Post by stormturmoil on Apr 7, 2007 22:11:02 GMT
Study of the City: St Martius’ Cove
Situated on the primary continent of the Planet St. Martius’ Bounty, St. Martius’ Cove (often abbreviated to ‘The Cove’ By locals) is the capital of the planet, and indeed the whole star system. From here, the planet is governed, and the rest of the systems holdings monitored.
The City is shaped largely by the dictates of it’s original construction philosophy and the scope of it’s defence technologies, both in terms of environmental dangers, including the ever present threat of Solar Flares, and the threat of attack from out system, previous invasions being well remembered.
The basic shape of the city can be somewhat simplistically described as three closely connected circles. This is dictated by the shape and reach of the cities primary defence system, consisting of Shield Generators recovered from dismantled colony ships and their warship escorts and turned to different purpose. The central circle serves the city proper. The circle to the Southwest serves the Seaport built into the natural harbour of St. Martius’ Cove. The circle to the East Serves the Spaceport Complex.
Within the Capital Circle itself, the most instantly recognisable feature is the Governing Fortress. This is unsurprising, as it is the only structure larger in terms of height than the Central Shield emitter pylon, and for simple reason. The Fortress is in no need to remain beneath the Shield envelope, being fully capable of enduring the radiation of Solar Flares unassisted and possessing it’s own shield generators in any case. This is because the upper reaches of the Fortress are the massive Adamantium armoured prow of an Imperial Cruiser buried aft-first in the centre of the Capital, Supported by massively braced scaffolding and superstructure, becoming at once the First Shield complex, power house and planetary defence system for the original colony. Later, as the city grew, the Shield generators of other ships were relocated to expand the city radius, other powerhouses were built to take the burden from the fortress’s systems, and other planetary defence outposts were constructed. However, the Fortress remains fully powered, and fully functional through painstaking, ritualised maintenance routines performed annually on the eve of it’s first descent, at the founding of the city.
Close to the foot of the Fortress, the surrounding buildings share common architecture with the Fortress, and with good reason: most of the oldest constructions in the Capital are in fact formed of salvage from dismantled starships, often half buried or suspended on structurally bizarre scaffolding. In this way, the centre of the capital appears partly as a complex urban sprawl and partly as a starship graveyard. The richer, more affluent areas of the capital sport more technologically afforded areas of Starships, such as Bridge clusters or Opticon Galleries, with their polarised Viewports that afford a view of the city whilst simultaneously cutting out harmful Flare Starlight. Other, less well off areas are reduced to using bilges, Engine crawl ways, and repurposed conduit stretches, often buried underground so that the Flare induced increased visible light rays not stopped by the shield umbrella, and the Flare Blindness they bring with them, cannot pervade.
The Engine rooms of many Starships have another, more practical use. Complete with their attendant plasma reactors, they supply power to the city. Fuelled by hydrogen cracked from seawater piped in from the nearby St. Martius’ Cove, they run tirelessly supplying necessary energy to the industries and citizens of the capital. Unfortunately, while there are multiple powerhouses scattered throughout the city, and while supply usually massively outweighs demand, when a Flare hits and power is required for the Shield Umbrellas, the massive power draw the Shield systems require can cause Brownouts to certain areas. Essential sectors such as the Seaports massive Desalination plants, the Space port’s planetary defence systems, and other critical locations will usually have their own dedicated power houses.
Closely located in the Capital’s affluent central circle, the original boundary of the Fortress's initial Shield umbrella during the first descent, are two buildings that are an essential window on the nature of commerce within the System. The first, recognisable to any relatively well travelled Imperial citizen, is the tower of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica branch, main office and headquarters to the numerous Astropaths that live and wok within the system. With Flare activity making most technological means of communication impractical, the Astropaths do a heavy trade in messages, both on world and offworld, and serve as a primary communication method. However they are not the only means of communication, and indeed, are a relatively recent arrival. The initial founding colony had to rely instead on fleet footed runners to deliver messages. This tradition later became foundation of a Guild of Couriers, which maintains holdings through out the system, and will deliver messages throughout the system…for a price. Competition between the two organisations is rife, since despite the fact that Psychic messages travel though warpspace, and so theoretically faster than light, the Vagaries of the Warp can lead to messages being received late, or never, or in no recognisable condition. On the other hand, the Guild Charges heavy rates, but the service is guaranteed by Guild bond, and moreover, does not require an Astropath at the receiving end, as does AstroTelepathy. The Couriers job is one viewed with some romanticism by city youths, who often watch as their sleek Lifters and Cutters arrive and depart from the close by Spaceport.
