the city from what one finds today.

The new town of Osulas is a collection of tents and huts built around the lake, especially on the southern side. Compared to the old city, new Osulas is significantly more spread out, and as it has no mesa’s to use for its buildings, consists only of stand-alone buildings. A few permanent structures have begun construction, but none are yet finished, making Osulas’ shape and size something that changes on a daily basis as people arrive, leave or simply move their tents to a better spot.

With the new lushness brought on by the lake and its river, small farms have cropped up alongside the downstream of the river, and those approaching the town by walking on the riverbank will see lone farmsteads for miles upon miles before they ever come to the town itself.

Despite the destruction, Osulas has basic amenities, such as several Saviors on hand, a small garrison of soldiers and until recently, Serora’s government.

### Osulas Lake

The massive crater left behind by the city’s destruction was filled with water when Alya appeared in the autumn of 1701. The newly formed lake stands where the city once stood, and is fed by a newly formed offshoot of the Niurros river. A small waterfall has formed on the northern side of the lake. The northern side is faced with cliffs high above the water’s surface, while the southern side of the lake is more shallow and easier to enter.

The lake is unusually vibrant with life, and is home to several species of fish and lake dwelling plants. With unusually clear waters, the Osulas Lake makes for a beautiful scene. After the creation of the body of water, the area surrounding it has become increasingly lush, with green grass and small copses of bushes and palm trees - whose speedy growth seems to be at least somewhat manipulated by either divine or equine intervention.

The lake is considered a holy site.

### Lake Shrine

Lake Shrine is a small shaped rock shrine on the southern coast of the lake. Formed by manipulating rock into the shape of a moon gate, this shrine is decorated with a constantly renewed supply of feathers, wind chimes and other offerings, as well as two feathers from the goddess herself. A small channel leads water from the lake into the basin of the shrine.

Lake Shrine was constructed shortly after the appearance of the lake, and is sometimes called “Esin’s Shrine”, after the Mullah who oversaw its creation.

## Osulas Before The War

Osulas was the ancient capital city of Serora, carved into the very walls of a great, isolated canyon. The canyon’s walls were streaked with pale rainbows of stone. Most of the city had been built inside a single larger opening in the canyon, but several smaller openings existed, often fully accessible only to those capable of flight. Shrubs and grasses grew within the walls of the canyon city together with a few juniper and pinyon trees. Fertile farmlands were managed on the tops of the mesas, accessible only to pegasi.

### City

Due to its location and construction, Osulas was quite condensed, and traversing the city meant a lot of changes in altitude, walking up and down flights of stairs and going over bridges to reach new plateaus. Spatial manipulation and earth manipulation, as well as traditional carving and mining, were all used in the construction of the city.  Most of the city was located on the canyon’s northern wall, in the constant shade of the rest of the great mesa, and never subject to direct sunlight. As the city expanded and new breeds of equine joined Serora, some additional buildings were built on the canyon floor, the opposing canyon wall, as well as in the shrubland and desert immediately surrounding Osulas itself.

Due to its unusual location, Osulas was a city with a very small surface area, but built in many layers. This could make it difficult to navigate for those new to town. Osulas tended to become especially crowded at the end of growing seasons, when people from all around Sedo would come in to pay their taxes, or to trade for essentials.

Osulas was one of the safest cities in Sedo, and had never been taken by a hostile force. It was also one of the oldest, along with Kiephis in Aquore.

### Attractions

Osulas was home to many shrines, especially to Alya, but also to Kaia and Cascade. These were spread out throughout the city, and many were simply carved into the walls. A single, more temple-like place existed for each of the main deities:

* **Alya’s Great Shrine** was located on the highest point of the city that was still accessible to all breeds, atop a bridge reaching out to the sky. The location was somewhat perilous, and was only visited by non-pegasi during calm, windless days. The shrine was a great stone statue of Alya with lines of gold traced into the cracks that had formed into the statue over the years. It was decorated with countless windchimes and feathers.
* **Kaia’s Great Shrine** was on the floor of the canyon, in a small copse of hardy trees. It was sculpted out of the pale rainbow rock native to the area, and had been largely reclaimed by nature. Branches of the trees twisted around her form, and carefully cultivated vines and flowers decorated the statue, forming a living mane and tail for the goddess.
* **Cascade’s Great Shrine** stood near the natural spring that was Osulas’ main source of water. It was a smooth stone wall next to the spring pond, decorated with a grand carving, fully painted. There were small, cup-like indentures on the top that allowed rainwater to gather, and subsequently for the water to pour down along the face of the rock, which would reveal the pearls embedded into the decor - hardly visible during the dry season due to dust and sand.

