Daiyla Kiv, or "the City of Angels," is the capital city of the Empire of Lirith Kai. Located at the fork of the An-Kiu and Fatebringer Rivers, the city is built of pale gray rock hauled from the Jade Panther Hills. The graceful architecture is ornamented with friezes, statuary, and cornices of polished multi-colored jade. In the center rises the Palace of Wonder, home of the Exalted Emperor Dian sen Lahka Twelve Graces, he who sits on the palm of Mantor.

The city was built a little less than seven hundred years ago, at the end of a war with the barbaric clans which later became the Rirorni, although the temple to Mantor was older. At that time, the Empire of Lirith Kai was at its largest expansion, bringing literacy and a system of codified laws to half the continent. Daiyla Kiv was built to honor Mantor the Bright, god of honor in battle, with whose aid the Adantri had finally triumphed over the forces of barbarism and ignorance. Here Mantor appeared to the Emperor of that time, to give him the holy sword which he wielded in the final battle. A temple was built around the profusion of flowers that grew where the god's holy feet had touched the earth, and the temple became the destination of pilgrims from all across the Empire. Soon afterward, a university was built there to preserve and spread the knowledge gleaned by the Adantri from the many cultures with which they came into contact. Centuries later, when the young Emperor Tiang sen Ardel granted provinces the right to secede (This is the way it is described now; at the time, it was a bitter civil war, and the "lost provinces" are still regarded as properly being part of Lirith Kai.), the Empire contracted as many of the ethnically diverse provinces that had been freed from the Rirorni and other oppressors became separate, though friendly, countries. The capital was moved to the now centrally-located Daiyla Kiv.

Daiyla Kiv is a very large city by the standards of Ghea, comprised of more than fifty thousand people, mostly Adantri, though with a fair sprinkling of people from all over the continent, due to the paved and well-guarded trade routes that run through it. The wealth of the city is based mainly on farming and fishing and the governmental offices. The city is clean and prosperous, brightened by the stunningly colorful clothing of the Adantri. The city makes use of its twin rivers with an extensive aqueduct system, giving its residents the luxury of running water and an extensive sewer system.

Emperor Dian sen Lahka Twelve Graces, like many of his subjects, is a paladin, a holy warrior who values honor, truth, and justice above all. He is the most highly-ranked master of the warrior clan of the Jade Eye, the most honorable warriors of Lirith Kai, who place their swords and their lives between the innocent people of the nation and the forces of evil that would harm them.

A shadow on Daiyla Kiv's bright image is the Nai-Shang Academy, a school of mages that has been headquartered here for the past four centuries, drawing on the rich magical energies of the region. The Nai-Shang are mercenary battle-mages who will join any army for a price. The Nai-Shang are easy to spot, however. They shave their heads except for one lock that grows from the top of the scalp, which they dye red and wear in a braid. This is their trademark, and however much respect and fear it may generate in other parts of the world, it brands them as pariahs in the City of Angels.