Royal Palace of Vraitha

Overview

The Royal Palace of Vraitha - going forward only refered to as "Palace" - is the main seat of power for the Mistress of Vraitha. It is her living space, her retreat, her freedom and her commandcenter. Here is where the Mistress goes on with her life, inside and outside of royal duties.

It sits on the northern cliffs of the inner city of Vrasathra and has one of the best views in the city, except for the watchtowers maybe. It can even oversee the parks and the Mistress' Return which are a lot closer to the ridges of the cliffs and it contains the Royal Duckery, but we are coming to that.

Not only is the palace the largest building in Vrasathra, but it is also the last retreat for the Mistress, her Consort, the staff and the citizens of the city in the event of an invasion. It happened once and the people of Vraitha came back stronger than ever. With a few difficulties.

So, the palace. It has a few towers as well as two dining halls - or one hall and one room to be more precise -, a wing for guests and sleeping rooms for the Mistress, her Consort and possible children. Some of the upper towers in the back (seen from the gate) are literally only occupied by the Mistress. She is everything to the people and so she needs space. Not that every Mistress is using it, but those towers are reserved for her.

Origin/Function

The palace is a huge manifestation of power and will. The former founders of Vrasathra started a few years after the founding of the city with the construction of the palace. They brought wood and stone from outside - and the quarry which was forming after that - to construct which is now the inner wall made out of hardened wood.

It is three things and three things it shall be.

So at first it was designed to be a palace. A palace to hold the royal family and be as beautiful and resilient as they were.

Second it was a home to the royal family and all citizens of Vrasathra.

And third it should be a bastion; a fortress to secure the survival of the folks, of the royal bloodline and the people of the city, of the entire land.

Structure

Palace - Inside

The palace is surrounded by a huge stonewall, ripped from the quarry and infused with the cliffs so a natural and an artifical defense merge with each other. On top of the wall archers can fire arrows over a long distance and throw stones if necessary. There are only two entries, one is the huge stonegate with iron bands and the escape tunnel for the royal family and the Mistress. Naturally only the main entrance is used, otherwise it wouldn't be a secret tunnel, right?

The palace itself is a rectangular box and sits on an elevated foundation of two meters, reinforced with wood and stone. The walls of the palace, at least of the ground floor, are three layers thick: wood on the inside, a thick stone layer, and wood again. It holds the warmth and is looking more homely than just naked stone walls.

At the front we have iron-reinforced doors out of wood houses the archers and neat little traps for incoming foes. Mostly some kind of retractable spikes, but also pressure-using crossbows for applying heavy crossfire.

The left side of the palace - before meeting the royal area - holds the small library, the lounge from the Royal Duckery, one armoury, a small kitchen and some private rooms for contemplation.

The right side of the palace has the larger library, a few more private rooms filled with sofas and armchairs and tables for meetings and whatever the guests have in mind. In the back it holds a huge kitchen and some storage including the other armoury.

In middle of the palace lingers the Great Hall with tapestries, some hearths, engraved pillars and the throne of the Mistress, if she had a Consort his throne too, and probably the smaller thrones of her children. Here she holds public audiences, balls, festive receptions, huge dinners and recieves ambassadors from far away, be it friendly or foe or in between. And depending on the ambassador her attire changes. But that is a tale for later.

Nowadays one can witness the brutality of Vrinis, unknown to the public and only to her and the Shadow Painter who did her cruel bidding. Behind the thrones Vrinis had hung up the Painting of Vraruka, former Mistress of Vraitha and her mother. It is one of the few places where the warmth of the hearths seems to fade and linger only far, far away in other places of the palace.

And lets come to the last place inside the palace before we venture on, aye?

The last part of the palace is the royal chambers, the royal kitchen and the royal library. Well, the kitchen is just for smaller, private dinners and only fired up when needed. The library holds a collection of books the Mistresses had collected over the years. Some normal stuff, some history books, more raunchy and some really unique books. Rumors go that in the royal library a book of a Formulist is hidden. But what kind of book it is, no one can say.

The royal chambers are distributed over various (6) towers. The largest tower in the middle is obviously the tower of the Mistress. Here she has a bath, and a few rooms aside her luxurious, huge bedroom with the comfy bed in velvet purple, big enough to hold a few people or just roll around in it for funsies. Or sleep in it like a starfish.

And in the same tower she has her office, the secret chamber for hiding and storing Vrisinas Emerald of the Cloudy Vale in it and a few rooms for all kinds of leisure activities. Reading, drinking Corcha or hot Chocolate or just lounging or enjoying the view from her balcony.

