The slave level of Fanum-Divus was large only by the necessity of the amount of slaves living in it. The golden haired humans had little access to the central pillar of the city but roamed seemingly without restraint in the areas that sprouted out from it like the spokes of a wheel. It was arranged into four distinct districts each with a different purpose. One seemed to be a market place were the humans bartered amongst themselves for goods they had made, apparently free of any currency and exchanging goods or services for likewise.
Another was a residential plaza, a long series of rectangular corridors with many doors leaving to cramped living conditions. Here the homunculi were patrolling in force, perhaps to keep an eye on the slaves and to remind them where they slept of the power of their masters.
Thirdly a space seemed to be a garden, which perplexed Kain. It was a beautiful a series of horizontal levels with waterfalls fall in and around them. Thick green growth was spreading wild along the stones with some of the brightest flowers Kain had ever seen. Many of the slaves came here freely, some to tend to the gardening needs and others simply to look at the scenery.
Kain realised this beauty was intended to give the slaves something nice to enjoy to ensure their compliance. Upon that realisation the gardens beauty was instantly soiled in his mind. 
The fourth region was given over industry, a complex of metal and stone production factories that put Meridian’s old industrial district to utter shame. Liquid metal ran down long gutters where it was purified of contaminates and then forged by armies of the golden haired slaves into whatever was needed; pots, pans, swords and armour. Exactly where the ore for all this was being obtained Kain could not say but it was brought in and then refined in great vats high above the heads of the working men.
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“Trapped as I was in this impossible city, I took to exploration. Othiel’s eyes and ears, her followers amongst the golden slave race followed my every move despite all effort on my part to avoid detection.”
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He could not exactly walk openly amongst the people since he doubted very much the homunculi would leave him alone if they detected his presence but the humans either made a point of ignoring him entirely or stared their fill and then looked away when he turned to face them.
Ophiel it seemed have given instructions to her ‘patrons’ and they were curious. Eventually hunger began to gnaw at him, a hunger both for blood and information. As such he indulged himself and selected a pretty young woman in the market place. Her hair was a darker shade of gold and she smiled at everyone who came to trade for her pans.
Silently, Kain slipped through the back of the market stalls; his feet not making a sound.
When the back of her latest trader was turning away with their business complete, Kain lashed out with one hand and grabbed her around the throat to stifle any warning scream. Quickly she was pulled back through the clothe curtain and into his strong arms, pinning her to him with such force that she could not break free.
The vampire bared his fangs and bit into her neck, sweet live giving blood flowing up into his mouth.
He had no desire to kill her however and so he curbed his enthusiasm, only taking enough blood to blunt his hunger. Having lost blood the woman was weak in his grip, pale and trembling.
“What is your name?” He asked her, gently but quite firmly overwhelming her will to resist his questions. It was a subtle kind of mind control. He if wished he could easily rip her throat out and read her thoughts as he did for the information he needed but, apart from being more fun, this method was more ‘humane’ and he was in a forgiving sort of mood.
“Thalia.” The woman almost whispered. She was like all the rest of the humans here, golden haired and golden eyed. Close up she looked less like she was made of gold and more like she was a stock of wheat.
“I grow curious.” He said to her, eyes locking hers in a mesmerising stare. “Tell me Thalia, how long have your kind been living in this city?”
“W…we’re not supposed to talk to you.” She began, slowly shaking her head, recognising him apparently even so entranced. He laid a talon just under his chin and pressed the tip ever so tightly against her jugular; feeling it race.
“I won’t hurt you if you answer my questions but it is a poor choice indeed to frustrate me.” He told her in a deceptively soothing tone. “I advise against it.” Even mesmerised she got the point and let her body relax.
“We… we have always been servants of the Divus.” She said after a pause. “We exist to serve them, to make their weapons and build their monuments.”
Kain regarded her limp body thoughtfully.
“Always?” He repeated. “You mean to tell me you society was born here?” If he could get a sense for how long the slave’s culture was then he could put a date on the minimum age for the city itself.
Thalia paused again
“There… are fables.” She said and Kain frowned.
“Explain.” He asked.
The woman took a deep breath and the vampire noticed absently that she was still bleeding from the two holes he had made in her neck. He could not use magic to heal them so instead he cleaned them, ensuring that they did not at least get infected.
“It was said we once came from somewhere else.” She said as he worked. “The story says that god himself spoke to us and told her to go to war against the dark ones. We answered the call and those privileged few were brought here to bask in the glory of servitude to the one true god.”
For all the piety of the story she said it without any religious conviction as if merely reciting old lore, a casual telling of a fairy tale.
“Spare me the sermon, child. Is there any truth to it?” He asked her.
“I don’t know that.”  She admitted “All our fables tell us our ancestors were called Seraphim.”
Kain stared at her and then grit his teeth, the action making her flinch.
“Sarafan!?” He almost spat.
“The word is… similar…” Thalia agreed absently, unconscious of the utter dismay her words had flooding through Kain.
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 “This was not a pleasing revelation. From my journey into the ancient past I had learned that the order of the Sarafan had begun with Moebius’ uprising army, which had called themselves the ‘Seraphim’. If the members of this slave race were indeed descendants of that first army then by my own sense of time they had been selectively bred here for thousands of years, eons.”