The Nearby Spaceport does a bustling trade in both offworld and out-system traffic. Protected by it’s own self powered Shield system, and housing the major component of the planetary defence grid, the Spaceport is trade port, military facility and commerce and information hub. The Guild of Couriers has a huge standing presence and commands many private hangars for it’s agents, as well as a priority classification for it’s launches with Traffic control. PDF forces also have facilities here, including a standing garrison and several orbital Cutters that can be dispatched on Customs duty. Smuggling is taken very seriously, and many would-be smugglers find themselves staring down the end of a PDF Shotgun. While typically outside the remit of PDF forces, the PDF commanders rotate troops through Customs duty as a means to get them valuable space experience. Restricted items extend to the usual Imperially proscribed literature and articles, but also include certain unique items, due to the nature of the Planet’s peculiar ecosystem. Several pesticides, fertilisers and plant types are prohibited for fear of their effect on local flora and fauna. On the outgoing side, many examples of local Flora and Fauna are themselves much in demand, particularly exotic examples such as Adamantodon eggs, Copperleaf Saplings, And several varieties of saprotrophic fungus, some of which have narcotic or hallucinogenic effects on humans or other species.
Once we travel to the Seaport, we see again the use of repurposed Starship Salvage, in the form of the huge loading gantries and cranes, originally Torpedo loading and Storage mechanisms aboard warships. Now, they carry the produce of the trade ships that frequent the seaport, and in return, load provisions and gear for the return journey to sea. Larger vessels need never enter the harbour at all. Using reconditioned Airlock Docking tunnels from dismantled Starships, larger vessels can sit offshore while cargo is unloaded from beneath the waterline along motorised Conveyers. Bulk Tankers can simply moor up to vast under sea pipe head terminals and deliver their cargo.
Aside form the mass of industrial traffic, the Guild of Couriers also maintain holdings here of fast light skiffs for message running up and down the coast, though they do not venture far out to sea.
As well as it’s trade and Industrial Purposes, the Seaport is also the source of the Capital’s drinking water, and indirectly, it’s electrical power as well. Huge Desalination plants driven by Recovered Plasma reactors distil seawater into drinking water, removing contaminants and toxins to render the final product potable by humans. Other plants further crack the Seawater to produce Hydrogen, which is distributed to the rest of the capital via dedicated pipelines to feed the plasma reactors of the Capital’s many ever-hungry powerhouses.
Unfortunately, as with many cities, the Capitals’ Population is expanding faster than it can grow. This is particularly troublesome because of the Solar Flare Threat that further impedes growth. As such, large shanty-towns have grown up around the edges of the three circles, hugging the very edges of the shield zones, digging down into the ground to add the protection of the topsoil to the waning shield umbrella, fraying at the edges and allowing more deadly light in. The very poorest live here, unable to risk surface life due to the inability to afford even basic Flare Goggles, consigned to a life in darkness due to the threat of the light.
Situated on the primary continent of the Planet St. Martius’ Bounty, St. Martius’ Cove (often abbreviated to ‘The Cove’ By locals) is the capital of the planet, and indeed the whole star system. From here, the planet is governed, and the rest of the systems holdings monitored.
The City is shaped largely by the dictates of it’s original construction philosophy and the scope of it’s defence technologies, both in terms of environmental dangers, including the ever present threat of Solar Flares, and the threat of attack from out system, previous invasions being well remembered.
The basic shape of the city can be somewhat simplistically described as three closely connected circles. This is dictated by the shape and reach of the cities primary defence system, consisting of Shield Generators recovered from dismantled colony ships and their warship escorts and turned to different purpose. The central circle serves the city proper. The circle to the Southwest serves the Seaport built into the natural harbour of St. Martius’ Cove. The circle to the East Serves the Spaceport Complex.
Within the Capital Circle itself, the most instantly recognisable feature is the Governing Fortress. This is unsurprising, as it is the only structure larger in terms of height than the Central Shield emitter pylon, and for simple reason. The Fortress is in no need to remain beneath the Shield envelope, being fully capable of enduring the radiation of Solar Flares unassisted and possessing it’s own shield generators in any case. This is because the upper reaches of the Fortress are the massive Adamantium armoured prow of an Imperial Cruiser buried aft-first in the centre of the Capital, Supported by massively braced scaffolding and superstructure, becoming at once the First Shield complex, power house and planetary defence system for the original colony. Later, as the city grew, the Shield generators of other ships were relocated to expand the city radius, other powerhouses were built to take the burden from the fortress’s systems, and other planetary defence outposts were constructed. However, the Fortress remains fully powered, and fully functional through painstaking, ritualised maintenance routines performed annually on the eve of it’s first descent, at the founding of the city.
Close to the foot of the Fortress, the surrounding buildings share common architecture with the Fortress, and with good reason: most of the oldest constructions in the Capital are in fact formed of salvage from dismantled starships, often half buried or suspended on structurally bizarre scaffolding. In this way, the centre of the capital appears partly as a complex urban sprawl and partly as a starship graveyard. The richer, more affluent areas of the capital sport more technologically afforded areas of Starships, such as Bridge clusters or Opticon Galleries, with their polarised Viewports that afford a view of the city whilst simultaneously cutting out harmful Flare Starlight. Other, less well off areas are reduced to using bilges, Engine crawl ways, and repurposed conduit stretches, often buried underground so that the Flare induced increased visible light rays not stopped by the shield umbrella, and the Flare Blindness they bring with them, cannot pervade.
