Crowds gathered to see the Residences of the Great Eminence, viewed from north rim of Arach Bay. Visible are (l. to r.) Island Takek, The Princess Sandal, and Island Makek. (click image to view larger size)
The Residence buildings are composed largely of alabastar and compressed carbon and extend across five small islands in Arach Bay, at the southern tip of Aeminal's pan-hemispheric, Aral Continent. The islands are called - in decreasing order of size: The Agel, The Mar Sunlamp, Makek, Takek, and The Princess Sandal.
Flight is prohibited in the entire hemisphere surrounding The Residence and visitors to Aeminal must land at the Ouria Field, literally on the other side of the planet from Arach Bay. Travel to the residence is solely overland.
Pilgrims may stay for years on the shore of the Arach Bay, hoping to catch some sign of the presence of the Nameless Supreme Eminence. As a result, Arach City originally just a small port for local seacraft, has become one of the fastest growing urban centers in the Tres Magnae.
Surface development on Aeminal was deregulated when the Supreme Eminence established his residence there and contractors from Coral Agency have poured tremendous sums of money into building infrastructure and services to support the mushrooming pilgrim population.
Arach Bay and the surrounding coastline are awash with human corpses. Dozens of people die each day simply by being forced over the rocks and into the ocean where the cold temperatures and caustic solutes make for a quick death. In the Aeminal spring of 401 N.E., roughly 1350 people died, when all the lights of the Palace Formal, on the Island Makek, were suddenly illuminated, visible in the pre-dawn mist for about 25 minutes. Thousands (one estimate put the crowd at 12,500) surged forward to see the rare phenomenon. Men, women, and children were forced into the water en masse. Eyewitnesses described some people deliberately throwing themselves in and attempting to swim toward Island Makek and the Palace Formal.
