Palace of Demeter

**Leader** | * Asriel Zabkiel (Guildmaster)
* Goren Aggoth

**Palace of Demeter** (デメテル宮殿) is the guild headquarters of Chiaroscuro. It is a low-level guild base that was originally located in Alfheim back in YGGDRASIL. It was originally conquered by the guild known as Voidstar, but the majority of its members refused to claim it as a guild base because they only wanted the loot inside and not the actual dungeon, as it was too low-leveled for their liking.

However, the Players known as Goren Aggoth and Asriel Zabkiel had the idea to form their own two-person guild, and so decided to claim it for themselves once they received permission from the Guildmaster of Voidstar. Upon leaving Voidstar, the two Players created the guild of Chiaroscuro and began their journey to create their own custom NPCs.

## Background

Before forming the guild of Chiaroscuro, Goren and Asriel were members of the casual-roleplay guild known as Voidstar. It was headquartered in Alfhiem, and allowed all to join so long as they did not cause problems. There were no restrictions as to what you could be, whether Humanoid, Demi-Human, or Heteromorph. All that mattered was if you would be interested in casually roleplaying with the others in the guild.

It was after the two had joined Voidstar and maxed out their levels that the guild went out to conquer the Palace of Demeter, in hopes of making it into their new guild base. However, upon conquering the dungeon, they realized that it was a very low-level guild base, suitable only for newbies. It would only grant the guild 300 levels to make NPCs with. The majority of the guild refused to claim it, which gave Goren and Asriel an idea. They had always wanted to form their own guild, just to see what it would be like. So, they went to the guildmaster of Voidstar and asked him if they could claim the dungeon for themselves. After some convincing, he agreed, but told them that they had to leave Voidstar to start their own guild. Goren and Asriel agreed, and after saying their goodbyes to the friends they had made in the guild, they left to form Chiaroscuro.

After they had formed their new guild, the two Players spent their time redesigning the floors and creating their own NPCs. Whenever they ran out of levels to make NPCs with, they simply purchased more, either with Yggdrasil Gold or real money. They expanded the guild base from the original three floors it had, to the five floors it has now.

## Layout & Features

### Surface

The exterior of the guild base shows a marble and gold neoclassical palace with a giant World Tree Sapling sprouting from the uppermost section. The ground surrounding the palace is a large garden where various bushes, flowers, trees, and hedges can be found. Among these plants, are statues of nature spirits. These statues are actually golems that come to life when they sense intruders. They will mercilessly hunt down intruders and kill them unless ordered otherwise.

* **Known Areas**
	+ **Crown of the World Tree**: The top of the World Tree Sapling, it is home to various POP monsters that help maintain the tree and protect it and the guild base from harm.
	+ **Mock Interior:** The palace seen on the surface is filled with copy-pasted mock rooms that are meant to convince outsiders that they are all that makes up the guild base. It has offices, bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and more to make it all the more convincing. It is filled with Mercenary NPCs such as Eight Edge Assassins and POPs such as the Demetrius Elven Guard.
		- **Grand Library**: A decorative library with fake books.
			* **Gate Hub**: The Gate Hub of the Surface. The Gate Hub is located behind a locked door, behind the 'Mystery Section' bookshelf.
		- **Lobby**: The central room of the Surface.
			* **Corridor 1-2**: This corridor is one of the Corridors of Peril. It is located at the end of the Lobby. It connects the Surface to the 1st Floor.
	+ **Palatial Gardens:** These gardens are managed by Ceres.

### 1st Floor: Kailash

The 1st Floor is a winter wonderland, with a big snowy mountain in the center of it. The weather is normally sunny, but a blizzard can be activated at any moment. Yetis, Frost Wolves, and Snow Owls can be found on this floor, serving as the primary enemies intruders must deal with before venturing deeper into Demeter. At the top of the mountain is the Ski Resort, where people can stay and enjoy hot meals and drinks or ski down the mountain by themselves or with friends.

