The Beastx
Constructed in 4208 AR, this five-story building appears to be a wooden windmill-like tower, with a long winch and rope system sticking out of the top where fan-blades would be found on a true windmill. This is the Beast, the largest crane in the known world, a massive, rotating lifting device containing 16 human-operated treadwheels within its wooden structure. It can lift nearly 60 tons up to a height of 55 feet.
The Beast is used to unload the heaviest and largest loads in Absalom, though it rarely reaches anywhere near its full capacity. The entire building can spin on its axis, and the main arm can extend out from its normal 25-foot length when not at maximum weight capacity. When lifting 10 tons or less, it can swing a load in a 360-degree arc anywhere within 100 feet of its central tower by extending its main loading arm up to four times its normal length. As a result, all the warehouses built around the Beast are multistory structures, most with more than 20 levels (some underground), and all with central shafts to allow the Beast’s cables to raise and lower cargo to any floor.
The Beast is set right on the edge of the Long Pier, able to reach into ships to either side of it. Most ships that need the Beast use it only for their largest cargoes, then move farther down the pier to allow porters to carry free anything else.
The chief engineer of the Beast is a prestigious title; the current engineer, Amaziah Meneha, was promoted to the position when the former chief, Adrielle Neprathep, was promoted to harbormaster. Meneha was able to distinguish herself during the Black Echelon Uprising by directing the Beast’s operators into loading the main crane with a 1-ton block of stone and using it as a massive flail to topple hordes of Black Echelon soldiers. This maneuver mirrored the Red Siege in 4499 AR, when engineers performed a similar maneuver to crush enemy vessels in the harbor.
The Beast is used to unload the heaviest and largest loads in Absalom, though it rarely reaches anywhere near its full capacity. The entire building can spin on its axis, and the main arm can extend out from its normal 25-foot length when not at maximum weight capacity. When lifting 10 tons or less, it can swing a load in a 360-degree arc anywhere within 100 feet of its central tower by extending its main loading arm up to four times its normal length. As a result, all the warehouses built around the Beast are multistory structures, most with more than 20 levels (some underground), and all with central shafts to allow the Beast’s cables to raise and lower cargo to any floor.
The Beast is set right on the edge of the Long Pier, able to reach into ships to either side of it. Most ships that need the Beast use it only for their largest cargoes, then move farther down the pier to allow porters to carry free anything else.
The chief engineer of the Beast is a prestigious title; the current engineer, Amaziah Meneha, was promoted to the position when the former chief, Adrielle Neprathep, was promoted to harbormaster. Meneha was able to distinguish herself during the Black Echelon Uprising by directing the Beast’s operators into loading the main crane with a 1-ton block of stone and using it as a massive flail to topple hordes of Black Echelon soldiers. This maneuver mirrored the Red Siege in 4499 AR, when engineers performed a similar maneuver to crush enemy vessels in the harbor.
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