The City of Masq
The gates of the city of Masq have been locked for centuries.
But within its circular bounds lies a small world that is protected from the rest of the realm by a magical shield and strong, high walls. And a river runs through it.
This river pours in from the north, swift and snow-fed. The Waterfall District was once a thriving, commercial area — an elevated marketplace flanked by blocks and blocks of warehouses. But with the gates shut and locked, it has withered and faded into obscurity. The river races past, spanned by eight bridges to the north of the central Spire.
The Spire is the dominant feature of Masq. Silver and slender and impossibly tall, it soars almost a mile into the air and can be seen from far and wide. No one has reached the top since the Lost King set its capstone in the days following the founding and construction of the city. At its feet lies the central city square, bordered by the Halls of Justice and the other administrative buildings.
South of the Spire, the river flows gently into the Delta Region. The Delta is the breadbasket of the walled city. Here, the rivers divides gracefully into a series of shallow canals that divide the land into a set of well-tilled fields. On either side of the river, small farming communities have grown up near their work. At the southern-most edge of the fields, the waters converge once more as they force themselves together over the Outflow and out of the knowledge of those who live within the walls.
To the east and west of the Spire are the territories and neighborhoods controlled by the Red and Blue factions, respectively. Redton and Blueberg, as they are called by the shapers of the city, are, themselves, stratified in alignment with the hierarchical nature of the city’s society.
The outermost neighborhoods lie within the Circle of the Edge. Here dwell the lowest-scoring members of each faction. Helter-skelter, temporary, and disorganized, the buildings here are thrown up and down as needed. The streets — outside of the main arteries and avenues - are a tangled, unmarked set of footpaths where footpads are not unknown.
Leaving this jumble, one moves into the Circle of the Able. Like its inhabitants, these neighborhoods are much more respectable and organized. A solid, pragmatic, middle-class sensibility presides over it. Workshops, cul-de-sacs, and family dwellings preside over its well-tended, neatly-arranged streets. Here, everyday shapers go about their everyday lives. For them, the needs of the day are primary, and the Game holds largely commercial or entertainment value. It is a source of income or a pastime for their leisure days. Yet they live within the shadow of either the Red Tower or the Keep of Blueberg.
For at the easternmost and westernmost extremes of Masq lie the Circles of the Elites - Reds and Blues. Here, the Red Tower watches over the palaces and training grounds of the Red elites and nobility. The very finest and most capable windshapers and airshapers look from their well-earned rewards and terraces down the gently sloping hill over the heads of their inferiors. Opposite them, the Keep of Blueberg looms above the villas of its elites. Watershapers and earthshapers practice their arts and train for the events of each upcoming season of the Game.
The Game dominates the city in every sense of the word. “To each as they earn,” is the core principle of its justice. The magical Scoreboard is tied to every inhabitant through a mystic bond with the mask that each player always wears in public. Mounted on the Spire, the Scoreboard is run by the Purple faction - a neutral set of administrators who run the Game and maintain a delicate balance between Red and Blue.
It is rightly said by the Gamekeeper and repeated often that Masq is the Game, and the Game is Masq. Until it ends, the gates of the city are locked.
Southern view across the City of Masq.
Michael Somerville is the author of several short stories, as well as an in-progress high-fantasy series called the Tales of the Broken Realm. He loves telling stories of hope about ordinary characters doing their small part to help heal a broken world. By day, he pays the bills as a hands-on storyteller and project manager, leading and envisioning professional teams in the "real-world", even as he is busily building and illustrating imaginary worlds in his evenings and on the weekends.
Outside of work and writing, he enjoys a wide range of hobbies, including playing music with his family and friends on keyboard or guitar, drawing, sculpting, painting, sewing, and blacksmithing, or walking the length of the Appalachian Trail in his home neighborhood in the Shenandoah Valley, where he serves as a Board member on his local civic association.
Most important to Michael are his family and his church. Michael and Jessica celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2026 and are happily raising three wonderful daughters. He serves actively in his local church, playing music on Sunday, teaching the older elementary kids, and leading a small group of wonderful saints. He hopes to hear "Well done" one day, and plans to keep serving his true King until then.
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