#Daenair

[girars]

In the faint starlight, figures stood side by side on white marble steps. Facing the serenity of the warm sea waves, as if they were about to step off into the infinite waters ahead. Just two of them in this shared dream. Who created this realm of boundless tranquillity? Who let them in? Was it an incident? Neither Viroka, nor Llava could recollect.

[girars]

More on the core group's origins:

All the members of the group of trailblazers (the initial ten, aka Zero girars, or Granh-ar where granha means 0, and -ar is a contracted "girar") were born in Yüv (also spelled Yuv), except for the Mazran twins and their family.

Fernollg and Golleg Mazran were born on the road to Yüv while their parents were moving to the said city state from the Northeast.

They were raised in Yüv and left it when both sisters were around 25.

By the time the main characters were born, the city state had existed independently, relying on its own agriculture, mining, manufacturing, military force etc. Trading had decreased, with the Mazran family being some of the last caravan allowed in.

The city state of Yüv was secular, although there were several recognized religious cults present, with their own places of worship. The major one is still around while the minor cults were reduced to mere traditions within clans and families.

A few places significant to the story include:

High street which is the location of Atega's workshop and store, as well as other guilds' shops; the church Naghill's son will head in the future is situated on the northern part of the street, adjacent to the public square.

The Academy (for kids aged 11-18) is in the eastmost part of the city.

The poorest districts had always been in the western and southwestern part: the slums where Keranomu was born and raised, the old tavern on the hillside (owned by Naghill Varae) overlooking the final tram stop. The tram line led back round the hill, splitting at the southern part of High street, with the Blue line going eastwards past the Academy and heading north to the depot, and the Red Line running parallel to High street, taking a turn towards northwest and making a circle around the northern districts before going to the same Northern depot.

[girars]

68. This is not what it looks like.

I saw your lips moving

You were probably cursing

Or talking to yourself,

Making sense of the place we ended up in.

You shook us and dragged us.

I saw you were terrified.

I heard you scream in terror and despair.

You panicked and it nearly caused us everything. We can't blame you.

Too dry for tearing up

Too exhausted to

But perhaps...

Just maybe...

Were you praying for me?

[girars]

Round 0:

"If you board the train, would you be thinking about how it had been made? Who designed it, where it came from, who laid the rails, why do the tracks lead in that very direction you see them run? You wouldn't. Neither would I."

"But he would", replied Viroq disappointedly. "However I got a question for you right now. Why do you keep praising Zabjh and making both me and your own self feel unimportant and worthless?"

"Because we are not of much use."

Viroq looked into Llava's frowning face, the rose abruptly and walked out of the main room.

[girars]

The third one - F.

I am thinking about our first breakthrough. I can’t remember my own face. Unthinkable. A whole life without looking into mirrors, not a single time. Funny. I hated it. Hated the stupid brush of my eyebrows and the expression, pain and boredom. The newly chopped hair and edgy put-on to match the boggy mush on the inside. Was there any, actually? I don’t remember. I was a shell then, a husk. No room for the girl, just the baffling silence.

Chainsmoking, squeezing out cuss words, acting rough and tough. How ridiculously pubescent. But just like my friend had said, I wouldn't have thought about leaving the city if it hadn't been for that gnawing dissatisfaction. When you carry it around trying to hush it down with no luck.