The Cave of the Hanging Bridges & Bridge Town

The pounding heart of Djachroum is the huge cavern in the middle of the asteroid called the Cave of the Hanging Bridges. The sight that meets newly arrived wabas when they enter the cave for the first time is incomparable. The circular cave is several hundred meters wide and high and filled with an eclectic mix of old and newly built stone buildings, sheds, rickety ladders, winding stairs and - above all - a myriad of bridges and ramps that criss-cross the cave's expanse. It never gets quiet here, the cries of the merchants are mixed with calls from the Governor's Palace and the chirping and chattering of the Kuan dwarf monkeys, which swing high up in the cave from bridge to bridge in search of a snack or something shiny.
The cave is divided into 3 parts: • the Shambles, which include the lower levels, • Bridge Town which includes the neighbourhoods clinging to the cave walls and connected by the many bridges that gave the cave its name, and • highest up the Skylight or “Heavenly Light”
The shambles The Shambles is the first thing new arrivals see when arriving from the space port. The Port Tunnel opens straight into basaars filled with stalls, barbecues, small tents and all kinds of merchants, crooks, and street children. On the adjacent houses sit chattering monkeys begging for food and under sun lamps Azuks lounge lazily. In the corner of the basaar, people gather daily to listen to the prophet Ndina's sermons.
From the basaar, alleys and stairs radiate up towards the rest of cave. The wide Sugar Boulevard meanders up to a beautiful building, Hahmat's Bridge Gallery. Here, everything imaginable is sold, from old Vulcan guns to the nomad's luxurious jet silk. Adjacent to the mall is Lotus Square on a ledge above the Shambles. If you walk across the square, you reach Hahmat's suspension bridge, offering a tunning view over the Shambles and all its commercial activity. There is also Sasaya's arena hosting Azuk fights and the Walk of the Faithful, a road between walls that the Founders built and that are deemed the oldest surviving structures in the cave. The people of the station have built nine mihrabs, prayer alcoves, along the wall, where they walk and offer their prayers to each icon. During the Pilgrimaria, the worshippers become so numerous that the Purple Guard must manage admission to the narrow alley.
Bridge town Bridge Town is the name of the part cave that clings to the walls and is connected by countless bridges and stairs. Here you will find official institutions such as the Purple Guard’s headquarters and its guard tower that overlooks the Shambles, the Consulate of the Consortium with faction representative Lahan Mordai and his legion guards, and not least Nariman's temple where the powerful priest has his abode and keeps his valuable collection of relics. Further up is the Poets' Quarter with its hanging hawa palms and greenery. Writers, poets, and artists gather at the many cafes and canteens that nestle into small buildings hanging out over the cliff edge, dizzyingly high over the floor of the Shambles. The Canteen “The Blue Mirvan” is perhaps the most famous of them all. Here you go to drink cheap rowo and pick up the latest stories from Coriolis.

Type

Town

Location under

Djachroum Spaceport

Included Locations

• Archaeological Institute of the Foundation