This article details a lot of the architectural features of Aram and how they came to be the way they are today.

The Foundations of Aram

Aram was built on six hills, five of which are to the north of the Ellum, the river which crosses through the southern part of the city. The main city has always been north of the Ellum, with the administration and important buildings having always been located there. South of the Ellum, the Dolhum hill and the docks make up most of the markets and trade in Aram.

Aram stretches out over much more territory than the people can actually inhabit, the majority of the city is made up of ruins of ancient buildings that no one can afford to live in or maintain anymore.

History of Aram

First of all, to understand the geography of Aram, you have to understand the history of Aram. Long before Alexandrios I managed to forge the Arameian Empire from separate city states and kingdoms, it was a city. Originally it was built on the Priman hill, the northwesternmost of six nearby hills. As the kingdom built by Alexandrios forefathers grew it expanded creating the first city walls just surrounding the hill and creating the dock that is now known as the Imperial Docks north of the Ellum.

With the advent of the Arameian Empire, there was a need to expand the city to fit the new hordes of immigrants that came to be part of the capitol. Aram became a testbed for new technologies and a place for the Emperors to show their might through impressive feats of engineering. The city spread beyond Priman, being bound by the shape of the land, they expanded on the northern side of the Ellum, keeping their walls against the river, for even in his capitol an Emperor was not always safe from attack. The two hills to the east of Priman, Darmen and Ormen were now incapsulated by the new city walls and prestigious building projects started within this new city. The impressive Imperial Cistern, known as Alexandrios' Lake was built between Darmen and Priman as a place to store emergency reserves of water in case of siege.

By the time of Alexandrios IV the impressive imperial palace now stretched over the majority of Priman and the old city had been swallowed up by it, becoming known now as the Imperial Quarter. A huge bridge, known as the Royal Highway was created, creating a flat, even way to the lower elevation of Darmen allowing supplies to enter the palace and the officials within.

It wasn't long before the officials were thrown out of the palace itself, moving the administration of both the city and the empire to the outlying city. Indeed, it wasn't long after that that the city itself saw fit to expand again, creating Southbridge and Eastbridge to join the hill Dolhum, to the south of the Ellum, expanding the city walls for the second time. At the height of the empire, the city of Aram held over a half a million inhabitants and the city walls had been expanded six times to fit the needs of the growing population.

Each emperor tried to bring their own touch to the city with new buildings, a tradition which continued with only the slight pause during the time of the Moon Emperors, who chose Nander as their capitol for almost 300 years. Two additional hills, Theriuman and Arthiuman, named after the twin gods of warfare, were added to the city itself.

The Ghost Town

The Ghost Town is what the inhabitants of Aram generally refer to the uninhabited parts of Aram as. It's a large part of the ancient city that is now inhabited only by crumbling ruins. For generations the citizens of Aram have gone through these buildings pillaging what they need for new building materials from these structures. This process has not helped their structural integrity much and it's generally considered dangerous to wander around in the Ghost Town. Wild packs of dogs and other more feral animals have also been known to wander these streets where humans no longer gather, making them dangerous to the idle wanderer.

Quarries

Always important to the building of the city of Aram was the limestone it was built on. While many more expensive building materials were imported from across the empire, the main building material remains limestone.

As a result of the need for limestone meant an expansive series of manmade caverns beneath the city. These tunnels are usually small, with little room for moving. These tunnels are deep beneath the city and small buildings across the city offered entrance to them via a series of ladders, in current times these ladders have often either been removed or rotted away, some have been fixed with ropes or new ladders, but most remain simply holes going down as deep as 60 metres (200 feet) below Aram, with the tunnels themselves going down much further. Often there is little more than a crawlspace connecting these tunnels, some have been expanded on later or added to and used as storage space. Others have later gone in and changed the tunnels by bricking them up to prevent access to certain portions. The constant use and alteration of these tunnels means that any map rarely stays relevant for more than a few years.

Since the decline of Aram and the fall of the Arameian Empire no one has mined limestone there though others have taken imaginative use of these old tunnels. It is, of course, dangerous to travel around in them as their maze like structure means that without a torch or other source of light the likelihood of never finding your way back is great. This has not stopped breweries, smugglers, merchants and others from using them as storage space and escape routes. It has even connected into old cellars and buildings which the city has slowly built on top of, creating pockets and accesses to this vast network all over Aram. Some of the deeper quarry tunnels have been flooded by water, requiring the use of boats or swimming to reach parts of the tunnels.

Waterworks

The Sewers

Like much of Aram, the sewers were not built all in one piece. The first sewer tunnelled off parts of the Ellum just east of Southbridge, tunneling deep beneath Priman to and feeding out north of the Imperial Docks. This sewer is generally known as the Great Sewer, and is lined with marble and limestone. Originally, parts of it was open to the air, but the need for more buildings in Aram meant that they installed arches into the sewer and placed buildings on top of it. Whereas the rest is known as the Lesser Sewer.

