Compilation
I really hope you've thought about what you're doing before you head to Compilation. Just walking into Blender is going to take up your entire day, otherwise... and you'd better hope you haven't misaligned any vertices in those plans of yours.The many Facets of Polyhedra celebrate a thousand purposes. Some practically overflow with Stacks(building) home to gnomes of every shape and size, whilst others hold more defined purposes. Compilation is one of these latter such Facets, functioning as Polyhedra's largest engineering facility and as one of the country's most important cultural centrepieces.
Layout of Compilation
Compilation is separated into twelve Facets, often better known by the excited shriek of an engineer ready to move onto the next stage of her project.Voxel Deposits
One of the more outsider-friendly parts of Compilation, the Deposits are where resources are brought and stored. It's inadvisable to get on the bad side of any Voxel worker: Compilation wouldn't run without them, and the rest of the city knows that very well. Despite the necessity, few people actually enjoy navigating the Deposits. The clerks seemingly change the order and layout of the cavernous warehouses on a weekly basis.Wikki's Library
The Library was named for a long-past researcher who founded it after running into issues with Gildómar's dwarves refusing to share their knowledge. It's actually a conglomerate of numerous sub-libraries on a multitude of topics, from basic mathematics to the most outrageous theories on arcane subterranean anomalies. A small looping minecart track speeds up trips between sub-libraries, study areas, and coffee dispensaries.Development isn't as easy as going to one area and building what you want in a small workshop, nonono. It's a city-wide deal!
Revit Sketchworks
Birthplace of ingenuity, the Sketchworks host a range of specialised drafting tools for engineers to move onto after solidifying an idea in the Library. It's also home to a number of restaurants and medical facilities for those needing a break from their own thoughts. Compilation's largest hospital was built here due to the risk of accidents in the rest of the city - which was a wise choice, as the Sketchworks remain the least-troublesome facet after nearly two centuries.Quantum Creations
Named for Quantum Gyrobicupola, a gnome who pushed the borders of his experimentation so far that he accidentally lost his lower half in the Dimension of Time. Whether his attempt to reunite the two was successful or not isn't known, but his name lingers as the title of Compilation's most heavily fortified area. Experimentation and creativity are encouraged. Departing from basic safety mechanisms is not. Though Quantum provides many safe means for experimenting with designs and abilities, its protections are regularly broken. Visitors: take caution.I heard someone once got so lost in Quantum that they came out fifty years later and thought they'd time travelled. Nope: just really lost.
Blender
Unsurprisingly not an actual blender, this facet is where the majority of concepts are brought into reality for the first time as home of Shaping. Models are fully realised here before being sent to the Forges for fine-tuning and stronger materials. Some engineers head to Shaping with a vague draft and complete most of their work here before heading to Quantum or the Forges.Garlon Forges
Exactly what it says on the tin. The Forges are a system of forges and smithies used for all manner of metalwork, favoured by those wanting more traditional methods of Shaping and those who seek a stronger or more authentic final product. Rare metals are banned from Blender in favour of encouraging the Forges to be more used. Unsurprisingly, the Forges are the warmest area of Compilation by a country mile.
We get a lot of dwarves in the Forges trying to claim they're better blacksmiths than us gnomes. They might be, but they're still in Compilation and they're still lending us their talents as part of our workflow. Even they understand that efficiency trumps tradition!
Formation Zedd
Not to be confused with Shaping, the Formation is home to all manner of abandoned projects needing to be combined and reformed in a process often referred to as Sculpting. It is ordered strictly alphabetically based on the names engineers gave their prior projects - unfortunately, no name is ever given sensibly, making the Formation a nightmare to navigate. Formation's temperature is always in direct opposition to the Forges due to a complex atmospherical polarising machine invented purely by mistake.Runic Thaumaturgy
Projects that require high levels of magical involvement will, at some point, pass through Thaumaturgy. It's the safest area for magical involvement and many of Polyhedra's arcane experts spend countless hours playing with various runic systems and rituals to create new effects. It was in this area that the Living Flame was created (and promptly cooed over for its sheer usefulness).Thaumaturgy's scarier than Quantum. At least in Quantum, the accidents tend to be related to projects. Small-scale, you know? I heard a sorcerer in Thaumaturgy once got their runic equations so badly wrong that it rotated the entirety of Compilation. Took WEEKS to undo.
