Rupert Boleyn wrote:

> Note that pressurisation might not be considered 'high risk' by the time
> of the Ziru Sirka.

Absolutely true. And you do have people living in large numbers in HighPoints,
which is another point. Of course, "real" Vilani might consider such behaviour
to be suicidally dangerous, but that's just local colour :-)

> OTOH, the  Third Imperium is supposed to have been driven entirely by economics
> and profit, yet it built flying palaces and other such frivolities, so...

Well, there's the 99.999%, and the rest, some of whom are super-rich. Look at the
UK in the 18th and 19th centuries. They came up with some of the most insanely
lovely dwellings ever. And then there are the chateaux in France... (Chambord,
Chenonceau, Versailles...), the ex-Austria-Hungary (the Schönbrunn Palace
Palace), and so on. Neuschwanstein castle. Belveder. Hearst Castle.

Alex Goodwin (referring to tower blocks) wrote:

> Cleaning the windows would get interesting, nearly requiring pressure
> suits above 10 km.

Indeed so. Also grav belts (IMTU, widely distrusted as being Single Point-Of-Failure
devices, so much so that the 'spof' has become a mild swear-word). But if you are
willing to posit tower blocks that high, you're probably willing to posit friction-free
windows, that the rain etc simply falls off. Or you use robot drones with grav drives
and scrubby pads. Anyone with artistic talent want to take a pass at that one? :-)

Jonathan