#singularscissor

reference/inspiration:

SANCTUARY HALLS is the ruins the Assembly's old universities, destroyed/abandoned by the Great Equalizer, when the rain rendered the surface uninhabitable. The ruined buildings now offer shelter to a surprising variety of flora and fauna.

WASHOUT is a large waste of flood-ravaged lands about the base of the ESF spire. The landscape has been carved into strange shapes and canyons by the relentless flooding. If there ever was anything built here, it has long since been washed away.

EXTRACTION COLUMNS are giant cylindrical constructs full of machinery which harvest resources (minerals, void fluid, you name it -- anything can be found in the layers of history if you look deep enough) to be used by the rest of the facilities. They slowly move outwards on self-building rails as resources as depleted. The Extraction Columns burrow deep in the earth, comparable to the Depths (and there may even be ancient caverns which likewise lead to the Void Sea...)

PIPEWORKS (name WIP) is the former rails of the Extraction Columns, latticed with additional pipes, rails, and other conveyance mechanisms to bring materials back to the Crucibles.

CRUCIBLES (name WIP) are the automated factories which process the materials from the Extraction Columns. Massive chimneys tower over all manner of forges and vats. Unlike other examples of factories (i.e. industrial complex), the Crucibles remain in operation even past public ascension.

While the actual ESF Spire and other, more conventional iterators can use xylem-type solutions to support upkeep and provide for their populations, Bright Crown has no direct, permanent link to the ground to facilitate that. Thus, ESF requires much more extensive factories to refine materials and prepare them for launch into space.

(I'm having difficulty coming up with just the right name for this one-- I want to convey the constantly active nature, but a lot of suitable words have the connotation of specifically being for metalworking, which is too narrow of a scope for what Crucibles actually do. Remember, iterators contain a significant portion of living tissue, and the Crucibles need to be able to provide supplies for that as well as metals, fuels, etc.)

THE FOUNDATION (between this and crucibles i'm starting to wonder how much these names were subconsciously influenced by MIO... i promise its not on purpose) is, you guessed it, the foundation of the ESF spire. A metal plateau which raises it up and resists the rains. It's grooved with channels which direct rainwater over the sheer cliffs into the less fortunate Washout.

THE TRUNK forms the bulk of the ESF spire itself. Halfway up it intersects with the Gantry -- any intrepid exploring creatures may have to make a significant detour through there before being able to continue climbing upwards.

THE GANTRY (name WIP? i like it but it's not very evocative) consists of the five supply launch towers and the bridges which connect them to each other and the main spire. The bridges are almost exactly at cloud level -- high enough to protect them structurally from the rain, but low enough that venturing out onto them during a rain cycle might still be dangerous. The towers themselves are for bringing supply launch pods up through the cloud level, using a combination of magnetic rails and gravity manipulation to build up velocity.

WARRENS are the former dwellings of the Assembly, built into the partially constructed Spire when it became clear that Sanctuary Halls would soon become uninhabitable. Though the original inhabitants have long since gone, the cramped, winding passages and former dwellings have become nests for wild creatures.

STEEL SUMMIT is the precarious peak of the ESF spire. It holds all of the main communications equipment, in particular for data to and from Bright Crown themself.

and if you make it this far, here's a version without labels: