Space · How it works
Floating city in the clouds
Above Venus's acid clouds, a ruined city of stone and brass hangs from striped balloons: mild air, a sea of amber cloud below.
In the game
How to get it
In Venus's orbit, at your ship's navigation table, choose the landing place Cloud city, then Land: the shuttle sets down on the plaza of the floating city nearest the day side, 405 to 425 m up, above the acid cloud deck (300 to 380 m). Most 36 km regions of Venus have one. Set foot on a deck.
What it is for
A base above hell: about 22 °C and one atmosphere, still no oxygen (keep your suit). The cloud jellyfish drift thickest around the cities (never down on the burning ground): their membranes give the cytherite, so a city is the place to shear them.
Why it exists
A lost city above the clouds: the only gentle place of Venus.
The same text the game shows in its progress tree and on the item's sheet (I).
What it is for
A base above hell: about 22 °C and one atmosphere, still no oxygen (keep your suit). The cloud jellyfish drift thickest around the cities (never down on the burning ground): their membranes give the Cytherite, so a city is the place to shear them.
The city
- The plaza: a round stone deck 56 m across on a stone keel, a brass lip round its edge; at its heart the palace, a round tower under a glass dome and a brass spire, ringed by six little towers with copper caps; two great balloons hold it.
- The districts: four to six round platforms 60 to 80 m out, each on its own keel and its own striped balloon, with houses or a dead hanging garden.
- The bridges: stone staircases with brass railings from the plaza to each district, broken in places: a fall goes through the acid clouds to the furnace below.
Dangers
An Acid squall lifts the acid deck over the cities for a few minutes: shelter in a closed room or wear acid-proof gear.
On the progress path
VE1VenusMain path
- This stepVE1 · Floating city in the clouds
- NextVE2 · Cloud jellyfish: membranes