Valcruth Mansion
Before the The Great War, Valcruth Ythal settled in the Vieroyss Woods, along the Letia River. He started a logging business that grew very quickly thanks to the original settlers of the Salt Reach in the The Great Namilli Plains. Soon, others came to work for him, and the town of Ythal slowly grew. A few years after his logging business became established, Valcruth Ythal discovered a gold vein close to the Letia River delta, and his already large wealth grew considerably larger. Valcruth named himself "Lord and protector" of the new town that bore his last name. With his family line formally established, Valcruth Ythal built a gigantic mansion that could house close to one thousand people, mainly to show off his affluence. Even today, it is the second largest building on Septentrionalis, after the city-sized white castle where the School of Ignus is located.
Purpose / Function
The original purpose of the manor was, in essence, a monument to the massive wealth Valcruth Ythal had amassed for himself. He wanted it to be the biggest building on Septentrionalis, but every architect he hired expressed their dismay at that request. It simply could not be done. The School of Ignus was a city-sized building, they all told him, that had been built with the help of Ignacia, the first Arch of Ignus. A building the size of a city could not be replicated without the help of a god. Eventually, Valcruth downsized his dream of having the largest building to having the second largest building on Septentrionalis. The main house was finished after ten years, but the entirely of Valcruth's dream would not be realized until 94 years after the start of construction, almost 20 years after his death.
The Valcruth Manor was the seat of House Ythal until the line died out when Petre Ythal was attacked and killed by lycanthropes in the year 1015. When his only child was attacked, the current Lord Valcruth, Odrer Ythal, demanded the reformation of the Hunter Society, mainly to hunt down and kill all the lycanthropes in Lune.
The Valcruth Manor is now the headquarters of the Hunter Society, and has been since the year 1020.
Alterations
In the year 1030, a huge stone wall was build around the edges of the mansion grounds. It stands almost 12 feet tall and 4 feet thick, and is constantly patrolled by guards to make sure no creatures of Obscurum are able to sneak up on the Society. While the Society focuses on hunting vampires, they do contract out to hunt down lycanthropes or Dragosaurs as well. Dragosaurs are a very rare contract, however, and are considered the most dangerous of species to hunt.
Architecture
The mansion is a large wooden manor upon a stone foundation.
History
Originally, the house was the seat of the very influential Ythal family. Starting with Valcruth Ythal's great-grandson, Lothar Ythal, the head of the household became known as Lord Valcruth. The family line was very prolific, and even today there are lesser families in the town who can trace their linage to the Ythal family. The Ythal family maintained their rule over the growing town of Ythal from the year 240 to year 1020. Near the end of their rule, a village of lycanthropes established themselves upriver. Lune became a source of concern by the year 990, but did not become a major problem until 1015, when Ythal was attacked by lycanthropes. The current Lord Valcruth, Odrer Ythal, had only one son, Petre Ythal. By all official documents, Petre was attacked and killed by a lycanthrope in this attack. Odrer Ythal demanded immediate retaliation, also reestablishing the Hunter Society that was originally formed after the Great War but forced to disband only 10 years afterwards. This time, The current Arch of Ignus attended the formal reformation ceremony, laying down rules so the balance of magic would not be disrupted again as it had the first time.
Founding Date
240
Alternative Names
Hunter Society Headquarters
Type
Mansion / Villa
Parent Location
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
There is a lot of great history for your world just within this building of how lycanthropes had altered this families course so heavily. The thing I would like to suggest that you could expand upon is how the building itself/rooms are used differently because of the different purpose of the building going from a very large home to a headquarters of the hunter society. Maybe one of the many bedrooms that there was engravings or runes to aid with sleep is now used as a training room however the engravings and runes are still there. In my opinion that is what Janet mend with show history don't tell. I hope this feedback helps :D
Expanding on what some of the rooms do is something I am currently working on. Another article about the Hunter Society does talk about how most of the members live at the mansion, since the mansion and the grounds are more than adequate size to support an order of their numbers (but I suppose I should touch on that here too). Thanks for the idea of old stuff from the Lord Valcruth line still lying about the manor, I'll try to weave some stuff like that in when I'm able to pin down some of the layout. Thanks!
A really fascinating building! I like that the change came from within, instead of the building being taken over and the change being forced. Also there's a strong sense of why it happened and why this was deemed necessary, not just from the one death but also the existing lycanthrope settlement. My suggestion would be to expand a bit more on what the modern building looks like. Is it a single building or is the mansion made up of several buildings, enclosed together? It's the second largest next to something the size of a city, but how close is it? Where there any interesting vanity rooms built into the original design?
I am still working on the exact layout of the building and grounds, but the idea is to have it be multiple large buildings connected by walkways on higher floors. Still trying to figure out how large a building built to house a thousand people is meant to be!