Glyph Lore

Glyph Lore is a refinement of MagiTek developed by the Founders of Bastion. Theoretically, instead of investing energy into objects, Glyph Lore modifies or releases the way in which objects and events interact with reality - really heady stuff that even Lunarians find it difficult to wrap their ears around.

Glyph System
Glyph Lore is the foundation of the Glyph System which governs the main systems Bastion uses to survive. There are three known Glyph Systems: Transportation, Maintenance, and Atmosphere. Most people are aware of, at least peripherally, the Transportation Glyph System. The Maintenance and Atmosphere Systems are largely unnoticed.

Glyph Transportation System
The Transport system primarily links transportation between strata. Glyphs appear as difficult to see symbols (more easily seen for practitioners of mystic arts) floating above a set of flagstones which serve as the Glyph's boundaries. Every strata has at least two Major Glyphs, and one is always public. More populous strata with multiple major cities have at least one publicly accessible Major Glyph per city.

The public accesses them by using a small, flexible, square disk from the attendant (a key) which can be easily mentally impressed with the destination Glyph. They are usually left at the destination Glyph, though some officials keep their keys with them.

Glyphmasters and Glyph-mages are known to utilize the Glyph Transportation System without needing keys, though this is not common knowledge (you can actually have your Glyph Key in your pocket when you use the Glyph).

Other Glyphs are known to exist but they are assigned at the desires of the Glyphmasters. The general trend seems to be those whom the Federacy deems it a necessary to have these Glyphs or access to the same, though the Glyphmasters likely have their own agenda. It is rumored that there are "unofficial" and "one-way" Glyphs.

Environmental Maintenance Glyph System
The Enviro Glyph System takes care of all in-ground (beneath the strata surface) maintenance needs such as water and waste, Powerpoint energy management, and so-on. This system seems to be the most distributed system throughout Bastion. It's thought to be responsible for the actual physical structural support of Bastion. Any strata which have WarpSpaces rely upon this Glyph System.

Atmospheric Glyph System
The Atmospheric Glyph System deals with the weather and climate control within and around Bastion, to the extent of the dome. Many think the dome is gone don't realize that it simply has one part of its field that is now inoperable. It is still responsible for maintaining the atmospheric control system.

Within Bastion, Atmos is also responsible for the illusion of "open sky." Most Strata are no higher than a 1000 feet, but the different systems maintain the illusion that the atmosphere is several miles away. Flying vehicles and Cloudkin are requested to stay at the halfway mark or below in most Strata, to given plenty of room for error. For this reason, most Cloudkin stay at Cloudhome, a WarpSpaced strata 3 miles high.

Glyph Artifacts
These powerful items were devices created using MagiTek and reinforced with Glyph Lore. They became more numerous and led to the jealousy of other factions against the Elysium Council, eventually triggering the Elysium Wars. The Elysium Council managed to destroy most items of greater power - both MagiTek and Glyph Artifacts.