* **Floor Guardian:** Ullr Borral
* **Known Areas**
	+ **Caves of the Frost Slimes:** These caves are found all around, and are filled with Frost Slimes. Frostbite Trail passes through a couple of these caves.
	+ **Frostbite Trail:** The primary trail connecting the majority of the floor's areas to each other. One must follow this trail if one wants to reach the end of the trail, which is the Ski Resort at the top of the mountain. POPs such as Yetis, Frost Wolves, and Snow Owls will attack those who invade. A harsh blizzard can appear at any moment, causing visibility to drop significantly.
	+ **Skating Rink:** A recreational area where people can skate, make snowmen, and do other wintery activities. A stand where freshly made hot chocolate and hot tea is located at the entrance, allowing for delicious refreshments to be imbibed alone or with friends.
	+ **Ski Resort:** At the top of the mountain is the Ski Resort. There, stands the Floor Guardian Ullr Borral, ready to tear apart the intruders who made it this far. He also serves as the Manager of the Ski Resort, trying his best to make the stay of authorized visitors as pleasant as possible. He is assisted by Krampus, the Area Guardian (and Assistant Manager) of the Ski Resort. The entrance to the 2nd Floor would only open once Ullr Borral and Krampus are defeated.

### 2nd Floor: Cimmeria

The 2nd Floor is a land crawling with undead. The sky is perpetually overcast, the sun never visible at any point. Pine trees are the only living things in the entire region. A loud silence is ever present, only broken by gentle gusts of wind that rustled the pine trees and the moans of undead walking about. In the skies, Bone Vultures fly, searching for their next kill. To the north, is located Grimoire Castle. Inside, Marquis Cornelius and the Red Eye Syndicate reside. In the center of the Floor, is the Cemetary.

* **Floor Guardian:** Kontar
* **Known Areas**
	+ **Cemetary:** A graveyard full of tombs and mausoleums. It is the residence of the Floor Guardian Kontar.
	+ **Grimoire Castle:** A medieval castle. It is the residence of Marquis Cornelius Astor Girard Taylor Stonefield and the Red Eye Syndicate.
		- **Red Eye Hall**: The residence of the Red Eye Syndicate. They guard the entrance to the 3rd Floor, which only opens once Kontar, Marquis Cornelius, and the Red Eye Syndicate are defeated.
	+ **Pine Forest**: A large pine forest that surrounds the other areas of this Floor. It is filled with undead animal POPs.

### 3rd Floor: Tropical Island

The 3rd Floor is a tropical island with blue skies, crystal clear oceans, white sandy beaches, and plenty of palm trees. It was designed solely to be a hypothetical vacation resort, but now that it has become a real tropical island, it can actually be used for its intended purpose.

* **Floor Guardian:** Dorieguna
* **Known Areas**
	+ **Corridor Island:** An island off the coast of the main island, where the door to and from the 2nd Floor is located. Intruders will have to make their way across the water to reach the main island.
	+ **South Beach:** The main beach. It has a volley ball net, picnic area with tables, and a Hawaiian-themed seafood cafe. The beach is overseen by the Area Guardian **'Ai'ai.**
		- **Mana Cafe:** The seafood cafe in question. It is overseen by the Area Guardian **Ku‘ula.**
		- **Traversal Rock**: A large hollow rock with an ornate bronze door on its face, located right beside Mana Cafe. The Gate Hub of this Floor is located within the rock.
	+ **Thicket Spa:** A natural spa. It has a warm freshwater pond for swimming and relaxing in; a massage room for full-body massages; a sauna room; and a yoga room for exercise. It is overseen by the Area Guardian **Laka**.
	+ **Tree Tower:** A tree-shaped clock tower which contains stairs that lead down to the 4th Floor. The doors of the Tree Tower only open if the Floor Guardian, Dorieguna, is defeated.
	+ **Water Park:** A small water park. It has a lazy river, a pool with water slide, and a water gun maze. It is overseen by the Area Guardian **Kāne.**

### 4th Floor: Arcadia

   The 4th Floor is a Mediterranean-style landscape filled with Greco-Roman structures. It has hills, a valley, some lakes and rivers, and a volcano in the center. In addition, the landscape is dotted with farms and vineyards, a gladiator pit where the Arachnoid Floor Guardian known as Spartacus lives, and several villas too. The POPs who patrol this floor are the Demetrius Elven Guard, the basic troops who take the form of Elven rangers, and the Demetrius Caster Guard, who take on the form of Elven magic casters.

