The Wings of Horus (ホルスの翼, horusu no tsubasa?) form a floating continent that was created in the First Era, which in current times resides
Part of the Wings of Horus seen from above.
at a great height above the world's surface. Their dimensions as of the Third Era are as follows: 140,000 Stons (420 km) long per 115,000 Stons (350 km) wide, making it a considerable landmass. It is due to the environmental control machine known as the Musical Corridor that the Wings of Horus exhibit the same kind of environment found at 0 meters AMSL (above sea level).The Musical Corridor is effective in a 120,000 Ston radius around it, making them habitable for any kind of life form.
The detaching of the Wings of Horus began in the year 3000 AD (during the First Era), and it was in the year 3022 AD that they reached the altitude at which they are currently located. During the time of their detachment and elevation, the First Tower of Ar tonelico was surrounded at its base by a great city, the detached land used for the creation of the continent being the land of the outskirts. Later, when the Wings of Horus reached their planned elevation, an urbanization plan was launched, surrounding the Tower with another great city in the higher altitudes. This two-part city later became the capital city of the region of Sol Ciel: El Elemia.
The continent's name comes from one of the most important Wills of Ar Ciel: Horus, the Will that creates and maintains the land.
Purpose[]
The purpose of the Wings of Horus during the First Era was to create a floating continent for conducting practical research on the Musical Corridor and its capacity to alter the environment and weather, so they were made as a field suitable for a wide variety of studies to be carried out on the Corridor and its functions.
Also, the leading-edge institutions on Sound Science, Wave Physics and the biggest interest of the First Era, Biotechnology, moved to the Wings of Horus to attempt new experiments. This was also in the interest of protecting the world from some of the more hazardous experiments, as the Wings of Horus were, at that time, an isolated continent. Later on, the continent gradually became more stable, and near the end of the First Era, the researchers were able to guarantee that all their experiments and investigations were safe, and no longer posed a threat.
This directly led to the general public being authorized to inhabit Horus, and the plans for building a resort city in it were set in motion. However, this resort city was still being built when the Grathnode Inferia occured, and so has remained unfinished ever since.
There are many remnants of the investigations that were performed on the Wings of Horus, including the great variety of creatures, such as Dragons and Poms, originally created by Wave Physics to be used as bioweapons. After the Grathnode Inferia, the people took shelter in the Wings of Horus, but they were continually attacked by these uncontrollable experiments, which they called [Abnormal Beings] and feared greatly as they were incapable of defeating them.
However, the most important purpose of the Wings of Horus in the First Era was the crystallization of the investigations into artificial life forms: the Reyvateils. Near the end of the First Era, the first Reyvateil, Eoria, was created here, subsequently followed by two other Reyvateils. Afterwards, the trial β-type Reyvateils, and later on, countless numbers of Pureblooded β-type Reyvateils were created here as well. This means that the Wings of Horus could rightly be considered the birthplace of all Reyvateils.
Disaster[]
During the Second Era, the Wings of Horus were approximately one and a half times larger than how they are in the Third Era. Because of the events that transpired during Mir's Rebellion, the Right Wing of Horus fell from the Tower, and several parts of it broke off and were pulled by one part of the Left Wing. That part was the Plasma Bell, and the broken pieces ended up forming a number of small floating islands, such as one known as the Falcon's Claw.
The Left and the Right Wings[]
During most of the First Era, the general public were not allowed to go near the Wings of Horus, but during the Second Era, many were already living on them. The main city, which was built in the most flat terrain that was available on the Right Wing of Horus, was the biggest city ever built in the Second Era: [Neo Elemia]. It was built adjoined to the Tower, and the Right Wing is where the majority of the population of Sol Ciel lived, and where other large cities were built. In contrast, the Left Wing of Horus had a terrain marked by numerous hills and mountains, with only agrarian towns and villages throughout its extension.
Materials Used for its Creation[]
During the Second Era, a great number of valuable metal deposits were found in the Wings of Horus, and they were utilized for construction works that took place on them. Initially, these materials only caused problems when people attempted to use them, until the time when Yuteria was developed. This material is made from dirt, stones and small portions of Grathnode, and was treated as a commodity due to its scarcity at the time. However, once it was mixed with other materials, it became much easier to use, and was used primarily for the construction of tall buildings. However, most of the houses in the lower parts of the cities were still constructed from wood. Neo Elemia probably had a similar atmosphere to the one that Shanghai has.
Noteworthy Parts and Places[]
The Plasma Bell[]
Main article: Plasma Bell
This is the power source that keeps the Wings of Horus afloat, and is the lifeline for the people
The Plasma Bell.
that lived on the Wings in the Second and Third Eras. As it is such a vital area of the Tower, it is managed under a separate administrative system from the primary mainframe, so even if the Tower is temporarily suspended, the Plasma Bell will continue functioning.
This is such a vital process that it has never been stopped since the Plasma Bell was first put into operation. Originally there were two Plasma Bells, but during Mir's Rebellion the right one was destroyed, and only the one that keeps the Left Wing of Horus afloat remains.
As a sidenote, the Plasma Bell levitates the continent because it creates buoyancy through the resonance its energy makes with the crystals that are buried into the Wings of Horus, and which can be seen jutting from its underside in the picture above. Therefore, it has no effect over anything aside of the continent's mass itself.
Singing Hill[]
Main article: Singing Hill
This was a facility made for experimentation regarding Wave Physics and Biotechnology, and thus is the birthplace of the Dragons, Poms, and other so-called Abnormal Beings. When the people of the Second Era rediscovered it, they remodeled it into a place for researching and developing the Song Magic of the new, modified Reyvateils (the Pureblooded β-types), and renamed it the Singing Hill.
In this place, many kinds of Hymmnos Words were researched, and many other kinds of Hymmnos Extracts were developed. As an example, the Hymmnos Extract Purger was developed as the result of one of these projects.
However, the land upon which the Singing Hill was built was highly fragile due to the Grathnode Inferia and the continual testing of offensive Song Magic. During the Second Era, a disaster ensued when one entire floor of the facility, together with many researchers and Reyvateils fell from it and disappeared forever under the Sea of Death. Even now there are remnants of that disaster in the Singing Hill, as in the lower floors there is an area overlooking the sky.
Landbreak Line[]
When the Right Wing of Horus fell during the Reyvateil War, the Left Wing also received an impact from portions that split off from the broken Right Wing. At that moment, the areas near the center of the Left Wing cracked, resulting in an enormous cliff spanning the breadth of the continent. This scar in the land's surface became known as the [Landbreak Line].
Memorial Monuments[]
These are the monuments that the people of the Second Era built in memory of those that died in the Grathnode Inferia. There are still ruins of one of them in the Tail of Reminiscence.
Parabola Shield[]
This is a device that was buried in the Wings of Horus for a dual purpose. One of these was to increase the efficiency of the usage of LDSW (Long Distance Stratus Waves), which are waves with an extremely high energy output that are capable of causing a variety of dangerous effects in the areas that fall under their influence, and that are therefore viable as strategic weapons. The other purpose of this device was to protect the cities and towns of the Wings from being attacked by those same means in return. For these reasons, the Parabola Shield was created and buried in the Wings of Horus, in a way that it served as an umbrella to the people of Sol Ciel.