Each city receives its form from the desert it opposes.
Note
Despina can be reached two ways: by ship or by camel. The camel driver coming out of the desert sees on the horizon a ship that will take him away; the sailor, from the sea, sees the hump of a camel that will carry him into the desert.
Here the city is a crowd of poles and cloths on the line where sand meets sea. The cloths answer whoever looks: seen from the desert they rise and swell toward the sea, the sails of a fleet about to leave; seen from the sea they sink and spread into tents, a camp ready to set off inland.
Turn toward the sea, then back toward the desert, and the change crosses the town like a wind. Touch the city: a gust frees a cloth and carries it where the viewer longs to go. The form is not in the city, but in the eyes of whoever arrives.
Quotations are brief excerpts for the purpose of commentary. The full text is available in published editions. The Cities of Ottavia, Valdrada & the soundtrack are inspired by "Monument Valley" from ustwo games.