Highloft

The city is ruled by the High Gardeners, an aristocratic oligarcy led by the Lord/Lady Cultivator. Zhao Yun Chi, shown in the illustration below, became the Lady Cultivator of Highloft in the 32nd Century and was also a secret founder member of the Sisters of Vabatan, as related in the Diary of Clarise Vabatan.     In modern times, under the Alchemical Alliance, the ruler of Highloft also holds the title of Grand Alchemist.   Civic protection within the city is handled by a force called the Bloomguard which maintains law and order on behalf of the government.

The Houses of Cultivation

  This area to the north and west of the centre, contains many of the most important civic buildings used by the rich families who make up the oligarchy of the High Gardeners. It also contains some beautiful public gardens and pagodas where botanical research programs are pursued.  

Peter's Pillar

  Peter's Pillar is illustrated at the head of the article. It is a wealthy residential plateau at the centre of the city.  

Financial District

  The finanical district is on the east side of the city. At the heart of this area are two heavily built stacks called the Islands of Exchange, linked by the "Money Bridge" and illustrated below.    

The Orchid Cliffs

  A major growing area in the south of the city where the Triquetra Orchid is nourished and harvested.

The city was founded during the age of the First Popular Ascendency in 1977 APC, initially only as a small village close to the sites where the Triquetra Orchids had been found to grow. The orchids had been discovered only a few years earlier by the shy and secretive mage, Oloonya Sarald, who also identified their special properties as an aid in spellcasting. When she died at a relatively young age, local botanists and mages who had grown to cherish the virtues of the orchids searched the mountains and established an outpost high in the forests where they could harvest the flowers. This was the beginning of the city. It grew only slowly whilst the First Popular Ascendency dominated politics but as the climate of opinion changed, at first under the New Pale Empire and later under its successors, the desire for arcane aids of all kinds increased and the produce of Highloft became highly sought after so that the city expanded rapidly. The city's elders were always very careful to do nothing to affect the growth of the orchids and indeed they began to manage and grow them as an active crop, carefully cultivating the once wild asset.   During the early years of the era of the Four Aerial Courts, the now wealthy Highloft asumed the role of an aerial control hub for south and central Punjuki and became counted as the last but by no means the least of the four great courts. Airships and balloons linked it to the rest of the continent and the other three courts.   Towards the end of the era of the Moderators' Council the population fell somewhat as an alternative means of arcane focusing using the newly discovered Synaptic Unbinding Potion became more fashionable and supplanted the perfume of the Triquetra Orchid. But this did not, ultimately, stand the test of time.   Highloft is still, even to this day, an important member of the Alchemical Alliance, which it helped to create and Arcane Amplification Perfume produced from Triquetra Orchids continues to be its most important product.   The image at the head of the article, shows "Peter's Pillar", a wealthy central residential plateau, whilst below we see a typical Intercity Airship, "The Sarald", which operated a passanger service between Highloft and Katrapetch in the 31st century APC.  

The mountains which are home to the Triquetra Orchid and to Highloft are very difficult to access by road, with few and narrow passes, steep slopes subject to frequent landslides, fast flowing streams with high cascade waterfalls and isolated islands of rock, surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs. Since the orchid favours these more remote locations there is little wonder that it remained undiscovered for so long. Settlements in Punjuki have always tended to hug the coast and even inland they would reach no further than the base of the mountains, with roads that skirted the foothills. Yet, the high rain forests are beautiful, verdant and rich in wildlife of all kinds and for those that make it their home, Highloft offers some spectacular scenery.

Highloft is far enough south of the equator to experience some limited seasonality but there is not much variation. Summer comes between the months of Kerax and Mald during the northern hemisphere winter and is characterised by frequent storms and heavy rainfalls punctuated by occasional interludes of glorious sunshine. Winter, which is centred around the months of Glim and Tivith, usually sees milder and cooler weather with mist, low cloud and high precipitation. Sometimes there is snow. It is said that Highloft has only a wet season (in winter) and a very wet season (in summer).