Overview:
The Spindles occupy the uppermost reaches of Haven XVII, where the city narrows into latticed towers and long-span connectors. Originally designed to capture ambient motion from high-altitude airflow and redistribute it downward, the district once served as a stabilizing backbone for citywide energy flow. After the fall, most transfer systems failed. What remains is carefully managed, fragile, and indispensable.
Appearance:
Slender towers rise close together, joined by narrow bridges and rotating arms. Broad turbines turn at an unhurried pace, their blades catching constant but gentle wind. Counterweights drift in exposed frames, maintaining balance rather than power. Light reaches freely here, thin and distant, casting long, pale shadows across open metalwork and suspended walkways.
Structure:
Strong vertical emphasis, with exterior stairways, lift cages, and rotating platforms connecting levels.
Long sightlines and open gaps between structures; falling hazards are common.
Lower conduits and transfer shafts are frequently severed, forcing energy to be retained or redirected locally rather than exported.
Landmarks:
The Crown Array: A circular assembly of high-altitude turbines that still produces a modest but steady flow of usable motion.
The Spire Hall: A suspended lattice chamber atop converging towers where Zephyrwright leaders coordinate energy, monitor turbines, and experiment with motion-capturing devices.
The Balance Wells: Deep vertical shafts once used to regulate kinetic flow, now functioning as localized stabilization reservoirs.
Faction Presence:
The Zephyrwrights: Exercise near-total control over functional turbines, bridges, and stabilization systems, enforcing strict protocols to prevent overload or waste.
The Salvagers: Appear sporadically, scavenging broken windmill arms and abandoned platforms, or trading for energy.
“Zephyrwright apprentices quietly wager on which turbine will tick the slowest by dawn.”
“A Salvager claims they slipped a tiny wound spring from the Crown Array and sold it for more than three Ticks.”
"The Zephyrwrights have enough power for everyone in the city; they just won't share it, so they can swindle us for it!"
“A maintenance ledger shows a counterweight on Spindle Seven drifting a hair out of calibration; Zephyrwright crews were reassigned overnight.”
“A Salvager was seen carrying a length of failed motion shaft stamped with the Crown Array insignia; the Zephyrwrights demanded its return.”
“The Conservators requested temporary access to a Balance Well, claiming an index in the Central Archive references stabilization schematics.”
“The Crown Array spiked briefly last cycle—blades surged, then slowed. Some say the surge rattled nearby platforms.”
"The Tithe Engine singlehandedly destroyed most of a caravan nearby."
“One Balance Well’s weights have begun to oscillate unevenly. Zephyrwrights warn a misstep here could throw nearby platforms dangerously off balance.”