The Conduit Cities are the three major urban centers on the continent: The Air City, and Root of the World or Primal Current, known to the city folk as "conduits," that the city was built near and guard jealously. Each city draws one type of element energy from these conduits via direct conveyance for the main purpose of power generation, but there are many applications for element energy.
The Conduit Cities are built on sites that have been populated for at least centuries, some say far longer. What is known is that the locations began as religious sites. Ancient shamans preparing forgotten rituals transformed into animals and followed threads of the elements to these places. They did not know at first why the trails ended here, but through accidents of exploration, it was discovered that these sites were where the Roots of the World or a Primal Current came closest to the surface of the continent.
At first there was general rejoicing, but some wanted to draw energy directly from them either for power or for improving quality of life. Others, chief among them the shapeshifters who found the conduits, fought against this. There were many months of acrimonious words which escalated to violence. A meeting was called to end the bloodshed and come to an understanding, but it was a trap. The few living shapeshifters all attended the meeting and were purged by the hosts. In the chaos that followed, those who wanted to settle on the land next to the conduits pushed out those who did not. The followers of the shapeshifters, almost leaderless now and smaller in number, retreated into the wilderness and kept to the old ways. In the beginning, there were many battles, but the city folk could not be overcome and the rest, Outsiders to the conduit city folk and the Ergon to themselves, fell into raiding or simply avoiding the cities.
There are remnants of the previously combined cultures in the language used by some of the city folk. One of the most obvious is the term "scienseer." A seer is a type of shaman who delves into the arts of clairvoyance, another lost art, and is an ancient word no longer used on its own and passed over in ignorance by those who hear it.
The present day cities have diverged tremendously from the Ergon in terms of culture, lifestyle, and world view. Despite their shared past, the two societies now have few official ties and exist mostly in ignorance of each other's daily lives.