The Steam Fields
Lore
The Steam Fields sit on ground that is geologically young and, by the assessment team's account, opinionated. Under the Geothermal designation, the home team's stamina does not degrade: the Ravens play the third period as fresh as the first, because the ground beneath them returns what the game takes. The ice is of the verglas form—clear, hard, grainless. The arena steams. The Almighty Ice and the volcanic rock beneath it appear to have reached an accommodation Le Council was not consulted on and does not fully understand. The Ravens play as though they have always been here, and on this ground, Le Council observes, always is a shorter word than it is elsewhere.
The Building
A long low hall of black basalt and pale timber, half-sunk into a plain of steaming ground, with vents in the floor of the concourse that are original to the site rather than to the building. Steam rises through them continuously and collects under the roof, where a run of narrow clerestory windows lets it out in a slow white ribbon visible from the road. The 11,400 seats are wooden and warm to the touch at every hour. The Almighty Ice surface is clear enough to read the rock beneath it, and the rock beneath it is not still—the assessment team's instruments recorded movement at depth throughout the deployment and recorded no movement at the surface. Players describe the building as restful. Visiting players describe it as restful for the first period.