The World of the Cloudline

In Between

The Cloudline

A mist-based environmental system stretches between the towers, halfway between ground and sky. Copper mesh and suspended pipes gather moisture, feeding rain to the soil below. Its design is older than most records, and built for more than rain. Once, it bound Halidom together. Now it divides it.

The Chimes

Years ago, wind chimes rang at dusk from every tower. One note from each spire. Ten tones folding into a single chord.

Below the Cloudline

The Rooted settlements of Ashgrove, Stillmere, Stoneveil, and the villages between cluster around the base of the ten towers. 

The Villages

Ashgrove's market buzzes from first light. Stalls painted every color crowd the square while children dart between crates of fruit and scrap. Peddlers holler over each other in Rooted slang. Around the old fountain, elders tell stories to whoever slows down long enough to listen.

The Ropes

Workers ascend by rope and rigging, swinging scaffold to beam with pails in hand and tools strapped at their hips. Every climb depends on balance, grip, and a line strong enough to hold.

Gardens and Orchards

Gardens claw through scarred soil softened by the mineral rain from above. Barley grows along the terraces. Fruit and fresh eggs make the rounds before noon. Fruit trees bow under their own weight, branches propped up with scrap wood and wire. Rain-catch canopies hang between scaffold lines.

Fire, Light, and Gathering

By evening, cook fires burn low. Lanterns strung between scaffolds throw warm light across the square. One family passes around root stew while another pulls beets straight from the coals. The faint green glow comes from living moss first cultivated generations ago.