Libra

Libra is the capital city of Lipsivius, and thus one of the oldest settlements in all of Aster. It is the trade hub of the kingdoms, and has an artificial waterway leading to the Progenitor- this helps speed along travel. The tree is encased with a giant structure, which might be dirt, or stone, or fossilised tree roots, but it and the tree itself grow together, growing many pathways and sections on its own. The city also has a network of tunnels beneath it, also linked to the tree’s magic, which bend space itself towards the city, also allowing visitors to avoid travelling through the desert and scrubland that occupies most of Lipsivius.The tunnels open out into the central Cavern. Occupants of Libra are more likely to own SandSnakes, but there have been records of them outside the Capital. The current population is around 100,000.

There is one central area, right at the base of the tree, where the everyone must trade honestly from. The tunnels also lead to this central chamber, and it has quite a lot of people who live there.The Merchant Lords often make public announcements from the chamber, standing on a platform attached to the Hive Tree via rope, that has been enchanted to broadcast throughout the central chamber. The platform was first created in 5894 PL. However, it only works if at least 3 Merchant Lords whisper the password to activate it. They often check thoroughly to ensure it has not been bugged before using it, ever since Kyrik the Crafty used the technique to become a Merchant Lord a few weeks after the platform was implemented. It has since been more thoroughly enchanted, although every now and then new bypasses are found.

Outside of this central area, Libra is an ever-twisting labyrinth, where a passage leads one day, it may not lead the next. Some passages are marked with brightly-dyed hemp, tied around posts dug into the ground. This was made to make some of the structure more stable, as a project that a Merchant Lord from ~60 years ago set up to “civilise ” the labyrinth, but he was assassinated soon after it’s beginning, and when another hopeful restarted the work, they too, mysteriously disappeared, and so it was decided that the project was cursed. Of course, due to the daring lot of adventurers that populate the labyrinth, many tried to finish it, but when the walls closed off around two of them, leaving them to suffocate, the project was officially banned by the Merchant Lords, although some still try to complete it to this very day. Some people suggest taking the hemp out entirely, but seeing as the walls have not protested their continued existence, and their ease of navigation makes them oft used, they have become unofficial safe space.

The outside area, often known as Libra, to those native to it, and Librinth (a portemanteau of Libra and Labyrinth) to those outside of it- it does not have any negative connotations in of itself, but some use it in a derogatory fashion.The “Librinths” call the dwellers of the central cavern “Traders”, which has about the same connotations and usage as Librinth. The Merchant Lords lean into crime, and turf skirmishes are not uncommon, but rarely lethal. Taverns have high prices, and one, after a particularly nasty bar fight, replaced its stools with hay-stuffed pillowcases.