Mehis was bustling with life.
Merchants rolled their wagons toward the mountain slopes, their wheels grinding against the dirt roads as they hoisted the banners of the Sun God Company. Miners stumbled out of the tunnels with pickaxes slung over their shoulders, faces smudged with soot and sweat after hours, or even days, spent underground, their eyes blinking against the daylight like moles.
Women moved through the streets, clutching the hands of their extroverted children as they made their way toward the public schools. institutions recently built under royal decree. Laughter mingled with the clang of pickaxes, hammers, and the creak of merchant carts. Shops also lined the roads, their shelves stocked with tools, bundles of herbs, iron trinkets, and supplies brought in from the capital and other parts of the kingdom.