Chamber

It has been three long days now since we began ascending these cursed rocks. A snow storm had rapidly turned into a blizzard and had been pounding our caravan for the last day and a half. The convoy had lost a vehicle earlier in the night to the winds and snow, but our guides had not even paused in its passing. They had merely begun a keening chant that lasted an hour to mark their kinsman's plunge into darkness. Their ways continue to be bizarre, and despite Master Anette's assurances to the contrary, I feel that I will never feel comfortable around them. As the night continued to worsen, I began to fear for the completion of our mission. Would our guide just drive us over the edge on accident? Would we too be smashed against the mountain? I realize this was no actual concern to us specifically, but it would be a grand waste of time to travel back out this way again when we had already come so far. It was in my moment of doubt that Master Anette pointed out a small beacon of light across from us. I watched transfixed. Even at this distance I could see the immense size of it. Stretched across the remains of what must have been several mountains before they were pulverized was The Dome, the greatest feat of engineering the world has ever seen. A shining light illuminating the night and guiding us through the storm. Moments after I beheld this marvel I saw its companion, The Zephyr's Gate. I had studied the Dome and the Gate in depth before coming this way, hoping to offer objective information when I had finally arrived here. Objectivity could never do these justice. The gate is a huge arch, 300 feet tall and only twenty feet wide at its base on either side, carved out of a crystal that is native to these mountains. It is unsettling and alien looking. The crystals seem to hum in a frequency that sets teeth on edge, and they glow from the inside, demonstrating hues ranging from the color of blood on snow to the green of rotting vegetation. Some of the crystal blocks are roughly cut while others appear heavily machined. Some have etchings of strange writing while some are polished smooth and bright and sharp. All the pieces fit. Nothing is out of place despite the range of styles. The flow is unnaturally perfect. This piece is a master craft in arcane engineering, and I cannot imagine the rituals that hold this thing together.
I saw the first sign of habitation as the convoy approached the Gate. Dozens of shapes milling about the base of the crystal arch while six large shadows sat apparently impassive in front of the arch. They had been waiting for us it would seem. Our convoy stopped a healthy distance from these figures and then Master Anette and the Pacesetter from the caravan headed off alone to face this group. Judging from the Pacesetter's choice of wraps and general demeanor, it must have been blisteringly cold out there. As they began trudging along the path to the group, two shadows materialized out of the storm. As they came near the lights of the caravan, they were revealed to be one of the guards and one of Chamber's fabled war machines, the Golems. It was massive. Twelve feet tall and almost as wide, it appeared to be constructed of solid rock with that same crystal worked into it. It moved with a grace I was not expecting from something that large, and it looked to be taking all of us in with a kind of base intelligence...almost alive. By the time I had finished taking in this hulking engine of war, the conversation between the guard, my master, and the Pacesetter seemed to be concluded. My master was just turning to walk back to the caravan...and laughing? The guard's shoulders appeared to be shaking under his thermal suit as well. Will these wonders never cease? The Pacesetter reclaimed her lead vehicle and urged the convoy through the gate. I asked Master Anette what the cause of her mirth was when she climbed back into our transport. She said simply that the guard was an old friend that she had not seen in several years and was happy to see was still alive. I have seen my Master speak to some of the most powerful people still left in the world, and I have never heard her use the word friend for any of them. If possible, I hope to find out more information on this guard before we leave. The caravan rumbled through the gate.
The gate stands on the opposite cliff side of Chamber. There is no physical bridge between them. As the caravan exits the gate, it enters a place I cannot put into words. No sense of time or place. The sense of things reaching toward me and only a thin shell keeping them away. I am lost.
One second has passed as the caravan enters Chamber. When I regain my senses, I lose them almost immediately again trying to take in the wonder of what I see. Chamber is a city built deep into the depths of the mountains. Above the city sits the Dome, an intricate construction of brass, steel, and stone. Unusually, this marvel lacks any of the crystal that is so prevalent elsewhere. This Dome serves as protection from the harsh mountain weather, is a part of the aqueduct system feeding the city water, and serves as a partial living history monument as sections of the Dome have massive stained glass displays that show the world before the city, it's creation, and the stages it went through to build their society. Other sections of the Dome are just clear glass to let through the sun when it makes an appearance, although the “glass” are likely fields of force since they would provide much more protection. Although I cannot see them, I know the Dome also has a series of solar collectors on its surface to help power the city as well. The most astounding thing is this was built largely by hand as an exercise in community building rather than using mago-tech to make things more efficient. It was a good choice, as both the city and the Dome still stand as testaments to what can be done without the benefits of magic. There has been a long standing rumor that for whatever reason, the people of Chamber lack the numbers of mages that some of the other cities have, but I have seen the footage of their soldiers in the field and know that they have some powerful abilities, even if they are few in number. I look around at my fellow travelers as they begin to unload their cargo and set up shop on the top ring of this city, the Foreign Market. This upper tier is as far as most travelers get into the city, as the ruling families have always been very particular as to who gets into their city proper. Merchants from all over produce a riot of colors and smells as they sell their cloth, spices, electronics, drones, and other exotic goods to the representatives of the Guild of Chamber that then resell them to the locals deeper in the city. It is also here that the the Guild sells their crafted goods such as weaponry, armor, furniture, food, and electronics back to the Pacesetters and their caravans to take back to the other cities. I walk to to the edge of the ring to see the rest of what the city has to offer. Nothing like it exists anywhere else. Beneath the thin ring of the Foreign Market lies the rest of the city buried in the rock. From here I can see nearly to the bottom where the peaks of the royal fortress stands above the cistern where the excess water from the aqueducts collects. Despite being nearly a mile into the rock, everything is clear to see thanks to an ingenious series of screens and lighting that mimic the effects of the day and night cycle outside the city. Even as a storm rages outside, it is a pleasant twilight within the city. The first ring down from me is their agricultural ring. A huge series of fields and farmland that feed the city. I cannot believe what I see. Green everywhere. Crops, grassland to feed animals, trees in orchards, and vineyards in some locations. The colors of nature as it was in the world before even the Bleak Night destroyed so much of the world. No where else is there standing farmland in any of the other cities. It is so beautiful I would cry if I could still.
Tucked under this ring of miracles is where the majority of the population lives. Endless buildings, streets, and small shops carved straight into the mountain from where the original impact craters tore into the heart of the rock. Massive pillars support the agricultural ring above it. Worked into the rock itself is more of the aqueduct system that brings in water to the people. Scattered around throughout the housing ring's streets and thoroughfares are streetlamps made of elaborately wrought steel and crystal giving ample illumination on this level at night. Underneath the housing ring is the craft ring, and it is here that the numerous artisans ply their trade. It is also here that the Guild of Chamber is found, and the craft ring shares space with the local markets where people purchase local items and the exotics from the Foreign Market. There are mostly open spaces and larger complexes here, and there are a number of small parks located on this level for the leisure of the cities citizens. While I cannot see it from the Foreign Market, I have read that the a number of their science labs are built further into the rock of the mountain, outside the diameter of the city itself. These are more hardened locations for some of the more dangerous experiments that the city is rumored to perform. If one can believe the talk, they may even have a working particle accelerator built in the depths of the stone, but that seems like a stretch for these people. The final ring I can see from on high only because of the light that is pouring out from it even this late in the night. The sun never goes down on justice, and so it is in the Court. My readings have led to the discovery that the Court is actually where the business of running Chamber is done. Administration, the justice system, and even the noble families reside on this ring. I understand that it houses some of the finest examples of stone crafted architecture that Chamber can produce. I hope that my Master's travels here will take us this far in. I will see what tomorrow brings.