* **Floor Guardian:** Spartacus
* **Known Areas**
	+ **Edenopolis**: A Greco-Roman-style city. It has enough housing to fit 1,616 people.
		- **Colosseum:** A much smaller colosseum built to fit the style of the city. It is the residence of Spartacus and the Four Marshals, who guard the door to the 5th Floor. The door only opens once Spartacus and the Four Marshals are defeated.
		- **Docks:** Ships dock here to unload fish caught from the Waterfall Lake.
		- **Farms:** These farms produce all of the food needed for Edenopolis and the Palace of Demeter.
			* **Granary:** Flour is produced from the crops grown at the farms.
			* **Farmhouse:** The manager of the farms lives here. In addition, horses are kept here to be used to pull carriages.
		- **Guardhouse**: Law enforcement officers are stationed here. They keep the peace in the city and the rest of the Floor.
		- **Market**: Food and other goods are bought and sold here. In addition, there is a Pharmacist there who sells healing potions.
		- **Museum of Art**: The residence of the Landscapers. They produce and put on display the art they have created with their own hands.
		- **Town Hall**: The center of the city, it serves as the office of the city mayor. It is also where the Express Elevators are located.
	+ **Idyll Valley**
		- **Polka Dots Circus**: The residence of the Polka Dots. It is where they hold their performances to entertain the audience.
		- **Sawmill**: Trees are chopped down in this area and are cut into lumber. The door to and from the 3rd Floor is located here.
		- **Tree Home of Ceres**: A large tree that is the residence of Ceres, the Area Guardian of Idyll Valley.
		- **Weather Tower**: This tower houses the control panel that controls the weather. It can change the time of day, the season, the amount of cloud cover and sunlight, and so on.
	+ **Mount Symplegades**
		- **Crystal Cavern**: A cavern that connects Idyll Valley to Edenopolis and the Waterfall Lake. It is filled with glowing crystals that illuminate the area.
		- **Mountainside Villas**: These villas are the private residences of people who work for Goren and Asriel. They are luxurious, and were constructed after the Palace of Demeter was transported to the New World.
		- **Waterfall Lake**: This crystal-clear fresh water lake is filled with various species of fish. Fishermen catch them in their boats and sell them at the market. The water is constantly replenished from a waterfall that provides it with unlimited fresh water.

### 5th Floor: Starlands

The 5th Floor is the center of the Palace of Demeter. It holds the most important rooms in the whole guild base, including the Treasury. The 5th Floor's appearance is that of several floating islands floating in the void of space. The skybox is that of deep space, with animated stars, galaxies, and nebulae visible in every direction. It was designed to give the impression that Goren and Asriel are powerful beings. The POPs who patrol this floor are the Demetrius Royal Guard, who take on the form of Elven warriors armed with swords and protected by heavy armor, wearing red capes with the guild's emblem adorning it. Assisting the Demtrius Royal Guard with patrolling this Floor are the Sky Serpents, who fly above the islands looking for intruders they could devour. The Floor Guardian is the Guardian Overseer, Kleran Reval.

