Ephemeral Structures

The collective classification of Ephemeral Structures serves not as a celebration of craft, but as a chilling, necessary documentation of transience. These remnants—primarily the hasty, surface-level constructions of the scattered human populace—are the physical embodiments of decay, meticulously cataloged by the Abbey as verifiable proof of the sociological and geological axiom known as Surface Entropy. Unlike the enduring, inscribed halls and monumental arches of the Deepstone Era, Ephemeral Structures were universally erected following the cataclysmic rupture of the Great Sundering, during the immediate chaos of the Age of Lingering Echoes. They were never engineered for longevity; their existence was a temporary measure of panic, designed to delay the inevitable yield to the elements. Their architecture is defined by desperation, a profound lack of geological reverence, and a reliance on volatile, localized materials. These structures typically consist of crudely fused salvaged scrap and hastily cured timber, bolted together with precarious internal frameworks, often utilizing makeshift supporting mechanisms referred to by the engineers of the time as the Makeshift Truss. They routinely relied upon highly unstable, localized power sources, utilizing combustible, chemically derived agents such as thick, volatile Magma Oil through crude systems to generate heat and light. This reliance on chaotic energy is why none have survived intact. The true historical significance of these artifacts lies in their material and structural failure; they vividly reveal how quickly civilization dissolves when it fails to anchor itself to the enduring, eternal truth of the rock. They stand as grim monuments to fleeting hope. One such recent discovery, the rapidly degrading reconnaissance site known as the Shattered Observation Post, demonstrates how even technologically focused architectural designs, when lacking true subterranean integrity, yield almost instantaneously to the relentless, corrosive forces of the surface world. We preserve their memory in the archive not to honor their construction, but to ensure that the dwarven future never forgets the profound cost of building upon dust and ephemeral air.