- "So, these are the ruins of San Francisco. An entire city of crumbling towers."
- ―Aloy
The Isle of Spires, also referred to as the Sunken City,[1] is a region in Horizon Forbidden West.
Geography[]
The Isle of Spires is currently the westernmost explored region of the known world, separated from the mainland by a vast stretch of ocean. The ruins of the Old World city of San Francisco, it is entirely overgrown and partially submerged beneath the waters (which have risen since the time of the Old Ones). However, the remnants of its skyscrapers still point into the clouds, a sight unlike anything else seen in the Forbidden West.
Due to strong oceanic currents, it is difficult to access the island from the east. It is presumably for this reason that the Isle of Spires is not claimed by any tribe: while the Quen have settlements on the island, these are intended only as temporary camps for their research voyage.
History[]
During the time of the Old Ones, the Isle of Spires was known as the city of San Francisco. During the 2030s, the city was hit particularly hard by the catastrophic climate event known as the Die-Off, with several parts of it sinking beneath the rising sea levels. During the following Claw-Back decade, a major engineering project spearheaded by an alliance of engineering companies managed to save the city by segmenting it into flood control zones.[2] During the same decade, the city became home to the Techipelago,[3] a global center for high technology and innovation that was home to some of the world's most renowned corporations, such as Atbay Global Infrastructure, Miriam Technologies, and until 2042, Faro Automated Solutions.[4]
During the Faro Plague, the city was the site of a series of battles known as the Battles of the California-Marine, which saw human forces cut down robotic invaders on the coasts before being pushed further inland.[5] The remains of a Horus Titan in the city bear witness to this battle. It was also here that Ted Faro retreated to his personal end-of-times bunker, Thebes, after the Faro Plague had eradicated all life on Earth.
Over centuries, the region was separated from the mainland by rising sea levels, with ocean currents making it nearly inaccessible to reach by sea. Adventurers who ventured into the Forbidden West from the east told tales of the region that were documented by a Carja named Udain.[6] The Utaru would name this new island the "Isle of Spires": they interpreted the towering skyscrapers as having been built by the Old Ones so that they could live away from the land, perhaps in an effort to avoid acknowledging their own mortality.
Eastern Expedition[]
Around the year 3040, an expedition of the Quen tribe set up a base in the Isle of Spires during their search for ancient knowledge to help their homeland.
Collectables[]
Datapoints[]
Text Datapoints - World[]
- #57 The Lombardment
- #58 NDA Motherload
- #59 Treasure Island
- #60 Trellago Relocates
- #61 Forever Young
- #62 Citizen of the New World
- #63 Oops
- #64 Live@Alcatraz
- #65 Jeeva Rescued by First Imperator
- #66 Since You've Been Gone
- #67 DIY AI
- #68 Demobilization Day
- #69 Revisiting the Mind Upload
- #70 20 Years After GG/EZ
- #71 Colossus Bay Buy-in
- #72 Shakeup
- #73 Crawl Tonight?
- #74 Delta Engineer Crijns Declines Key to City
- #75 Focus Update Released
- #76 Techipelago
- #77 Treatment Costs
- #78 Past Silver
Scanned Glyphs[]
- #25 Expedition Protocol (in Legacy's Landfall)
- #26 Unburdening (in Legacy's Landfall)
- #27 Ancestor Primer (in Legacy's Landfall)
- #28 Casualty Ledger (in Legacy's Landfall)
Ornaments[]
Black Boxes[]
Vista Points[]
Survey Drones[]
War Totems[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Expedition Protocol
- ↑ Delta Engineer Crijns Declines Key to City
- ↑ Techipelago
- ↑ Trellago Relocates
- ↑ Log: Cpl. Acosta (A)
- ↑ The Forbidden West, specifically the excerpt "Most extraordinary of all are those reports of a lake one hundred times the size of the Daybrink—so wide the far shores cannot be made out, and so deep that an entire city of the ancients stands drowned within."