This article belongs to the lore of Amberleaf.

Amberleaf Architecture

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Typical Amberlevian architecture is organic and asymmetric, but still with pattern behind it, just one that always established a certain irregularity. The construction is all interconnected; bridges, halls, walls; making it often impossible to classify the architecture into separate buildings. Different types of stone are a very popular choice of material, and also wooden constructions may occasionally be witnessed. Cities aren't built for cars, but are mindfully constructed to take trains into consideration. The unfinished look is an iconic design. Amberlevian architecture is meant to shift and grow over time. It uses both overground and underground construction, often merging seemlessly into one.

Housing

Amberlevian residences come in a vast variety of style, though there is a set of archetypes. Much of the living quarters are typically located in the underground, and classically there is a big central parlor with a large hearth, which through pipes is used to warm the rest of the building/s during winter.

Kastellion

Only a small portion of the population is naturally fertile, Queens and Drones. Families are very large with a Worker usually having hundreds of sisters of the same mother. A Kastellion is a type of family home. It consists of multiple buildings, and can seem almost like a small village of its own. There is usually a large centerpiece building, with a large homely underground, where among other things the parlor and the chambers of the mother and her partner/s reside. The Kastellion may have parks, gardens, walls, or a variety of other functional or decorative constructions. Kastellions have large architecture to accommodate for Queens.

Kastellabra

When multiple Kastellions are joint together into a single cohesive configuration, it is called a Kastellabra. The simplest of Kastellabras is when two very close neighboring Kastellions, perhaps close families, have undergone a kind of architectural symbiosis and joined their infrastructure enough to function as a single unit. In a grand case there has perhaps a large family of families which have constructed and joined together many Kastellions. Often in such cases, one of the central Kastellions will act as a large centerpiece, similar to how Kastellions have a core, giving the whole structure a fractal look.

Limiette

When Workers leave their Kastellion, they usually move into a Limiette with their sisters, friends, or professional colleagues, to form a small commune. A Limiette is a residential building, usually intended for about 10 people, although there can be very large Limiettes. It is not only intended to serve as a home, but also a limited place for work, and a place that is to a degree self-sufficiant. As such it often contains a kitchen, a workshop, a garden, and other small places of leisure or work. A Limiette gains its name from being liminal. It is meant to shift and expand, with people leaving or joining, and with the residents working to rebuild the Limiette to fit the needs of the small commune. Limiettes often have a distinct character, and a somewhat chaotic layout, with each part of it serving a purpose, and the whole building telling a story of its current or previous residents through its architecture.

Quartette

A Quartette typically forms when a Limiette has expanded to a certain size, or when neighboring Limiettes have slowly merged into one connected system. It houses about 20 to 60 people. They are often more sophisticated and organized than Limiettes, often trying to balance out the set of needed skills of its residents, and trying to "recruit" according to that. A organized enough Quartette may even serve as a small professional institute, like a smithy or a bar.