Longhouse
The Longhouse is the central structure in Songtown, a settlement on the planet Syren in the Phorcys system. (Previously known as the OCN-812 system) As the largest structure in the settlement, the Longhouse functions as the community marketplace (as it is safe from the scouring winds of Syren), tavern, hotel, bureaucratic offices, and even the headman's residence (the nominal mayor of the community).
The Longhouse started life as a Fold-capable star freighter known as the "Hawkhurst". John Tomoke, captain of the Hawkhurst, (and skilled smuggler) decided to retire to Syren for undisclosed reasons nearly one hundred years ago. On December 5th, 933 R.E. the Hawkhurst made it's final voyage, leaving behind the galaxy it had traversed for so many years, and landing on Syren, never to fly again. The transition from spaceship to community center began immediately. First to go was the engines. Both the reactionary drives used for navigating real space, and the Transition drives used for traversing the mind-breaking void of Fold-Space, were pulled and scrapped for parts. The Marigold Device was removed and repurposed into the community's Fold Beacon, which connected the OCN-812 system directly with the rest of the space-faring galaxy for the first time.
This gutting of the engineering section made for a grand open space that would later become the Marketplace. The Hawkhurst's cargo hold was converted into living space initially. And still contains Songtown's tavern, visitor's quarters, and governmental offices, as well as community storage and an athletics center. The crew quarters and bridge area were kept by Captain Tomoke and his spouse as their personal home, and their descendants still live in that part of the Longhouse to this day.
The Longhouse is 450 meters long, 50 meters wide at it's widest points, and at it's highest about 16 meters tall. It has a variety of metallic bits and bobs sticking out from the upper portions of its structure. Many of these once served some function, but several more were added for aesthetics when it was discovered that the strong winds of Syren could make the Longhouse "sing" when they blew across the structure.
A visitor to Songtown would first approach the Longhouse from what is now considered the front. A massive wall of metal with two great doors in the center, refered to as the "aft doors" by the locals. These doors are open when the winds of Syren are mild, giving one a clear view of the marketplace of Songtown within. The outer walls of the Longhouse have been decorated with bricks made from the local clay to a height of about three meters in most places.
Alterations
Many alterations have been attempted over the decades to make the Longhouse more building like, and less starship like, to varying degrees of success.
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