elevator – Valley of the Silk Sky

The Provinces of Pocalo: Muru Overview

December 18, 2018 Dylan Edwards

Valley of the Silk Sky - Muru overview The web structure that spans almost the entire length and breadth of the valley is a country known as Pocalo.

Each level of the web structure is a separate province, and each province has its own distinct flora and fauna, culture, dialect, food, and so forth. There are elevators connecting the provinces that allow for travel up and down.

Muru is the third tier of the lower provinces, making it the topmost province that is still in direct contact with the ground. Muru is a bit of a rough place to make a go of things, as there are a number of predators roaming about who view humans as a tasty snack. The porous nature of Muru’s borders means that people can come and go as they please, making it a desirable location for those who wish to operate outside the law.

Most settlements in Muru are built high off the ground due to the aforementioned predators and bandits. Because much of the interior is in the shadow cast by the upper provinces, almost all major settlements in Muru are found around the outer edges. The city the arrow is pointing to is Duvane, an outpost town that is not at all flashy, but a good spot to head to if you have goods to sell or trade.

Despite being rough and difficult to navigate, Muru forms a cornerstone of the Pocali economy. It is home to many rare flora and fauna which are used to make medicines. The majority of runners spend at least some of their time foraging in Muru.

Pocalo Infrastructure: Smugglers’ Tunnels

December 17, 2018 Dylan Edwards

Valley of the Silk Sky - smugglers' tunnels The country that occupies the Valley, Pocalo, is divided into provinces, and each province is stacked on top of the other. The massive structure that houses all these provinces was built up slowly over the course of thousands of years. For most of that time, the only way to get from one province to another was to take a long trek up or down the mountains that anchor the structure.

The safest way to go was via mountain tunnels. These tunnels were dug and maintained by the Daraz, who build their cities inside the mountains. They leased the tunnels to the humans in exchange for various goods and services.

A scant couple hundred years ago, humans perfected the technology to move elevators between the provinces. The early elevators could only connect two provinces; later technological advances brought elevators that could connect 3 or 4 provinces. As elevator technology improved, the need for the tunnels waned in favor of the much faster vertical transportation.

The Daraz had little incentive to maintain the tunnels with no one using them much, and shifted to other forms of trade with the humans.

Getting on an elevator typically requires going through a checkpoint, though, and may require an official passport for boarding. What to do if you are perhaps interested in avoiding any sort of official scrutiny in the course of your travels? Like, say, maybe you deal in goods you might have obtained under less than legal circumstances?

Well, it’s certainly slower going, but here are all these old tunnels no one uses anymore, cough, ahem.

Yes, there have been many attempts to seal off the tunnels over the years, but somehow or other they always get unsealed, and the resources just aren’t there to guard them 24/7. Hence the tunnels tend to be left alone much of the time, should someone wish to slip from one province to the next while attracting minimal attention.

Pocalo Infrastructure: Elevators

December 17, 2018 Dylan Edwards

Valley of the Silk Sky - elevators The tiered structure of Pocalo makes travel from one province to the next a challenge, unless you can hop on an elevator. Large elevators, like the one pictured here, are designed to carry a great deal of freight and several passengers (it seats around 150 people, so about the same as a medium-sized commercial airplane) among multiple provinces.

This particular elevator services four levels, and does much of the heavy lifting (ha ha) for getting agricultural foodstuffs distributed to the northern regions of the provinces. Merchants also use this elevator to move their wares around, perhaps selling medicines in one province, picking up some local foods, and moving on to sell those in a different province.

There are much smaller elevators dotted throughout the provinces, generally just ferrying between two levels. Most of these are concentrated in the upper provinces; the lower provinces (i.e., those at ground level and below) have relatively few elevators. This has more to do with population density than anything else; large swaths of the lowest two provinces are flooded, rendering them mostly uninhabitable.

While elevators have connected the provinces for around 300 years, this type of large freight elevator is relatively new technology (maybe 100 years old), and has accelerated cultural exchange and homogenization. While the people of each province still have their own distinct accents, clothing styles, foods, and so forth, basic necessities are widely distributed wherever you go.

Architecture: Waystations

December 13, 2018 Dylan Edwards

Valley of the Silk Sky - waystations Waystations are a common feature of Muru Province, serving as safe ports of call throughout the wilderness. They’re generally roughly a day’s travel from one another or from a city or settlement, since it’s not really a good idea to sleep outside in Muru if you can help it.

The domicile, accessible via a long staircase, is located well up off the ground as a defensive measure, with a freight elevator leading to a storage area. The elevator has to be operated manually, and it usually rests in the “up” position to keep critters out.

A waystation is typically attended by an older runner who has retired from the more death-inducing parts of the biz. They keep the place clean and welcoming to weary travelers. Inside there are dormitory beds, cold running water (that huge bowl on top is a cistern), some not-very-fancy food, a medical kit, and a limited amount of replacement gear like clothing or knapsacks. Don’t get your hopes up re: hot showers.

The cistern collects what little rainwater falls here, and has a supplemental stream from a water source in the next province up. The water is run through a filtration system and mostly uses gravity to produce water pressure flow. If the cistern is full, excess water filters down to the next province below.

In exchange for use of the facility, it’s polite to leave something of value: a coin, a useful thing you found, or (if the attendant trusts you) a promise to bring something on your way back through.

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