First Tower of Ar tonelico
The First Tower of Ar tonelico (アルトネリコ第一塔, arutoneriko daiichi-tou?), also known as the Tower of Eoria (エオリアの塔, eoria no tou?, lit. "Eolia's Tower"), is the namesake of the Ar tonelico series and the tallest among the three towers that form the Ar tonelico amplification complex.
It's located in the region of Sol Ciel, former nation of El Elemia, and it is the only Tower that was built through engineering and construction, opposed to the Second and Third Towers, which were built through a Reyvateil's power. Its name means The Only Divine Tree in Hymmnos, which is in turn derived from the Japanese word for ash tree, (梣/秦皮/トネリコ, toneriko?). Its Administrator is the Reyvateil Origin Shurelia.
History
The First Tower of Ar tonelico was initially planned as a method to increase the power and blessings that the Songstones and sounds could bring to the humans in an attempt to bring an era of unbelievable prosperity to the world. For this purpose, both Humans and Teru worked together, joining their knowledge of science and magic to create something that surpassed everything that was done in previous times.
The construction of the first prototype of Ar tonelico, the Tower of Origin was started in 2932 AD, a decade before the Reyvateil project started, and it was completed in 2968, the time in which the first tests on it started. However, when it began to be put to practical use in 2982 AD, soon enough it became apparent that the Tower of Origins would be unable to accomplish the goals for which it was created, in part because of lacking the power to execute magic more complex than a rudimentary weather change, and in part because its database was unable to contain all the information about Hymmnos that was created and compiled during the history of mankind. Due to this, it was decided that the Tower of Origins project would be abandoned, and instead it would serve as a basis for the true Ar tonelico tower, whose construction started in 2983 AD.
A few years later, taking advantage of the height of the Tower, a new project was started in parallel to it: the development of the New Continent of Horus. It was started in 2990 AD, while the mechanism of the Tower that would allow it to stay afloat at its planned altitude, the Plasma Bell, began to be developed two years later.
On 2997 AD, the Tower was already halfway completed, allowing the Plasma Bell to be used in its first field test three years later, with a complete success being the final result.
The Tower was finally completed in 3013 AD, and finally it began servicing the people, government and military of El Elemia, who used the Tower through singing in special terminals. However, contrary to the peaceful uses for it was planned, the government of El Elemia decided to use it to gain the upper hand in their thousand-year-old war with the nation of El Duel, located in the region of Sol Cluster. For this purpose, when the war had gotten into a stalemate in 3031 AD due to Sol Cluster deploying anti-wave weapons called Chaffs around the Tower, they sent a warning shot through the planet's mantle to cause a middle intensity earthquake around El Duel to intimidate them into surrendering, but this ended in a disaster: the shot resonated with the planet's mantle, and its power was amplifeid to the point that it cracked the Heart of the Land of Ar Ciel, causing the Seven Bloodstains Incident: a chain of massive eruptions of plasma and lava that devastated the area of Sol Cluster, completely annihilated the subregion of Syestine and caused widespread panic throughout the world.
It was during this time that the very first Reyvateil was created: the Reyvateil Origin Eoria, and that El Elemia started to work together with the governments of Metafalss and Sol Cluster in the AAA Project, in an attempt to repair the damage that was caused to the planet. Likewise, they also planned the construction of other two Towers to expand the broadcast range of the First Tower, so the powers harnessed by their Reyvateils could be used anywhere in Ar Ciel.
A few years later, a group of rogue Teru from Syestine, in revenge for the destruction of their land, infiltrated the Tower and destroyed the main power lines that were connected to the Grathnode Discs, which ultimately caused them to overload and shatter, releasing a great quantity of energy and shockwaves which caused the destruction of the planet's Heart of the Land, the devastation of the land and its subsequent concealment by the Sea of Death, and the formation of the Blastline in the event that is currently known as the Grathnode Inferia.
