Ivory Tower Productions

This would be a good name for a film company, but it isn't, even though some of their finished products are a mixture of fiction and fantasy, with a little horror and comedy thrown in for good measure.

The comedy is the reaction from the audience at the first screening of the finished production and the horror when they realize those giving the presentation are not laughing.

Such productions from the Ivory Tower are rarely directed at external customers, they are for internal use by the groundforces whose job it is to maintain the structural integrity of the Tower. Those that are produced as a source of revenue are primarily purchased by other Towers.

Within the mighty walls of the tower, there lives the Technical Wizards. These Technical Wizards rarely meet those ground forces that are destined to be in awe of their technological marvels, but are instead, cloistered away for years weaving their magic.
The more isolated the Technical Wizards, the less likely that the end product will be what the ground forces long for.

Although the view from the Techincal Wizard's window is not as spectacular as from the higher floors, it is still a pleasant view. For a better picture of what is happening on the ground, they rely on reports from analysts who have actually stepped outside of the tower. How far they have stepped beyond the safety of the ivory walls, varies. Some will venture no further than the well manicured grounds of the Tower, while others will always ensure they remain within the shadow of the Tower. Rarely will you find one waist deep in a swamp.

It is a misconception that so long as the product has been properly specified, then there is no reason for the Technical Wizards to ever have need to come into contact with the ground forces. The specification is only ever as good as the questions and the context in which they have been asked. It is only once the ground forces have been given sight of what the finished production will look like that they can assess its usefullness. This is where the Technical Wizard must step out of the Ivory Tower to listen, learn and then take that knowledge back and refine the product.

If the ground forces knew of all the trickery that the Technical Wizards had at their disposal, they would be Wizards themselves. They have little or no idea of what is possible so are unable to articulate accurately as to their needs.

Whenever the Technical Wizards are escorted to meet with the ground forces, the area that they visit has, for the most part, been carefully selected. There will be no irate masses or awkward confrontations. The visit will be carefully orchestrated to heap praise on the Wizards and their wonderous abilities.

For those places where the greeting will be less than amicable, they have rarely seen anybody from the Ivory Tower. Their environment is deemed to be hostile and is generally avoided by all. Here There Be Dragons.

This is the one place where opinions will be voiced and anger vented. The one place where the Technical Wizard will gain enlightenment as to what all those hours locked away in the Tower were for.