Sal-Maneth
Location
The Floating City of Sal-Maneth is a First Age ruin within Haltan territory, claimed by the Republic. It is found on the eastern bank of the Blackwater River , east of Resplendent Peak , above territory claimed by the Fair Folk (as Yseult’s Domain).
History
Sal-Maneth was a wonder of the Shogunate, a huge floating city which moved slowly on a circuit around the Northeastern Threshold, serving as administrative capital and defensive headquarters for the region. The city was controlled directly by an emissary of the Shogun, rather than a local daimyo, though its power meant that on occasion that emissary would emerge as a powerful daimyo in their own right and challenge for the Shogunal Seat.
When the Great Contagion struck, Sal-Maneth was devastated. The Shogunal bureaucracy at first took on refugees, but as the true extent of the sickness became apparent it attempted to cut off access and enforce quarantines. The population rioted, and a daimyo below struck upward in vain hope of seizing a position of safety. Fighting raged through the streets and gantries, and the whole city began to list and descend. Believing it too unstable to remain habitable, and faced with encroaching hordes of Fae, the Shogunate bureaucrats and officers of the 25th Legion of the Shogun led the survivors in an evacuation downriver to the west… the bulk of these evacuees encamped where the city of Rubylak is now located, and went on to form part of the union that produced the Linowan Nation.
But Sal-Maneth did not fall, and did not die. Empty and afloat, it came to rest and was left unravaged by the Fair Folk, home to beasts and hermits until the emerging Republic of Halta laid claim to it.
Layout
Sal-Maneth is a massive structure of interconnected metalwork and glass, which once covered almost two square miles, floating a hundred and fifty feet above the ground. Tall blue glass towers and small plazas are linked by broad walkways formed from lace-like metalwork leaving open the view to the ground far below. Though it appears slight, the city has all the resilience of First Age architecture, and modern attempts to breach its sealed portions have ended in failure.
The city is, however, far from invincible, as proven by its present state: nearly a third of the city has fallen to the ground, where it lies broken on the forest floor, and vast sections of the remainder have been twisted and shattered. Trees grow up between walkways and towers, though none ever seem to come so close as to touch their branches upon the city. Some of these trees are connected to the rest of Halta by branchpaths, and eight large rope bridges stretch to connect these paths to the more habitable sections of the Floating City , where Haltan scholars and soldiers have set up encampments within intact glass towers.
The city remains highly dangerous, with ancient First Age weapons and devices threatening explorers with harm, and more modern beasts which have moved into the ruins. A number of intact glass towers remain sealed and inaccessible, their contents a mystery… one many believe is certainly of great value.
Population & Economy
Though it is a ruin, Sal-Maneth is not devoid of life in the present day. Several hundred Haltan soldiers and scholars are encamped in the areas of the city which are most stable. These provide security for the city against foreign looters and Linowan agents, and sift through the city for anything of value as the core of Halta’s domestic Scavenger Economy. Sal-Maneth has offered up a number of major discoveries which now serve the Haltans well: several pieces of essence artillery (albeit in poor repair), a library of Shogunate texts on administration, and a half-dozen essence-driven elevator systems now installed to connect the levels of their capital at Chanta. These days the items recovered are far more minor: shards of blue Adamantine Glass and small amounts of Feathersteel, sharp Blueflame Crystals, clothing or texts of imperishable silk, and more rarely a glass Essence Circuit plate, Fire Pearl, or some variety of Transperfect Domestic Tool.
Aside from the Haltans, Sal-Maneth’s less accessible sections are home to a handful of hermits living in isolation, and to packs of wild beasts such as Hatra and Giant Wolf Spiders. Haltan forces go to great lengths to purge the city of such interlopers, so as to secure their claim.
