The Beggar Flats

Main article: Anhau

The Beggar Flats are a place of exile for those who defy the unwritten laws of Anhau. It is a place of silence, save for the sounds of work, as speech is forbidden. Those sent here are not allowed to build structures in the muddy flats that are any higher than the local clippitch plants (see Vegetation). They have very few elements with which to work, and they are allowed very limited use of the surrounding forest. Thus, the structures are very flat constructs of wood and sheets of cloth that have been darkened with mud or leaves.

There aren't nearly enough of these structures at ground level to be of much use, but the exiles are still the resourceful wicks they had been in Anhau. By using as few of their bricks as possible, these little huts extend underground in layers as deep as the first is tall. Simply glorified underground bunks, the structures lack stability in the muddy environment, and are subject to frequent cave-ins.

But the mud is of vital importance to the exiles, as it is their only means of trade and work. The exiles can make bricks of the mud (if they are able), which they can trade for the dregs of subsistence. If they are not able, they must find a way to do without, by foraging at the edges of the flats or by begging as closely as they dare to the city in the furthest-reaching rice paddies.