The sun hung low over the horizon as the wind whistled through the leaves of the trees and the crags of the valley. The low screech of a bird of prey echoed across the rocks, soaring on the last hot updraft of the day. Sharp eyes scanned the red rock and wild grasses, and broad wings wheeled higher into the sky, until the shape was naught but a dark silhouette to the brilliant color. The seasons here were beautiful, but harsh, much like life itself there. Very few thrived in as wild a land as this - but those that did were all the stronger for it.
Among the mountains and cliffs, settled in between stone and sky, carved walls of white stone rose up. Bridges of worn wood, sturdy in their own right, stretched between chasms, weaving paths across the rugged earth. Paths ran upwards and twisted around, connecting the lush valley to the various buildings spattered among the crags. Atop the highest peak, bridges and stone arches falling away from it, stood a tower of pale, weathered brick. Around it, walls wove down along cliff and plateau alike, shielding the structures within. The faintest sounds of civilization echoed from between stony ridges and onto the wind.