After a while of chattering, the train finally came to a stop at the central station.
"Well this has been fun, but I'll have to meet up with you at the capitol building later," said Gijeng, "I have to stop by my apartment to visit my pod (family). Plus, we have about an hour and a half until we're expected before the council, more or less, as long as the border patrol called the council about us. So fa-"
"Wait, you have a pod?" interrupted Scem, confused.
Gijeng blushed for a second. "Oh yeah, we're still open though. It's just us two. I'm not sure how you...work, but I could let you meet my partner. She's also open. Although, maybe we shouldn't be talking about this stuff around..." Gijeng glanced at the Chromafey visitors, briefly flashing a thin smile at them. "...visitors." Scem nodded in agreement. After a few seconds both had said their goodbyes to the group and left.
"Well they got more attached than they let on..." mumbled Veth.
"We should get going! There's a lot to see!" said Kurejij, smiling.
"You're right, we should!" replied Veth.
The travelers stepped out of the fairly busy train station into the light of day. The snowy, white city was adorned with white and pastel buildings, mostly made of concrete, stretching far up into the sky. Due to their increased distance from one another, the connective bridges of the denser south city were noticably less abundant. There was a lot of art sprawled on many different walls, and also many people going about their daily business. A lot of eyes were turned in the Chromafeys' direction as the group went down the street, which very much pleased them, Aurora especially. Finally the group reached the city center, a massive garden of pink flora and exotic fauna with circular rings of walkway radiating out from the middle. Many outdoor market stands were set up in the city center, but the most impressive part of it all was the 680-foot-tall(*) statue in the middle of the city. The statue was of a Kyleth (or more likely Kitan, due to its stature) woman with her arms stretched up into the sky, slightly outward as if gesturing towards the sky. In her right hand, she held a pickaxe, and in the other, she held her hand open, her palm turned up to the sky. She wore a fairly revealing outfit (meant to represent bravery, and the bearing of the soul to the world), her tail and much of her legs showing, as well as her midriff. Her head tendrils were tied back (in a similar manner to how humans would tie back their hair) and the statue stood on a tall, circular platform with many intricate details. The statue was made of a white smooth marble stone, and its platform of some kind of grittier, greyish-reddish rock.
"That's Lady Protector. We met one of her sculptors earlier, if you recall. Wuemosc Thearr Wengterr was her name, although she worked alongside a Kyleth sculptor by the name of Atsuk Kjeshij to design it. It represents our solidarity as free citizens of Kyldigard," explained Gijeng, "which is why it's so fitting that it was created by the cooperation of the Kyleth and Kitan peoples."
"It's actually pretty new," responded a random bystander as they walked by, "it was started long ago but it wasn't finished and installrd until about 25 years ago." The bystander left as quickly as they came.
Around the city center was more urban area, although the central buildings were a lot more artistic and avant-garde in shape and structure than the more rigidly similar buildings further out from the center of the city.
A trodding approached from the right. Glancing over, the group saw a rider joyriding around on a Rryscir raptor, as many people did in this country.
The group explored the many novelties of the city, including many other statues and artworks, a notably large number of which were on the walls of random buildings.
"Kyldigard, or more specifically, Kyleth culture in most of Kyldigard, really doesn't regard anythiny as graffiti in any way, at least legally, so it's pretty much a free-for-all in the regards of what you people probably refer to as "vandalism". At least in the artistic sense. Crude imagery, gang symbols, and the like are still not allowed. Same with political messages. We leave all those things to more regulated spaces," explained Veth. Kurejij was noticeably quiet despite being a citizen of the country himself, probably due to his faraway residence and lack of knowledge about the capitol city.
With only about twenty minutes left until they were needed, the group arrived at the capitol building's foregrounds. Although Kurejij had requested a dramatic reveal, it soon became pretty clear that the building was much too big to really be able to "reveal" anything, as the closer you got, the more one was able to see over the horizon.
An astonishingly large structure laid before the group as they rode in on their Rryscir carriage. The capitol building (also literally known, as translated from the Garderruth name "Ith Panjop", as "The Grand", which was a testimony to its grandiose stature and magnificence) was several square miles wide and at least 800 feet tall. Its height was easily explained by the requirement for Kitan to be able to fit within it, meaning the interior was also unusually formed to accommodate both Kyledus subspecies. It was a massive, modern marble capitol building with L-shaped west and east wings pointing forward and a straight, wide north (backside) wing behind it. The center of the building held a massive amber-colored dome, almost appearing crystalline in nature. Although mostly made out of marble, it was clear that some sort of lighter-in-color, valuable metallic material laced all around the building, filling many crevaces and cracks as well as lining the walls in a labyrinthine, angular design. A massive beacon shone from within the center of the building, blasting through the translucent orange dome and into the sky. The snowy, pink gardens in front of the building only gave it a more magical and mystical aesthetic, if it even needed to seem more majestic than it already did.
The inside of the building was huge, regal, and had multiple floors open to the main floor, all visible via balconies. One Kitan lawmaker was sitting on a dedicated Kitan-sized bench in an open area, and many other Kyleth government workers and tourists were walking around. A massive ancient map of Pelia (and parts of the rest of the world) hung on a vast wall, clearly an artifact from a bygone era; it was being repolished by a worker on a very tall extending ladder. The Kyldigardian flag was also very abundantly visible all over the building, as well as the flags of the different cantons and colonial territories. After meandering through the massive open halls, the group met up with Scem and Gijeng, as well as Gijeng's partner and child.
"This is Aishar, my partner, and this is Ijam, our son," introduced Gijeng.
"Nice to meet you! What a little silly one he is!" said Kurejij, crouching down to talk with the little child.
After a moment, everyone had said their greetings.
"Now, now, not to break this up, but we're expected before the Council of Wardens to document our findings and present our foreign visitors," reminded Scem, "So we should really get going!"
And so the group finally made their way to the meeting hall, which was a sight to see for sure, a monumental and formal room draped in luxurious-looking decorations. A tall, round set of tables sat around the edges of the grandiose room with the representatives of the 19 cantons sitting in their seats, the Grand Warden of Kyldigard themself, Gijeng Kujij, sitting right in front of them, smiling but clearly hurt from their late-stage pregnancy.
"I feel like death right now so let's just get this over with," groaned Grand Warden Gijeng Kujij, "Travelers! I would like to congratulate you with the accomplishments you have partaken on! Now please step before me for your awards for this grand undertaking...(and so on, I need to rest...)...and I am pleased to present you with the National Honor Medal for undertaking the dangerous journey from one end of our claims to the other and back! I assume that the path we have mapped out is, in fact, safe?" The group nodded. "Very well, and our western colonies are...?"
"Doing well, your glory," responded Gijeng (the explorer). "Very good, then! Also, name twins! Haha...anyways..." continued Gijeng Kujij, "I would like to ask our honored guests to introduce themselves! We have not yet made contact with one of your kind, so it would be humbling to learn of your most likely glorious foreign lands and culture! Also...how are our explorers home so soon? They...did reach the east, right?"
"Yes, we did," interjected Scem, "We just got...some help..." Scem glanced at the Chromafey crewmates, "...getting back so soon."
Captain Aurora came forward to speak.