Due to these events, the Tower lost much of its former capacity of outputting energy that would be converted into magic: while before this point it used to have a broadcast range that could easily cover half the planet, after the Grathnode Inferia its capacity was reduced to only a third of Ar Ciel. Likewise, the Tower and the Wings of Horus became the sole area inhabitable in Sol Ciel from that point on, now that the land was completely destroyed and the Sea of Death made impossible the return to the surface.
During the Second Era, the Administrator of the Tower, Shurelia planned and advocated for the creation of a new system called the Silver Horn, which, in her own words, would allow restoring to the Tower part of the capabilities it had lost with the shattering of the Grathnode Discs.
After the Horn was completed, no other modifications or remodeling were made to the Tower. However, one of the Plasma Bells was destroyed during the event known as Mir's Rebellion, causing the dropping of half of the Wings of Horus into the Sea of Death. After Mir was sealed away, the city of Platina was built on the Upper Section of the Tower, giving it the appearance it has in the current times.
The Tower has been active ever since it was put in operation for the first time during the First Era, and it has never been shut down during all of its history, since a shut-down would kill all the Origin and Pureblood Beta-type Reyvateils connected to it, not to mention that it would drop the Wings of Horus into the Sea of Death and deactivate the Musical Corridor, rendering every area from the Middle Section upwards uninhabitable for any kind of life. However, it was Suspended during the story of Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia due to the fact that Mir was apparently invincible while the Tower was still keeping these systems running.
Functions & Characteristics
- Has a height that starts at ground level, and extends all the way to space.
- Has an effective range that covers roughly a third of the planet Ar Ciel. However, its effective range used to cover half of the planet back in the First Era.
- Absorbs any singing or sounds in its range, which is then resampled, processed, amplified and converted into Symphonic Power, which is used in many applications in the current times.
- Contains a vast and expansive network of energy and data, called the Symphonic Power lines. This complex also receives the name of Regional Sound Network SONATA.
- Serves as the only lifeline for the people of Sol Ciel and Metafalss, thanks to the Musical Corridor and the Plasma Bell.
- Serves as the power and Song Magic provider for Sol Marta.
- Keeps all the Reyvateils alive and with their powers active.
Structure & Mechanisms
Execution and Processing of Song Magic
Whenever a Reyvateil Sings, she sends her Dynamic H-Waves through a direct link she has with the Tower through her Cosmosphere called the Tower of Life. These waves are then sent through a purification process carried out by the Quantizer to be devoid of anything that interferes with the main feelings carried by her Song. This in turn increases exponentially the power of said feelings, which then are sent over to the Grathnode Discs via the Symphonic Power lines of the Tower, which will turn these amplified waves into energy and allow the Song Magic to manifest in the physical world. Said manifestation also includes an audio feedback mechanism which allows the Reyvateils to be accompanied by whatever they imagine whenever they sing, may the aforementioned accompaniment be an entire chorus, a complete orchestra, and any other kind of background music they might imagine.
In the case of humans, the Parameno Discs were used to capture any sound sang within special terminals before the Grathnode Inferia, which would then be sent to the Quantizer, and thus to the Grathnode Discs. However, this isn't possible anymore, given that these terminals were banned a long time ago and the Dynamic H-Waves emitted by humans dissipate in the atmosphere before being able to reach the Discs.
Exterior and the Dividing Walls
The First Tower is like a space elevator, given that its base is located on the ground at 0 meters above sea level, while its summit reaches out beyond the exosphere, up to space. Most of its internal structure is a complete mystery, although it is known that the external walls are made from a kind of metal called Airmetal. It is divided into internal and external sections through special gates called Dividing Walls, which are divided into A and B, each one numbered according to the sector of the Tower in which they are located. The A-Dividing Walls separate the innermost sections of the Tower from the intermediate ones, while the B-Dividing Walls are what separate the intermediate sections from the exterior.
However, in the current times practically none of the B-Dividing Walls remain, since they all crumbled away when the outer walls eroded with the passing of times. Despite this, the A-Diving Walls are still completely functional and the person who wishes to pass through them needs to be identified and authenticated by the security protocol of the Tower, Mei Mei. Once the authorization has been confirmed and the person has said the Hymmnos Spell needed to open the wall, he or she can proceed.
