Hearth

Qufiil's first orbital space station. (This is not the Faulfenzair's first ever space station, just the first they built on arriving to their new homeworld).

History

"The Hearth had been built after the settlement of Qufiil, assembled in orbit from ores mined from asteroids and refined in space. But the vessels that had brought them from Quzen had been deemed too important to be relegated to scrap after their service… so they’d been used for the core of the station."

Administration

The head of the Hearth during Zafiil's time is Wolen Liiza Oodenii.

Traffic management is handled by Hearth-Docking.

Structure and Layout

The Hearth is a torus, though it doesn't need to rotate to maintain its artificial gravity. It is arranged in spokes (there are at least four) that connect the outer arc with the nexus/core. Each spoke is associated with a color, and that color also names the six docks at the ends of the spokes: red, orange, blue, white, green, and black. Within the Hearth, painted lines on the deck (floor and ceiling) indicate which spoke you're in, and the number of lines, which level (1-3). The lines have arrows pointing toward the center of the station.

(Something to clear up here, the original colorings:)

• Orange - toward the center (nexus)
• Blue - toward living quarters (?)
• White - school's administrative offices

Parts

• Nexus - The center of the Hearth, made from the ship(s?) that had brought them from Quzen. The ceiling is "vast" and "rounded."
• Place-of-Dancing - one of the largest single chambers on the station, and one of only three with vaulted ceilings. This round room is lined with a breezeway, separated from the center by pillars, and the depression in the center is filled with earth imported from Qufiil.
• Place-of-student-living - is located on the outer arc, between spokes 3 and 4. Quarters face outward, and have windows.
• Place-of-food-purchase - located adjacent to the place-of-student-living, on the same level.
• Clinic; quarantine bays
• Administrator's Office
• Observation Deck

Trivia

Observation's expansion has views of curtains of fire that had welcomed the Faulfenza to their new planet when Faulliazaf had led them there.

School

The institution on the Hearth teaches the skills needed by crews that want to leave the solar system in search of the Lost Kin, or the Others. Over time it has expanded to include disciplines that serve those missions, like the space sciences, and engineering and technology.

The school takes up one level of the Hearth (the one on the 'bottom', level 1). It is composed of classrooms, study and gathering halls, and an administrative center (with offices); plus, student and faculty/staff quarters.

Curriculum

First Year: Mathematics, Scrolls of History, Local Astronomy.

Other classes: Classes of Ships. Languages.

Students learn everything about their future ship's workings and how to repair them (and actually practice building and tearing down large parts of their ships). They learn navigation, and fuel conservation. Psychology, fitness, and maintaining mental/physical health on long voyages.

There are quarterly examinations, after which students are permitted to leave the station for vacation. Time to graduation for most students is six years; those studying to be faulfiirla (heads of the missions) need an additional four, and take a special culminatiEng exam, which must be passed for the student to become faulfiirla. Additionally, faulfiirla must serve twenty years of community service prior to embarking on their missions.

Teachers

During Zafiil's time:

• Azenu, Mathematics.
• Jener Zefara, teaching first-year Scrolls of History. "A prim ascetic."
• Paraina Neldu, Local Astronomy. "A slow-moving creature."