Le Palais D'Aurum

## Palace

Armory hall of the Palais D'Aurum

Le Palais d'Aurum (English; The Aurum Palace) Is the official residence of the Ventian Royal Family from 1698 to 1723, and then again from 1735 until the modern day. Despite its use as the official residence, large areas of the palace are open to the public as a museum courtesy of the Ventian Historical Society, who have permission to use certain parts of the palace for walking tours whenever the Royal Family is away. It is situated next to the St. Lawrence River on its left, seperated by only a single road from the riverbank itself. It is adjacent to The Gardens of Atlas on its right and Der Königlicher Platz directly in front of it. The Palace is at the center of Citadel City, and has been considered to symbolically be the center of Ventia.

The palace has been constructed on a monumental scale that was intended to reflect the power and wealth of the Ventian Empire. It was designed by Konrad von Helbelinc in 1698, with additions being made in 1709 and 1717. The green-and-white palace has the shape of an elongated rectangle, and its principal façade is 215 metres (705 ft) long and 30 m (98 ft) high. The Winter Palace has been calculated to contain 1,886 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms and 117 staircases. The construction of such a marvelous palace was widely frowned upon by the populus, as the nation was going through an economic depression at the time and the Royal Family's excessive flaunting of wealth led to the Ventian Civil War of 1723.

## Monarchy-Free Use

When the monarchy was thrown out in 1723 the palace acted as the capital building of Citadel City, as well as the home of the Ventian Executive Leader. This infuriated the Jaegers, who constructed the palace to be their personal home, and in response the state payed for them to have a state residence until another home could be acquired. The private library of Amadeus Jaeger was made a public library, and the ballroom was converted into a hospital during a cholera epidemic in 1732.

## Palace

Grand staircase of Le Palais D'Aurum. Photo taken by Erich Von Schmitt upon his visit in 2012

## War Room

Photo of Kaiser Alois' private office located off of the central war room. Photograph taken in 1992.

When the royal family came back into power, one of the first things that they did was name Citadel City as the capital and the palace as their private home. They privatized the library and claimed that any documents or furniture left there after the government transfer was legally theirs, resulting in them becoming the owners of numerous paintings that had been collected to decorate the building.

## Modern Use

At numerous points during history the palace had been converted to the central building of operations. Some good examples of this is use during the Greenland-Ventian Conflict and the first world war. During world war 1 the room was suddenly abandoned after the armistice was signed and the general staff had to attend a meeting about how to deal with the reparations, resulting in many of the planning items being left behind. The room was shut off by the kaiser out of anger and wasnt touched until Stephen Jaeger unlocked the room and found the items still sitting where they had been left. Today the room is on display, although is only open to the public when the royal family authorizes it. The room features a 50 foot by 30 foot map of the world as it was in 1915, as well as numerous smaller maps on a large oak table at the center of the room. There is also a small display section off to the side of the room that displays all of the uniforms used by the generals and royal family during the war.

## Modern Use

Today the palace is still in use by The Royal Family and certain parts are open to tours at the Kaiser's authorization. Most days, however, the palace is closed off to visitors. The palace has also experienced numerous expansions since its early days, as in the 1700s the palace was only big enough for The Royal Family itself, but in modern days the palace is big enough to house the family, guests, and servants.