====== The Heights ======

=====The Cutting Edge=====
Of all the places touched by the Fleet, it was perhaps the Heights that was most strikingly affected by the alien visitors. Always an insular people, they proved surprisingly willing to accept the SHADEs and the Bloom, and worked with them over time to build a remarkable partnership. Even when most of Esharia attempted to rather forcibly evict the Bloom from the country, the Clades fought hard to defend their allies, and the small Bloom colonies around the mountaintops would flourish over the next few years, integrating ever more with their neighbours.

In the wake of the Fleet's departure, the Heights finally managed some degree of unification. The spread of the religious sect known as the Arcana allowed the feuding powers of Morelli and di Greco – one much reduced by recent events, and one much enriched by them – to come to a compromise, with Daieni and Anacleta Morelli operating as competent rulers, backed by the remarkable power of Arch-Heresiarch Camilla di Greco and Saint-Elucidator Generva Diite of the Arcana Church. Many observed that it was the church that held the real power in this relationship, but even so, all parties seemed to be satisfied with the arrangement.

 The spread of the Arcana was further developed by Commander Talas' extensive use of 'Geothermal' power sources, turning the infamous pyroclasms of the Heights into perhaps their greatest asset. Where once the forces of economic and technological modernisation had crippled the Heights, they now worked to raise it to unprecedented prominence, the home of cutting-edge technological developments.

In spite of all this, the power of the SHADE-empowered Clades never waned, and - in contrast to several similar developments recorded on other worlds visited by the Fleet - this 'industrial revolution' was accompanied by an improvement in worker's rights, rather than the inverse. Bloom soldier caste combined with Obliterator mining tools rendered the environment safer and more efficent than ever before, and the new designs and developments resulted in prosperity not seen for many years.

 ---//200 Years On: The Impact of the Fleet// by Luce Nadasy

=====The Secession Crisis=====

Given the sweeping changes across the Heights, many historians are of the opinion that secession was always on the cards. It was still a shock when it came, however. The Diite army took the border posts in a matter of days, a decisive military victory that came amidst rumours that Grand Magnate Lorenzo had petitioned the Queen to quash heretical forces in the region. Unfortunately for the expansionary aims of the Diite family, this action was almost universally condemned by the people of the Heights, who were increasingly falling in behind the Arcana heresy. After a successful start, the Diite forces rapidly stalled, unable to make headway in inclement conditions against trained guerrilla units of Cladespeople and Bloom. The further involvement of Balthazar Rise's Firefighters, who attempted to de-escalate the situation by pushing the Diite troops back to the border, conclusively ended the expeditionary campaign.

The insult was not forgotten, however, and barely a month after the Diite soldiers withdrew, Grand Duchess Morelli announced their secession from the royalty of Esharia, making the Heights a country of its own. It was very nearly her last act; the day after the announcement, she died peacefully of Blacklung, survived by her daughter Rosalia and Great-nephew Daieni. Though this severely worsened diplomatic relations with Esharia, things remained peaceful in large part because of the near-total monopoly on raw materials that the Heights enjoyed. Even so, a general air of belligerence between the two countries continues to this day.

 ---//Revision Guide for ES-Level History Unit B2: The Fleet// by Brekshama Publishing

=====The Arcana Church=====

Today, the Arcana church operates out of the Glinting Cathedra, the mountain-sized construction built over the site of the Observation Core. Pilgrims still come to pay their respects, both to the Core itself and to the twin statues of the Arch-Heresiarch and the Saint-Elucidator. Outposts of the church, built in the shape of the Observation Core, that Most Holy Orb, can be found across the Heights, and the Ivory attendants they send out can usually be found acting as advisors to nobles across the country. 

The less said about the Sepulchral Cathedra, built on top of the crashed Sepulchre Bioship, the better. The legendary R&D division of the church is said to operate from inside that forbidding monster, but few who enter ever emerge.

Adherents to the cult worship the Seven Virtues alongside their saints, each represented by the Holy Emanations of the Fleet:

**The Infinite**: Curiosity, for without their search no we would never have learned of the sphere or the many worlds

**The Bloom**: Industry, for the Bloom are always striving for efficiency, and we should emulate that desire not just surpass others, but ourselves

**The SHADE**: Helpfulness, for they only ever did what they could for others

**The Carnevale**: Joy, for such is the appropriate response to the wonders of the multiverse

**The Signal**: Vigilance, for the multiverse is full of dangers for the unwary

**The Sepulchre**: Purpose, for their single minded goal brought them to exceed all others, and it was only by all our strengths combined were they defeated

**The Beloved**: Family, for no magic or machine can break such bonds.

The Holy Writ of the Arch-Heretic is still available to buy from all good bookstores, and abridged copies are often distributed by travelling missionaries. To this day, the original artwork of Camilla di Greco appears on the cover out of respect, despite several pleas to replace it with something more accurate and less, well, fire-breathing.

 ---//The Rough Guide to the Qeltan Sea//

=====The Future=====
Today, of course, those individuals who made the Heights what it was are long gone. Daieni and Anacleta - or at least, the Daieni and Anacleta who remained on this world - lived long and flourished, but lasted little longer than an ordinary human lifespan. Even so, they were revered for their exemplary love and exemplary statecraft. Camilla di Greco was martyred by an Esharian Orthodox assassin at the age of sixty. Official doctrine records her last words as "at last... ascension". Unofficial doctrine says that it sounded much more like "Fuck you... Grandma". Either way, her death served to put the church on a cold war footing against the rest of Esharia that shows no signs of abating. Generva Diite and Talas went into the Sepulchral Cathedra one day, speaking of their own ascension, and after a wave of blinding pain passed across magic-users across the country, were never seen again.

In their absence, however, the Heights continues to flourish. The so-called 'cold' war with the Esharian mainland shows no signs of abating, but even today the technological superiority of the Heights is substantial enough to equal the military, economic and numerical advantages of the rest of Esharia. The country remains a harsh and forbidding place, but one on the cutting edge of technological development, as the recent rocket launches have demonstrated. Esmet di Greco's talk of colonising the moon is generally considered to be fanciful, but they insist that before the century is out, we will get there.

 ---//The Fleet: A Retrospective//, editorial published in the //Ikoss Herald// by Editor Solis Mustikos


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