The Tower
By Brant Harvey Feb. 1995Chantry Description
Bellerophon Tower: The Tower rises like an arrow of gleaming steel from the desert sands. It is easily the size of some New York skyscrapers, although more slender and less efficiently designed. The overall effect is one of ambition, with just a touch of bad taste. The Tower is constantly under construction on the inside. For example, there are three different elevator systems: a massive freight elevator which works on steam, a semi-functional teleporter (it usually gets close to the right floor) and an empty shaft which Greene uses for anti-gravity experiments. The stairs, oddly, get a lot of use. Lichtenstein has estimated that Bellerophon Tower could easily hold five times as many people as it does now, though this might require some of the cluttered workrooms of the Scientists to be emptied.
Bellerophon Tower is almost entirely self-sufficient. The top five stories contain a variety of electrohydroponic chambers, which grow plants at five times the rate of non-electrified hydroponics. The electricity for this is provided by solar paneling in the roof and outside walls and the water by massive hydrosilicate electroconverters in the basement, which can turn sand and rock into water through the miracle of electricity.
In keeping with Etherite philosophy, the Tower is not very well-armed. Greene believes he could rewire the solar panels to become electrical projectors but, as with so much else in the Laboratory, this is still untested. However, the Scientists have a great transportation system at their disposal: four "dune zeppelins," bus-sized lighter-than-air vehicles designed to cruise about ten feet off the ground, at about the speed of a bicycle.
Purpose
The purpose of Bellerophon Tower is, in Lichtenstein's words, "to reach Olympus." The Chantry's goal is ultimately the terraforming and colonization of Mars. This hugely complicated task is being pursued in dozens of different ways, from developing lifeforms capable of enduring in the Martian soil, to attempting to predict the effects of colonization on social structures. The Society of the Xenologic is less involved with this planning aspect of the project as it is with the development of safe routes to the Red Planet.
Realistically, this purpose is subject to change. Professor Laws envisions converting the Tower into a War Chantry to fight the Void Engineers for the Deep Umbra and Lichtenstein himself secretly plans to use the Laboratory to train a new generation of Etherite Scientists.
History
Bellerophon Tower is very young indeed. Lichtenstein had drawn up the plans while still an apprentice but hadn't managed to do more than correct them occasionally until he met Captain Norton at the Great Hall in Paris. Since she had the Tass he needed, and he could provide the Laboratory she had been looking in vain for, they formed a partnership. The entire affair, however, has been fraught with complications, little mysteries and unexplained deviations from the original plan. Since the actual creation of the Realm two years ago, nothing particularly disastrous has happened but neither have the original ends of the Laboratory come any closer to being fulfilled.
Chantry Inhabitants
The Tower is decidedly short on servants. Essentially, the Laboratory is forced to rely upon the Acolytes of its various members. This includes an ambitious science-fiction author, a nurse who Dr. Shih was accustomed to working with, a clunky robot named "ZORTAK" which Captain Norton picked up from another group of Ethernauts and, yes, a hunchbacked dwarf. Dr. Shih has offered to create a servitor race of mindless tree-men to help with the chores but she has yet to receive any encouragement.
Internal Structure and Relations
Never one to miss a detail, Lichtenstein made sure that the Laboratory had a written covenant, one which, like the U. S. Constitution, can (theoretically) be amended as the Chantry changes. All of the full-fledged members of the Tower receive a say in what occurs within it and are mostly autonomous in their activities. In practice, Lichtenstein's personality controls the affairs of Bellerophon Tower and not even Professor Greene has objected to this.
The Laboratory also possesses a rudimentary legal code, dealing with the means to both accept new members and expel old ones. The code has not been tested.
External Relations
Bellerophon Tower is still extremely young and is well aware of it. They have not yet attracted much attention, although Lichtenstein plans to publish an article about the Realm as soon as it is "finished." The fact that it likely never will be does not concern him much.
Status and Reputation
Bellerophon Tower is essentially unknown, but those who know of it have little reason to disrespect it. However, the fact that it was constructed without consulting the Great Hall would likely tarnish the Realm's image in the eyes of some of the more conservative Sons of Ether.
Status: 0
Reputation: 2
Policy Regarding Outsiders
The Tower's Scientists are leery of being discovered by Void Engineers or Nephandi but realize that the Laboratory is too young to survive without allies and too small to survive without further recruitment. As such, they will be polite and hospitable to any who stumble through a shallowing but will be extremely careful not to reveal any information they feel might harm them. Visitors to the Realm may feel oddly like prisoners.
Allies & Enemies
Luckily for the young Chantry, they have earned no obvious enemies yet. However, the Pegasus has thrice been ambushed in its trips through space by what appears to be a group of Umbrood connected to the Nephandi, implying that the ship, at least, has acquired a nemesis.
Unfortunately, Bellerophon Tower is almost as short of allies. All of the Etherite Scientists have contacts in their Scientific society but the Laboratory has only one truly reliable ally. Kath'kar, an adventurous Umbrood, was saved from Void Engineers by the Pegasus and has since sworn eternal service to Captain Norton. Unfortunately, his only aid to date has been providing a guardian spirit for the Lichtenstein Tower.
If the Ka Luon do exist, then there is certainly a good chance that they are interested in the Realm. However, they have not yet made a confirmable appearance, and the rumors have not made clear how helpful or hostile the aliens might be. There is a chance that the Faerie might also be aware of Bellerophon Tower but, again, any opinions they might hold about it are a secret.
Research Capabilities
The Tower is still limited in its research facilities. It does contain one of the largest collections of back issues of Paradigma in the Tellurian, but members of other Traditions may not find this entirely impressive. The Laboratory also possesses an incredible collection of science fiction, including some "lost" works of Jules Verne.
Fortunately, this same problem does not apply to workspace. There are more laboratories in the Tower than there are bedrooms and most are still empty. Wandering these labs, full of experiments ranging from Dr. Shih's demented parodies of botany to Niles Greene's sparking attempts at Teslan transmission, would drive many Sleeper researchers mad.
The Laboratory's computer system is still unreliable, although B-Loop has worked out a great deal of the bugs. It is also the single best method the Bellerophonians have of learning about the outside world. Deveraux and Ignatius each have their own sets of spies, but neither seems to get much useful information out of them.
There is always enough Quintessence available to sustain the Node, but a surplus is entirely dependent upon how well Lichtenstein Tower is functioning (see above). Professor Laws has advocated raiding Void Engineer outposts for their Quintessence stores but his enthusiasm is unshared.