ok, i think i've finally grouped my hundreds of ideas and scrapped concepts together into something i can stick with
picture an island roughly where madagascar would be
this is morobai
morobai is where the an oddly shaped forest resides, guarding a spire that reaches to the stars
and is said to grant wishes at the top
hundreds if not thousands of climbers and explorers arrive on morobai seeking this, but it has yet to be found
the forest is not the real danger, but how the spire preys on the wishes an desires of those who climb it
delvers and explorers travel to morobai via airship or boat, with the former often being able to skip forest travel completely
the spire itself is a massive construct, almost appearing made of bone of white rock
being large enough to fit whole ecosystems and biomes inside it
its estimated at being at least several thousand feet high, but thats just the highest anyones gone and still able to return
all manner of strange beast and denizen reside in the spire, be they of help to travelers, or hostile
some unable to even live outside of it




>the faint sound of rain and wind against the cabin window wakes me.
>i guess this means we're almost there. 
>leaning over and securing the lock better, i rub my eyes as they adjust to the darkness of the room.
>at least this ship is holding together...
>thinking back to where i was just a few months ago, its a wonder i'm even here. 
>i'm not exactly sure how i even got to this world, all i remember before waking up in a grassy field was me in a car, and then a flash of light before i blacked out. aside from that i have no clue what happened, and so far nothing has left me more confused. 
>i'd spent months trying to find any shred of evidence about these dreams of mine, but it was all for nothing. 
>but, that was until i had found "it". the island of morobai. 
>they say on this island is an ancient spire of ancient rock and stone, reaching towards the heavens.
>they also say those who reach the top have their wishes granted.
>now, i know it sounds crazy, but this might have been my only chance of getting back to wherever i came from, even if its by a longshot. 
>not that i'm the one to believe in a wish granting magical tower, but i've seen stranger things since arriving.
>fast forward a few weeks and i was on an airship to morobai, along with many other people probably searching for similar answers. 
>but asking around non of them seem to have any knowledge of my memories, as they were all native born. 
>the rocking of the airship in the storm makes me catch myself, we must be descending now. 
>grabbing my bag and packing it, along with quickly putting on the harsh weather clothes, i stumble out of my cabin into the hallway. 
>looks like everyone is either still asleep, or already left. 
>sneaking though making sure not to make any noise, i finally reach the upper deck. 
>the rain has pretty much stopped for now, with the only thing around us being a thick fog. 
>i can feel the ship lurching beneath my feet, slowly descending closer to the island.
>close enough to see some ground now, it appears to be mostly marchlands, rolling hills and forests. 
>not to mention some of the absolutely colossal mountains, some dipping into sinkhole valleys large enough to hold their own forests. 
>leaning over the railing to get a closer look, some more suspect landmarks come into view. 
>a massive amount of ruins, some even appearing as small towers and spires marking the otherwise completely natural landscape. 
>now, i dont know much about the history of this world, but i was told that morobai was extremely remote. 
>and even then, only populated by mostly delvers, treasure hunters and other manor of people. 
>mostly in the main port town, and other smaller scattered settlements, little more than villages with under 50 people. 
>i was told that it was "mostly safe, just stay smart and aware", but i dont know if he meant the people or the wildlife. 
>"dozin off there stranger ?" a muffled voice calls out at me. 
>catching my attention is someone completely covered in thick plate armor, not a bit of skin showing. 
>complete with what i assumed was the hide of some monster draped over it. 
>"just makin sure a rookie doesnt fall over again". 
>"oh no i'm fine, but thanks" i reply shortly. 
>"might i ask what brings a stranger like you here ? you dont act like anyone i've ever seen..".
>"lets just say its a long story". 
>we both are leaning on the side, just watching the landscape in silence. 
>based of the time we should be landing in the main port town in a little bit.
>but in the meantime, watching the land from this point of view is relaxing in a sense. 
>"oh look, there it is !".
>the armored figure is pointing to something far off in the fog. 
>at first it looks like a wall, but as the fog parts its clear that its something much larger. 
>the spire. 
>the absolutely massive structure looms over the horizon, stretching far beyond human eyesight into the sky above. 
>fog and clouds wrapped around it like a blanket, concealing its true nature. 
>"they say the ancients built this ya know" the armored figure speaks up. 
>"the ancients ?". 
>"yeah, people from before out time, thousands of years ago probably". 
>i ponder on that implication for a moment. 
>"and these ancients, what happened to them ?". 
>the figure composes themselves for a second, before speaking up again. 
>"its said the ancients built a tower to reach the gods, and then vanished without a trace". 
>"do you think thats what happens at the top ?".
>"dont know stranger, no ones ever reached it yet". 
>as the airship descends towards the landing point, thoughts of the previous conversation drift in my head. 
>something tells me there's more to the spire than they know. 





