Grey Keep

The Grey Keep is a six-story building a little outside White Cliff where Seprum's most dangerous prisoners are kept. The chief coordinator of the Grey Keep is the grey hand, though day-to-day operations are handled by the commandant so the grey hand can remain in the capital or at a war front. Grey hands vary, historically, in their level of involvement at the keep. Some handle only important interrogations themselves, some prefer to delegate to underlings, and others spend almost all their time in the Grey Keep. In recent years, grey keeps have taken a more managerial approach, allowing the commandant to handle even important prisoners.

## Design

The idea for and original architectural choices came from the first grey hand, Augusta Vesnia, who wanted a single place to keep the most important Seprum prisoners and consolidate cutting-edge interrogation techniques. She imagined a variety of cells, from suites for senators and paters to specially designed rooms that could be flooded and drained easily. In her time as grey hand, she standardized the measurements of simulated drowning tables to make sure they could fit through the doorways of even the smallest cells without too much deconstruction. She also experimented with sleep deprivation and sensory deprivation on the upper levels. Because cell sizes vary so much in the Keep, subsequent grey hands have continued her practice of putting higher-priority prisoners at higher levels and vice versa

Cells for senator or pater include beds, generally without in-built restraints, writing desks, storage spaces for books and clothes, and a table and chairs for guest visitation. Interrogations, if they occur, happen weekly or once per decan, a schedule Augusta Vesnia called, "Efficient, and eminently reasonable." The first floor of the Keep has a specially designed lounge area that locks from the outside and has adequate observation from balconies above where prisoners can enjoy socialization and games, rewards for good behavior. Emphasis on rewards as opposed to punishments changes by regime, from extremes like Domita Drusa, who thought rewarding prisoners made them complacent, to Agrippina Iccacia, who considered interrogation less about pain and fear and more about emotional and mental manipulation.

Cells for non-citizens, known traitors, and ciphras are smaller. Prisoners are generally kept restrained at all times, removing the need for chairs or beds. When a commandant or grey hand finds it helpful, prisoners may be kept in larger rooms together. This is especially useful for moral torture. Some grey women prefer to interrogate prisoners in their rooms, which removes the need for transportation, the most dangerous part of any interrogation. Others prefer to either carry or force prisoners to walk to a separate room for interrogations, to increase the emotional effect of the event.

Rooms are numbered by floor number and then their distance from the main stairwell, with evens on the left, odds on the right. Some special cells also have nicknames, used by guards and grey women, including Shriek, the cell where Domita Drusa killed herself, the Cave, a room with no windows or sconces for torches.

## Upkeep

The Grey Keep is staffed by two separate workforces: the grey guard, who oversee security and transport prisoners as necessary, and the grey women (or grey people), who oversee interrogation. Both customarily wear all grey, either robes or cloaks, though the grey guard do not cover their faces. In 137 SE, the grey woman uniform was updated to include an optional veil or headscarf. Though grey hands and grey women are forbidden by treaty from entering the Makkada Sultanate, they wear veils, headscarves, or gloves upon occasion when Makkadi dignitaries visit the keep or when necessary to deal with important Sudha prisoners.

Grey guards are recruited from the military but require additional training to ensure they do not interfere with interrogations, are willing to take commands from women, and can capture and restrain escaping prisoners without killing them. Though they carry swords and knives, they are expected to use batons and blunt pikes, even if their own lives are at risk. They are also trained in hostage negotiation in the eventuality a prisoner manages to gain control of a grey woman or guard. They rotate frequently to avoid getting too close to any individual prisoner. Depending on an interrogation strategy, grey guard may be responsible for feeding, walking, and watering prisoners.

At present, the Grey Keep is at about fifty-eight percent capacity and the majority of prisoners are ciphra rebels. Some fifteen percent were caught elsewhere in the Empire and sent to the Keep for interrogation. Approximately five percent of the Keep's prisoners are considered important and worthy of special treatment, including larger, better furnished rooms; a third meal each day; and visitors.