THE GREAT TREE
On the farthest edge of the elven empire of Kra, lies the city of Arbor Magna or ‘the great tree’. This should be taken quite literally as the city has been built on and around a colossal magical tree that stands over 7000 feet tall.
THE CANOPY
Each part of the tree is a different district of the city. The district on the very top of the tree is called Canopy. It’s residents are almost exclusively the richest and most powerful High Elves.
The most righteous Elves find favour with their god Omnia and he grants them lives that can be counted in centuries.
From the Canopy district the just and wise High Elves administer the city. The Canopy is breathtakingly beautiful. This is in part due to ‘the focus’. Something only the most blessed High Elves can do. It means that over time they can perfect and change a physical object with their mind. If they focus on their sword every day, it becomes sharper and more beautiful, the same with a building or even the face of their beloved. The ornate Spires that stick out from the very top of the tree are a result of this rare art.
THE PYRAM WASTES
From the top of the tree, the High Elves look down over the Pyram Wastes that encircle Arbor Magna, stretching out beyond the horizon. This land was once home to humans and scraban (rat folk) but their wars turned this once fertile valley to desert, and cursed the land with a dark magic. Today, Eldritch creatures roam the Pyram Wastes tormenting the scattered human settlements, little more than encampments that cling on in the wilderness.
THE LAWS
This desecration of the land is why, when the High Elves took over this region over a thousand years ago, in their wisdom they put restrictions on the type of technology that can be legally used. Their preference is for biotech, so whilst vehicles are banned for ordinary citizens, there are a myriad of genetically engineered living steeds to choose from. All laser weapons are banned.
Guns are useless anyway in most fights, as advanced personal energy shields mean that bullets are deflected with ease. They are only useful against the mutants/monsters of the waste who have no access to such tech.
Most other fights are carried out using melee weapons or projectiles like arrows which are too slow to be picked up by the energy shields.
Magical ability is relatively rare among all the races, it is also tightly controlled in the city and it’s only allowed to be performed within the city with a license.
AI is banned in the city outside of the Canopy district.
The laws in the city are enforced by a fleet of laser armed hovering robot drones called the Custodia. They are controlled from the Canopy. Their lasers can even cut through personal energy shields.
THE BRANCHES
The next district down is known as the Branches. This is a majority High Elf district but some of the most affluent members of the other races also live there. Many of the residents of the Branches work in an administrative capacity in the Canopy but cannot afford to live there. The Branches enjoy a level of technological comfort on a par with the Canopy and like them, many of the residents have augmented themselves with tech and bio-engineering in dramatic ways – giving themselves four arms, wings or immense height.
THE TRUNK
Below that is the district known as the Trunk. The trunk has a more diverse population than the Canopy and the Branches. Elves make up about fifty percent of the locals, the rest is about twenty percent human, twenty percent scraban (rat folk) and ten percent others from across the Kra empire.
The Trunk contains a lot of lower middle and working class of the city. There are a lot of factories and offices in the Truck.
The Trunk also contains the hub of the lift system that makes use of the water that travels up the tree to elevate the lifts and then runs them down the exterior of the tree. The lifts are operated by a small but dedicated team of Aarakocra (bird folk).
THE ROOTS
Finally, at the base of the great tree, nestled in amongst its exposed roots is the slum known as the Roots. The Roots are still policed by the Elves Custodia drones but far less heavily than the rest of the city. Residents of the Roots can rarely afford the lift ride to see the rest of the city and many live their whole lives without ever going up the tree.
Some scratch out a living in the wastes, scavenging items from the fallen civilisations that brought the land to ruin, trading with or entertaining the scattered human settlements and farms out there or through outright criminality.