.jpg){kind=small}
Éthéré Coeur: The Paramount City Above the Ruins of a Fallen Heart
- johatfieldsoa
- Jun 28
- 4 min read
Éthéré Coeur, capital of Premier Esprit and seat of power for all lands under the Suzerain’s sovereign reign, is a breathtaking fusion of architectural brilliance and technological mastery. Known as the Paramount, this city rises nearly half a mile above the ground on a massive stone disk held aloft by eight arching pillars.
More than a wonder of design, Éthéré Coeur is a monument to resilience—a city built upon tragedy and dedicated to survival.
A City Built Above a Fallen Capital
Beneath Éthéré Coeur lie the ruins of Athánatos Kardiá, the first capital city, built by Eidolon, the original Suzerain four thousand years ago. Once a symbol of hope, Athánatos Kardiá fell when Phases swarmed its streets, turning citizens into dampened in overwhelming numbers. In a desperate bid to stop the spread, Eidolon brought the city down himself. He was never seen again.
Refusing to let his father’s chosen ground fall into oblivion, Suzerain Maël, Eidolon’s son, ordered a new city to be built directly above the ruins. Thus was born Éthéré Coeur: a city above the bones of the old, where every stone is a reminder of what was lost.
The Three Rings of Éthéré Coeur
Upon the vast circular disk, the city divides into three main districts, each marked by a ring of distinct building materials that leave no doubt as to the city’s stark wealth divide.
The Trough
The outermost ring, the Trough, is built of rough gray stone. Jagged docks and rocky platforms jut from the edge of the disk, providing precarious mooring for soulevers eager to unload wares, whether that be goods or people. This is the city’s underbelly—a place of poverty, struggle, and survival.
Buildings wear coats of green moss and algae, making them look like warty, swollen creatures. Wastewater from higher rings trickles through open canals, leaving the air damp and sour. The streets are narrow and crooked, lit only by flickering étincelle lamps.
Here, forgotten trades persist—scavengers, tinkerers, smugglers, and those too poor or proud to leave. Life is hard in the Trough, but its people are resilient, bound by necessity and fierce loyalty to the Suzerain.
The Market Ring
Above the Trough, through guarded copper gates and up long, worn stairs, lies the market ring. Built of sturdy red brick, this ring hums with color, sound, and movement.
Narrow streets open into broad ones packed with stalls and shops where merchants from across Premier Esprit gather to trade. Banners flap in the breeze, spices perfume the air, and the din of haggling voices fills every corner. Automatram stations mark busy crossings, their lights guiding passengers along routes through—or above—this beating heart of commerce.
The market ring is a place of contrasts. Here, fortunes rise and fall in a single day. Honest traders work beside less savory dealers, and dreams thrive or die beneath the shadows of the Crest above.
The Crest
Guarded by a golden fence and elevated from the clamor below, the Crest is Éthéré Coeur’s crown—a district of power, privilege, and precision.
The streets are lined with white marble mansions, their bronze balconies gleaming in the sun. Parks, courtyards, and manicured gardens break the expanse of stone, offering shade and serenity. By night, grooves of étincelle lights glow softly, tracing golden lines through the quiet streets.
The Crest is home to the city’s elite: merchant lords, Sommet councilmen, Commandants, and those who shape the Suzerain’s will. Only the finest merchants are licensed to trade here, and the goods they offer are unmatched in quality—rare wines, masterwork crafts, and luxuries from distant lands.
Silent voietrams glide along light-marked paths, ferrying the powerful between their mansions, offices, and the towers at the city’s heart.
The Towers of Power
At the city’s core stand three ivory towers, arranged in a protective triangle around Lumière du Coeur, the golden lighthouse palace—the Suzerain’s home and the beating heart of the world.
The Résonateur Édifice: Where emotion becomes power, and power learns restraint. Here, Résonateurs are trained, housed, and given their assignments. The guard barracks stand nearby, ever ready to defend the Suzerain’s will.
The Bibliothèque de l’Archiviste: The Sommet’s seat, where knowledge and communication are guarded. This vast library is the vault of Premier Esprit’s history, the hub of the relier system, and the council’s command center.
The Pylône de la Science: Birthplace of innovation and home to the grand soulever harbor where the greatest airships take flight. Here, technology and ambition shape the future of the realm.
And at the very center: Lumière du Coeur—the Suzerain’s golden lighthouse palace, ringed by fountains and silver channels of clean water—a maze of light and sound at the city’s beating heart.
A City That Endures
Though divided by stone, fences, and fortune, the rings of Éthéré Coeur are bound together in uneasy harmony. Each depends on the others: the Crest as the seat of power, the Market Ring for its trade and commerce, the Trough for its grit and hidden skills. And beneath them all, the ruins of Athánatos Kardiá whisper of what can be lost.
Éthéré Coeur stands as both wonder and warning. Mistakes of the past should not be forgotten, for there is a cost for complacency. Every arch, tower, and stone speaks of survival—and the vigilance required to preserve it.
Comments