Tower Civilisation of Bird-People

So I've lately been having some worldbuilding thoughts of a more fantasy-oriented world than I'm accustomed to. It's set in a fantasy version of Mesoamerica, and the main civilisation in the area is a diverse society of Funny Animal birds (with different species of bird representing different subspecies, akin to human ethnicities). The society is based in a giant skyscraper-esque tower, a la the Tower of Babel, albeit with a Mayincatec motif; essentially making it this world's equivalent of Tenochtitlan. The reason the birds are based in this tower is because they're constantly under threat of being attacked by an invading race of bat-people who've arrived from across the ocean, seeking to subjugate and exploit the locals, making them the equivalent of the Spanish Conquistadors.

The twist, however, is that the Mayincatec-themed bird society is, in fact, the more advanced of the two, both in technological and societal development. The general technology level is roughly Clockpunk or possibly Steampunk levels, averting Fantasy Gun Control. However, the birds' technology is hyper-efficient Magitek and appears 'cleaner' and more futuristic than their bat rivals, who must rely on purely mechanical technology. This is reflected in their appearance; the birds wear what could be considered Space Clothes despite not being in space, whereas the bats are much more grungy and dirty - except for their leaders, who look like they stepped out of the Napoleonic Wars.

However, the birds have recently undergone a revolution that overthrew their monarchy, and are now under the command of an isolationist military dictatorship that deliberately keeps their entire defensive capabilities locked down on their literal skyscraper city, the idea supposedly being to wait for the bats to give up and leave. But of course, there's more to it than that; the invading bats actually did give up a long time ago; the bats that are invading now are all mercenaries being supplied and paid by the leader of the birds, who wants an excuse to stop anyone from leaving the tower - because the birds have a very low breeding rate as a side-effect of their Magitek use, and as such he can't afford to let anyone try running off and starting their own society, because then he'd 'inevitably' have to fight them and kill them.^note If you're wondering if the bats and birds can fly in this universe, then yes, they can; but it doesn't help individual bats much because they'd get vaporised by their defences, which is why they still develop aircraft.

I do have a few questions in relation to these points:

• How would a 'tower society' like the one described function, logistically speaking? This is assuming the tower grows its own food at ground level, possibly at 'greenhouses' higher up, and there's no stairs because the birds don't need stairs to get from one floor to another.
• With regards to the birds' leader, I was trying to get across the sort of character who started out as a Well-Intentioned Extremist but eventually turned into a power-hungry despot without even realising it; a Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist, in other words, with the potential for a Heel Realisation later down the line. I'm wondering if that's the case with the character - and more importantly with regards to world-building, what tactics could he use to maintain this state of affairs for as long as possible without everyone getting suspicious and beginning to rebel? Would rebellion be an inevitability if we rule out the possibility that they could support themselves forever living in the tower?

edited 9th Jun '17 10:57:29 PM by PresidentStalkeyes

For your second question, you probably looked at Napoleon Bonaparte. Don't look at Bonaparte. A better example would be Maximillian Robespierre.

Robespierre is everything you described. He was a well-intentioned extremist who thought he was doing France a favour during the Revolution and ended up being a total despot. He was killed by his own guillotine.

Robespierre used mass hysteria and terrorism to control the people, so that may be something you can use. But of course, you can also use typical dictatorship tactics, like Assad or Hitler used. About rebellions. Since the monarchy was toppled, Royalists should be a big problem for the Revolution's leaders as it was in our history, so that could be one of the bases for any possible revolts that occur in your world.

Good luck, I guess.

edited 14th Jun '17 3:41:21 PM by Flamma