The Lesser Sewer stretches across much of northeastern Aram, with the sewer getting water from the Ellum just south of Ormen and heading north going around Ormen and right through Darmen in what is known as the East Close, two major lines going off the East close known as the North and South Close meet up with the Greater Sewer beneath Priman. Like the Greater Sewer parts of the Lesser Sewer was also open to the air, but as the city expanded it needed the room and these sewers became built over to make room for new buildings.

The rest of the city was not as lucky and filth and sewage was generally just thrown into the street to be washed away by the rain. On rainy days this meant that sometimes the filth would wash up into those living at ground level, the rich therefore generally ended up living in places where there were sewers or elevations to keep the filth flowing down to someone else.

The Cisterns

The sewers were far from the only way the city utilised the water of the Ellum. A series of cisterns and basins were built across the city to store and purify water which was later pumped to various bath houses and fountains and wells throughout the city all of which are completely submerged. The Priesthood of Erina are the protectors and ultimately the keepers of these sites, the three cisterns and four basins are protected and kept by them to this day when most others have forgotten their very existence.

The largest of the cisterns, Alexandrios' Lake is situated between Darmen and Priman, serving as a emergency water supply to the Imperial Quarter and what is now the centre of the city. It is rarely used these days, though the priests of Erina often make use of this vast, underground lake to hold their rituals and rites. The roof above it is supported by monstrous pillars that are always, at least partially, submerged in water. Of the two other cisterns that were built in Aram only one survives, the cistern built south of the Ellum collapsed after the fall of the Empire, bringing down the tower that had been built on top of it.

The other remaining cistern, the smallest of the three is the Symonian Cistern, built by Symon III, if it weren't feeding the public baths most of the time, it might too have been forgotten. It is still in use though, still feeding what is left of the baths and working as a water reservoir.

The Basins

The Basins are a series of four basins spread throughout Aram, one of which is no longer in use as they are part of the Ghost Town. These basins extract and purify rain water from the ground around them, ensuring that the foundation on which Aram is built remains relatively solid even during heavy rains and also serving as a water source. They are maintained by the order of Erina.

The Docks

Imperial Docks/North Docks

The Imperial Dock was the first dock that was built in Aram and it stretched from the bank of the Ellum north to the city walls. Back before Aram expanded south of the Ellum it was primarily known simply as the Docks. Compared to the later South Docks it was relatively small in size and as the city grew, it became obvious that it needed a larger dock.

As Aram grew, the importance of the North Docks dwindled and it became the Imperial Docks, holding only the most important imperial warships and was largely confined to the imperial courts' ships. When the empire fell, however, the docks largely fell out of use and these days the wooden jetties have largely rotted away and the are has fallen out of use, excepting the odd small craft needing to sneak into Aram without being seen. After the fall of the empire it is also generally referred to as the North Docks, eschewing its imperial title.

South Docks

The second dock of Aram is vastly greater than the North Docks and remains in use. This is where the city of Aram expanded after it outgrew its first docks. It stretches south of the Ellum, reaching all the way down to the ruins of the city walls, though the southern half of the docks is rarely used anymore and little maintenance is kept up on it.

Despite the decrease in traffic from the imperial days, Aram remains the busiest port in Adylheim and the traffic there outmatches that seen in any other city, with ships leaving daily. It is a hub of trading, the area near the docks also serves as the southernmost point of the inhabited parts of Aram, serving as a haven for sailors and other lowlives it is without a doubt the rowdiest and most lawless part of the city.

Landmarks

The Temple to Luxor

The Temple to Luxor is quite possibly the largest structure left intact and inhabited in Aram. It sits roughly in the middle of the better half of the current Aram with the huge temple sitting in front of an impressive courtyard lined by worn down statues of ancient emperors in various states of decay, all paying homage to Luxor. The golden dome of the temple of Luxor is known throughout Adylheim and it serves as both a show of force and as an administrative centre for Arameia.

The Temple of Luxor is actually the third temple of Luxor in Aram, each one built on the same spot, only larger and more impressive each time. The current temple was ordered constructed by Symon IX as part of his many construction projects.

The Imperial Palace

The Imperial Palace was largely destroyed in the Great Winter Fire of 3896, many towers and spires are now inaccessible, as well as large parts of the Palace itself. This has not stopped a brothel from moving into its once grand halls however. The extensive palace dungeons have also fallen into disrepair, while it is believed that there is a path to enter them from the many old quarry tunnels.

The Imperial Palace itself is a maze of rooms and corridors as it's been expanded on by just about every emperor who lived in it, starting out as a relatively small castle on top of the Priman hill and expanding out across the entire hill, both boring down into the ground and building high into the air. Many of its spires and more impressive battlements have fallen into disrepair however and may be dangerous to explore around on.

