Grave Pillar

The Grave Pillar (グレイヴピラー) is an enormous tower located in the other world of Luminous Avenger iX 2, serving as the primary location of the game. Left behind by a figure only known as The Creator centuries ago, it is said that all the world's knowledge is stored at the top with the tower's supervisory AI, the Mother Computer, who resides in a structure fixed in space above the tower known as the Hanging Gardens (天上の楽園 Aerial Paradise or 空中庭園 Hanging Garden). The tower is guarded by special Workers known as the Gravekeepers. At least some of the technology in the tower is created out of Pix, much like the Workers themselves. The tower also possesses human cultural artifacts such as video games, which can be accessed from terminals.
The pillar originally served as a test site for experiments to restore the environment. Its interior is mainly divided into sectors known as Blocks, and many blocks are dedicated to simulating a variety of climates and terrains, ranging from a jungle to an active volcano. These physically impossible environments exist within an "other space" (異空間). It also appears that any fauna and flora encountered in the blocks is fake, as the birds are robots in disguise, plants show unnatural growth abilities, and the Mother Computer is alarmed by the presence of an actual lifeform signature within the tower.
The tower possesses high defenses and firepower, with security robots patrolling most areas, an entire block being devoted to their manufacture, a laser lab with enough firepower to destroy the tower itself, and nigh impenetrable bulkheads barring access to the upper areas. The Mother Computer was confident that if allowed to she could use the tower to "reset" the world and annihilate all Workers outside it.
The tower was created at a time when humanity had not yet gone extinct, and the ground level entrance is set to automatically unlock if a human is detected. Access beyond the lower levels is barred without permission however, and at some point humans seeking the tower's data fought the oldest Gravekeepers Dacite and Hail.LAiX2 official site, Dacite and Hail's character sections.
"Grave Pillar" and "Gravekeepers" are nicknames made up by later generations of Workers, and not even the oldest of the so-called Gravekeepers know who exactly came up with the names. The tower's real name, the Gravekeepers' real title, and the origins of it all, are ultimately never revealed.
==Gravekeepers==
The Gravekeepers (墓守 Gravekeeper, alternatively spelled グレイヴキーパーズLuminous Avenger iX2 Soundtrack) are six special combat Workers who possess keys to the bulkheads and are assigned their own blocks. Their assigned mission is to eliminate all intruders, including humans despite the Workers' role as servants of mankind. In the event of their destruction, the tower's maintenance system will rebuild them. Some Gravekeepers have been active for centuries, while others are replacements for past ones. The circumstances behind the creation or retirement of a Gravekeeper are unknown. They are capable of meeting and getting to know each other, but for some it's a rare event due to the distance of blocks.
Ypsilon fills a similar role as a security Worker, but as he has freedom of movement within the tower he is not a Gravekeeper.
==Structure==
===Pillar Outskirts and Foundation===
The Grave Pillar is surrounded by a series of sixteen smaller towers of unknown purpose, known as anchors (アンカー), which are part of its foundation. The anchors and foundation are capable of rotating. This foundation is buried under the sand by the time the game begins and is never fully seen.
Like the inside of the tower, the Pillar Outskirts are patrolled by security robots. The ruins of various structures such as a building of unknown purpose, roads, a bridge, and lightpoles can be seen, indicating that it was once an urban or otherwise developed area.
===Lower Stratum===
Lower section of the tower with the entrance area, Volcano Block, and Jungle Block. The mission select map indicates that at least two other large areas are present. This section is the limit of what a human without any keys can access; access to the Passage to Upper Stratum is blocked by a large bulkhead requiring the Purple Key of Dacite and Yellow Key of Vespa.
===Upper Stratum===
Upper section of the tower. According to Copen, there are more research facilities than environmental simulation ones compared to the lower stratum. Blocks include the Laboratory Block, Industrial Block, Arctic Block, and Space Block, with the mission select screen indicating there are six other areas. The way to the Passage to Top Floor is blocked by a bulkhead requiring the Black Key of Autochrome, Green Key of Brigade, Purple Key of Hail, and Red Key of Ace.
