Outer Labs
The purpose of most pre-War structures is either clear from their appearance, or known by septs, or deduced by scholars from Pion or Artas from gathered evidence. This is not the case with the Labs: we don’t even know whose project it was, let alone what kind of research was being conducted there. From what records we found we can assume that the Outer Labs, at least, were possibly established to study the manipulation practices of the Northern continent (Somians of course like to compare the Outer Labs to the NRC, but the similarities are shallow at best), hence the reason for their location. — Korelia Pine, High Mentor, “Aspects of Kyos”, 351 AW
Underwater levels: everyone loves those, right?
Crabby is one of ten legendary beasts — not a Demon, then, but it's a comfort as cold as the waters that he hunts in.
The Arc
This colossal bridge got its name from its slightly curved shape, which helped to bypass a couple of obstacles on the way to its destination — the Outer Labs. It’s in a poor state, but for once damage of such scale was caused not by Demons, but by Tetrians themselves: their military lured Bob the Blob, a Demon with a name so good it didn't need a "Who", onto the bridge and blew it up. Unfortunately for them, Bob turned out to be a great swimmer, so the slime got to the shore in no time and conducted extensive educational work.
Souvenirs: Kyosians used Usurpers to dismount and move several turrets from The Arc, so you can sometimes see them elsewhere on Kyos.
Failsafe: while the "smaller" turrets were most likely meant for the defense of the shoreline and the bridge, the big cannon (Aresians speculate) was pointed specifically at the Outer Labs. If only the NRC had one, too...
Inner Labs
A well-preserved route between the Outer and Inner Labs, much of the same equipment and a number of other similarities all suggest they were part of one research network. The Inner Labs, however, suffered more damage during and after War, and contain fewer records of what was going on inside. Only a part of those were recovered — the complex stands in a remote and hard-to-reach Axis-rich area, which makes it a popular site for rogue PSFs — and they hint at research on Dark Apostles, a phenomenon originating from Nari, and null manipulation.
Aspects who say this knowledge should not be disturbed can't see the Soultap for the trees! — Nora Bloom, 522 AW
The hard way: The Inner Labs stand in the middle of Soultap, and the only road is usually well guarded by whatever rogue PSF currently occupies the complex, so Mirian Ops (with any TFX scientists they brought along, wink-wink) try an infiltration by air.
The easy way: this impressive breach is recent, and was probably made by a Demon.
Juicer: Artasians observed strange light coming from this device several times, but couldn’t determine its effect.
Mover of Planets
Every pin and their grandma knows the Mover of Planets was a space station launched right before War, but it is unlikely that anyone is aware of the full extent of its purpose. The project was conceived and largely financed by the Danton family; they didn’t survive War, and neither did their station: left unattended, the Mover went off course and entered the atmosphere several years later. The idea that this habitable artificial satellite was meant for something more than the space environment research keeps plaguing minds of scholars (and, strangely, Talian priestesses), who see reasons for doubt in everything from the Mover’s strange name to an almost complete absence of pre-War records about the station.
Sputnik: the Miras and Talis send expeditions to Mover regularly; one of them discovered a small settlement, unified by a ff-generator, in the remains of station hull.
Pegasus: these are supposed to be long gone… hm.
Planetes: in the Old Language, the name of the station is spelled with a letter for an extra /ə/ in the end... Perhaps a tribute of some sort.
Stargazer
The locations of many pre-War points of interest were known only approximately, if at all; that was not the case with Stargazer. For centuries it loomed over Low Pass, teasing the Novas and Pions with its deceptive accessibility — maybe because of that, when flux fields finally came about, less complacent Aresians beat both septs to the place. This was a questionable achievement, though, as the telescope turned out to be the dwelling of Kin, Who Obeys — a bound Master Demon — and two trailblazing PSFs were completely wiped out, just like the large Nova Corps team sent afterward. While the Novas were desperately looking for a strategy to smoke the Demon out, Kin and His master left on their own, and even the threat of their potential return didn’t stop the Novas from establishing an outpost in this strategically superb position.
Overwatch: today the left (or upper) Wing of Elara is known as a relatively calm area, but Outside, a Boulder’s never not necessary.
Delivery: getting to Stargazer any other way than by air is difficult — this Usurper is likely carrying supplies.
Telescope: Novians modified the telescope to look over the Axis-rich areas in Low Pass and beyond; the sky can wait.
Drink: The Spire, a famous sky-high club in Nova, serves a cocktail of the same name, which has become especially popular after it was endorsed by none other than Irene Kelly herself. Rumor has it that the mix reminds her of her favorite cocktail from another, much more rowdy establishment... Was the recipe stolen??