The other towers are similiar, but a bit smaller. The second-largest tower is that of the Consort which is outfitted similar to the tower of the Mistress, but is coloured in a colour of his choice. At least from the inside. Normally Mistress and Consort sleep in the same tower, but they can also move around or - when she decides she wants to sleep alone or when they had a fight or he is just annoying for a night.

The identical towers of her children - if she has any that is - are smaller, but still large enough to hold a hobby room, their bedchamber, a small office and a bath. Should the Mistress decide to have more children than four (4) at the same time before they move out into their own residences, the towers can be divided horizontally in two sections; so technically every tower can hold two children.

Palace - Outside

Outside the palace grounds we have on the left side of the palace grounds the staff quarters including the Royal Duckery which is overseen by the Lord of Ducks.

On the right side the few nobel families have their residence. It is more of a convenience than some privilege. They and the palace have an iron fence between them which is more symbolic than anything else, but it is working as a border and it can't be crossed because of the iron pikes. It should remind the nobles that they are not royalty. At least it was in the old days, now it is more of a symbolic border.

Behind the palace the on the left side to the cliffs are a few benches next to the Royal Duckery and some storage houses and stables, right next to the hard stone of the cliffs, towering a few meters above them.

On the right side, basically on the way from the palace to the mansions of the noble families one can find the royal park with fountains, benches and lovely gardens with a wonderful view over the cold ocean.

Straight ahead from the palace one can find the graveyard called Mistress' Return, the morgue and the Royal Crypt. It is here where the deceased Mistress and Consort (if there is one) are burned and their ashes placed into white urns, to be stored safely away inside the Royal Crypt.

Why are the urns white, you ask? Because of the Graveyard Fairies. Those little buggers the size of a Chocolate Fairy get a sacrifice from the deceased which is always a molar tooth. Those are placed in front of the urn on a wooden plate and if the Fairies did their job, the urns are painted colourful and show the lives, secrets, wishes, dreams and nightmares of each deceased. Only exception are the secrets stored in Vrisinas Emerald of the Cloudy Vale, because even the deceased don't remember things they can't remember.

Tales

"The Royal Palace is strangely beautiful. The inside of the Great Hall with the throne is wrapped in dark tapestry with a few colourful banners to guide the eye to the thrones.
As I presented my wares to the Mistress, I had the feeling she could see into my soul. Sometimes I even had the feeling that I was more of interest than my jewelry.
From afar the tower look tiny, but if you come closer, they are even larger than the sturdy and imposing defense in the south. But I have to say, even with all the sometimes gritty appearance I never felt displaced or in a hostile situation. Even the Ravenguard tried their best not to be too imposing or threatening. Sure, they could kill us all in seconds, but... well, you forget that while you wait on one of those really comfy sofas. And the entire time I had the scent of cooking meat in my nostrils. It made me very hungry."

— The Traveling Merchant Guide to Koria Vol. II

Vrasathra City Map

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Map of the Capital of Vraitha, the city of Vrasathra.

Type

Palace

Parent Location

Vrasathra

Included Locations

• Mistress' Return

Owner

Vrinis

Owning Organization

Vraitha

History

To built the palace the people of Vraitha needed stone and wood. They had a lot of wood due to the forest surrounding the city, but it took them a few years to clear the place and to built the first houses and the quarry a few kilometers to the west.
The priority to building a palace was... very low. Nearly around a decade after the founding they started with the foundation. It was Trosarlor who decided that royalty shouldn't have the first home in a new city and so it was.
Years later the palace burned entirely to the ground after a tragic accident in one of the three kitchens. Probably a faulty hearth. The rebuilding took a bit longer than expected.
The next tragic thing was some raids from the northern clans which left behind a desolated land, burning ruins and a destroyed palace. Which is the reason the mouths of both rivers are outfitted with sturdy iron gates one can open. The first defense before the gates are a heavy chain under water which can be pulled up to destroy ships or their masts so they can't sail away and the towers can do damage with their archers and siege weapons.
Between this event and the next one Mistress had eight children over the course of the same time, one child per year. This was a difficult time for the royal family and their staff, especially in rooms and housing in general. So the Mistress ordered to build six towers, one huge tower for herself, a little less huge tower for her Consort (which she despised for various reasons) and the four towers, one for two children. Which was enough and so the palace now stands ever since.
During the Spiral incident and the continious attacks of the demon hordes, the palace was under attack and nearly everyone was killed, devoured, flayed... you get it. After this they reinforced the palace with the outer layer of wood and set up the traps on the inside.