The Stilted City

Geography

The Stilted City is a city on New Albuquerque, built in a lake bed that remains dry through half of the local year, but during the local wet season, fills to form a temporary lake.  The two river valleys that fill the basin are the basis for major trade routes, and the city is built at a natural crossroads where they meet.  The Stilted City is located on the northern edge of the planet's southern rain-band.

People and Government

The Stilted City was built by the native Vorgon people of New Albuquerque, and they make up the majority of the population, though many others can be found there as well.  The city is constantly being settled by new groups who travel along the trade routes that intersect there.

  The city is divided into eleven districts plus the Grand Water Tower that stores the water supply during the dry season, and acts as the seat of government.

During the wet season, the government consists of an informal council, with a member elected from each of the eleven districts.  This council has little power, and the wet season is relatively lawless.  This state of affairs is sustainable because, during the wet season, the city is situated in the middle of a lake, and is connected to land only via three pontoon bridges that are easily defensible, and can be disconnected in an emergency.

At the start of the dry season, a gladiatorial tournament is held in the central market, and the winner is declared the Drought King.  The Drought King rules from a palace atop the Grand Water Tower, and exerts absolute authority.  Generally, the Drought King levies taxes on trade in the city, and in exchange defends the city from invaders and bandits, who generally attack during the dry season, when the city is most vulnerable. 

The Valley of the Avatar

On the planet New Albuquerque, wedged between a mountain range and the main debris field lies a valley where one of the Avatars of Troniac crashed, largely intact, having survived the end of the 1000 Years war.  Separated from the direct guidance of Troniac, but possessing substantial intelligence of its own, the Avatar set about constructing a temple of Troniac with the help of other discarded and wrecked robots from the main debris zone.

The temple supported a large and active chapter of the Ascended Children of Troniac, and some of the local biological intelligences joined the temple as well.  Over time a small town sprang up around the temple, populated mainly by robots, with a few organics as well.

One of the main features of the temple was the Rotary Encoder of Fate, a large disc that functioned as an extremely sensitive rotary encoder that was used as a fortune-telling device.

Eventually, when the Avatar's mechanical body broke down, it was permanently installed on the temple grounds, and it's electronic brain, which continued to operate, was consulted for wisdom, and sought out for advice by pilgrims from across the planet.

Neo-Polynesia

In early Era-1, with ocean levels rising on Earth, many Polynesian cultures were losing their homes.  As the Pacific ocean rose, islands flooded and people were displaced. 

When the planet of Paradise was discovered, the Planetary League set aside part of that planet as a resettlement area for those people, and as a cultural preserve.  Numerous archipelagoes and no significant continents, along with a warm, tropical climate made Paradise the perfect place for this project.  Numerous plants and animals were brought along by the settlers, as well as their cultural traditions. 

Supercollider, TX

Late in Era-0, shortly before the signing of the Treaty of Kepler, something highly unusual happened in and around the city of Waxahachie, TX, on Earth.  A bubble of shimmering energy appeared, with its edges on the proposed ring of the never completed Superconducting Super Collider.  Waxahachie, and the surrounding countryside now reside in inter-dimensional space.  Apparently, someone in another dimension actually completed the particle accelerator, and used it to open an inter-dimensional rift.  

A military perimeter was set up around the town, now re-named Supercollider, (that being the name of the entity that came about from the mixing of several different versions of Waxahachie between dimensions).  Occasionally, alternate, but recognizable versions of people emerge from the rift, and those who dare enter rarely return in recognizable form.  On rare occasions, more outlandish people, aliens, robots, or animals will emerge from the rift. . .

The Bell of Remembrance

High, on the lonely edge of the Mariner Valley, near the site of the Mariner Valley Incident, on the surface of Mars, stands The Bell of Remembrance, a large, bronze sculpture commissioned to mark the 100th anniversary of the Incident in GSC 116.  The Mariner valley incident was a major event in the early history of the Tardigrades, and many Tardigrades make a pilgrimage to the site.

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The Crystal Canyon

The Crystal Canyon is an unusual geological formation found on Aldebaran 2.  Essentially, it is a gigantic geode, embedded in the ground, that is open on top, giving those who stand on the rim of the canyon a breathtaking view.

The composition of the crystals varies considerably along the canyon's length, giving them a wide variety of colors, and some parts of the canyon contain fluorescent minerals that glow at night.  

The Crystal Canyon is also the home of a unique ecosystem with a number of species that only live there.

The Crystal Canyon is a site of considerable geological research efforts by the university, and also a tourist attraction.  

Reactor Springs

On the planet New Albuquerque, in the mountains west of Colony City, there is a place known as Reactor Springs.  Reactor Springs is a system of hot springs heated by natural reactors that formed in the ground.  Some claim that the radioactive waters provide health benefits, but not those with a working knowledge of medicine. 

When it was first discovered by the colonists, a town grew up around the site, and it was used as a water source, since New Albuquerque is a planet dominated by dry climates.  The springs were also used as a source of geothermal energy.  When the true nature of the springs was discovered, the town became a ghost town, with a few people remaining behind to operate the geothermal plant.  A few squatters and the occasional recluse still make Reactor Springs their home, but use the water at their own peril.

Later, in Era-2, a small deposit of antimatter crystals was discovered near Reactor Springs, and a couple small mining operations opened up to extract them.

Tornado Point

Landmark

On the planet New Albuquerque, north and a little to the east of Colony City, there is a place where the high mountains give way to the scorched desert plains.  In particular, a mountain canyon opens up, with a lonely rock prominence overlooking the barren waste.  Next to this cliff, stands a cyclonic vortex that never abates.  Because of the natural mixing of the air masses of the desert and the mountain range combined with the unique topology of the landscape, this tornado is a permanent fixture.  

The tornado weakens overnight, and is weaker in the winter than the summer, but it never goes away completely.

The local government set up an observation area, where tourists can go and see Tornado Point at a safe distance, and it draws a small number of tourists on a regular basis.