Artas Estate
The spiritualists of the High Council never denied material values; they pursued other goals, but made do with what was available to them to pass the time. The Artases had a large leisure mansion on the southern shore of the Lake of Dara, conveniently located right between the Northern Research Center, their favorite pet project, and Metropolis, their seat of power.
In 357 AW, Artas Estate, or rather its contents, became a matter of dispute between the Talis and Artases. There was never any love lost between the two septs, but when the Talis succeeded in locating the estate — something that the Artases had repeatedly failed to do — the conflict became open. The Artases claimed that the Talis gained unauthorized access to important documents and artifacts, which by Logan’s Law didn’t belong to them; the Talis rebutted these claims, and Kate Artas, the young head of her sept at the time, lobbied a military campaign which would later become known as “Kate Wars”. It was a relatively short confrontation that ended after the railway line between the two cities was damaged beyond repair in one of the battles; the two septs then sat down in Nova and called a truce on undisclosed terms.
Lord of Dara: come see if he's frozen or just sleeping…
Arrowdead: ...like they did.
In Minotaur: a bit of a stretch, but I just needed an excuse to add this image to the website.
DCF
DCF, also known as the Fool's Tower, stands for Dantons’ Correctional Facility, and it was their third most prominent project after the Mover of Planets and synthetics research. Robert Danton, the head of the family (having belonged to the progressivist wing, its members of course refused to call themselves a “sept”) in 72-29 BW, founded DCF to ridicule the paradigms of the spiritualists by scientifically proving that what they take for their precious glimpses of potential of the human psyche are instead symptoms of psychosis.
In around 180 AW, a Mirian expedition rediscovered DCF and took note of the fact that it’s one of the few locations of interest easily accessible by water. After androids were reverse-engineered, TFX brought their latest product to the Tower to run all sorts of tests. The experimentation, which led to, among other things, the creation of the grasp system, was... extensive. It was all so new and exciting, after all.
Programs: swappable programs, which adjust hard-coded behavioral patterns, were actually something that Mirians, not Ilyonians, came up with.
Spare parts: TFX engineers couldn’t reproduce the original models one-to-one, so they had to improvise.
Freedom: in 207 AW, Mirians left the facility, deactivating every android they left behind. Or so they claim, at least — it was there that TFX discovered androids possess their own subrealities. Further tests were of course carried out, but since their nature entailed a less strictly controlled environment, who's to say that no subjects escaped the corporation's... grasp.
Tower grounds: DCF isn't just the Tower itself — it's a sizable complex with numerous buildings across the island.
Aegis
One of those families with a long lineage which ended during War, the Aegises were also one of the last to get a seat on the High Council — rumors had it they bought their way in with a castle constructed on the southern borders of Tetra not long after Queen Bates's disappearance on Ilyon, when the resulting tensions with the southern continent were particularly high. In Year 0, the Aegises abandoned the Tetrian army, which was retreating to the Swamps of Kes, and holed up in the mountain fortress; nobody has heard from them since, and the place was reclaimed by Aresians during the Age of Expansion, patched up and turned into an outpost.
Gondolas: the most straightforward (albeit not the fastest) way to get into the castle. Enjoy the scenery!
Location: Aegis may not be as conveniently located as Stargazer, but it still gives a good view over central Kyos; if only Low Pass wasn’t blocked by the right Wing of Elara, Aresians would probably be as close to happy as an Aresian can get.
Architecture: the castle has changed hands several times since it was built, with every new owner adding their often not-too-subtle touches to its appearance. Its design — a patchwork of styles — is meant to reflect this.
In Minotaur: never piss off your DM!
Syan Water Station
The fight for Syan Water Station, or SWS, was long and arduous. For 400 years the Talis paid no mind to it, but when the East Fork of the Pitchfork River dried up and the West Fork started to overflow, threatening to flood first Tali Woods and then the dome itself, they could only thank Syl for the fact that they already had flux generators.
It was hypothesized that SWS was sabotaged in a subreality; Talians suspected a rogue PSF or a bound Demon, but after a race against time to determine the cause the enemy turned out to be Bygones. With support from several other septs, Talians were able to reach the cell's Blue Box within two impossibly long months, and destroy it two more weeks later, even though Pionian scholars begged to wait just a little longer to see what would happen if a flood from a subreality came into contact with an objective dome.
Who's there? Talians installed flux fields and automated defense systems on Syan, and check up on it regularly… just like Aresians do with Parker Dam. Although judging by the lantern, that’s not one of their inspections.
Wheel of fortune: this giant water wheel was what probably gave Syan its second name… with the "fortune" part coming from the death toll of the reclamation effort.