Silkvale Castle

Prompt 11: Somewhere in your world setting describe a building associated with leadership, governance or change.
Silkvale Castle
Silkvale castle is the residence of the child King Emmanuel Belles and his governing Regent Amertre Lexor. The castle is located at the meeting of 3 rivers in the heart of the Dawnkeeper planes, large farming and cattle rearing region of the southern continent, to the southwest of the glacial mountains.
The castle is the jewel of the capital city, it stands at the top of a large hill in the centre of the city, watching over the docks below and standing proudly above the city behind a winding and heavily defended pass to the castle from the plains side of the city, the castle is surrounded by 20 ft high walls at the base and top of the hill and further fortifications ring the city itself, making this a beacon of hope to the people of the region in times of invasion.
The castle proper stands in the centre of a large flat field on the top of the hill levelled by the king who built it over 500 years earlier. The Castle walls reach 40 feet high with crenulations and arrow slits breaking the routine of the stonework. The stone is a light grey stone with a slight tint of blue hues that give the castle a warm and reassuring town in the summer light and reflect the dull grey tones of the storm clouds in the winter months. The structure is unusual as it has been designed on a six-sided fortification with square towers thrusting out at sharp angles on the corners of the walls. The walls stretch 100ft on each side and the towers have steep slopping bases to the top of the wall then push us at an as vertical angle for another 20 ft to a battlement above which is fully covered and offers, murder holes and oil drops to stave off enemies hiding in the corners of the tower and wall intersection. The main gate contains a portcullis, followed by a large double door wooden gate banded with iron, the 15 ft space between is littered with murder holes and arrow slits so that any invading forces would be peppered with spears, polearms and arrows if they were to breach the portcullis. This leads to the sally port which turns 90 degrees to the right for 50 ft then 90 degrees to the left meeting with a second portcullis and great door and along the sally port are countless arrow slits and crenulations above from which archers can rain hell down upon their attackers. There are two other entrances to the castle on the rear walls facing the cliffs overlooking the docks. These are half the size in all proportions except the height of the walls and have identical defenses. Once through the outer and inner walls the entrance way opens onto a courtyard with stables, a blacksmith, training grounds and other crafting workshops that supply the needs of the military forces that protect the King and the castle. The keep itself stands 30 ft east of the entrance, a beautifully crafted building balancing the need for military defensive strength with the grandeur and pomp of fine craftsmanship of all manner that exudes wealth and power. However, the castle has seen better days and is looking a little lackluster currently, due to the taxing economic conditions the continent is currently facing after fighting such a long war and losing such a great number in the battles.
Within the doors of the keep, the entrance hall leads to the great banquet hall, both impressive and lavish in its design and decoration, with 20 ft high ceilings of finely carved wooden vaults with imagery of great heroes and past kings formed into the curving buttresses of wood. The walls are adorned with valuable tapestries, arms, armors, paintings and rare artifacts that have been collected or gifted to previous kings or captured as tributes of war. The wooden floorboards are highly polished and covered with thick red carpet runners that direct the guest to the main areas of the keep that they can pass unrestricted. In the banquet, two long runs of large oak tables run from the south end to the north end meeting at a raised daises on which is a very large highly decorated fine oak table with insets and filigree decorations depicting a great battle of a past king of the dawn keeps. Here stands a large throne-like chair at the center of the table and another smaller, but equally elaborate chair to the right of this, these are the chairs of the King (at the center) and his regent to the king's right. Returning to the entrance hall, the hallway extends to the left and the right, to the left stands the throne room, a large stone room with grand stained glass windows set behind the opulent marble throne of King Emmanuel, and the slightly less grand wooden throne with gold filigree of the reagent Lexor, set to the right of this. These thrones sit upon a raised dais which stands 5 steps above the main chamber floor. The chamber itself is surrounded by great carved pillars that reach up 50 ft in a circular pattern to a great domed roof above. The dome was painted by a master artist many generations ago and depicts a great scene of a herculean figure fighting a great serpent.
Returning once more to the entrance hall, the hallway to the left leads to the private meeting chambers of the king, the regent and the general at arms. These rooms are large, all lavishly decorated and comfortably furnished, the kings more so than the other two, even though this room is currently rarely used.

Type

Castle