Varchas

"They worship the sun in Varchas, and have banished darkness from the city."

Varchas, also called the Mirrored City, is a sprawling city of light and mirrors located near the coast of the Elder Continent.

The City of Light

"The walled city of Varchas is a tangle of green vines and luminescent fungal flowers slow-blooming around mouldering stone. A quincunx of carved stepped-towers rise over the walls and pour burning white light into the bleak sky."

Varchas is a verdant stone city that shines brighter than any lighthouse, standing tall against the forested darkness of the Elder Continent. Every centimeter of the walled city is lit by some form of light, whether from a lamp, a mirror, or bioluminescent fungi. Varchas' Mirrored Gates serve as its guarded primary entrance.

The symbol of Mihir.

The Varchaasi worship a solar deity named Mihir. Those who leave the light of Mihir in any way have their names stripped from them, and are called Taamas. Visitors from the rest of the Neath are also considered Taamas, and may face suspicion and discrimination in the city. Visiting zailors often dislike Varchas on account of this distrust, and have spread stories about it that typically do not hold water.^{[citation needed]}

Varchas is primarily lit by its Five Towers, each of which contains a powerful light source made of glowing fungi. Atop each Tower lies an enormous, multi-faceted Principal Mirror, carefully angled and mechanically positioned to ensure that not a single stone in the city is touched by darkness. Four of the Towers correspond to the four cardinal directions; the fifth Tower, the Temple Tower, lights the Temple of Mihir in the center of the city, and is surrounded by hundreds of other light sources rather than any mirrors. In addition to the Towers, lamps and candles line every wall in Varchas, and glowing fungi is abundant. The Song of Mihir is a Varchaasi traditional musical performance, in which prisms split white light into different colors to match each note.

Each Tower in Varchas also houses a large bell. When all five bells have tolled each day, the Principal Mirrors are adjusted, the burning lights are dimmed to a softer yellow, and evening in Varchas begins. The city's Fire-Keepers, individuals who maintain the Principal Mirrors and their mechanisms, are tasked with dimming the lights every evening.

The People of Varchas

"Our ways are not yours, Taamas. Remember that, and walk in the light of Mihir."

Candles are abundant in Varchas.

In keeping with the worship of Mihir and the preservation of light in the city, Varchas' social hierarchy is structured around light. Varchas' Fire-Keepers, the people who maintain its mirrors, are recruited from the upper echelons of society and are also part of its ruling councils. Lamp-Lighters are responsible for maintaining the lamps and candles that line the walls of the city; they also light the way forward when large groups of citizens leave the city (on pilgrimage, for instance), ensuring that no one in the procession falls to the shadows.

Varchas also has a large population of workers who harvest and transport the fungi blooming throughout the city. Their jobs pose significant occupational hazards, and some suffer from a contagious fungal disease called Lung-Bloom, which is exacerbated by light and heat and eventually causes them to grow fungi from their limbs and orifices. These unfortunate individuals, and others with Lung-Bloom, constitute a quarantined ward in Varchas' Charitable Hospital.

The mirrored city has two companies of scimitar-wielding Guards, who are responsible for maintaining order in the city and monitoring outsiders; most notably, they eject any outsider that overstays their welcome of a single day in Varchas. They also embark on trade missions and hunting expeditions regularly. The white-cloaked enforcers hold training duels and receive petitions from the citizenry at their Guard House, while the blue-cloaked gatekeepers record and announce visitors, often accepting only a few each day. The gatekeepers are designated for their bravery in the face of the Neath's darkness, and risk being declared Taamas if they step too far into the shadows outside the city.

Ordinary Varchaasi dress plainly, in simple shifts or togas.

The Worship of Mihir

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"In Varchas the sun still shines!"

"We must always walk in Mihir's light so we burn our lamps night and day to banish darkness from the Mirrored City. If we let darkness corrupt us we would not be Varchaasi any longer, but Taamas. Like you."

The sun god Mihir is said to be the watcher of Varchas through its light. Anyone who is born under his gaze is considered Varchaasi, a true citizen of the Mirrored City. The Varchaasi keep every centimeter of the city lit because citizens who walk into the darkness lose their names and become Taamas; people from the rest of the Neath are also considered Taamas, as stated earlier. In addition to these practices, those who walk in the light of Mihir must practice strict vegetarianism and never kill or maim. Citizens of Varchas are not permitted to travel, and young Varchaasi are compelled by law to learn the same trade as their parents. The Temple of Mihir is located in Varchas' Sacred District, in the city's center. The Temple is presided over by the Sun-Priests, the most important of whom are called Sun-Seers. These individuals host sermons and gatherings for devotees, and maintain the Shrine of Mihir, a stone likeness of the god to which offerings are given. The Sun-Seers are also participants in Varchas' government.

