The Ziggurat of Polipo dominated the skyline in the center of Kefakl, a great terraced mound of mud brick carved with steps and gardens and etched in letters and figures of religion. The city was flat and sprawling aside from the Ziggurat, which stood like a great big thumb jutting out from flat expanse of various buildings, shops, and markets.

Arthir strolled through the western districts, Ziggurat on his right, looking for someone to fix his clothing. He'd ripped a tear in the sleeve of one undershirt and a hole in one of his vests. He needed his finest clothing for the various festivals and ceremonies he and his family had and tonight was the ceremony of his family's founding. His great uncle would have the entire clan over to this sprawling complex of a house and he needed fine clothes. You really should get that done earlier his daughter had told him, every day for the last twenty, but Arthir was always a man of waiting until the last second to get things done.

As he walked through to get to the only tailor this side of the Ziggurat, Arthir realized he'd never really looked at the buildings before. He was on the fringe of the city moving in, winding his way through the wide empty streets. The buildings were empty, old, decayed, bricks crumbled and fallen, windows yawing wide as the foundations crumbled. No one had touched the outer rim of the city in such a long time. He looked up at the Ziggurat as he walked into the more populous parts of the city. He wondered what had happened. Where had all the people gone? Even now as he walked, where families were numerous, there still weren't that many people. Is the rim the fate that awaited Kefakl? That awaited all the cities?

"Ah, Genglmar!" Arthir bellowed as he saw the aged man, hair gray, back stooped, but long thin fingers working delicately at a pant leg in front of him. "I have a shirt for you."

The old tailor looked up from his work and groaned as he saw Arthir. "How much time are you going to give me? Until the sun peaks in the sky?"

Arthir grimaced. "A little less."

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Context: Short work about one of the last remaining Hortens city-states, Kefakl. While it survived the drought there isn't too much left. It's depopulated, as people left the cities during the recovery period for smaller settlements, went north to the QS cities, or west to get nearer to the coast.