The Entrance to Top Floor houses a teleporter capable of accessing both the Hanging Gardens above and parallel worlds. Although this is the highest floor visited, the map indicates it is not the actual top of the tower, which appears to be its own section above it.
===Hanging Gardens===
A structure fixed in space above the tower. It houses the Mother Computer, a flower field, and at least one building of unknown purpose.
Past a certain point leading to the Mother Computer, the scenery is fractured to reveal a bizarre landscape.
===List of Areas===
Image and Name 	Info
Pillar Outskirts 	Surrounding area.
Volcano Block 	Section of the area dedicated to recreating an active volcano, complete with lava flows. Guarded by Dacite.
Jungle Block 	Contains a lush rainforest with fake wildlife ranging from butterflies to birds. Guarded by Vespa.
Passage to Upper Stratum	Inter-block area.
Industrial Block 	Factory area where the tower's security robots are manufactured. Guarded by Brigade.
Laboratory Block 	Laser research facility with numerous optical weapon installations. Capable of destroying the entire Grave Pillar. Guarded by Autochrome.
Arctic Block 	Icy mountain with sub-zero temperatures and blizzards. Guarded by Hail.
Space Block 	Asteroid space station. Unclear purpose. Guarded by Ace.
Passage to Top Floor 	Inter-block area.
Entrance to Top Floor 	Houses teleporter.
Hanging Gardens 	
Hanging Gardens 2 	Houses the Mother Computer.
==Gallery==
Grave Pillar full.jpg
Grave Pillar top view.png
Passage to Upper Stratum.png
Passage to Top Floor.png
Grave Pillar sephia.png
LAIX2 World.png
LAIX2 Setting.jpg
LAIX2 World 2.png
IX2 mission select.jpg|Diagram of the tower on iX2's mission select. Not to proper proportions.
Grave Pillar mission select.png
Grave PIllar boxart spine.png|On the spine of iX2's boxart.
Grave Pillar Jason arena.jpg|As seen in Jason's VS Mission.
Bulkhead 1 locked.png|Bulkheads
Bulkhead 1 unlocked.png
Bulkhead 2 locked.png
Bulkhead 2 unlocked.png
Grave Pillar unused concept.jpg|Unused concept
==Trivia==
*In the Japanese version, while the mission select screen refers to the Hanging Gardens as Aerial Paradise (天上の楽園), all dialogue in the story refers to it as Hanging Garden (空中庭園). It is consistently called Hanging Gardens in the English version.
*Although both Dacite and Hail's keys are called purple keys, they are displayed in different colors on the door. Hail's key glows blue instead of purple.
*Considering that intruding humans in the past got as far as Hail, that means they most likely succeeded in destroying Dacite and one other Gravekeeper, as it would not be possible to reach the upper stratum without their keys.
**However, it is also possible that the defense system in the past was different from that of today. It may only require one key to pass through or no key at all.
*While the area Yang Yumo is fought in is similar to the Jungle Block, it possesses some traits not present such as a large body of water, crabs, and a sunset sky, leading to speculation that it is one of the unnamed blocks without any Gravekeeper.
*There exists fan speculation that the Grave Pillar has some relation to Glaives.
**The Grave Pillar's shape resembles a single-edged Japanese-style sword with the blade pointing upwards, and original-model Glaives are made from Japanese swords.
**"Grave" and "Glaive" are pronounced identically in Japanese phonetics, and it is known that "Grave Pillar" is not the Grave Pillar's original name in-universe. The Japanese version of Luminous Avenger iX also implies with the switch from "Sevens" to "Septima" that localization terms such as "Glaive" exist in-universe alongside the Japanese ones.
**The Grave Pillar's anchors resemble the small pillars surrounding some of the Binding Brand shrines in Azure Striker Gunvolt 3. The resemblance is much more apparent in what appears to be a beta version of the Forest stage.
==References==
==Navigation==
Category:Terminology
Category:Luminous Avenger iX 2