Fantasy setting. Going forward for now I'll be referring to the setting as The City (names are hard), some other things have working names as well. I'll keep this succinct. The City is divided into two main parts, each housing radically different architecture and people. The Brass sect houses the Gaohl, which are also the rulers of the city. The Stone sect houses the Astra, which mainly served as slaves until recently. The City is surrounded by an enormous wall, and the entire story takes place within it. There is minimal land that is not built over or used in some way. Outside the walls is miles and miles of green sand dunes, traverseable only by constructs used by the Gaohl. They use these to transport soldiers for a war with a distant country, which is heavily affecting The City's inner workings. I'm not sure what the best term for this would be. I mean, yeah it's fiction so I don't need to be 100% accurate, but having some basis in reality helps me develop it in unrealistic ways. It's small enough to be considered a city, although it'd be a pretty large one. But it's very distinctly separated, at least in some ways. The Stone sect recently broke off from the Brass sect, but they aren't free from Gaohli rule, economically or sociopolitically. This divide makes it a bit awkward to refer to it as a city, as it is very distinctly made of two rival political parties. Anyways, I guess I'm asking a somewhat open ended question, so here's a couple options: What do you think would be the most accurate term if this were a place in the real world? What term do you think immediately conveys this divide to the reader? Or at least, a term that won't contrast with that concept. Answers to one or both or any other response are welcome, apologies if this is poorly written I am very tired. I hope the bold text makes it easier.
It depends on how its government is, if it is an entire country just confined within the city walls a city-state would best give off that impression. Otherwise city is just fine. I don't quite know what you mean when you say it is small enough to be a city, since city is the largest denomination with town, village, hamlet and the like all being smaller. I don't think there is necessarily a term for a divided city. The only historical example I can think of for something like that would East Berlin and West Berlin. Though it was divided by occupying forces and not by initial design. A lot of cities have different districts based off socioeconomic status due to the cost of housing, types of employment, or more blatant laws, such as segregation in USA or Apartheid in South Africa. In that sense saying that the city is segregated could be one way to represent the division, though at least in the United States it will have a racial conotation to it.