Pest Removal
After a project has been fully created, it must go through Pest Removal (also known as 'debugging' or 'testing') to be certified for release. This process can take many months and often results in countless trips to the other areas of Compilation, especially for new engineers who failed to test their projects as they proceeded through the various development phases.The Macron Loop
Home of automation and factories, the Loop is where successful products can be automated in production for mass-selling. To be given permission to utilise the Loop is one of the highest honours an engineer of Compilation can receive. Very little of the Loop is accessible to the general public - most manufacturing lines are kept in total secrecy and protected from scrying via leaden panels.Outsiders: stick to the Markets and to Recovery if you know what's good for you. No, seriously, you don't want to get further into Compilation unless you're part of the workflow. Too risky to have untrained and accident-prone tourists near, say, the Dipping Vats. Wouldn't want to turn you into a statue, hey?
Evesbay Markets
Potentially the largest and most open area of Compilation, the Markets are located at the very entrance to the city and function as a bustling multi-layered shopping area for any and all visitors or citizens. Permits to sell in the Markets are not hard to obtain: one must simply gain permission from the Council's lackeys, and obtain certification from Pest Removal. Obtaining a physical space, however, can be a competitive race whenever a desirable area opens up - usually involving plenty of bribery and skirting just shy of the rules against fighting in the open.Recovery Quarter
Even engineers and marketeers need spaces to relax and build lives, and that is the function of Recovery. Despite most homes being crammed into one facet, Recovery is well-structured to ensure that the stacks of houses don't become claustrophobic, overwhelming, or unsafe. Verdant spaces and open park areas form breaks in the walls of odd shapes, giving citizens large areas to unwind. Schools, political buildings, and other necessities can also be found lurking around Recovery if they weren't permitted to operate elsewhere.Demographics
Mostly gnomish citizens as befitting the Polyhedral Gnomes. Some stubborn dwarven outcasts have managed to find acceptance. Other species are mostly visitors or prisoners.
Government
As part of Polyhedra, Compilation is subject to the rule of the Spherical above all else. However, the city does have its own Twelve-Sided Council that keeps day-to-day order.
Compilation boasts the second-highest tax rate of Polyhedra, a fact that its citizens are willing to accept for the benefits they receive. Housing is partially sponsored by the state and experimentation grants are freely given to innovators. Some view this as an easy ride, and attempt to abuse or waste their 'winnings'. These abusers face heavy punishment and loss of freedoms: the most serious transgressors are sent to Execution, the state's labour-based prison.
Defences
Strong warding arrays cover the entire city, with the most dense being wards against scrying and teleportation (to prevent theft of intellectual property). Aside from those, a force of gnomish guards - the Prismatic - keeps avid watch at all times, and a system of scrying mechanisms (with special blood-attuned keys to penetrate the wards) is in place to watch for any unwanted intruders.
Industry & Trade
Largely industrial - in too many ways to count. Automation and efficiency are the lead attributes held dear by Compilation's citizens. Even travel is made more simple by rail systems and teleportation runes that provide easy ways between facets.
Architecture
Most of Compilation's base buildings are crafted from a mixture of iron, steel, and blackened stones. Interiors of Recovery and many less-permanent structures in the Markets are instead constructed from a blend of earth and organics known as 'adobe'. As with all of Polyhedra, their architecture eschews fanciful accents for clean, sharp edges and harsh lighting, with an emphasis on polyhedral shapes.
Most buildings are constructed with the dodecahedron in mind, thanks to the Twelve-Sided Council's power, but many also fall back on the standard penta- and hexahedron shapes common throughout the nation. As per usual, no spherical rooms are permitted except for those reserved for nobility.
Geography
Compilation is largely belowground, as is most of Polyhedra. However, the Markets extend out onto a snowy peak with access to a rarely-used airship dock and fresh river water. The views are stunning and allow visitors a way of seeing across the many peaks of Iskaldhal on rare clear days. Despite this, most of Compilation's citizens prefer the manipulated light sources of their own construction.
Type
City
Population
undefined
Related Ethnicities
Inhabitant Demonym
Compilers (rarely used - profession/subdivision names preferred)
Location under
Owning Organization
Related Tradition (Primary)
"Formation's temperature is always in direct opposition to the Forges due to a complex atmospherical polarising machine invented purely by mistake." lmao, i love that