The Anthill

Overview

The Anthill is the lower part of The Monolith, the white bipyramid Bastion of the Ordis. It is aptly named, as it teems with life and bureaucratic activity.

Function and Purpose

Within the Anthill, a myriad of cabinets and offices located all around its perimeter serve as the location where laws and edicts are crafted according to The Codex. It is the administrative and judicial heart of the Ordis faction.

Location and Views

From the Anthill, one can easily contemplate:

• The entire expanse of Asgartha
• The sea that surrounds the peninsula
• The bustling streets of Arkaster far below
• The city’s markets and port areas

Unfortunately, the clerks and other administrative officers who move about here rarely take the time to appreciate these views, being consumed by their duties.

Constant Activity

The Anthill buzzes with perpetual motion. Clerks and administrative officers come and go from:

• Offices to counters
• Desks to branches
• Carrying messages, documents, decrees to be signed, and bills to be ratified

This sprawling bureaucracy makes the Ordis faction a colossus of sometimes excruciating slowness, but it reflects the faction’s determination to weigh pros and cons in order to make the right decision regarding any given issue.

Key Locations Within

The Oratory

At the very bottom of the pyramid, along walkways suspended over the void, some hurry into the majestic Oratory. Here, rhetoricians:

• Declaim
• Harangue
• Chant

Below the Oratory, beyond the inverted pyramid skylight, the Asgarthi go about their daily activities, visible from above.

The Assembly

On the upper floors sits the Assembly, where debates continue tirelessly between:

• Marble colonnades
• Benches of a sumptuous amphitheater

The Grand Chancellor arbitrates the deliberations from his lectern. This is where The Tetrarchy’s recommendations are discussed and refined before being proposed for popular vote.

The Tribunal

Even higher sits the Tribunal, the body responsible for dispensing justice according to The Codex. In this vast hall:

• Those who have transgressed are judged
• Verdicts are heard
• Sentences are received
• All proceedings occur under the impartial gaze of the Eidolons

Bureaucratic Process

Before recommendations from The Tetrarchy are proposed for deliberation, they go through a whole process within the Anthill:

• Study and analysis
• Reflection by various departments
• Review from clerk to legate
• Encompassing a whole host of bureaucrats

Once this cautious approach is completed and popular approval secured, the Ordis becomes an unstoppable force of undeniable efficiency.