Not empowered by a century of pop culture like certain readers, Lantry has no idea what this means. He does, however, correctly conclude it is probably something to be nervous about. Mostly because he's a coward.

"I promise to obey all safety procedures and only try this sigil when it won't hurt anything, can you teach me how to use the sigil of lightning?"

Cowardice and delight in knowledge fight a war in Lantry's head and knowledge, as usual, wins.

"I suppose if you'll be safe about it. So, the basic sigil is a simple fork of lightning, easy to remember, bpt it has to be quite precise..."

The first lesson will last pretty much to the base of the Spire.

She is careful to take meticulous notes, even as she's more and more distracted by the huge construction as they approach.

It's big. Really big.

At its base is a pretty impressive fortress, several layers of walls, slightly rising as they go in. The scale matches the gunpowder star forts of Europe, if Walta's ever seen any, not that they'd understand the comparison. It's in reasonably good repair, but the signs of mutiple sieges not-quite-fixed are there if you look.

Which you probably won't. There's the Spire right there, and it's very big.

"I feel like it's going to fall on my head..."

"I heard the same from one of the other Fatebinders who grew up in the Blasted Heath, where you were ten day's walk from the nearest Spire anywhere for five day's walk across open plains. That's about the farthest you can get, though, so we're mostly used to it. Now, the view from up above, on the other hand..."

"I was there at the start and cooled my heels here for a fist, and I'm still not used to it."

"I wish I'd built it."

If you think you can learn how, he thinks, but then abruptly realizes that if anything could keep him from becoming Archon of the Spires, that would be it. Best not.

"Do you recognize the stone?," Lantry asks, "As far as I know, no Sage ever found a match for it, in person or in any record from elsewhere on the continent."

"It almost looks like concrete... But no structure I know could possibly hold up something so massive, even if it's entirely metal inside."

"Well, we knew they channeled magic. No surprise if they need it to stand. We should get you some samples from one of the Oldwalls breaches, they're made from the same stone."

"I can certainly take a look and see what I can learn!"

(She will continue to gawk at the bulk of the spire as they approach.)

The fort around it is built of more ordinary stone, quarried granite much like natural outcroppings in the area. Going inside through the three sets of gates, the inner keep has Spire stone visible in places, but most of it is either the same granite or decorated in sandstone.

When they've passed through that final set of gates, Kohl leads the way inward, anticipating the next spectacle. "Over there are our usual bunks when staying here. Some sparring practice areas, you'll probably want to use those, I have people who can instruct. Kitchens. But mostly - Ascension Hall."

The door to the Hall is in one of the walls that's entirely Spire-stone, including the gates. Inside, there's a shattered floor with a large glowing pattern, lines between glowing crystals, in a larger pattern with some lines and crystals which are dark. The walls are patterned sandstone, a throne room, complete with empty throne (slightly dusty) at the other side. But the sandstone only goes up about thirty feet, and above that it's dark, empty space, all the way up.

Also on the floor, a dais very slightly raised above the surrounding floor, the Spire-stone floor below the shattered sandstone. It's big enough for four people to stand on it, if they squish together, and glowing just like the pattern, but brighter. A shimmering field of energy sits above it, and you get the feeling that there's a distorted picture in it if you squint.

"The portal to the top of the Mountain Spire. After you, or should I lead?"

"Let's see this amazing view." She walks forward eagerly! Good vantage point, here she goes!

There's a buzzing sensation, and then she's above - the wind is noticeable, but the air is as warm and thick as ground level.

The circular platform is slightly larger than the hall below, with a central dais on a circle a half-level down, the rest of the platform on a level with itself. There's a strange sculpture like a vise twisted counterclockwise on that dais, made of stone much like the tower.

Looking out - there are a ring of mountains around Vendrien's Well, and she can see over all of them. Another, lower and larger ring is off to the northeast, with curiously broken-looking land within it. At this distance, it's hard to make out the details, but two more Spires rise from the north and south of that greater circle.

North and west she can see one of the fault-line-like cliffs that give the Tiers their name. Both sides of this one look healthy, signs of farming noticeable, if a little dry. Another Spire can be seen there, and a good view of the Oldwalls - much lower but still a good six stories tall, if not ten - leading to it from each side.

South it's hard to make out detail, because a hurricane seems to be sitting over it unmoving. Off to the east, there's a volcano, glinting red with still-hot lava.

That must be the Edict of Storms, and the Edict of... Volcano?

The view is, indeed, amazing. She gets out her spyglass again, wishes it had more than 2x magnification, and pans around, looking for landmarks. Interestingly colored rocks indicating surface deposits of stuff, most of all.

...Can she observe the curvature of the world from here?

There are a lot of mountain ranges, abrupt fault lines, and unreasonably tall walls making it tricky, but yes, she can see the curvature. Actually, it seems pretty pronounced; this planet is significantly smaller than Earth.

Looking at the mountains to the east, a big chunk of foothills has patches that look like layered sandstone and limestone - a good place to check for coal. Rusty stone and magnetite don't have any obvious large deposits, but a lot of smaller patches can be spotted from up here, twice or four times the size of the one she found near Essa's farm.

Better than nothing! She's going to have to build some sort of MAGNETIC PROSPECTOR. That sounds fun.

She will - not actually start producing a map here and now. There's time for that later. She backs away from the edge and looks around at the rest of the place, and ad Kohl and the others to see what they're up to.

They've all followed her up, actually.

"Heck of a view, isn't it? See anything useful?"

Also up on the platform are:

A walking suit of armor, in a twisted mix of iron and bronze.