Firefly Alley

Firefly Alley (ほたる横丁, Hotaru Yokochou) is a location in Sol Ciel, the setting of Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia.

This city was built according to Tenba's Concept for a Academic City for the Cloud Sea Investigation, and it's an entirely artificial and floating island that is located around 62 Stons (roughly 200 meters) over the Sea of Death. Its current population is approximately 2000 people. In recent times, the town areas expanded, and a great number of immigrants came to live here. Now, most of the residents of Firefly Alley are actually immigrants that came from the Airport City Nemo. And it goes without saying that most of them just changed their place of residence from a pleasant continent to a place like this out from simple curiosity. It was because a lot of adventurers and researchers dreamed with going below the Sea of Death, discovering new things, and studying more methods of using the Grathnodes, and like fishes being fished out from the Sea of Death, they exported an enormous variety of manufactured products to Nemo. All the residents of Firefly Alley have grown used to the tremors the island has, so they don't get sick at them, and they aren't afraid of heights anymore.

=Outline of the Island=

This place keeps its balance thanks to 4 support arms, which together look similar to a four-armed Yajirobee*. Each arm has as its core a floating disc made from Grathnode called the Flipper. Basically, the city started being just a layer of houses, and later on, as new families moved in, they built more houses over the old ones, and they continued doing this until the current times. Because of that, the structure of city got excessively complicated, and even the residents often get lost in it.

So, as the standard size for the areas of the city expanded, inside of Firefly Alley there were plans to simplify the navigation through its blocks, but none of them proved to be effective, until a railway similar to a trolley was established.

Furthermore, since this city is basically a property of Tenba, the mayor of Firefly Alley is at the same time the President of Tenba. However, actually each one of the blocks of Firefly Alley have their own governments, which gather and hold a conference called the Firefly Alley Commerce and Industry Meeting. In this meeting, the decisions concerning various matters, such as the maintenance of the city, the laws governing its inhabitants and even the trade rates, are taken here.

* Yajirobee: Japanese balancing toy.

=The Central Power Generator=

It has a Flipper in its core. This is a floating and rotating disc made from Grathnodes, which was created using the Grathmeld technique. When the Flipper rotates, it gains a great buoyancy. Anything that comes near the radius of a rotating Flipper, no matter how small or big, will float, and because of that, its rotation it's used as the propeller principle for the airships.

=Fashion in Firefly Alley=

In Firefly Alley, the winds are so strong that inevitably the people need to have short hair, so it won't be an obstacle while they are working. In addition to keeping their hair short, a lot of people also use caps as part of their work gear. In the warm days, they wear a mesh of clothes to keep themselves fresh, while in the cold seasons they also wear mantles and cloaks to protect themselves against the cold winds. The mantles usually don't go beyond the waist in length, because if they were long to reach the feet, it could cause their owners to trip while walking. The materials preferred for clothing are almost always cotton, linen and some others. This also means that synthetic fibers are non-existent.

It has also become common to see people wearing trousers for walking. However, over that, the women prefer to wear skirts, while the men use other garments to cover themselves. As for the women, if they wear long skirts, they wear tights under them, while if they wear mini-skirts, they don't wear the tights. And in order to avoid damaging the clothes, they added deeper and covered pockets to them.

In contrast, they like a lot to use big ribbons and scarves, which dance when the wind blows, as ornaments, in special if they produce any kind of sounds when that happens. And they also like if they are patterned, mostly the ones with stylish straight lines, but they prefer to avoid sultry patterns. The preferred colors are ivory and the hemp-colored basic tones, though the primary colors are almost never used. Since the sunlight is so bright, white tones are avoided for not harming the eyes of other people, and fluorescent clothes are never used.

And because this city is rich on industries and artisans, the people almost always carry hammers and wrenches inside of their pockets.

Cielian Clothes
The clothes of the Cielians are western-styled. Because of the damp climate, they had to pay attention to the ventilation, and so, they wear trousers that stretch around the legs. And for safety reasons, because of how risky the terrain can be when it's damp, the preferred footwear are high shoes and boots. In this city, wearing high-heeled shoes is a risk.

Clusterian Clothes
The clothes that the Clusterians wear have a very similar image to the japanese traditional clothes, furthermore, they are comparable to the kimonos, and they are made in a way that they have a high grade for exposition and breathability. In the back, they tie the obis in a way in which they take the shape of a big pinwheel, and this style of clothing has gotten quite a popularity in recent times among the women.

=The Feet of People: "The Tram"=

In Firefly Alley, the most popular way of transport is the tram. This special railway travels through various routes, each one having an Station as its core, and there is one for each block of the city.

The Tram Wagons
The wagons aren't anything more than walls and ceilings, although they still have seats.