Sections
The Tower is divided into three main parts: the Lower Areas, which currently are inaccessible due to being located below the Sea of Death, the Middle Section, which is known as the Lower World in the current times, and the Upper Section, which is known currently as the Upper World.
While the Lower Areas and the Middle Section aren't physically separated per se, a barrier wall was closed off between both parts when the Sea of Death first appeared. On the other hand, due to the Tower having the same intrinsic nature of a Songtone, the Upper Section is separated from the rest of the Tower by the Frozen Eye. This means that the Upper Section is floating over the rest of the Tower, and that the sections of the Tower could be interpreted in the following way: the Lower Areas serve as the Parameno part, while the Upper Section fills the Grathnode role. As for the Middle Section, it serves the same role of the Ardel part of a Songstone: keeping both parts separated, yet capable of transmitting energy from the Parameno part to the Grathnode one. This principle can also be applied to the Tower, since the energy flow regulated by the Frozen Eye can only flow in an ascending direction (from the Lower Areas to the Upper Section), and never in the inverse.
Power Source
The Tower is powered by an orgel disc called the Orgel of Origins. Because of it being a white hole device, it can draw tremendous amounts of energy from the singularity it is connected to, easily powering the Tower and all of its systems. All of this energy is transmitted throughout the Tower via a complex network of power lines, called Symphonic Power Lines, all of which unite at the Symphonic Reactor.
All of this enormous quantity of power is regulated by a device made from Ardel Crystals, called the Ardelberg Buffer Band, which is more colloquially known as the Frozen Eye.
Administrative Systems
The administrative systems of the First Tower are separated into two categories, the BIS and the SIS.
BIS (Basic Infraestructure System)
This is the system that regulates the most important functions of the First Tower, which are essential to the maintenance of life for everyone that lived after the Second Era. In other words, this system manages the Plasma Bell, the Musical Corridor, the Orgel of Origins, and the SH Server of all the Reyvateils connected to Ar tonelico.
As such, this system is kept active at all times, and it cannot be turned off except by completely shutting down the Tower. Likewise, the song EXEC_SUSPEND/. doesn't have any effect over these systems, since it only affects the SIS. However, the part of Shurelia's SH Server that regulates her conscious self is controlled by the SIS due to security reasons, so she loses consciousness and falls into a suspended animation state when Suspend is sung. This part also controls the Wake-Up on LAN function that EXEC_RE=NATION/. makes use of to reboot the Tower when it has been Suspended.
SIS (Service Infrastructure System)
This is the system that regulates all the mechanisms that are in charge of controlling and generating the energy used by the Reyvateils for their Song Magic, namely the Parameno Discs, the Quantizer, the Grathnode Discs, and partially, the Silver Horn. Strangely enough, this system also regulates the Binary Field and the conscious self part of Shurelia's SH Server, making it impossible to enter the Binary Field whenever the Tower is in a Suspended state. However, normal Diving is still possible, since this doesn't affect the SH Servers of Betas and Third Generations in any way.
Transportation
There are a few ways of moving throughout the Tower. One of them is using the Shuttles that are located in various of the levels, which are essentially elevators. However, they have the disadvantage that their power sources must be running and the Tower has to be in active mode, otherwise they won't move.
Another way is using the Teleporters, which allow traveling instantly from one place to another. However, the number of Teleporters throughout the Tower is scarce and most of them require the knowledge of a Hymmnos Spell to work. A special case is the Teleporter located in the Frozen Eye, which requires the usage of both a Hymmnos Spell and a special item called the Circula Teleporter to work. It also works only in an ascending direction, since the Symphonic Power lines of the Tower only run in an ascending direction. However, the Warp Gate located deeper inside works both in ascending and descending directions, but it requires Shurelia's permission to be used.
Another way is using the Stairs, which connect all the floors of the Tower. The problem is that they are the slowest way of moving around, and given the size of the Tower, one person could take several hours to go from one floor to another, not to mention the constant attacks from the monsters and Guardians.
