Crestellon

**Crestellon** (Flickering Streetlight Planet) is a planet in the Ayweniverse. It is somewhat far from Aywen’s planet. It is a dark, moody planet stuck in a perpetual night. Crestellon, among its neighbors, are located in the Rotten Syzygy or Centerplan star system.

What is believed by the people to be the ‘moon’ is actually the broken light of a gargantuan spaceship. Long ago, the light on the spaceship shattered, and massive electric bolts shot outward from the blast. This pushed two of the neighboring three planets out of orbit, and made the technology of this planet go haywire. It disrupted the climate for a short time, forcing nearly all lakes and oceans to evaporate. However, the climate quickly cooled, becoming even colder than before. The evaporated water began to endlessly rain down upon the planet, forcing the residents to lock themselves within the city—which has been suffering from the heat.

**Note: Any further reference of the ‘moon’ refers to the broken domelight of the Mothership.**

## Features

### The Outskirts

The first section of Crestellon is an open area, dotted with large trees broken, flickering streetlights. Occasionally, dark signs bearing the text ‘THE END’ can be found. Large gales blow through the land, bringing walls of water and mist with them. The land appears to flicker black and white due to the reflections of the streetlights and moon. Loud, glassy sounds can be heard emanating from the moon. There are no visible stars in the sky due to light pollution. No life exists in the first section. The strong winds knock any creature of their feet, and the water sweeps them away and drowns them. Despite this, the first section is a tourist attraction, for its great view of the moon, high above in the sky.

### The City

The second portion of Crestellon is the city. It is made up of large, black buildings nearly indistinguishable from the night sky. The streets of the city are sumberged under five feet of water, making walking impossible. Despite the downpour, the city still has electricity, provided by underground generators and systems of wires. Food is provided by ziplines, and for the rich, underground rails. Most of Crestellon's life is concentrated within the city.

## History

Before the Mothership arrived at Crestellon's solar system, no life existed on the planet. The solar system was without the 'solar'—there was no star. The domelight that illuminates Crestellon acted as a sort of star, despite not being one.

Before the Mothership's domelight broke apart, Crestellon was a planet like Pacifoam. The grass was green, and the inky sky shone with the luster of the domelight high above. The distant planets of the solar system were always visible in the sky, and there was no night. And if the sky of Crestellon wasn't bright enough, distant stars and nebulas did the job.

However, the first signs that something was awry came early. Occasionally, debris from the Mothership rained down upon Crestellon. This rain became increasingly common as time went on.

When the Mothership's domelight shattered, a great electrical discharge shot outwards, striking the nearby planets. Crestellon was hit the weakest of them all, sparing most damage. However, the entire city's power grid was shut down, and power had to be restored to each individual building. The streetlights of the Outskirts went haywire—they blinked rapidly, uncontrollably. The rapid movement of the lights in the Outskirts and the sporadic movement of the moon caused stars to be a rare sight. Plus, the planets of Crestellon's solar system were knocked out of orbit. In modern times, they are set to slowly retreat from orbit over time.

Soon afterwards, Crestellon's tides began acting up, and a great wind smothered the planet. Gigantic amounts of water were tossed along the Outskirts and the City. Once water began to evaporate, an endless rainstorm began, which has yet to stop in modern day. The destruction of the moon brings even greater amounts of debris to the surface—jagged shards of glass larger than buildings, and plenty of boulders.

Nowadays, a large amount of debris is suspended in the upper atmosphere. It . Lucky, there have been no deaths to events like these, as everybody stays inside their homes. The moon also zaps small spaceships that venture too close, making escaping the planet nearly impossible.

## The City

In the city, businesses and stores still operate. Their employees deliver food around the city through systems of pulleys and chains. Each building that sells products is built to contain multiple businesses with their own system of ziplines. For longer trips, a product may have multiple stops. The delivery is dependent upon the person it ends up with at either of the stops.

There is no government whatsoever to rule the citizens. After the destruction, the government devolved into anarchy. There have been several attempts to restart a government, but all have failed. Order depends upon the hearts of the city’s residents. However, not everybody has the same motive. Packages with multiple stops are often broken into, forcing some to venture out into the flooded streets. Stealing is not recognized as a crime. The only order set up is the cost in place for boats.

