Omrazir: Dusk (West City)

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Revision as of 16:57, 7 November 2022 by Aleph (talk | contribs) (Created page with "The half of Omrazir known as '''Dusk''' lies on the west side of the River Tamrasset and is, relatively speaking, the newer half of the city. It is the center of both city and provincial governance, housing not only the palace of the bey but also numerous other administrative and religious functionaries of the caliphate. Having been founded in Ruveran times as an enclave of government physically separate from the often-contentious governed, Dusk still serve...")
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The half of Omrazir known as Dusk lies on the west side of the River Tamrasset and is, relatively speaking, the newer half of the city. It is the center of both city and provincial governance, housing not only the palace of the bey but also numerous other administrative and religious functionaries of the caliphate. Having been founded in Ruveran times as an enclave of government physically separate from the often-contentious governed, Dusk still serves its original purpose, besides now being the locus of Omrazir's culture and learning. Unlike Dawn, which is dominated by the local peoples of north Idiri, the population of Dusk leans heavily towards those of Sirdabi heritage, mixed with Irzali, Salawi, and a surprising number of people of foreign extraction drawn from outside the caliphate.

The western half of the city is smaller in area and more limited by its terrain than the eastern Dawn side. This portion of Omrazir has a strong slope in general, not only from north to south but also from east to west, with both the western and southern peripheries made up of nearly sheer cliffs. As a consequence, the city has had to be ingenious in finding ways to house its much-expanded population of civil officials, religious and scholarly luminaries, foreign expatriates, university students, poets, magi, and the many and varied hangers-on inevitably drawn to one of the most opulent courts of the caliphate. The chief response to these limitations had been to build upward rather than outward, so that a large proportion of the architecture of Dusk consists of multistoried brick buildings and soaring stone spires, the latter a wonder in and of themselves as they seem to defy all constraints of gravity and nature.