* **Floor Guardian:** Kleran Reval
* **Known Areas**
	+ **Academy Island**: The island where Demeter University is located. It houses the residences of the Fellowship of Prometheus as well.
		- **Demeter University**: A facility where the R&D department, Fellowship of Prometheus, work on various projects. In addition, it also serves as a school where only the worthy are given an education. It is overseen by the Island Guardian Crisik.
			* **Academic Library**: This library is where books about the New World are kept, in addition to books from YGGDRASIL.
			* **Blacksmith's Workshop**: The workplace of Husk. Inside, he builds, repairs, and maintains metal armor and weapons like swords, hammers, knives, and so on.
			* **Classrooms 1 - 10**: These classrooms are where the young and old alike are taught information on various subjects. This could include potion making, strategy, finance, mathematics, and so on.
			* **Dean's Office**: The office where Amanda Vowel works, as the Dean of Demeter University and leader of the Fellowship of Prometheus.
			* **Drafting Office**: The workplace of Deucalion Wright. Inside his office, he drafts architectural plans,
			* **Golem Workshop**: The workplace of Gralghan. Inside her workshop, she designs and builds golems of various kinds.
			* **Gunsmith's Armory**: The workplace of Brigade. Inside his armory, he builds, repairs, and maintains gun-type weaponry.
			* **Observatory**: The workplace of Aether Fulgurate. Inside her observatory, she studies and maps the planets and stars using her telescope.
			* **Operating Room**: The workplace of Frank Mender. Inside his operating room, he dissects, augments, stitches up, dismembers, and reanimates living beings and corpses, in order to create super soldiers for the Supreme Beings.
			* **Potion Laboratory**: The workplace of Margaret Valinna. Inside her laboratory, she makes potions, creams, lotions, shampoos, soaps, and other substances that are useful.
			* **Power Suit Factory**: The workplace of Wrench. Inside her workshop, she builds, repairs, and maintains Power Suits.
			* **Security Room**: The room where the Island Guardian Crisik normally works. He observes the entirety of the Palace of Demeter from this room, through the incorporeal cameras located all over. He stares at the camera screens day-in and day-out, sleeping only when his Ring of Sustenance (which allows him to work without needing to eat or sleep) has to recharge.
		- **Dormitories**: The residences of the Fellowship of Prometheus.
	+ **Brimstone Island**: This island houses the prison where the enemies of Goren and Asriel are held. It is also filled with dangerous, high-level beasts. These beasts are all released from their cells in the event of invasion. It is overseen by the Island Guardian Hades.
		- **Meat Locker**: The room Goren's skin suits are kept. Inside, the bodies are kept under close supervision, fed intravenously, and cared for often. This room is hidden behind a false wall, and is locked to all except Goren and those he brings with him.
	+ **Commons Island**: The primary island. It houses the majority of the areas and rooms of the 5th Floor. It is a small town where the residences of the NPCs are located, in addition to several amenities for both them and Goren and Asriel to enjoy.
		- **Ballroom**: A room where people dance, either in waltz or whatever other dance they can think of. On days where there are no dances held, the Ballroom can be used to do any activity that requires a large room.
		- **Banquet Hall**: The public dining hall. It is where the Five Gourmands prepare food for the denizens of Demeter and visiting guests, free of charge.
		- **Bowling Alley**: A simple bowling alley.
		- **Circus Tent**: The tent where the members of the Polka Dots put on their performances.
		- **Club Hedone**: A night club and casino. It has a brewery, slot machines, and card tables within it, for patrons to gamble and get drunk while watching the Succubi and Incubi POPs dance on the poles and stage. There are even some private rooms for patrons to take the Succubi or Incubi with them for some alone time inside.
		- **Commons Residential**: This building contains the living quarters of every NPC who lives on this island.
		- **Gaming Hall**: A room in which various game tables and consoles are located. There is table tennis, two flatscreen TVs with a few retro video game consoles and cartridges, and some tables where boardgames can be played. This room is primarily for the NPCs to play games together and socialize.
		- **Gymnasium**: A room where basketball, soccer, and volleyball can be played, or where one can simply exercise with the gym equipment and matts that are stored in the gymnasium's storage room.
		- **Hair Salon**: A once empty room, it was converted into a Hair Salon so that Onus could trim and style the hair and fur of the various NPCs who need such things done for them occasionally. On the 15th of every month, the Hair Salon is open for business. Every other day, however, it is closed. But, an exception can be made if Goren or Asriel give Onus permission to give somebody an after-hours trim.
