Hira

"It has always been too closed in, too dim & airless, for my liking, being mostly roofed & more like one huge, mazelike building than a city."

- Doran in Secrets of Deltora

{{Location Infobox
 * colour = opal
 * image = Hira250.jpg
 * Territory = Opal territory
 * Location = Centre of Deltora
 * Map = {{Location map|opal|112|95|Hira}}|opal|150|70}
 * residents = Plains tribe (formerly)
 * position = Capital of Opal territory
 * Island = Deltora
 * statehead = Leaders
 * appearance = City of the Rats
 * lastappearance = Secrets of Deltora
 * color = opal
 * gem = Opal
 * name = Hira
 * status = In ruins
 * alias = City of the Rats}}Hira, commonly known as the City of the Rats, was the capital of Opal territory at the centre of Deltora in the time of King Adin leading up to Doran's time. Once a great city, it was abandoned and became known as the City of the Rats after being overrun by a plague of rats. Before this, it was an important cultural centre and city for the Plains tribe.

Tales of Deltora
In the time of Opal the Dreamer, Hira was no more than a town, with no walls. It was capital of the Plains tribe, and was considered one of the greatest towns in the Land of Dragons. The great Opal was kept in the city's great meeting hall on a silver pedestal.

When the girl Opal the Dreamer had a vision that foretold the Shadow Lord's invasion of the Land of Dragons, she travelled to Hira to spread the word of her vision. However, nobody believed her. With time the town became a great walled city.

Years later, during the Shadow Lord's invasion of the Land of Dragons, Adin made his way to Hira to ask the city for the great Opal. On his way, he passed through the Place of the Spirits, which helped to convince the city leaders to give him the gemstone.



In order to force the Shadow Army to fight, Adin ordered the North Bridge, a bridge that crossed the Broad River and connected Hira to the southern part of Opal territory, to be destroyed. This forced the Shadow Army to take control of Hira and its boats if they wished to continue their southern march without delay. The Battle for Deltora was subsequently fought outside the walls of Hira.

After the unification of Deltora, the Shadow Lord sent its servants to infect the city with a plague of rats to drive the population away. The rat population became so massive within the city that the king at the time ordered the Broad River widened to contain them.

During this time, a serpent named Reeah was discovered living in the city. The Shadow Lord had its servants feed Reeah on rats and helped it grow larger in exchanged for service.

Secrets of Deltora
Doran described the city of Hira as once being a huge, maze-like building, and quite closed in, dim and airless. The city was lit by torches at every hour, even during the day. It was once well known for its great cooks and the food they produced, as well as many gem traders and jewellers. The city's carved stonework, high arches and Great Hall were also of interest to many.

On his way to Hira while writing his book, Secrets of Deltora, Doran met the opal Dragon Hopian. He told Doran that there was an evil lurking in the city, but he would destroy it once the humans had left and if the Ak-Baba hadn't killed him before then. During his last visit to Hira, he discovered that the city was infested with rats. Many of the citizens and leaders had already died from disease, and food was becoming scarce. The leaders became desperate, and their authority was passed on to the city's rat catchers and their word became the law. Hira's people believed that their city was cursed, and in time it became the City of the Rats.

Some time after Doran convinced the last dragons to enter hibernation, the people of Hira finally abandoned the city. Under the leadership of the rat catchers, they founded the hidden city of Noradz. The Shadow Lord gave the now vacant City of the Rats to Reeah, who grew to enormous size on the bounty of rats.

The Shadow Lord also placed the grey tide inside the city, should its plan concerning the Four Sisters fail.

The Deltora Book of Monsters
During his exile from the palace, palace librarian Josef wrote about Hira in his book, The Deltora Book of Monsters, under the Reeah section.

The Forests of Silence
After the Belt of Deltora was destroyed, one of the Shadow Lord's Ak-Baba dropped the great Opal into the City of the Rats. Reeah had it fixed into a massive crown to use its powers of foresight.

City of the Rats
Lief, Barda and Jasmine made their way through opal territory to the City of the Rats in order to look for the third gem. After encountering a massive number of rats on the plain before the City of the Rats, they decided to enter the city because they would not survive another night on the plain. In the city they encounter more rats, however the pipe that blows bubbles of light repelled most of them. The few rats that made it to the companions were unable to harm them because of the Ra-Kacharz uniforms. Lief sensed a great evil in the city and also found a goblet that reminded him of some other place. Suddenly a voice called out to him and guided him to heart of the city as if he was under a spell. In the heart Lief discovered that the voice belonged to Reeah, a giant snake. Lief instructed Barde and Jasmine to flank the snake while he kept it talking about the history of the City of the Rats. Reeah's talking also confirmed Lief's suspicion that the people of Noradz had once lived in the City of the Rats. During the battle against Reeah, Lief threw a jar of fire beads into one of the support columns inside the great hall. This resulted in a massive fire that razed half the city before being extinguished.

The Shifting Sands
An Ak-Baba came to the city to investigate the fire. It almost spotted Lief, Barda, and Jasmine, but they were hidden by a school of Wise Fish and Lief's cloak.

The Sister of the South
After Lief and Fidelis destroyed the Sister of the South, the grey tide began to rise from the ruined city. The dragons were collectively able to destroy the grey tide with the might of their dragon flame, leaving Hira as nothing but charred ruins.

Government
The city of Hira had been ruled by many leaders before it was abandoned. How these leaders are appointed is unknown, however one leader is named in Tales of Deltora, Fie. When Doran visited the city in his time, he wrote in his travel journal, Secrets of Deltora, that what few leaders remained alive due to the rat plague had effectively lost their power to rat catchers whose word was law.

Layout
Hira was more like a huge, maze-like building than a city, and quite closed in, dim and airless. The city was lit by torches at every hour, even during the day. The city had many massive fireplaces, and was famous for its carved stonework, high arches and its Great Hall used for meetings. The Great Hall was located at the centre of the city, and was supported by several columns and timbers at the top. The roof of Hira was supported by timbers. Hira was surrounded by a wall with a large iron entrance gate, however the gate rusted away with time, leaving only a gaping hole. Hira also had a great feasting hall, where Adin and the rest of the Deltoran army celebrated their victory following the aftermath of the Battle for Deltora. Today the city is no more, destroyed by the grey tide.

Trivia

 * The descendants of the people of Hira are the citizens of Noradz. It was because of the rat infestation that many of their strange and strict customs came to be, as well as their fear of rodents and other vermin.
 * The rat-catchers of Hira evolved into the Ra-Kacharz, the priest-like leaders of Noradz, who enforced their rules stringently and without lenience.
 * The architectural style of Hira is similar to that of the Gothic building style. Illustrator Marc McBride was most likely influenced by Gothic architecture when painting the pictures of the City of the Rats.