@The Highspires
Overview:
The Highspires rise immediately beyond the walls of the Bastion — a dense ring of skyscrapers that once defined New Hope City’s skyline. Before the Fall, these towers were symbols of permanence and success: corporate headquarters, luxury residences, and vertical districts designed to keep their occupants above the city’s noise and congestion.
They still stand.
The Highspires were not destroyed. They were left behind.
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Atmosphere:
Quiet, wind-swept, and unevenly alive. The district feels hollow compared to the density of the Bastion — sound carries farther, footsteps echo longer, and entire floors pass in silence. Wind moves freely through broken windows and exposed interiors, carrying dust, ash, and drifting leaves between towers.
Light behaves strangely here. Some buildings glow faintly at night from lingering power or scavenged generators. Others remain dark for years at a time. From certain angles, the Highspires feel peaceful. From others, deeply unsettling.
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Reputation:
To Bastion residents, the Highspires are a reminder they try not to look at too closely — proof that proximity does not guarantee protection. To scavengers and edge-dwellers, they are opportunity layered with risk.
For some, it is as close to the bastion as they can get.
The Highspires are known as a place where things almost work.
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What it Was Before the Fall of the City:
Before the Fall, the Highspires were premium vertical real estate. Corporate offices occupied lower and mid-level floors, while luxury residences and private amenities dominated the upper levels. Skybridges connected towers, creating a network of elevated transit and exclusive access points.
The district was designed to be self-sufficient — but not isolated.
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How it Stands Now – 30 Years After the Fall:
Thirty years later, control has eroded unevenly. Some towers remain partially functional, with intact elevators, sealed floors, and intermittent power. Others are completely compromised, their interiors open to the elements and overtaken by plant life.
Vines crawl up glass and steel. Trees grow from shattered terraces. Entire floors have collapsed inward, creating vertical dead zones that cannot be crossed without specialized equipment.
Upper levels are often safer than the ground — accessible only via broken skybridges, cables, or improvised ascents. Lower floors are choked with debris, growth, and infected drawn to enclosed shelter.
No single group controls the Highspires. Individual towers may be claimed temporarily, but permanence is rare.
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**Infected Presence:** 30 / 100
Infected are present throughout the Highspires, concentrated in lower levels, enclosed interiors, and collapsed sections. Upper floors see fewer encounters, but escape routes are limited and mistakes are costly.
The threat here is not overwhelming — it is persistent.
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Life & Interaction:
Small survivor groups and lone operators inhabit select towers, or groups of towers, relying on elevation, and limited access to remain undetected. These Enclaves are not common, only a couple have ever managed to fully tame a small area, and it always feels fragile.
Scavengers operate on tight schedules, entering for targeted recoveries and leaving before attention accumulates. Patrols from the Bastion skirt the inner edges of the district but do not venture deep.
The Highspires are tolerated, monitored, and avoided in equal measure.
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What the Highspires Represent:
The Highspires are the city’s quiet accusation.
They prove that New Hope City did not fall because it collapsed under its own weight.
It fell because decisions were made — about priority, protection, and value.
The towers remain standing.
What left was control.
And everyone inside the Bastion can see them — every day — rising just beyond the walls.