The Mountain of Light

The leader of Varchas, the Agnihotri, rules the city alongside his council of prestigious citizens and presides over the rituals of the Temple. Occasionally, the Agnihotri and a large procession of citizens depart from Varchas as part of a pilgrimage to Amaradri (their name for Stone). Merchants and other citizens frantically petition the Guard House for a spot on the expedition, whether out of piety or in search of trade opportunities. To safely depart the Mirrored City without becoming Taamas, the Agnihotri and his companions use a massive machine to deposit flammable fungus on the path forward, lighting their way into the shaded darkness of the Elder Continent.

The Varchaasi have two categories of recorded texts: heard texts, which are said to come from the words spoken by Mihir himself, and remembered texts, which are considered secondhand knowledge. The validity of remembered texts is still a hotly debated issue.

The Story of Varchas

"Mihir looked away away from us, and Varchas fell. Now we light our city like a beacon, so Mihir may find us once more."

The Sun

The bas-reliefs of the Temple of Mihir detail the tragic tale of Varchas, so that future generations may learn of it. However, the exact veracity of the tale is currently unknown. It begins with a five-towered city, prosperous and peaceful, languishing under the loving light of Mihir. Then, they say, Mihir blinked — this presumably represents a solar eclipse — and the city crumbled into ruin, falling into the Neath. Now, they say, Mihir roams the Neath looking for his city, while Varchas is irrevocably changed. Ultimately, the priests and priestesses of Mihir hope that the massive amount of light that they produce will help Mihir find them again, in one way or another.

Dreams of Smoke

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"Don't touch the mirrors. Don't even look into the mirrors. And try very hard not to dream."

"The Mirror-Mad are worse than Taamas. They no longer serve Mihir but... other powers. Those that speak in dreams and visions."

Something lurks beyond.

The Varchaasi are well aware of the powers behind the mirrors, the Fingerkings, who seek to influence and manipulate the city's citizens for their own mysterious goals. In fact, the Fingerkings feed off the people's fear, since it is as nutritious as love or reverence. As such, citizens are advised not to dream, touch the mirrors, or tell fictional or exaggerated stories; they believe lying weakens the borders of reality and might remove them from Mihir's light.

Those who sleep unprotected may experience serpentine, Fingerking-influenced dreams. To ward off the dream-snakes, Sun-Seers sell viric snakeskin charms and scraps of paper that are meant to be hung on any nearby mirrors before sleeping; these are effective, but their secrets mysteriously fade after use. Additionally, cats frequently patrol the Parabolan regions near Varchas, seeing opportunity to confront and even slaughter their rivals.

Varchaasi possessed by Fingerkings are called the Mirror-Mad; it is said that upon hearing the whispers from behind the mirrors, they whispered back and became subservient to the powers of Parabola. The Mirror-Mad comprise another wing of the Charitable Hospital, where they are kept away from mirrors, given food and water to survive (as they are not despised but pitied by their fellow citizens), and are provided with costly unreflected light.

Seeds of Revolution

"Darkness-touched troublemakers! So far all they do is talk and smoke water-pipe and grumble, but I fear that they have strayed from the light of Mihir. Still, my superiors think that they are harmless."

"You are lucky, to be free to wander the Neath at your will. One day, perhaps we Varchaasi will also do the same."

Not all are satisfied with the status quo of Varchas. Some individuals, led by the Jewel-Turbaned Youth, have grown resentful of the oppressive rule of the Sun-Priests and the Agnihotri. They especially detest the restrictions on dreaming and storytelling, and they seek ways to gain as much exposure to the outside world as possible through stories, even through fabricated ones. However, they are generally looked down upon and considered harmless. Another revolutionary group in Varchas is the Grand Myriad Company, led by their captain, who bears the title "Mihir's Enemy."^{[citation needed]} These warriors have strong appetites for the "jewels" of Parabola, including (and especially) war.

Historical and Cultural Inspirations

The ancient temple of Angkor Wat.

The culture of Varchas frequently references Hindu mythology and culture. The name of the city is a variation of varcas, meaning brilliance of the Sun or fire in Sanskrit; Mihir is a variation of mihira, meaning Sun; and Taamas is a variation of tamas, referring to the darkness of the Sun or Moon during eclipses. The Agnihotri parallels agnihotrin, a person responsible for maintaining sacrificial fires. Amaradri could be derived from amara, meaning immortal or undying.

A corner tower in Angkor Wat.

Varchas as a whole strongly resembles Angkor Wat, an ancient temple city in modern-day Cambodia, which was known for its magnificent bas-reliefs. Like Varchas, it had four tall towers at its corners, and a larger central tower. Additionally, note the design of Varchas' towers compared to the images of Angkor Wat in this section; the towers of Varchas strongly resemble Khmer (Cambodian) architecture of the 8th-15th centuries.

The central tower of Angkor Wat symbolizes Mount Meru, which in Hindu cosmology is the axis upon which the Sun and the rest of the solar system rotate. While Angkor Wat itself was originally dedicated to the Hindu preserver god Vishnu, it was converted into a Buddhist temple in the 12th century.