Firmament 0212 — Transcendentalist Refuge Village

A collection of houses inside a fenceline sits incongruously on the glass of the firmament. This is the home of a number of Transcendentalists whose efforts to escape the wall took them to its very top, and from there to the signal fire in 0213. A select few members of this community have snuck back into Catage, where they reveal the route to the low-hanging firmament to compatriots they think trustworthy.

24 transcendentalists currently live here, and the limits of the firmament as a human-habitable location are beginning to wear on them. An initial surge of enthusiasm in the project prompted a significant number of supplies to be smuggled over — building material, barrels for water storage, soil to plant crops in — but after the construction of a number of homes and a fenceline the difficulty of sustained supply acquisition has put a damper on the residents moods. Rainwater fills their barrels too slowly for comfort, and the raised vegetable beds are tended by a small portion of those who want to eat from them, causing ill tempers and resentment. Some residents have set off across the glass to seek other places to live.

This settlement acts as a village by the economic standards of The Nightmares Underneath. The transcendentalists will happily sell various odds and ends meant to be used in their unfinished construction, and will value food especially highly when trading. Due to the social circles that rumors of this place tend to be spread, a number of the transcendentalists here are well educated and accustomed to wealth, and can give academic advice. It is possible to find willing hires to accompany parties, but it is likely for them to be unhappy about life on the road.

Some notable denizens and locations:

Digorie (he/him) is the de facto leader of the village. He would never claim the title, but is perfectly willing to use his role in the discovery of the signal fire and his rich family’s access to supplies he can have smuggled to the wall as leverage to get what he wants. His petty tyranny made for a rallying point for the start of the project, but now grates on most around him. His primary concern is maintaining the ability to receive deliveries from the city without being found out by the Merchant-Industrialists — his family has been told that he works in the interior and immediate exterior of the wall now, offering sanctioned humanitarian aid to the prisoners.

Olmos (they/them) is an anarchist who ended up here by chance, and is spinning up a scheme to turn this into an outpost from which the wall might be attacked. They are certain that it would suit everyone better if the transcendentalists were back in the city or at least on solid ground, while long time militants would make better use of the position and be more used to the hardships of this place. They just have no idea how ascending or descending the firmament from the wilds could be accomplished efficiently, and they are not inclined to venture out alone to find out.

A number of wooden frames full of soil form a garden near the center of the town, where Pallas (they/she/he) tries their hardest to keep the agriculture of the small village afloat. They were never poor, but they did grow up with a pride in self-reliance instilled in them by hobbyist farmer parents. They are resentful of Digorie and consider openly opposing him. Their vegetable beds primarily grow lettuce, beans, potatoes, and gourds. Some of the gourds are purely decorative, which not all of the transcendentalists know — more than one has tried to roast a hard and unappetizing meal.