"Glossary" by Jennifer M. Hoffman

Eilis

Eilis is the single city on Miyetaran's home planet where all of his people live. The first image is a cross-section, and the second is a map. It isn't a comlete map, just enough to get the picture across. The parts that extend off of the map would follow the obvious patterns set until the 8 main streets disappeared and it was one giant mass of buildings.

The city is underground. In most places the cave roof is low enough and near enough to the high buildings that flight in the city is impossible. As you move towards the center of the city, the ceiling rises and the 8 main streets widen. Flight becomes possible at about the half-way point between the edge of the city and the pillar. It becomes easier to the point of greatly open spaces above the 4 temples. Surrounding the pillar and encompassed by the temples, there is an open shaft. This repeats so that there are 4 levels stacked one on top of another with the pillar running strait up the center.

Each city block, seen in the close up in the bottom right corner, had one water source which all people on the block would share. It was located at the center of the block.

The strict hierarchy that his people maintained could also be seen in how families were placed within the city.

First, the more important an individual was, the closer his block was to the center of the city. The most important individuals were the ones who lived in the temples, the least important lived along the cave walls. Similarly, within ones block, the closer one was to the water source at its center, the more important one was. In this way, everyone knew exactly how high they stood compared with everyone else.

Also, the higher the level of the city, the more important its inhabitants were. As such, the lowest level of the city, the fourth level, housed the females. Miye's master kept the men apart from the women in order to keep family ties from growing strong. In addition, very rarely did the same two people have more than one child together. This way the blood lines were very crossed and family rivalries could not form easily.

The second and third levels of the city were home to low class warriors, the Buteo class. They were capable of long flights and were generally larger, rougher warriors. They were very useful for major invasions of cities, or even countries, in the outside world as they made a highly mobile and thus unpredictable army.

The first level of the city housed some low class warriors, but mostly it was home to middle class warriors and specialized warriors. Middle class warriors, the Accipiter class, were not as equipped for extended flight, but were much more maneuverable in the air. Their fighting style had more finess, and thus they were much more successful killers on an individual basis. Usually, they were the back-up of the Buteo class. When an army had a particularly tough time taking an area or was having higher than normal casualties, some Accipiter class warriors would be added to the ranks to push the sway of the battle more favorably.

There were several different types of specialized, high class warriors, though they could be divided up into two main groups, the Aplomado class and the Tytonidae class.

The Aplomado class were known for their speed. They were smaller warriors and could easily double the speeds reached by any other warriors. Generally, each individual had specialized training and as such, the jobs done by the Aplomado class as a whole were numerous and would be nearly impossible to list. Their most common job, however,was scouting.

The Tytonidae class had one major difference in wing structure from the rest of their people, and they had only one purpose. Their wings were downy and especially adapted to silent flight. Their hair had similar traits, and special clothing was made for them to keep them absolutely soundless. Their purpose was to eliminate specific targets with utmost accuracy and secrecy. They were extensively trained in no less than 4 weapons and were each given a signature spell that would summon a chosen weapon at need.

For those who don't know, these people's master is a dragon who lives on the top of the pillar. Ascending (or descending, though no one seems to want to do that) the pillar unless specifically ordered to do so is a crime punishable by death.