Scarpass

A threshold carved in stone, waiting for the sky to break open.

Location

Scarpass clings to the eastern face of Valdris Bluff, where Pleistocene volcanic activity left jagged basalt shelves overlooking the Charcoal Sea. The settlement spreads across three tiers of carved stone, connected by switchback paths that follow the natural joint-lines in the basalt. On clear nights, the generation ship Meridian hangs directly overhead, bright enough to cast faint shadows.

History

The founders arrived 73 years ago seeking flat land and fresh water; they found neither, only the difficult geometry of the bluffs and the relentless grey water below. The crossing cost three crew members to air-recycler failures in the final months, and the colony lost seven more in its first four years to cave-collapses and fever before learning the stone well enough to build safely. Now, at second generation and 50 souls, Scarpass is stable enough to prepare for what comes next—the Meridian will open a wormhole to bring the third wave, and everything will change.

Current State

Scarpass smells of salt-spray, stone dust, and fermented kelp from the drying racks below. The quarries run five days a week, pneumatic drills echoing off the bluffs from dawn until the light flattens. Evenings gather the community in the Great Hall—a carved cavern stabilized with iron-composite beams—where they eat, repair tools, and rarely speak of the Meridian or the crossing.

Tensions

• The Meridian waits in the sky, and its arrival requires final systems calibration no one on Scarpass knows how to do; the founders have withheld technical knowledge, insisting independence is more important than competence.
• The youngest adults want to expand the settlement inland, away from the bluffs, but the elders argue the Meridian will deposit new colonists on the shore, making upland expansion selfish and wasteful.
• Kelp farming in the Charcoal Sea has yielded enough food for stability, but the harvesting teams suffer high injury rates, and no one wants to openly discuss whether the sea itself is becoming more hostile or simply unforgiving.
• Maia Voss, the settlement's de facto architect, believes the Meridian should land fully and remain a permanent structure rather than dispatch its colonists; the idea divides families and has never been openly debated.

Landmarks

• Meridian's Window — A carved stone balcony on the highest tier of the western bluff, deliberately aligned so the generation ship passes directly overhead at midnight.
• The Ash Gardens — Terraced beds cut into softer volcanic ash on the southern slope, where food crops are grown in soil mixed with composted matter imported from the Meridian.
• Deepmark Pool — A natural basalt depression filled by mineral-rich groundwater, used for communal bathing and the ritual washing of tools before ceremonial work.
• The Founder's Stone — An uncarved basalt outcrop near the lowest tier, where seventeen names are etched in memorial to those who died in the crossing and the first years.

Characters

Stories