--66

[earthen_hope]

Hey, if anyone is up for the climb, the view from the Astronomy Tower is fantastic! You can see everything from up here... whatever this country is, it's very beautiful.

It's a very strange castle, though. I don't know if I've ever seen one that's all sprawled out like this, although there's certainly enough room to fit a lot of people if there's need. I can't see any farms or houses around either, just the Quidditch field. [pentaps] For that matter, I haven't found an armory yet, but this place is so huge I'm sure it'd be easy to miss. Most of the rooms are full of desks, like a scholar's study. I can't imagine why there need to be so many. Paladin, Reed, Spear, have you seen it yet?

Oh yeah, everyone should be careful if you pass a picture of a knight. I've had this Sir Cadogan guy following me through just about every painting I've passed offering to escort my fair maidenly self on my noble quest or something.

Has anyone been a Hufflepuff yet? I like the badger and the yellow--it's very cheery!

Comments

[of-mindelan.livejournal.com]

That's one function, anyway. Since it's a palace, it probably has several. No one I've spoken to has found anything like a court's room, but this place is such a rat's warren that I'm not surprised.

[feathered-earth.livejournal.com]

So you're familiar with places like this? I haven't found much that I would expect in a castle--the basement's got classrooms in it too.

Though the moving staircases make it a little tricky to go in a straight line while exploring. Rat's warren is a good word for it.

[of-mindelan.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. It makes sense that a palace would do more than house the royal family, though.

A very airy rat's warren. I don't think it was all built at once to a set plan. Maybe it's been added to over the years.

[feathered-earth.livejournal.com]

Sure, there ought to be shops and barracks for the soldiers too, and [pentaps] space for travelers. And the people, when it's too dangerous to be out in the open.

You know, it makes a lot more sense to look at it that way.

[of-mindelan.livejournal.com]

It's not near a city and there are hardly any outbuildings, so I suppose it would need those. Strange to put a palace so far from civilization. It seems large for a summer retreat.

[feathered-earth.livejournal.com]

But there aren't fields or any livestock that I can see. I guess something could be beyond the hills, but it'd be an awful lot of work to get food and such through them.

[and the pinging breaks off there.]

What do you mean by a summer retreat?

[of-mindelan.livejournal.com]

A different palace, for a different season. If the one in the capital is uncomfortable or unliveable in the summer or flooding season, the court might move.

[The nobility in Corus doesn't do that, at least not in her time, but Carthak's emperors might, or some other nation she's heard of. And the Yamani emperor has a train that's often on the move.]

[feathered-earth.livejournal.com]

Gosh, that sounds pretty extravagant. [pentaps.] But everyone else would have to put up with the heat and the floods, right?