The Crystal Pavilion was an architectural marvel of high Muvian culture and the main transport hub of the capital city. Built on a plateau of smooth basalt that rose out of the harbour shore, The Pavilion was designed to house air, land and sea vehicles. The “station” had entries at the harbour, street and sky to accommodate all the common forms of Muvian passenger vehicles.
Design
The Crystal Pavilion was so called for being made primarily of diamond cut glass and crystal panels, reinforced with fine metal struts reminiscent of an advanced form of leadlight. Only during night time illumination were the metal portions visible, the rays of the sun otherwise rendering them invisible amongst the refracting shine. This made the entire building seem virtually magickal to visiting foreigners as the entire building appeared to be made from unshatterable and seemingly unsupported crystal. This effect was increased dramatically when viewed from the water approach as the Pavilion then appeared as if a giant diamond had risen from the sea.
The Pavilion was designed long before it's construction being the winning entry of the Architects' Guild's Millenial design competition. Complex blue prints were developed by a group calling themselves The Savant Seven with glorious watercolours developed by the wives of the team. The design captured the hearts and minds of the Muvian populace and the Muvian Diet immediately funded the purchase of water front land for the purpose of its construction despite the heavy obstacles of impossible construction.
The Seven sponsored an award for young Muvian intellects who were able to devise any invention which would allow the completion of the building. Awards were delivered for the creation of crystalline pipes, transparent fullerite floor tiles and the legendary alloy used for the leadlighting Jiān Yin Chuán Qí items of which are now priceless. The required time to develop these building technologies as well as the cost of the materials meant that the Pavilion was not completed until some 700 years after its design.
Social impacts of the Pavilion
The enchanting nature of the Crystal Pavilion was not lost on the Muvian rulers and so an immense audience hall was built under the main dome and used to greet foreign emissaries before transportation to the Muvian Diet. This tactic was accredited with the success of a number of open trade agreements that were signed by newly arrived ambassadors perplexed by the complex design of the pavilion too distracted to make objections to foreign policy being presented to them.
Petty conmen and sales people of Mu often used the Pavilion to their advantage. Unlike other societies where the default deception is to sell an entire landmark to an unwitting visitor, locals of lesser character sold jewellery made from “Pieces of the Pavilion.” Consequently clear diamond and crystal jewellery was almost worthless in Mu as it was seen as a mark of the gullible and easily swayed to have purchased such items. This earned diamond the nickname “Aeibins’ Vice” after the propensity of that lesser race to gleefully accept shining baubles as payment that were worth nothing to the Muvians. Occasionally exploratory missions would lead to great embarrassment after falsely assuming new cultures encountered were of limited intellect after finding their rulers bejewelled in diamond.
Nonetheless positive outcomes of this social oddity were abundant, failure to use diamond for its decorative properties made the substance far more affordable for its impermiability. Accordingly practical applications for diamond were far more common for Mu than we see today; one of many factors in the advancement of that culture.
Lady Illdrinn
