Superficial Legendarity – Chapter 7, Prologue 39

Yeah, there’s kind of a pecking order among legendary lost cities. Having been a shining city on a hill, before even becoming legendary, adds considerably to your street cred as a legendary city – much more so than having been a dilapidated settlement in a swamp.

The ‘shining’ part, of course, can be meant metaphorically, but many cities planning to become lost and legendary won’t rely solely on that. Instead, they aim to be literal shining cities by way of expensive surface treatments. Having all outer surfaces covered in gold is considered best (platinum might be more valuable, but it’s kind of too subtle…and orichalcum? Well, who’s ever heard of that?), setting aside all practical concerns. For cities which can’t quite afford that, things like alabaster or highly polished marble are budget-minded alternatives – the important thing is choosing something that’s noticeable and bright.

Partial gilding is considered gauche, of course – it doesn’t carry that sense of effortlessness that’s so crucial to conspicuous displays of wealth. Therefore, a city aiming to become truly legendary would have to apply their chosen surface treatment even to their outer defenses. Therefore Si’ri is quite right that the surface finish on this watchtower – sparse remnants of flaking paint on weather-beaten, roughly worked wood – clearly indicates that Ad’nanapart is not going to be much of a shining city on a hill. And even apart from the obvious lack of hills in that region, I mean. Given the state of the watchtower, Ad’nanapart is either a very low-budget legendary city, or a hipster legendary city, and I’m not sure which would be worse for this sort of quest. ._.

More on Thurs…uh, Monday.