		- **Theater**: The workplace of the Celestial Orchestra. This grand theater hall is where they put on musical performances, and work together with others to put on plays and comedies to entertain themselves and their audience.
	+ **Eden Island**: This island is home to several plants and animals. It is both a botanical garden and contains many farms where crops are grown to be made into food or other items.
	+ **Fortune Island**: This island is home to the Treasury. It is where all of the guild's Gold, World Items, Weapons, and other Items are stored. It is overseen by the Island Guardian Drasavus. To enter the Treasury without being attacked by the POPs and automated defenses within it, one must be granted entrance by Kashi, the Area Guardian of the Treasury Entrance. To be granted entrance, one must speak the correct code word for the day. If one fails to do so, then they will be denied entrance.
		- **Chamber of Mist:** Upon entering the Treasury, one immediately finds oneself in an unlit room called the Chamber of Mist. It is filled with black mist that eliminates light, making even spells like Continuous Light incapable of illuminating the room, and even creatures with night vision cannot see through it. In the darkness, stand the Minutemen, toy soldier golems inspired by the Minutemen of the American Revolution, half of which are armed with Magic Guns and the other half are armed with swords. These golems can see through the black mist and, if the defenses have not been deactivated by the attendant before entering, will attack anyone who is not Goren, Asriel, Kleran, or Drasavus the Guardian of the Treasury. That means that not even the other NPCs or summoned creatures are allowed to enter the Treasury, even if they are wearing their own Ring of Chiaroscuro. The only way to not be attacked by the Minutemen, is for Goren or Asriel to command them to stand down, but by then some injuries might have already been inflicted. To exit the Chamber of Mist, one must walk through the mist and locate a clown nose located on the face of one of the Minutemen, and squeeze it to open the door. This is dangerous, because it forces the intruders to walk towards the hostile golems. There is a carved line in the floor of the Chamber of Mist that leads to the correct golem, and this line can only be felt by those walking barefoot. Those wearing shoes won't be able to feel it. One must simply follow the carved line with their feet. Those who have been granted entrance into the Treasury can simply walk through the open door without having to squeeze the clown nose.
		- **Hall of Blindness:** Upon exiting the Chamber of Mist, one finds oneself in the Hall of Blindness. It is a hallway made entirely out of polished gold. The carpet, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the furniture, the chandeliers, everything is gold. All of the gold is extremely reflective, causing great pain to one's eyes just by the bright light reflected off of all of it. The Hall of Blindness is filled with POPs such as Fire Spirits, whose light causes the gold to become even brighter and therefore even more painful to look at. The Fire Spirits are commanded by the Room Guardian Hades. The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling are traps, programmed to shoot magical projectiles at the intruders who step within 12 feet of them. At the end of the Hall of Blindness is the door that leads to the Waiting Room. Those who have been granted entrance into the Treasury can simply walk through this area without being blinded by the bright gold or attacked.
		- **Waiting Room:** The Waiting Room is a room filled with sofas, chairs, and even a snack table, where Olgis sits. She is a kobold dressed in a business suit who sits at a wooden desk behind a glass window in her own little office, who greets those who make it this far. She is the Room Guardian of the Waiting Room, and she commands the POP kobolds who assist her and her master Drasavus in managing the Treasury. Intruders will have to defeat the kobolds and Olgis to get to the next room. For Goren and Asriel, however, she helps them with whatever business they have in the Treasury, such as locating stored items, for example. She even schedules appointments for them, so that they could meet with Drasavus at later points in time if they are too busy to meet him right away. She is also the only person, other than Drasavus, who knows the combination code to the door that leads to the Vault.
			* **Lounge:** The Lounge is a rest area attached to the Waiting Room, where the NPCs of the Treasury can eat, sleep, and relax. The sofas here can be converted into beds, allowing for comfortable slumber. There are YGGDRASIL vending machines located here, with an unlimited supply of food and drink they can dispense, but these goods must be purchased with YGGDRASIL gold.
