Strata Lift

The lifts are created by the Engineering guild to move from one Strata to the other. It uses water to push up a stone room. The water is pumped under the platform to lift it and pumped out of the shaft to lower it. These lifts come at regular intervals throughout the Cycle in all the districts. They do move slowly; it will take time to get from one strata to the next. Going from the ninth strata to the first strata will take an entire Cycle or more. There are also lifts used specifically for supplies. These are larger and slower, but are able to move larger amounts and heavier objects for guild houses and merchants. These lifts are maintained by the engineering guild and go through regular maintenance. Over time other things have been added to the Lift to make it more comfortable. The lift is designed with a primary room that can seat 50-60 people. There is a stage in the front where they can watch live performances and a kitchen in the back to serve meals. There are four smaller rooms on each corner of the primary room.

V.I.P. Room

This can be used for an additional price. It is usually well furnished and comfortable. It is usually used for meetings or high profile guests. The room may also look different on different lifts. Some guilds have used it to promote new products for those who might rent the room.

Entertainers Room:

Room for the Entertainers to practice, rest and change. There small dressing areas as well as stage supplies stored in the room. This room is free to the entertainers. They will usually change to a new group up to three times a day.

Sleeping Room:

For a small fee anyone on long trips may use the Sleeping Chambers to rest. Historically, the room had a few bunks squeezed inside for those who wish to take a nap. The sleeping chambers were added to allow for more people to sleep. This addition was also the largest construction to the Lifts and took almost 20 years to upgrade them all.

Storage Room:

Beside the kitchen, hold the kitchen supplies as well as first aid and engineering supplies. This room also has an access hatch to go to the Pressure Room for maintenance.The kitchen supplies are refilled at every Strata, the others are filled as needed.

Pressure Room:

This room sits under the entire structure and has an intricate design of tubes and pipes that allow the water to flow through and around the Lift. Only used during a trip if there is an emergency. These are briefly inspected at every stop, but will be thoroughly inspected twice a month. The sleep pods are also stored in a separate area of the Pressure Room.

Supply Lifts

The supply lifts are about twice the size of a normal lift and usually only seats about a dozen people. The rest of the area is designed for storing and shipping goods and supplies between the Strata. There are currently 38 supply lifts throughout the city. Not all of them go to all of the strata, either. Some will stop only a few strata away because of structural concerns. Most of the these have been designed specifically for the goods between those strata.

Travel Time

The timing of the lifts is pretty consistent, but each strata is a different distance away from each other and has a different travel time. Times are the same going up or down.

1. Lake to Aqua: 1 Period
2. Aqua to Guild: 2/3 Period
3. Guild to Arcane: 1/3 Period
4. Arcane to Engineering: 1 Period plus Meld
5. Engineering to Paradise: 4/3 Period (includes the Meld between)
6. Paradise to Cryo: 1/3 Period
7. Cryo to Entertainment: 2/3 Period
8. Entertainment to Mining: 1/3 Period

The Lift will stop for 1/3 Period before moving again. There is usually a loud sound blasted on the arrival of the lift and just before it is leaving. Going from the Lake to the Mining Stratum will take a Cycle and a bit more.

Schedule Example

• Leaving Lake: Early Blue
• Arriving Guild: Blue/Green Blend
• Leaving Guild: Green
• Arrive Arcane:Late Green
• Leave Arcane:Early Yellow
• Arrive Engineering: Early Orange
• Leave Engineering: Orange
• Arrive Paradise: Late Red
• Leave Paradise: Early Purple
• Arrive Cryo: Purple
• Leave Cryo: Late Purple
• Arrive Entertainment: Early Blue
• Leave Entertainment: Blue
• Arrive Mining: Late Blue

Utility

Travel between the Stratum of the city.

Manufacturing

A lift tube can take over 20 years to create and test for structural integrity before the lift is built. It takes about three months to create one lift and four months for the supply lift. There are 38 supply lifts and 122 lifts throughout the city. This production takes several different guilds working together, but the Makers Guild currently leads the production and maintains most of the lift functions. The Pipers Guild is in charge of maintaining the Lift Tubes throughout the city.

The Long Stairs

There is a staircase that has been built for emergencies that connects all the stratum. These stairs are mostly ignored by the people, but is used by some of the guards for a workout. There is also rumor that smugglers use them to get around as well, but the guards shrug off the rumor and claim they patrol it regularly.

Inventor(s)

Valemir Dirkriser. A giant who joined the Pipers guild instead of a mining guild where his family usually worked at the time. She was looked down on by many of her peers and family. Her success has now put her in the history books and she is sometimes used as an example by the Makers Guild guild the minds they want to support.

Access & Availability

This is the primary travel between the Strata. It is well known and maintenance is supported by several guilds.

Complexity

Although most people don't understand how it works, the Lift is powered by water pressure as well as several complex piping structures that help control the flow and stabilize it. Magic has now been added to improve the performance and the speed. Early models were wooden platforms, but current models use special stone that is lighter and requires less pressure to move.

Discovery

The third strata has been recently settled and the mining guild had been slowly working on the fourth strata. The difficulty of getting supplies down to the miners was becoming a problem and the mining guilds stopped working. Valemir was sent down to talk to the other giants and dwarves in the mines to find a compromise. After 3 months of talks, she developed the lift system for supplies. It still took another 10 years to create the shafts and feed the pipes into them, but it is now the most common form of travel.