Mandora is the main world of the Argylon system and the capital world of the Spiral Mandate in the Hyperion Spiral. It has a gray and silver sheen from space, with orbital stations surrounded by traffic ranging from personal vessels to massive spaceships.
Cities and institutions
Wide promenades run between trimmed lawns and regularly spaced angular trees. Spacious buildings have curved surfaces, blue lighting and their own gardens separated by low hedges. Residences are low, while thin metal towers and cables form a grid above them. Human residents have no machinery integrated into their bodies; knowledge is widely shared.
The Spiral Halls are built into the planet and shaped like a galaxy. Each region and governing entity of the Mandate has a representative and seat there. Politicians are scanned for weapons and listening devices as they leave. A separate domed archive holds monitors and machines along glass tables, with parks outside.
Thalena’s account
In Thalena’s Shores of Eternity, an uprising followed the end of the Upper Mandate’s directives after the Maraveth Core was destroyed. For centuries, politicians had enacted these orders as messages from future leaders. The attacks on the Malverand Intergalactic Empire had been encouraged by distress calls and communications from supposed rebels opposing Isandro.
Alistair and his followers had infiltrated the Mandate through illusion magic. In the archives, he and Thalena examined the recorded communications. The core spoke in Isandro’s voice, offering to let the Mandate fire directly on the palace.