		- **The Vault:** The Vault is the central room of the Treasury. It is a massive bank vault in which all of the Yggdrasil Gold, magic items, weapons, and armor are stored. It is divided into 6 sections: Section 1 is where the gold is kept; Section 2 is where the magic items are kept; Section 3 is where the book items are kept; Section 4 is where the weapons are kept; Section 5 is where the armors, including Power Armor, are kept; and Section 6 is where the World Items are kept, though this room is empty because there was never more than one World Item in the guild's possession anyway. The Area Guardian of the Treasury, Drasavus, has his own office just outside the vault door. In there, he does paperwork and keeps records of the economic activities of the guild and the Kingdom of Notan, as he is also the Lord High Treasurer.
	+ **Official Island**: This island houses the bureaucratic and administrative offices of the kingdom. In the beginning, they were simply empty offices used for roleplaying purposes. But now that Goren and Asriel have established their own kingdom, these empty offices are now being used to run the kingdom. It is overseen by Island Guardian ().
	+ **Palatial Island**: This island is home to the Royal Castle.
		- **Council Chamber**: This room is where the members of the kingdom's Ruling Council convene to discuss matters of importance, vote on legislation, and plan for emergencies. It was once the room where Goren and Asriel would spawn whenever they logged into the game, and was simply called the Spawning Room back in those days.
		- **Hall of the World Tree**: This room is where the trunk of the World Tree Sapling is located. Its roots are continuously watered by faucets of never-ending water. The Hall of the World Tree is located right outside of the Throne Hall.
		- **Living Quarters**: The residences of some NPCs and Goren and Asriel. There are also some guest suites for visitors to stay in.
			* **Asriel's Suite**: Asriel's residence. He lives here with his personal assistant, Savina.
			* **Goren's Suite**: Goren's residence. He lives here with his personal assistant, Onus. The suite has no doors and can only be entered by teleporting into it using a Ring of Chiaroscuro. The suite has glass windows that provide a view of the outside world, but do not allow outsiders to see into the suite, as the windows appear like walls on the outside. This provides the suite with natural light, without sacrificing privacy.
				+ **Bath**: An Ancient Greek bath used by Goren and Onus. Warm clean water perpetually flows into the bath from a waterfall faucet, which can be used like a shower. The water flows to the bottom of the bath into a magical drain, which instantly cleans the drain water, and carries it back up to the waterfall faucet by pipe. This is why the bath never runs out of water.
				+ **Bedchamber**: The room where Goren and Onus sleep. It is connected directly to the Study and contains a King-sized bed with a royal purple mattress, white pillows, and purple bedsheets. Goren and Onus share the bed whenever Goren wants to take a nap, and the two cuddle so that Goren could fall asleep faster.
				+ **Lounge**: The main room. It has three sofas for relaxation, a coffee table, and a vending machine where snacks and drinks could be purchased with Yggdrasil Gold. In addition, there is a television with several retro video game consoles plugged into it.
				+ **Recreation Room**: A room in which Goren keeps various items he needs to 'entertain' himself with. Whenever he wants to try out a new 'activity', he goes into this room with Onus.
				+ **Study**: This room is used by Goren to de-stress when he is feeling overwhelmed. It contains an ornate wooden table with drawers filled with various papers, with a screen that allows him to peek at locations all over the guild base using the incorporeal cameras scattered throughout. Bookshelves, filled with books Goren likes or wants to read later on, line the walls next to the fireplace, where a fire is perpetually burning without the need for wood or coal. A recliner sits by the fireplace, along with a small table, where Goren can sit and read a book.
		- **Presentation Room**: A large room where presentations can be given to a hundred people. This room is used when briefings need to be conducted to bring people up to speed on events and discoveries.
		- **Throne Hall:**
	+ **Transit Island**: This island is the center of the 5th Floor. It links all of the Floors together by Gates, so people can easily travel from place to place. In addition, it also has Gates that connect all of the islands of the 5th Floor together, also allowing for travel between them.

### Transportation

There are two ways to get around the Palace of Demeter: **Gates** and **Rings of Chiaroscuro**.

* **Gate Hubs**: There is one Gate Hub on each of Demeter's Floors. These rooms contain five pairs of one-way gates that link the Floors together. In each of the pairs, one is an Entrance-only Gate, and the other is an Exit-only Gate. This prevents people from accidentally walking into each other if they tried to use the Gates simultaneously. To access a Gate Hub, one must have in their possession a Gate Pass and swipe it through the card scanner mounted near the Gate Hub door.
* **Rings of Chiaroscuro:** These rings allow the user to teleport to pre-determined spots all over Demeter. Only four of these were ever made, one for Asriel Zabkiel, one for Goren Aggoth, and two spares. One spare was given to Kleran Reval, while the other spare is kept in storage. Nobody else is permitted to wear them.