Life in Martella

"Horses and their carts strolling along the cobblestone streets, striving funiculars being pulled up and down the soaring hills. Martellan skin comfortably parading in light dresses and rolled shirts. Straw hats crackling in the midday sun. (...) You just had to build up your energy to explore that wonderful city. And you certainly had your share of options: roasted nuts, rich buttered corncobs, small chewy cheese breads made with cassava flour, fudgy chocolate truffles with chocolate sprinkles, teardrop-shaped croquettes of shredded chicken and light cheese, and many more."

Glowkos

"The Southern-tinted subterranean gecko, fondly known by locals as glowkos, had been the city’s emblem since its founding and was displayed proudly on the city’s blue flag. It was synonymous with hope and magic, a reminder that light shines even in the darkest places, just like the little creatures. The glowkos had blue tails that glowed so bright that only a few dozen could light a small room if they felt inclined."

Fading Magic

"Magic was like an invisible energy that only people called mages could see and use as fuel for their spells. Martella used to be called the capital of magic on the continent, giving birth to some of the most spectacular mages ever seen. But that had been back when every rock, leaf and body of water had magic in it. Things were different now. There was no magic left in Martella, as far as people knew. Even the Society of Magic, once the most influential magical institution on the continent, had moved its home base to another city-state centuries ago. (...)The decline of mages and the fear of what it could do to the war was a subject constantly discussed over late-night drinks in the local taverns."

Underground Tunnels

"No one knew how the underground tunnels came to be. As far as history remembered, they had always been there. Many had ventured into them over the centuries, trying to map them, but everyone who tried to go beyond the third level simply vanished. The Guilds Council had forbidden anyone to go beyond the first level, where basements and cisterns were located, and had turned a blind eye to those brave or crazy enough to reach the second level, with its beautiful caverns and underground rivers. Ordinary people stayed clear of anything beyond that."

The Quail

"The faelemaker was a large, room-wide magical device, a huge rectangular chunk of copper and pressed glass with impossible tubes sticking out at every angle, that made faele, Martella’s famous purple drink, impossible to recreate by any other means. Only a handful of taverns still had a working faelemaker, and Connor’s family, from a small village in the city-state of Anchorage, were the proud owners of both a faelemaker and one of the oldest taverns in the city: The Quail.

The Quail was a large tavern, built from black, uneven blocks of stone, with rectangular holes carved into the walls to store drink bottles, wooden mugs, and decorative pieces like helmets, shields, and metal quail figurines painted in different colours and designs. It was three storeys tall, each floor shorter than the one below, with ledges overlooking the central hall at ground level and huge oil lamps hanging from chains attached to the ceiling and pillars. Different seating areas were separated by stairs, ramps, and thick tree roots growing from an ancient fig tree in the back of the tavern, its branches piercing through the floors above."

Lina's Secret Study

"As in many other mansions in the city, the Tijons’ mansion had a secret basement. However, instead of being a rarely visited treasure room this one had been converted into a study that resembled half of an old ship. Ladders and a hand carved taffrail divided the space into two decks. The aftercastle upstairs was arranged as a drawing room where someone had squeezed in a large former dining table now used for alchemy experiments. The quarterdeck downstairs served as a library with rows of half empty bookshelves. A door in the place where the captain’s quarters would have been on a real ship led back into the house. The walls were decorated with maps of the continent’s coast, oil paintings of imposing animals and red curtains attached to fake black windows. It usually smelled like wood and vanilla scented candles, but tonight the fumes from the alchemy set Lina had been using all day gave it more of an ammonia and fried mosquitoes kind of vibe (with a hint of mango)."