Founders' Wake (sometimes written as Founder's Wake) is the city created by those who heeded the call from ocean, sparking the events of the Ethersea prologue. The difficulties faced during its founding and construction in the shadow of the Einarr Plateau are detailed in the first five episodes of The Adventure Zone: Ethersea.
Founders' Wake is comprised of a large central Ark Ship, donated by passing members of the Traders of the Southern Archipelago, as well as various private-residence bathhouses and meeting halls.
Description[]
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A map of Founders' Wake as per the official Adventure Zone podcast website.
The below quote is an excerpt from the alternative text inserted below an image of Founders' Wake found on the shownotes for the Summary of the Ethersea Prologue Episodes:
It rests against a cliff. The top of the habitat, the Gunwale, rests on the Cliff Top. It is triangular in shape, with an array of smaller structures fanning out from the point, away from the rest of the habitat. Below the Gunwale, alongside the Cliff Face is the Ballast, a segment with a rounded top that connects the main habitat to the Gunwale. Below the Ballast is the Conservatory, then the Forecastle, and the Cradle. These three areas make up the main body of the habitat. Below them is another segment, named Joshy’s Knuckle. Below that, at the bottom of the habitat, resting on the Sea Floor, is the Gills, which fan out slightly along the Sea Floor. To the right of the habitat is the Coral Spire, a large spike which goes from the Sea Floor all the way up to the Cliff Top
The Crystal Ascension[]
The Crystal Ascension is an enchanted tower that now serves as the spine of Founders' Wake. It was once an Einarr embassy, and connected the Plateau to the world below. During the construction effort, the Crystal Ascension sank to the bottom of the Ethersea and nestled against the Cliff Face, and became the foundation for the settlement.
The tower operates as an undersea highway, constantly lifting and lowering countless commuters as they transcend districts of the city.
The Gunwale[]
Pronounced like "gunnel," the Gunwale is the only section of Founders' Wake that rests on the Cliff Top.
The Gunwale is an industrial complex that extends out from a triangular center across the Sea Floor. The Gunwale is the location of the city's fisheries, farms and salvagers. As the Gunwale is on the Sea Floor, it is quite exposed to the cloud of old-world debris that haunts the Ethersea.
The Ballast[]
The Ballast is both the name of the district of the city, and the name of the government of Founders' Wake. As a physical piece of the city, the Ballast sits atop the Crystal Ascension. It was formed from an ship donated by the Southern Archipelago ("Ark") Fleet. It was the first construction below the waves by the founding community.
Before the government called the Ballast was formed, the Shoreside Community had the Council of Four, comprised of four elected representatives, one from each cultural group within the Community. When Declan Cern, the representative for Hominine, lost his eldest son in the efforts to move citizens into the ocean, he resigned and withdrew from public life. In the following chaos, the Boyar Hermine, daughter of a Delmer Baron, formed the Ballast, and became the High Ballaster Hermine. Each Ballaster represents a workforce (such as the engineers of food and water and air production) and hold meetings to make decisions for the people of Founders' Wake.
The Conservatory[]
Immediately below the Ballast sits the Conservatory. This district was the first expansion constructed by the undersea community, and was a priority for people who wanted to preserve the history of life before the storm. The Conservatory is home to the Benevolent Parish, and the Curator's museums, parks and menageries.
The Forecastle[]
The Forecastle, Founders' Wake's largest district, forms the residential area of the city. Its towering hall resembles bow of a great ship. Within the Forecastle is docked rows of thousands of bathyspheres (sometimes nicknamed "bathhouses") that function as homes for denizens. The bathyspheres are fully capable of enduring the depths of the Ethersea independently, and functioned as the transport for the original evacuees to Founders' Wake. Bathyspheres connect to designated docking ports within the Forecastle as well as to each other, creating structures reminiscent of bunches of grapes.
Bathysphere homes tend to be highly customized, and homewares and décor became an unprecedented trend during the evacuation from the land. This trend was generated by the enterprising Ol' Joshy, and since the evacuation, it is traditional that one's cultural background should generate the aesthetic for one's bathysphere.
The Cradle[]
The Cradle was named after the last shipyard constructed by the shoreside community (the Founders). Located within the Forecastle, the heart of Founders' Wake contains essential utilities and life support systems required for life beneath the Ethersea.
Joshy's Knuckle[]
Named after the enterprising but unscrupulous Ol' Joshy, the Knuckle hides tucked beneath the Forecastle and is known to be home of Founders' Wake's shadier characters. This district naturally formed as criminals moved into the area to escape the watchful eye of the Ballast. This district is also known as the home of the best food of Founders' Wake. The area is very humid due to a lack of ventilation, and the smell of various spices fill the air.
The Cloaca[]
The Cloaca is a run-down club house within Joshy's Knuckle that serves as the gym/hangout hybrid for the Finners. Sandbags are propped up within to form makeshift punching bags. Towards the back is an open space used for "training". its a hangout/gym.
The Gills[]
At the very bottom of the city, the newest expansion resembles a mushroom cap or an umbrella, like a wide shallow dome. The underside of this structure is slotted with open channels into the water below, so that ships can drive underneath this mushroom cap, and rise up into the air. The district hums with activity, being the only known dock space for ships. The Bluespan Brokerage operates from a building situated in the center of the Gills, right next to the Crystal Ascension.
The Coral Spire[]
The Coral Spire is a spiraling 'staircase' of coral that spans the distance from the Sea Floor to the Cliff Top.
Around the base of the coral spire is a laboratory, lead by Ampersand 5, the second Brinarr, and his association of Deep Thinkers.
It is coral harvested from this spire from which Brinarr bodies are constructed. It is possible that this coral harvesting has decreased the size of the spire over the last 25 years, as the spire once protruded from the Ethersea's surface and was visible from the shore.
Organizations[]
The Ballast[]
The governing body over Founders' Wake. Every major workforce is represented by a Ballaster within this system of government. There are six seats; Ballaster of Defense, Ballaster of Preservation, Ballaster of Commerce, Ballaster of Transit, Ballaster of the Voice, and Ballaster of Logistics (The High Ballaster).
The Benevolent Parish[]
A colony of the theocracy of Hominine, the Parish worships the vestige (or god) Benevolence.
The Bluespan Brokerage[]
The organization responsible for managing expeditions to the Ethersea beyond. Ravi Montrel is a member of the brokerage. The Brokerage aims to attract adventurous types into its fold.
The Chaperones[]
A sort of paramiltary organization headed by Ballaster Kodeira. They originated as the caretakers of The Biggest Baby, during the year the proglogue took place. When it was time for the ship to sail, Coda, the vestige whose body the ship was crafted from, only allowed them to operate it, not the navy.
The Deep Thinkers[]
The Deep Thinkers are a coalition of scientific naturalists who pioneered the creation of the Brinarr. Among the founders of the Deep Thinkers was Fineas Cawl, a cartographer, whose involvement with the group eventually saved him when they were able to preserve his spirit in a Brinarr body, giving him life beyond death. Fineas Cawl is now one of several souls comprising Ampersand 5, the second Brinarr.
The Finners[]
The Finners, originally a nickname given to members of Ol' Joshy's School of Advanced Psychic Warfare Against Blink Sharks, operates out of the Cloaca, where disciples keep each other ready for the prophesied return of the blink sharks that once tormented the founding shoreside community.
Ordo Spiritus[]
Before the Brinarr amalgamated, a subset of Einarr called the Ordo Spiritus spoke out against building bodies for the Einarr spirits who had returned from the vestigial plane. This religious order believed these returned spirits were to be worshipped and not to be put into armored bodies, as they feared these spirits would be used for menial labor.