=The Districts of Firefly Alley=

The name of all the districts of the island was posted as Firefly in signs all over the blocks that form it. Its main airport is the Seagull Port, and since it's located relatively close to the center of the city, because of its location, it served as an ideal entry point to Firefly Alley, which helped to raise its spontaneous prosperity.

The Problem of the Water
Since the water is essential for living, it is drawn from the Tower, along with many other things, and sent to the island through a pipeline. Because it is so valuable, the enterprises that manage the public baths have to let the clients bathe free once each two days, and is normal to leave the laundry to specialists on the matter. In the city, in a block called the Great Cleaner Cape, there is an enormous washing machine, in which the citizenry throw the clothes to wash them. The washing machine is transported through railways, and both the morning and evening trains have two cars that are exclusively used for this purpose. The people always rushes to the tram to get to the station in time, so they can drop the clothes they need to wash and pick up the already washed ones.

Seagull Port
The port to which the airships arrive and depart from. This was the starting point from which all of the city was established. The airships from Tenba also arrive and take off from here, and as such, the people always know whenever the adventure-loving president of Tenba, Ayano, returns from one of her trips.

Research Facility for Future Sciences
The highest building in Firefly Alley. It resides on the central part of the highest revolution axis of the island, and it's the institution with the most pretentious name. Entry is strictly forbidden to unauthorized personnel. From the entrance, there is a spiral staircase inside of the axis, which can't be seen from the outside. Currently, they seem to be working in developing a one-seater glider, and researching the buoyancy of the continent.

==Residential Areas (Kitty Town)=

Before the great expansion of Firefly Alley, this was the most densely populated area in the island. It used to be an area bathed in sunlight, but since nowadays the new outer sectors of the city covers it, it's dark even during daytime. So, to the chagrin of a lot of people, this area turned gradually into an habitat for cats, so it's now popularly known as the Kitty Town. Since they only purr when they are sleeping, it's thought that an extremely intelligent cat called Negoron is the one that rules over them.

Moonlight Town
This is the block where the majority of the researchers reside currently. Since the main airport for Firefly Alley, the Seagull Port, is located in this block, it's the block with the most convenient transport system. Practically all the projects related to Tenba are always planned and designed in this block.

Rocket Plaza
When Firefly Alley was first completed, this place was built as an investigation facility for the young people that couldn't stop dreaming with someday going to the moons. In the current days, it's now used for people that wishes to do long-distance studies on Grathmeld, and Tenba offered this place to them without any charges.

Horned Owl Time Laboratory
It's located in the same block as the Great Washing Machine. Whatever they might be researching, it's a complete mystery. It's filled which stubborn old geezers that wear white lab robes.

Magic Plaza
This is the last station on the New Firefly Line line of the tram, and it's also the trial area for Grathmeld experiments. It used to be the institution that Tenba set up to research and develop the Grathmeld technology, but it was recently opened to the public, and now everyone can come and go in without any cost.

Plunge Stand
This station was originally the base for building the great Morning Sun bridge, which crosses to the right side of Firefly Alley, and because of that, it has such a disturbing name. This station is completely desert.

Sea Angling Central
This is spot where the people called the Cloud Anglers fish out creatures from the Sea of Death. Since in the past there was a wooden bridge in this place, and it ended collapsing and falling 62 Stons (approx. 200 meters) below into the Sea of Death, the anglers go to try and fish out anything that could be remaining of it.

Starseed City
This is the place inhabited by the people that want to live away from the tumult of the city.

Observatory
This place is connected to the rest of Firefly Alley through the great Morning Sun bridge, and it's used for observing the stars.

=Transportation Methods for the Firefly Alley Specialties=

Because of the way the city expanded by building new sections upon the old ones, there are special transportation methods for the merchandise and special products. Generally, while the stairs are still used, the transportations of merchandise through vertical routes is done through ropes and gondolas, and Tarzan-style ropes are especially popular among children. Since this city is inhabited by people filled with adventurous spirit, what could be seen as dangerous transportation methods by other people, for them is an extremely enjoyable experience.

Wind Tunnel Chute
There are wind tunnels everywhere in the city, and enormous pieces of cloth are used as parachutes to transport items vertically through these tunnels. Whenever a strong gust of wind blows, the enlargement of the cloth is regulated to control better the elevation. However, this method can be only used for elevating things, not for sending them downward.

Sylpheed
An small glider with a maximum capacity of two passengers. Basically, it gives the feel of being just a glider appended to a bicycle. However, its use is not widespread because of its expensiveness, so this is an item that the majority of the people wish to have.

Windboard
Basically, it's an skateboard used for riding the wind. The board is divided in a section for putting both feet (riding), while two wings at the sides control the altitude. It's mainly used as a equipment for playing inside of the wind tunnels, though in these places it's forbidden to play with the windboards.