The Underground Opera

Beneath the old opera house, now a crumbling ruin with little of its former grandeur left, Emperor Symon IV the Mad built a vast underground opera house where he and his closest friends could bring their slaves and courtiers for grand operatic shows that were never open to the public. No one goes there now and the wooden furniture has long since rotted away, even so the large stage and hall remains with several once opulent back rooms and corridors behind the stage. While it is usually decrepit and avoided by most, some bards still stage shows there from time to time. It doesn't come near the grand operas of imperial times, but the stage is still in use.

The Bazaar

The Bazaar is the largest market in Adylheim, it stretches out like a spiderweb from the docks, with all manner of goods and services on sale to the highest bidder. It's a large jumble of tents, stalls, carts, stores and all manner of things in between where they sell everything and anything they can get their hands on. It is said that fortunes are lost and gained every day at the Aram Bazaar and there is nothing but truth to this statement.

Bridges

The Royal Highway

The Royal Highway was a bridge built to solve a problem. The height of the Priman hill made it difficult to get carts up to the imperial palace, the solution was to make a vaulted bridge down to the relatively lower hill of Darmen, over which carts could easily be brought to the Imperial Palace.

As time went on and the city expanded around the Royal Highway, houses were built both around and on top of the bridge, causing the empty spaces beneath the vaults to become encapsulated by housing on both sides. Throughout the history of Aram these hidden vaults were often used to store less than legal items and to this day they remain largely hidden and unknown to most in Aram.

Currently the Royal Highway marks roughly part of the northern boundary of Ghost Town.

Southbridge

Southbridge was the first bridge to be built across the Ellum, it is also the westmost of the bridges and continues to be one of two bridges in active use. On both sides of the northern end of Southbridge can be seen the remnants of battlements and walls from the time when Aram's borders ended north of the Ellum. These walls fell out of use long before the fall of the Empire and the majority of the stone in them was used to build new buildings in the city. Its name was given to it for its connection to the southern city, when other bridges were built in Aram it became the northernmost of the bridges crossing the Ellum.

Eastbridge

Eastbridge was the second bridge to be built to help alleviate the traffic jams on the Southbridge. Located as it is between Ormen and Dolhum, belying its name it is the second westernmost of the bridges. It remains in use to this day.

Ormbridge

Located to the south of Ormen this bridge has fallen out of use. It was built to help move people into the new parts of the city when it expanded for the fifth time. Since then it has fallen into disrepair and is now dangerous to cross after citizen took a great deal of it for cheap building materials.

Broadbridge

Broadbridge was the last bridge to be built in Aram, it was broader than any of the other buildings and construction on the bridge itself was heavy, with now derelict stores lining the bridge. Now the bridge is mainly abandoned and no one lives or works there anymore, though it still serves to let the occasional traveller across the river.

The City Walls

The City Walls have expanded as the city needed them to expand. Originally the walls only surrounded the Priman Hill, whereas they later expanded to include Darmen and Ormen. Then crossing the Ellum to fence in Dolhum and the new Docks, before expanding no less than three more times to include Theriuman and Arthumian and new territories south of the Ellum. With each expansion the materials used in the old City Walls were usually used to build the new walls, mostly removing the old walls, though some part of them still linger. The streets that trace their paths along where the old walls were are generally named after the walls.

While Aram's walls are largely still standing, they are not guarded by any means and there are hundreds of holes in it where no one has bothered to rebuild it.

Lost Places

The Catacombs

When the Priesthood of Luxor took power after the fall of the Empire, they got rid of the priests of Maia living in the city. While the city has had and retains many cemeteries and places of interment, the priests of Maia took with them the secret location of the catacombs. The catacombs were where they placed the bones that were left over after cremation or when they needed to dig up old graves to make place for new ones. The bones of millions of dead Arameians are conserved in this deep cavern, worked into decorative patterns, but mainly just thrown behind huge walls made of femurs and skulls.

The exact location of the catacombs are unknown, but according to the legends it should be possible to access it from the old quarry tunnels.

Kharn's Hole

During the earlier days of the Empire, the line of succession was not as set in stone as it later would be and anyone of suitably noble blood and enough power could attempt to claim the throne. Of course, because of this the Emperor needed a powerful threat to stop any potential claimants to the throne. That threat was Kharn's Hole. It was an ancient dungeon, four floors below ground filled with the best torturers and potential claimants to the throne would spend years down here, returning to the light of day as broken shells of what they once were.

When later Emperors solidified the line of succession, tunnel leading to Kharn's Hole was broken and his priests banished from the city. Since then, the exact location of the entrance and the Hole itself has been lost to time.

The Chapel of the Blind Bull

When limestone was still being quarried in Aram, the miners carved this chapel from the very limestone they were quarrying. All the furniture and fixings in this chapel are carved from the stone, nothing can be moved in this place. In this place the priests of Maadrth passed his blessings on to the miners and allowed them to get through the day unharmed.

With the death of the last of the miners, the location of the chapel was lost. Although it is without a doubt to be found somewhere deep in the quarry tunnels that have accrued over time, the location of it can be found on no current map.