Konchog City

A merchant city on Zenith's Edge. Whereas the edge of the shard is the most dangerous place on most shards, on Zenith it is the most welcoming place to travelers. Since Zenith mimics Nova's flotation pattern nearly perfectly, most of Zenith is in a sort of eternal twilight and cold snow, but this is not the case for Konchog City. Konchog City is typically well lit and basked in the warm embrace of the Overlight, and the shadow of Nova only serves to protect Konchog City from the constant direct heat of the Overlight that has turned Nova into a desert.

Konchog City was never a planned city, but in fact, emerged out of necessity - a location for merchants to trade their wares on Zenith without obstructing the rituals of the Zenith Orders and more importantly, without having to travel the dangerous tunnels or the snowstorm ridden surface. As merchants decided to settle in, they build a shop and home wherever they find room. The result: a city with winding streets and no organized layout or districts of any sort, but the locals appreciate their layout and are happy to provide directions to lost travelers. Overall, it is a merry place where anyone would feel an honored guest.

The location was chosen because of a cave at the bottom of the Shard which led to a cave at the surface (where Konchog is now located). Aurumel airships had been having trouble landing on Zenith, many of them crashing, and so when one Airship Captain discovered a cave at the bottom of the shard, he started dropping off Haarkeen pilgrims at in order to avoid the harsh windstorms of the shard's surface. The cave was originally part of the Scarlet Labyrinth, but has since been blocked off by very thick stone walls and Konchog Guards stand watch in the event that the wall someday crumbles.

The still extant tunnel leading from what is now known as Konchog Harbor, is about half a day's journey from Konchog City proper. Along the route, traveler's will find shrines, some homes, and a few stores and a hotel about halfway up owned and operated by the descendants of Lang-Tsu, one of the first pilgrim monks. By following the tunnel, pilgrims eventually find themselves in about the city center of Konchog City. There they will be greeted by guides, typically Monks who either renounced their vows, failed the training, or did not bond with a Hamanu. In fact, a majority of the populace is some sort of fallen Monk or descendant of a fallen Monk, or in the rare case, a merchant from another shard.

While Konchog City is not the only point of entrance to Zenith, it is by far the most popular. And if someone says they've been to Zenith, then they probably have been to Konchog City.