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If his suspicions were correct this city was far, far older then even that long forgotten uprising, possibly pre-dating the ancient Vampire and Hylden war. If Raziel-Divus was the city’s king and if Ajatar-Cadre was right in her accusation of his starting that very war then it made this impossible city the oldest structure to ever exist. Even the Pillars themselves were younger.
“Very well.” He said in a fatally resigned tone. Nothing he could do about that now. He would just have to deal with circumstances as they were. “I desire a way out of your dwellings. Tell me where to find one.”
Even in his physical and mental grip, Thalia shifted and stirred trying to fight him off.
“No!” She said her voice quite hoarse. “Othiel has forbidden that!”
Kain tightened his grip on her.
“You appear to have a petite memory, child.” The vampire told her calmly and very firmly. “Did I not already explain how poor a choice it was to frustrate me?”
Thalia trembled, still trying to find him off despite the grip on her mind and body.
“She is our patron saint; I will not defy her will.” She said with more energy to her voice, animated now that she was being brought into direct conflict with the will of her apparent mistress.
“You would die simply for her stubbornness?” Kain asked, half in surprise.
Thalia looked him in the face.
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“The conviction in her eyes was all the answer I required to such a question.”
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Even under his spell she was resolute and defiant, unwilling to betray Ophiel’s wishes even in the slightest.
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“To what ends Ophiel went to ensure such obedience and respect from these humans I did not know but the fact that she did said much more for her character then I was perhaps willing to credit her with.”
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He would gain nothing more from her. He laid the palm of a free hand against her forehead.
“Sleep now child, I require no more from you.” Kain commanded and instantly she fell into a very willing slumber. He left her tucked safely into a corner where she would not be immediately noticed until she woke up of her own accord.
What gave him heart was her unwillingness to discuss as way out of the slave level. If Ophiel chose to censor that information then there was a way in and out, possible more then one.
But he would have to be cunning about this. She would obviously have the primary routes well guarded and monitored.
That was when he remembered the perplexing arrival of ores that came into the smelting pools in the working section of the slave level. They had to be brought in from the outside, from Nosgoth itself most likely. If so then if he could trace their path back to their source he would have his means of escape.
Additionally such a route would be unusual and unlikely to be guarded well. It was as he suspected.
The ores came in on a cable car system akin to those he had seen in Meridian. Metal hovering trams on steel rails came in through a tunnel entrance, had their cargo removed and then followed the tunnel out again.
When one such tram came in to discharge its ore, Kain was there to take advantage. One good leap from the loading dock and he was scratching for a foothold on its curved tilted roof.
He sank his talons in to keep himself secure and hugged the surface, waiting out of sight of the slaves on the dock. He did not want them reporting back to Ophiel that he had left.
Once the unloading was done the tram began to pull away without any further delay, slowly at first but gaining speed as it pulled into the dark tunnel on the left hand side.
The tunnel carried on and on for some distance before finally it opened up and Kain found himself staring down at a blackness below.
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“The void I saw was bridged by the cable car, the only seeming means of crossing the abyss to the far side. From what I could see the structure did curve up into the cities higher levels.”
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He secured himself more fully with his talons, looking up to see what lay ahead. The tram was running along a cable overheard that was hug from struts lancing down from the higher city levels.
Glancing back he saw the slave levels from the outside, puny compared with the rest of the city.
In the distance was another structure even larger then the slave’s level, curving up in an arc the side of the central pillar to the higher levels above.
The two abysses once again stood out in stark contrast and as he stared at them Kain came to a strange epiphany. Without knowing why or how he knew exactly what these two voids were, their natures and purpose.
High above, the white void was quite literally everything: an ether that was complete omnipotence. It existed everywhere and ‘everywhen’ – all time and space combined.
The black void below was the exact opposite, a null expanse. Nothing existed down there, not even the stately progression of time itself. This void was the abyss of Nowhere and ‘Nowhen’.
Fanum Divus seemed to lance the two voids, existing in the stable space between Absolute All and Absolute Nothing.
His philosophical revealing thoughts were interrupted by a loud moaning sound, coming from directly behind him.
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“But it appears that someone, Othiel perhaps, had set silent watchdogs to ensure my compliance with the edict that I stay.”
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Dust collected on the top of the tram was beginning to churn, lifting up from the roof and spiralling around itself like a mini whirlwind. Dozens of just disturbances spiralled about, the dust collecting together in the middle and forms were taking shape.
Kain’s body instantly went into a fighting stance for he knew what was coming. The dust collected, growing larger and more defined until dozens of homunculi stood facing him across the length of the tram roof; many of them armed with spears and massive shields.
An officer stood in front with sword in hand. The terracotta puppet raised it and pointed its tip directly at Kain, jabbing.
“Mors mortuibus!" It declared, in the old Vampire tongue, a phrase that translated as ‘death for the dead’.
The other homunculi quickly formed ranks, shields collected against one another tightly in a wall and began forward with synchronized steps.
“Ah yes… to start again where I left off with you mindless puppets.” Kain remarked, with a toss of his head, white hair bellowing out behind him. He spread his arms, talons curved and ready to strike. “Truly gratifying!”