Fall of Turthai

Date: (of final collapse) June 9th, 699 GY
Location: Turthai, Kyr
Outcome: Turthai destroyed by Badlands, refugees and College of Soaring Spears relocated to Azlet

For nearly 10 years, the lofted city of Turthai had watched the encircling spread of the badlands with increasing trepidation. Earthquakes and tremors had been a near-daily occurrence since they began in 690, and had only increased in the months since the great central chasm had first opened in 698. In that time, the crack only spread, it’s ultimate target very clearly the city itself. Based out of Turthai, the College of Soaring Spears had organized evacuations from the very day after the chasm first opened, accelerating as much as possible during April and May 699, as crack both widened and sped northward, and the outer towers fell.

Unfortunately, Gondola lines west towards Meliar’s Spire and east to Olmo’s Spire and Eithu had long since fallen to the badlands, leaving the only viable escape path to the north, towards Rucha and Azlet. This created a bottleneck, meaning that on the morning of June 9th, a full quarter of the city had yet to be evacuated, when the chasm finally arrived at the base of the city.

Turthai was built into a collection of natural stone arches and spires, cored out through clever engineering, and connected by bridges of living, air-rooted trees. The massive, warren-like structure, though far sturdier than first appearance, began to crumble from the southern-point upwards, starting at around 10 AM. Once the first spire fell, those connected to it by the bridge network followed shortly. Fortunately, the southern-most spires had been the first emptied, but the domino effect of the destruction meant that the 2000 or so people remaining had only a scant handful of hours to evacuate.

The officers in charge of organizing departure that day were Tenma Rajouri--at the time, a Teaching Professor in Militarium--along with Nikolo Varnados and [a Militarium professor], Enket Palokri, Turthai’s government housing coordinator, [a government housing liaison from Azlet], and [two Wardens of the Endless Road]. The timeline of events during the city’s final hours is presented here:

  • 10:15 AM -- Tenma Rajouri sends a message via speaker that all remaining people in the city must come to the northernmost Gondola Tower immediately. Further, all outgoing gondola trips will be people only; any belongings that cannot not be carried on a person must be left behind, to accommodate more passengers.

  • 10:30 AM – Tenma Rajouri, Nikolo Varnados, [the Militarium Professor], and Enket Palokri do a sweep as far south as possible, searching for stragglers. On the way, they are alerted to the presence of an elderly couple in distress by [one of their grandchildren], who is unable to lift them out from under a fallen arch. With the help of Nikolo, [the grandchild] is able to clear the debris and get the couple to the northern platform. Palokri and [the Militarium Professor] continue the sweep.

  • 10:45 AM – One of those waiting to evacuate, [a Physicker with the Caretakers of the Heartsgrove], volunteers to be on one of the last gondolas out in order to treat any wounded, such as the couple recently discovered. [A Channeler] and [a young Practicum Student] volunteer as well.

  • 11:30 AM – The entire southern district is swallowed, including the entirety of the campus of the Soaring Spears. [The Militarium Professor] finds [six people taking shelter] in a Chantry in the middle district, mostly children. [The Chanter] and Palokri get into a heated argument over whether a sacred artifact will be allowed on the Gondola; [the Chanter] says that the two of them should take [the children], and [the Chanter] will remain. [The Professor] offers to carry out the artifact, a large musical instrument, if [the Chanter] will lead out the children, as they are wasting time. This is agreed.

  • 1:30 PM – Halfway to gondola platform AT1 (Midgate, later known as Shieldgate); one of the gondola carriages snags on the wire, thanks to a piece of flying debris. [A Soaring Spears Student Artificer aboard the gondola] is able to perform a daring repair with the aid of [a Platform Engineer] dispatched from the tower. This delays the evacuation by a full hour.

  • 2:30 PM – Evacuations resume. The search parties return to the platform, having recovered a small handful of [additional refugees].

  • 3 PM – The last of the middle district collapses into the Chasm. [A Professor of Practicum] waiting to evacuate realizes that if they don’t act quickly, the domino effect will pull down towers connected to the escape platform; and informs Nikolo Varnados, [the Militarium Professor] and Rajouri. They coordinate an effort to cut cables into the city from the platform as quickly as possible.

  • 4 PM – The northern district begins to fall; the destruction is clearly visible from the gondola platform where the refugees are waiting.

  • 5 PM – the last Gondola leaves Turthai, carrying all remaining people on the platform. It is unknown how many others might have remained in the city.

  • 6:30 PM – The final gondola arrives at Midgate, and the gondola line south to Turthai is cut.

  • 7:00 PM – The last remnants of Turthai completely swallowed by the Chasm.

The Evacuees were ultimately brought to Azlet, where the College of Soaring Spears was re-established alongside the Twin Horizons Campus. The Academy absorbed as many as possible in temporary housing, but large numbers had to temporarily shelter in Platform A1 before they could receive permanent housing assignments in one of the cities. In the meantime, Rajouri and all those helping them, as well as [the Artificing Student] and [Volunteers who helped treat the wounded] were honored by the Assembly for their part in the evacuation. Rajouri went on to become the Dean of the College of Soaring Spears in 720 GY.

PC Roles

  • Nikolo Varnados: Saleem H.