>the fog is parted by the sun as it shines upon the port town of yuko. 
>i know, weird name, but thats what its called apparently. 
>a bunch of other people are gathered on deck now, especially since the spire is in full view off in the distance. 
>as we get closer to the ground, the whole image of the town comes into view. 
>its not super large, but enough so for a port town. 
>other airships come and go from the landing ports, all in sync. 
>a loud "c-chunk" is heard before the anchor is let loose on our ship, the weights dragging it closer to the docks. 
>the docks themselves were built on massive wooden platforms, almost like a gathering hall far above the town. 
>as the ship gently drifts down before locking in place, workers throw thick ties up over the railing. 
>other shipworkers onboard tie knots locking the ship in place as the top is slowly drained of whatever gas rests inside. 
>as me and the rest of the travelers disembark, the same armored figure from earlier comes up behind me. 
>"so were ya headed stranger ? perhaps work that involves that spire ?". 
>thinking for a moment, can i just respond with "i dont know" ?. 
>fuck it. 
>"i dont actually know why, i had some questions that needed answering, and people told me the spire might hold the key". 
>even though i cant see their face, the figures energy gives off "are you serious bro" vibes. 
>"i thought you might say somethin like dat, rookies always do have dreamy feeling about this place, until reality hits that is". 
>"what do you mean ?". 
>moving a bit closer, the figure opens a hatch on the side of their pointed helmet. 
>from inside it all i can see is a single inhuman eye, although scarred and scratched beyond sight. 
>"this land preys on the wants and desires of people, you'd best be weary stranger". 
>the voice is much softer when not obscured by plating and padding. 
>closing the hatch, the mystery figure begins to walk away. 
>"hey wait, what was your name ?" i call after them. 
>"its sable, dont wear it out". 
>and with that they walk away to whatever work they'd came for. 
>leaving me on my own, a stranger in a strange land. 
>i sigh as i make my way off the airship platform and into the town below.





>the streets and market of yuko are extremely chaotic, filled with all manner of man and beasts. 
>the town itself constructed out of mostly log buildings, with supports for the higher platforms and buildings leaned up against the cliffside.
>large walls around the outer sections too, but...
>i wonder what those are for ?.
>sable did say something about the lands beyond town being dangerous. 
>given what i've heard of morobai, and the spire in general, i'm inclined to believe them. 
>a massive creature, hauling a cart snaps me out of my thinking as it waddles through the crowded street. 
>being pulled in its cart is the butchered remains of some large animal, freshly skinned and gutted. 
>whatever it was, it was too mutilated to tell what it looked like before. 
>what isnt unclear though, is the horrible stench coming off it. 
>no one but me seems to notice of course, which brings stares my way given my reaction
>come to think of it, this place is more populated than i thought it would be. 
>all manner of traders, shops, meat markets, and even gambling. 
>pretty much everything in town is related to some kind of work on the island, no kind of consumer work.
>it either relates to delvers and explorers, or caters to things they need.
>no in between. 
>come to think of it, i guess sable was some kind of delver.
>making my way deeper into the crowded market, i need to find a way into the spire. 
>assuming how long people have been coming here, someone has to have explored some of it. 
>right ?.
>there has to be some kind of way to get in contact with the locals in a more centralized way. 
>like a bar or a guildhouse. 
>within the heart of the town now, i spot something that might help. 
>"delver charterhouse" written in an odd glyph style of writing. 
> a pretty large building too, almost like a hotel. 
>entering past the revolving doors, i'm heat by the feeling of heat, warm food, and music. 
>given the tone you'd think it was a festival on the inside, not exactly like a bar, more like a waiting room with tables. 
>and given the stares i get, i'm guessing i appear very out of place with my jeans and windbreaker. 
>just great. 
>making my way through the dining patrons and various delvers and explorers, i'm greeted with what looks like a front desk. 
>maybe this can help me. 
>and of course, there's a line. 
>because of course there'd be one. 
>just my luck. 



>while in line i decide to pull out the book i've been recording shit in. 
>its not much, but it pays off to remember some of the more..exotic phrasing in this world. 
>i've been wrriting down certain names and wording that i might need to remember.
>held up on the wall above the desk, just high enough for the whole room to see, is what looks like a map of sorts. 
>its a massive top down graph of the island from above, with detailed legends on specific locations. 
>they even have some of the smaller sandy bank islands offshore charted too. 
>looking over the map more, i try to sketch bits of it into my book. 
>dont know when i might need it. 
>one part that sticks out to me though, is the large circle at the center. 
>the legend labeling it reads off as the "sky corridor", right at the middle of morobai. 
>no doubt that its the ancient spire. 
>there's even other regions mapped around it, giving morobai an almost spiral nature when viewed from above. 
>everything revolves around the tower. 
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