Along the edges of the city are underground tunnels, leading far below the city. These tunnels are sealed by manholes. Within these tunnels there are many rooms designed to grow produce. They come installed with a bright light and special grates that allow the water from the streets above to shower the growing plants in mist. Growing produce underground is a popular task, despite it having no pay. Those who engage in the job do it not for payment, but for the general benefit of Crestellon's society.

One solution to the flooded streets of Crestellon are paid boat rentals, scattered all across the city. These boats are a last remaining bit of Crestellon's order, and they are one of the few things that still require payment to operate—even supermarkets have difficulty selling.

Another popular job in Crestellon is construction. The goal of construction workers is to rebuild lost buildings and turn them into either stores or homes. With a rising population, there needs to be many more housing complexes. Along with that, the infrastructure of Crestellon wears over time. Plus, each apartment building is quite large. Despite this, many buildings only have a single resident.

Residents of the city do not interact with each other face-to-face. There are no telephones to talk, so people have other means. Most buildings have tunnels that connect two buildings together. Even this is inefficient, as both people must be present to unlock their own doors. The most efficient way of communication is through a speaker system, which all buildings have.

Some apartments are without electricity. With no electricity, there is no way to communicate with another person outside of the apartment. With the rain, there is no way to just walk outside. Even if it was possible, the doors stay sealed, and the windows stay boarded up permanently. There are people locked in their apartments without electricity, and without a way to communicate with others.

## The Outskirts

The moon is often worshipped. Many hope for the day the moon falls, and the morning comes. The moon is visible from the outskirts of the city; however, it is obscured by rain from the inside of the city. It is traditional to venture outside of the city to see it once a year.

Around the outskirts are warehouses scattered about, particularly in areas of dense forests. These warehouses oftentimes contain important technology, such as spaceships. Valuable technology like weapons are also found within them. However, these warehouses are locked tight. They originated at the start of the domelight's destruction, and are meant to last. It is hoped that in the future, they will open up and act as escape pods. In fact, attempts to break into the warehouses have been conducted in the past, but none—known—have been recorded. Some have reported seeing spaceships outside of warehouses, but these claims cannot be verified due to the danger of venturing outside the city.

There are small towns scattered around the Outskirts, isolated from the rest of Crestellon. These towns are a remnant of the time before the city was flooded. All the towns are deserted, containing not a shred of life aside from ants and small rodents alike. Their presence is signified by seemingly random chains of singular streetlights, separated between each other by a significant distance.

In the depths of the western outskirts, a strange type of firefly can be seen hovering midair. These fireflies give off a dim, pearly glow. They float just below the leaf layer of trees. These flies begin to appear when a rare phenomenon is occurring: Crestellon's 'rainbow roads'. In the still night, solid, illuminated rainbow paths can appear, so long as the conditions are correct. They are tangible, and even walkable. They are said to bring their travelers to places of value, such as hidden areas with lost spaceships, sheds, etc.

## Trivia

There is no simple answer for “What is the most valuable resource?”. Many things are valued highly, but mostly the basic necessities people need to stay alive. Luxurious food items are priced high, and those who make them are paid well. However, there is no need for water, as anyone can open a window and grab a bucketful in seconds. Building materials are also very valuable, as the job of being a construction worker is rare yet required for a functioning society. These materials are distributed via trade, for items such as food.

With nothing else to do, the art industry thrives. Nearly everybody either draws or writes in their free time, giving those who do not plenty to read and observe. Although a society like this seems boring, it is far from it. Books document people’s hopes and dreams of a bright future and a far-off land, and paintings bring such a reality to life.

As Crestellon as no atmosphere, it is unprotected from asteroid impacts and other possible forms of destruction which can be brought to the planet. Luckily, the Mothership sends out miniature space vessels out to collect and capture asteroids and objects like it, with the goal of extracting materials from them to expand the ship.

(HBC)

## Contribution

Crestellon plays a major role in the story and is accessible directly after passing the barrier of astrogyles. From there, Crestellon is explored through both the west and east sides of the city (including the outskirts). Afterwards, a ship is boarded, headed towards the Mothership.