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Avian is the home of the bird races of Kalijor. The city is nestled into three tiers that are composed of the tightly intertwined branches of a miles high petrified tree on the southern apex of the Uraval Mountains . The tiers of the city each represent a class of people, with the lowest tier being home to the lower class laborers, shops, artisans and so forth. All food stuffs are grown/raised on the first tier as well, crops consist of a light, airy grain that only grows in Avian and makes breads and pastries of such fine, light flavor that they are exported to the rest of Kalijor and place even the lowest class citizens of Avian in extremely comfortable living standards. The second tier is home to all of the aristocrats and government offices of the city and the third tier is host to only the palace and royal family.
Avian can be reached by a few methods, the most daunting of which would be to climb up the spiraling, petrified branches that wind their way up the tree from ground level. Most dedicated travelers can make the ascent in about three days if they are not in a tremendous rush. For a small fee the citizens of Avian will ferry travelers and their things up to the lower tier of the city on the backs of tamed griffons. This is much faster than climbing but some people do not enjoy the experience of being miles above the ground on the back of a griffon. The easiest way by far to enter Avian is to simply take the portal from one of Kalijor's five other major cities. This will put travelers in the portal chamber on the bottom tier of the city and is usually the best means of arrival and departure available.
Government in Avian is a monarchy system where the king/queen presides over a parliament and together they arrive at policy decisions and make the city work, however it is a true monarchy in that if the king/queen chooses to do so, they can overrule anything the parliament says and simply decide on policy themselves, although this rarely, if ever happens.