The Engine rooms of many Starships have another, more practical use. Complete with their attendant plasma reactors, they supply power to the city. Fuelled by hydrogen cracked from seawater piped in from the nearby St. Martius’ Cove, they run tirelessly supplying necessary energy to the industries and citizens of the capital. Unfortunately, while there are multiple powerhouses scattered throughout the city, and while supply usually massively outweighs demand, when a Flare hits and power is required for the Shield Umbrellas, the massive power draw the Shield systems require can cause Brownouts to certain areas. Essential sectors such as the Seaports massive Desalination plants, the Space port’s planetary defence systems, and other critical locations will usually have their own dedicated power houses.
Closely located in the Capital’s affluent central circle, the original boundary of the Fortress's initial Shield umbrella during the first descent, are two buildings that are an essential window on the nature of commerce within the System. The first, recognisable to any relatively well travelled Imperial citizen, is the tower of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica branch, main office and headquarters to the numerous Astropaths that live and wok within the system. With Flare activity making most technological means of communication impractical, the Astropaths do a heavy trade in messages, both on world and offworld, and serve as a primary communication method. However they are not the only means of communication, and indeed, are a relatively recent arrival. The initial founding colony had to rely instead on fleet footed runners to deliver messages. This tradition later became foundation of a Guild of Couriers, which maintains holdings through out the system, and will deliver messages throughout the system…for a price. Competition between the two organisations is rife, since despite the fact that Psychic messages travel though warpspace, and so theoretically faster than light, the Vagaries of the Warp can lead to messages being received late, or never, or in no recognisable condition. On the other hand, the Guild Charges heavy rates, but the service is guaranteed by Guild bond, and moreover, does not require an Astropath at the receiving end, as does AstroTelepathy. The Couriers job is one viewed with some romanticism by city youths, who often watch as their sleek Lifters and Cutters arrive and depart from the close by Spaceport.
The Nearby Spaceport does a bustling trade in both offworld and out-system traffic. Protected by it’s own self powered Shield system, and housing the major component of the planetary defence grid, the Spaceport is trade port, military facility and commerce and information hub. The Guild of Couriers has a huge standing presence and commands many private hangars for it’s agents, as well as a priority classification for it’s launches with Traffic control. PDF forces also have facilities here, including a standing garrison and several orbital Cutters that can be dispatched on Customs duty. Smuggling is taken very seriously, and many would-be smugglers find themselves staring down the end of a PDF Shotgun. While typically outside the remit of PDF forces, the PDF commanders rotate troops through Customs duty as a means to get them valuable space experience. Restricted items extend to the usual Imperially proscribed literature and articles, but also include certain unique items, due to the nature of the Planet’s peculiar ecosystem. Several pesticides, fertilisers and plant types are prohibited for fear of their effect on local flora and fauna. On the outgoing side, many examples of local Flora and Fauna are themselves much in demand, particularly exotic examples such as Adamantodon eggs, Copperleaf Saplings, And several varieties of saprotrophic fungus, some of which have narcotic or hallucinogenic effects on humans or other species.
Once we travel to the Seaport, we see again the use of repurposed Starship Salvage, in the form of the huge loading gantries and cranes, originally Torpedo loading and Storage mechanisms aboard warships. Now, they carry the produce of the trade ships that frequent the seaport, and in return, load provisions and gear for the return journey to sea. Larger vessels need never enter the harbour at all. Using reconditioned Airlock Docking tunnels from dismantled Starships, larger vessels can sit offshore while cargo is unloaded from beneath the waterline along motorised Conveyers. Bulk Tankers can simply moor up to vast under sea pipe head terminals and deliver their cargo.
Aside form the mass of industrial traffic, the Guild of Couriers also maintain holdings here of fast light skiffs for message running up and down the coast, though they do not venture far out to sea.
As well as it’s trade and Industrial Purposes, the Seaport is also the source of the Capital’s drinking water, and indirectly, it’s electrical power as well. Huge Desalination plants driven by Recovered Plasma reactors distil seawater into drinking water, removing contaminants and toxins to render the final product potable by humans. Other plants further crack the Seawater to produce Hydrogen, which is distributed to the rest of the capital via dedicated pipelines to feed the plasma reactors of the Capital’s many ever-hungry powerhouses.
Unfortunately, as with many cities, the Capitals’ Population is expanding faster than it can grow. This is particularly troublesome because of the Solar Flare Threat that further impedes growth. As such, large shanty-towns have grown up around the edges of the three circles, hugging the very edges of the shield zones, digging down into the ground to add the protection of the topsoil to the waning shield umbrella, fraying at the edges and allowing more deadly light in. The very poorest live here, unable to risk surface life due to the inability to afford even basic Flare Goggles, consigned to a life in darkness due to the threat of the light.