Everrod

Everrod is a fortress that links Celerillion to the Earth.

Background
Everrod enjoys slightly more importance than other fortresses because it hosts a portal that directly connects to Earth, though it isn't always open/ On the Earth side, a random times during the year, a door appears on the cliff face of an otherwise undistinguished peak of the Black Riage mountains. The door disappears again after a few hours. Not many on Earth have ever seen it, and when they have and decided to go through, they haven't returned to report what lies on the other side. Passing through from the Earth side is like falling into the sky, and can seem unpleasant.

On the Celerillion side of the door, the endpoint leads into a central fortress chamber reinforced with crystalline struts. Just outside the chamber lie four tonbrium Hunters. In the rare instance that a newcomer arrives from the Earth side, they're quickly subdued, sedated, and taken to a nearby "mine" set within a cerebral husk called Eblisheth, where they're worked to death.

The leader of Everrod - a Conceptor named Marlys - isn't satisfied with the current arrangement regarding the portal and those that come through. She's only recently come to power when the previous leader was killed after a group of new arrivals successfully resisted their enslavement. However, the Crown Fortress seems to particularly enjoy the odd mineral - called Silver Logic - that the Everrod miners are able to extract from Eblisheth. Marlys is concerned that if she doesn't continue to supply miners, she'll eventually have to face the consequences. For now, she continues to keep the arrangement, but looks into ways to close the door without implicating herself.