Cities of You

City #31: Roobeha (Deb O)

20 x 16", Gouache, Marker, and Pen on Paper

Two watchtowers overlook the icy landscape that surrounds Roobeha, the underground city of the far north. Searchlights highlight the entrances to the buildings of Roobeha- long cylindrical columns that extend miles below ground. There are no ladders or ropes that aid your descent as you jump into the underground conduits. Instead, pockets of water slow your fall, sometimes tens, sometimes hundreds of feet below. These pockets of water, impossibly held static by powerful gravitational forces, slowly move up and down the long columns of Roobeha. Visitors be warned, the floating pockets of water are also the only way out of Roobeha. You must wade on the surface of the water until it slowly floats to the top where you have just moments to grab the apex before falling back down. This process only becomes more challenging as the citizens grow their city, digging their buildings deeper and deeper, causing the pockets of water to propel more rapidly.