Editing Acrozatarim/Appendix 2 (section)

==The Cracked Shell - Fragments in Orbit==

The reach of the Elders went far beyond the ground, beyond even the clouds.  During the Dawn Era, the unseen, arcane networks of concept and energy that were woven in and round the world were accompanied by a very physical encirclement.  In the modern age, this orbital ring is largely forgotten by the people of the earth, and has become a shattered husk of its former glory.  Still, parts of the orbital structure put in place by the Elders and their servitors can be seen by eye or telescope, and so amongst scholars and priests the Cracked Shell remains an element of lore and myth.

The purpose of the Shell, its long strings of metal and stone structure, its voidborn holds, seems to have been manifold; it was part of the immanence engine that empowered the Elders, offered them some sort of infrastructure for moving people and materials, gave them excellent surveillance of the planet and proved exceptionally potent during the Dawn War.  The same arcane orbital platforms became a liability as the rebellion gained paced, however.  More than one lesser Elder perished up there as a platform or segment of the network was rent apart by mortal or servitor saboteurs or, in one notable incident, a nascent Younger God went on the rampage - some actually claim this was the Eye as it turned from whatever it was into a divinity.  And the Shell proved very fragile; it had not been designed to resist any sort of attack, and failures cascaded through the network, hurtling and out of control platforms slamming into others.  Through the War, debris and detritus rained down from the skies in blazing trails of fire.

Even now, occasional fragments hurtle down, meteors leaving glowing star-metal at the bottom of craters.  In theory, from what academics have observed, the Cracked Shell may still retain a few functional platforms.  There may even be living beings still up there.

For most beyond the sharp edge of scholasticism, however, the Cracked Shell is just a collection of gleaming god-fragments in the heavens, the cage of the Elders that was shattered as the Youngers excarnated through it and tore a path to the heavens.