Hearthstone Palace

Hearthstone Palace was the ancestral home of House Soleil until the reign of King Isador. It has served as the center of governance in Aodh since its construction. Besides being a royal palace, it also houses the three courts, a Sanctum, a prison and countless rooms for hosting esteemed guests and lavish parties.

## Building

Hearthstone Palace is a grand structure, with a white marble facade and meticulous decoration. Two statues of roaring dragons overlook the main entrance, and statues of former Kings, embedded to the very walls of the Palace, look down upon those below.

Built like a lavish castle, special attention was paid to the beauty of the building, but thick walls, sturdy gates and limited points of entry make it defensible as well. Still, it is more of a manor than a fortified structure, and the bulk of the security is provided by numerous chevalier patrols rather than top tier defensive structures.

Hearthstone Palace is a cathedral to the power of the monarchy, and designed to make those who look upon it feel small and insignificant. It is immensely large, covering what would be several city blocks, and is tended to by countless slaves and paid servants alike.  The Hearthstone Palace is the largest single building in all of Aodh, and far dwarfs any noble manor - Azar saw to that.

There are two entrances into the Palace. The main entrance, reached by passing through a safety gate, is always heavily guarded. The side-entrance is a single, small and well-hidden door at the side of the castle, difficult to notice from the outside. It is mostly used for discrete entries and exits out of the Palace, and is guarded by a single Chevalier.

The King’s Balcony, a large outcropping balcony on the third floor of the Palace, overlooks a large plaza on the east side of the building. It is from this balcony that the King will address crowds. Naturally, the Balcony itself is beautifully decorated, with carved support pillars depicting phoenixes in flight.

### **Interior**

The luxury seen on the outside continues inside. Painted frescoes, statues, large portraits and expensive pieces of furniture are everywhere you look. The Palace houses the largest private art collection in all of Aodh. The value of the entire property and all its contents is near immeasurable.

Hearthstone Palace consists of three main floors, expansive cellar floors containing storage and the city prison, as well as a grand inner courtyard.

#### **The Ground Floor**

This floor is reserved for public use, and is open to the public between 8AM and 8PM. Some areas, such as Oralee Sanctum, are open to all visitors, while others, such as the various court rooms, require a reason to be there. Chevaliers actively patrol this floor, and anyone suspicious is swiftly removed from the premises.

**The Ground Floor contains:**

* The Oralee Sanctum
* Royal Court - although the smallest of the courtrooms, it is the most lavish, with enormous paintings of past monarchs hung on the walls.  Also the King’s Throne room.
* Peers Court - largest courtroom, decorated with contemporary statues and art pieces by the most sought after artisans
* Common Court - an impressive court room but less lavish than the others. Showcases a changing arrangement of art from the Palace collection
* Royal Libraries - a part of this library is accessible through Oralee, while the rest remains a private royal collection, from where tomes may be retrieved only with royal permission
* The King’s Chamber - the King’s formal office for meeting important nobles and dignitaries.
* The Advisers Offices - formal offices, one for each Adviser. This is where Advisers will hold official private meetings
* The Great Hall and Ballroom - lavishly decorated, large rooms designed for entertaining a large number of guests. Site of the New Years tragedy of 1697.

#### **The Second Floor**

The second floor is a more private space, entry to which is limited only to those who are on the list of staff, residents or those wearing an official visitors badge. Chevaliers guard the stairs leading to the second floor, and will not allow entry to anyone who is not on the list. The second floor is much smaller than the first floor, and is sectioned to many smaller rooms, rather than the grand spaces seen downstairs

**The Second Floor contains:**

* Additional ballrooms and spaces for entertaining guests in a less formal capacity. These connect to the Great Hall.
* A private reference library
* Housing for Advisers, if desired
* Housing for foreign dignitaries
* Guest housing for other esteemed guests
* A Chevalier garrison

#### **The Third Floor**

The smallest of the floors, the third floor is the most private, and only intended for the use of the Royal Family and those they choose to invite with them. This floor has been seen by only a few people, and contains mostly private quarters, ballrooms, entertaining spaces and other personal rooms.

#### **The Courtyard Gardens**

The large inner courtyard of the Hearthstone Palace is accessible by invitation only. It is maintained by several professional gardeners, and is considered one of the most beautiful parts of the Palace.

The garden houses several “biomes”, carefully maintained exotic gardens displaying plants not native to Eithne - there’s a Sedo desert garden, a wet Talori rainforest and so on. Many of the plants have been received as gifts from foreign and domestic ambassadors, or entrepreneurial traders.

The main Garden is a beautiful flower garden with fountains, freely flying exotic birds, and sculptures made out of hedges. The plants have been carefully chosen to allow for something to always be in bloom, although magical enchantments certainly play a part in how enchanting the gardens are. A group of semi-feral Phoenixes roam the gardens, delighting visitors with their songs.

It takes several hours to see all of the Gardens.

#### **The Castle Cellars**

The cellars of the Palace are an expansive maze. Once upon the time, it was possible to enter them through the sewers of New Valore, but this entrance has now been blocked. The upper, more pleasant rooms in the cellars are used for storage - including art collections, royal spending money and so on - while the deep, dark floors of the maze of tunnels is reserved for Aodh’s royal prison.

The prison has none of the glamour of the rooms above, and is a sturdy, depressing construct made of stone and earth. Favored, well-behaved prisoners are generally kept on the better maintained, warmer hallways, and may even be allowed visitors. The deeper you traverse into the maze, the more hopeless the atmosphere becomes. The prison is heavily guarded at all hours.

The prison is connected to The Crucible and the nearby train station via guarded underground tunnels. When not in use, these tunnels are locked tight with metal doors.

## History

Originally constructed sometime during the 8th century by the very first Soleil King and sporadically expanded and renovated throughout the years. In its original appearance, it was a simple tower, but as years went by and Kings came and went, more wings were added. The palace, as it was described by contemporaries during the reign of Kings Ursula and Kai, was “a tremendous monster; frightful yet impressive - an ode to each King who added to it, a cacophony of personality and vision”.

The old building was entirely torn down early in the reign of King Azar (1510-1539) and reconstructed to her liking. Nothing of the old building remains, although some marble and stone was reused for the new construction. Several surrounding properties were also purchased by the crown and torn down to make room for the grand palace we know today.