North Pole

Overview

The North Pole is the geographic top of Arbre, dominated by a permanent ice cap. In current accounts it functions less as a destination than as a traverse: a rarely used overland crossing linking far‑northern landmasses when conditions and logistics allow. It is also used as a fixed reference in skywatching and auroral work.

Notable Features

• Overland crossing: Travelers describe taiga giving way to tundra and then deep pack ice on the approach to the pole. Heavy over‑snow transport moves in prepared ruts, and seasonal sledge trains can tow containers, bulk scrap, and even loaded vehicles across the ice.
• Polar environment: Severe cold and wind demand specialized gear and vehicles. Outside the initial belt of fuel‑tree plantations, activity thins to scattered resource‑extraction camps before giving way to empty ice.

Associations

• Logistics and materials: The pole figures in a long route by which black volcanic stone from the Cliffs of Ecba was hauled to the clock works in the Mynster and installed on the Praesidium as geometric counterweights.
• Cosmography: Avout cite the pole in discussions of aurora responsive to solar flares. Fraa Orolo is mentioned looking “toward the North Pole,” with instrument‑based approaches such as a Photomnemonic Tablet noted for detecting subtle effects even when no aurora is visible to the naked eye.

Recent Activity

• A northbound over‑ice route is being used to reach the far side of the world “over the pole,” with a major sledge port operating at roughly Eighty‑three North. This path avoids normal ports of entry and is favored by caravans and scavenger trains when markets warrant.

Status/Access

• Common practice is to cross between far‑northern regions by aerocraft or ship through ports of entry; over‑pole surface passage is unusual and logistically demanding. Where maintained, sledge routes concentrate at ice‑rail “locomotives” and staging areas that function as temporary towns.