Blessed and Cursed
The ancient city of Mulak presented a contrast between permanence and adaptation. From his own observations and from Pirisa's narration of her spotty understanding of its history, Ves gathered that the city had been erected a long time ago.
Mulak used to look different. Tall structures covered in gleaming silver-like alloy, with every function supported by a bevy of electronics and machinery. The city used to be settled in this arid, mineral-rich region to extract valuable exotics before shipping them to other cities set up as industrial centers.
That happened a long time ago, when contact between the cities used to be frequent. The breakdown of transportation vehicles over the centuries made contact with other cities less and less viable, until each of the cities eventually wallowed in isolation amid rusting structures and decaying technology.