The healers' fort
Built at the south of the Main Capital, this is one of the last buildings that still show the traditional design in the Eight World of Grista, even if it has some modifications based on technologies from other worlds, specially in the rooms dedicated to experiment with new technologies or dangerous organisms.
From its origin as a convention center, to its current state as a fort, the building has never really changed it's real nature.
Purpose / Function
While it serves as home for a considerable and changing amount of people, the building was designed and remodeled keeping one main goal in mind: fight sickness.
Healers refuse to share the details about the old wing, but it's known that there is where they live and do most of their private research. For a long time, that was the case of the whole building, but in the current days the secondary wing receives visitors from all over the Known Universe.
On year 63, this adjacent building was conditioned as a hospital and laboratory, but it was changed very soon to temporary accommodate apprentices, scientists, researchers, colleagues from other worlds, inventors, and all kind of people seeking to learn from them or contribute to their efforts in the fight of illness and strengthen of the human body.
Alterations
Ever since the fortification of the original building, on 572 of the Discovering Age, the building has suffered several internal changes, including:
- Redistribution of areas whenever necessary
- Construction or demolish of internal walls (not often, but it happens)
- Morta and wood had been slowly replaced by crodme in most of the building
- A considerable amount of technology systems had been implemented since the Hearty Agreement from 22/13/286 Co. The most notable changes were related to the temperature regulation system, audio and video recording, security doors and develop & test workshops.
While these modifications can't be appreciated from outside, there is a major change that it's pretty obvious. During the cold winter of year 14 Co. a second outer wall was build in the east, almost duplicating the space. During 15 to 17 Co. a second wing was built in the middle of this area.
Architecture
Green silver: Common metal from the Eight world. Used in modern shields and weapons. In the past it was used to build strong roofs and solar energy collectors. White Wood's rock: Strong material used in outer walls. Found all over Grista's Layer. In the Eight World it can be found only in the White Wood. Crodme: Maleable and strong metal that can be found in every world of the Twelfth planet.
Main Building
Four story rectangular structure with unknown design and materials. Originally supported by a combination of a strong frame and solid rock walls, permeated by magic shields.
From the outside, it can be perceived that higher windows are made of some sort of wood and the mansard straight roofs seem to be made of simple green silver sheets.
East Wing
Three story rectangular building, supported by a crodme structure. The walls are White Woods' rock bricks and crodme. Green silver mansard roof, wood floors and suspended ceiling and arched doors and windows made of crodme.
East courtyard
Ornamental garden and a spacious areas with rock floors.
There is a two story shed used as a storage room for objects offered by diplomats and some Fair or too grateful patients.
Defenses
The old, main outer wall surrounds a squared area that includes the main building and courtyard.
Originally it was made with White Wood's rock and had a single defense tower in the northwest and one metal door in each wall.
During the fortification a second tower was built in the southeast, the walls were reinforcedthe south and west doors were sealed.
The second outer wall covers only the east wing and its courtyard (except on the area covered by the old east wall). It has no doors.
Energy and resources
This information is kept secret, but the use solar energy is likely and their enemies had discarded the use of water from the near river.
Other theories considered are the access to a weel, and recollection of water and energy during wet winter.
Other theories considered are the access to a weel, and recollection of water and energy during wet winter.
History
The Eight World's healers became a society in the year 476 of Discovering age, when all of them contributed to the construction of a common building, both comfortable and easy to defend.
For the next century, the building was a place of reunion, where healers from all the world would come and work together on new cures and equipment, and soon they were joined by all kinds of people in need of help for their illness. Most of the rooms had been designed with this purpose, but the habitational wing was more than enough for the Cod family (the only permanent inhabitants), all of the visitors, and even the occasional refugee from a conquered region. Over the years, more and more refugees decided to simply stay in the healers building, until it was considered a community on it's own, worth to be conquered. Naturally, healers are hard to defeat. They recovered fast after the first attack and proceeded to strengthen the defenses, turning the oversized convention center into a fort in a couple of years. It may sound like little time for those who had never been in the Eight World, but every building there is almost a fort (even if they don't look like such).
The healers closed their doors to patients and visitors for a long time, and the building was reorganized to survive without external aid, taking advantage of the resources that started as luxuries or experiments. Those who came from the desert and the glacier would hunt and gather external resources during the cold winter and the hearth of summer.
When they needed more space, they built a second wall during the cold winter, and there they constructed another three story building, which would become the place to welcome possible allies and desperate patients in the Community age, while the main section remains inaccessible for outsiders.
For the next century, the building was a place of reunion, where healers from all the world would come and work together on new cures and equipment, and soon they were joined by all kinds of people in need of help for their illness. Most of the rooms had been designed with this purpose, but the habitational wing was more than enough for the Cod family (the only permanent inhabitants), all of the visitors, and even the occasional refugee from a conquered region. Over the years, more and more refugees decided to simply stay in the healers building, until it was considered a community on it's own, worth to be conquered. Naturally, healers are hard to defeat. They recovered fast after the first attack and proceeded to strengthen the defenses, turning the oversized convention center into a fort in a couple of years. It may sound like little time for those who had never been in the Eight World, but every building there is almost a fort (even if they don't look like such).
The healers closed their doors to patients and visitors for a long time, and the building was reorganized to survive without external aid, taking advantage of the resources that started as luxuries or experiments. Those who came from the desert and the glacier would hunt and gather external resources during the cold winter and the hearth of summer.
When they needed more space, they built a second wall during the cold winter, and there they constructed another three story building, which would become the place to welcome possible allies and desperate patients in the Community age, while the main section remains inaccessible for outsiders.
South of Main Capital
AccessOnly members of the Healers Society are allowed inside the Old Wall surrounding the main building.It's not a flawless security system, but they take the risk so they can help patients from ally worlds and potential friends.
They know the right signs to avoid being killed by the guards and their handprints open the main door locks.
The whole area has defenses of several kinds to prevent travels by magic, but specific spells are allowed in specific points, so the inhabitant wizards can use them to get in and out when needed.
The east wing can be visited by everyone interested in health or needing medical attention, as long as they are not from the Eight World.
Since the second wall has no doors, the only way in is by using foreign magic or technology and once in the courtyard they receive a key that grants them access to different areas according to the reason of their visit.
| Eight World of Grista |
|---|
Home to a culture of warriors and strategists, who believe that the only relevant achievement is the conquest of other civilizations.
According to their records, there were around a thousand of independent cities, tribes and kingdoms in this world. Some would fight for territory but a few would try to expand and conquer their neighbors. With time, that reduced the number of civilizations. The fight for power never ended in the Eight World, but several countries sent parties to conquer other worlds during the Discovery Age.
To this day, and despite the regulations and hard work of the Society Peace keepers, some clans and individuals from the Eight world still invade cities and nations all over the universe. |
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Author's Notes
This prompt was a challenge. I never write this kind of description. I don't know much about buildings or construction. And I struggle to name the materials of the Known Universe. Maybe that's the reason I went deep in the history of the place: because that was comforting. Three months later, I'm still self conscious about this entry. But I'm also very happy that I wrote it.