Osulas was also home to the Council Library and the Mullah Library, the two only considerable collections of books and records in the country, outside some private collections held by people or organizations. The Council Library was located in the lowermost part of the city, and was home to the various official records of the herd, such as maps, family records, citizenship papers for immigrants and travelers, taxation records, transaction records of traders, and the like. There was also a collection of imported books from other herds, mostly donated by private citizens. The Mullah Library was located high in the city, near Alya’s Shrine, and was the home of the historical and religious texts created and collected by the Mullah. The contents of both libraries were largely destroyed with the city, although some records were saved.

As a capital city, Osulas was also home to many governmental buildings, military barracks and training grounds, trader warehouses, crafter workshops and a great many other things. In the classic Seroran style most of these structures, even if well made, were not very impressive to an outsider, and would not have been of interest to a tourist.

### Living Arrangements

Due to the way it was built, Osulas was reminiscent of a few apartment complexes stuck to one another, connected with numerous bridges and staircases. Doors were typically made from heavy cloth or beads, with wooden doors being rare, and mostly fitted on the apartments of officials and larger families. Many houses were adorned with carvings and paint, both on the inside and outside. Potted plants and windchimes were typical, small decorations added to the facade of the houses.

Insides were typically fairly bare of furniture - shelving, beds, and tables were usually formed directly from the stone itself. Grasses were used to weave various decorations and carpets, while pottery and glass were used for storage and eating. Various pillows, cushions, carpets and tapestries added softness to the otherwise hard homes. Wooden furniture was rare due to the difficulty of obtaining large amounts of wood, as well as the limitations of hauling such furniture around., As such, any larger furniture was usually only possessed by families who had lived in the same apartment for generations. Some wooden pieces were also present in the homes of the officials.

Besides permanent residents, which numbered about 50,000, Osulas was also temporary home for many nomadic farmers, herders and crafters, as well as many warrior ranks who would stop at the city to deliver information or receive assignments. These visitors would often either bring with them their own tents, creating entire new districts around the city, or sleep in the various barracks and inns around the city. Some apartments were always kept ready for foreign dignitaries or other important visitors.

Gaining an apartment in Osulas was not a matter of wealth, but of need. The city as a whole belonged to the government, who would hand out vacant apartments to those who needed them. Larger apartments were reserved for families, and scribes would organize trading of apartments between occupants as necessary. Although not technically “owning” their houses in the way others in Hireath would understand, the occupants had full rights to their house, and could not be evicted without an extremely good reason.

Officials would all get apartments suitable for entertaining guests upon being appointed. They would have to vacate these apartments when they retired.

## History

Osulas was the first city created on the continent of Sedo, and was constructed by Alya’s pegasi together with the goddess herself. After some time she moved to God’s Landing and made her home atop the great mesa there, at which point many of her people followed her. Due to its good location, generally pleasant weather and location in the lushest part of Sedo, Osulas acted as the economic and political center of power, and was the home to Alya’s governors, The Wings, while the southern city was a religious and artistic center.

After the God’s War, Osulas was gradually reconstructed to be more accessible to landbound breeds. Although many lives had been lost in the war, the arrival of many immigrants and refugees made the city grow, and eventually overshadow its southern counterpart. The Sultan made their home in Osulas, and its role as the heart of Sedo was firmly established. Despite expanding considerably, Osulas never really changed in appearance and character, and was much the same in the year 700 as it was in 1700. After the southern city was destroyed, Osulas became the only major city in Sedo.

### Destruction

After standing for 1700 years, the Aodh-Serora war saw Osulas threatened by an invading force for the first time. A thousand years earlier, the kirins had failed to mount an assault, but now, Aodhian troops were fast approaching. The city had been evacuated, and its people had left either for the Oasis, or the open air of Ziuseset. A decision had to be made on what to do with the city.

The members of Council present decided to level Osulas rather than see it looted, and made into a base for Aodhian operations, as had happened in Mbira months earlier. In the afternoon of an otherwise unassuming spring day, Holy Cosmic Manipulation was called upon to render the city to dust, and earth manipulators to finish the destruction.

Nothing remained. Not even the canyon.