The walls stand at a daunting twenty five feet high, cast from seamless black granite that glitters faintly under the morning sun. These very walls surround an eighty foot wide courtyard on four sides, forming a square of safety over the inhabitants. At each of the five corners sits a squat tower, ten feet higher than the walls it is connected to, from which defenders can protect the flanks of the nearest two towers in a near perfect net of safety. Surmounting the towers are gleaming black adamantine spikes, crafted from the Mithar treasure hoard and used to fly flags bearing the crests of the Therishein and Mithar Houses.
Immediately as you enter through the gates you can see two square, flat-topped granite outbuildings flanking either side of the short road leading up to the keep proper. The right most building holds the forge, where Harnel himself works tirelessly to turn out high quality adamantine arms and armor. The left is his armory, stocked high with the fruits of his labor.
The keep itself retains the outer wall's Square setup, four sides of glittering stone reaching almost fifty five feet in height. It is capped by a flat roof that acts as a flight deck for Harnel to take off from and land on. To this end imposing black spikes have been installed to act as perches, so that he and his children will have no trouble landing in extreme weather.
The Floors:
Spoiler
In the first apex of the Tower walls from the gate there is a door set deep into the stone. Beyond this door is the ground floor, more specifically the entrance hall where Harnel greets his guests. The room is oddly shaped, a sort of wedge that gets wider towards the exterior walls. Towards the center it converges into three doors, one leading off to the kitchen on the right, and another to the living room on the left. The one in the center leads up a spiral staircase to the next floor, and the ones after that eventually. Also on the first floor is a washroom and Harnel's personal study. All of the rooms are arrayed around the central staircase in the unique wedge shaped pattern.
The second floor is a bit more esoteric, holding only three rooms. On the apex facing the gate is a small space for storing alchemical ingredients and curative potions. The recreational room take up a double sized wedge on the west side, while the east is a room for the safe practice of rituals and other potentially catastrophic magic.
The third is where the family makes its home, including a double sized master bedroom and two guest rooms, one already set aside for the little one on the way. Another bathroom can also be found here, to eliminate the inconvenience of running down two flights of stairs in the middle of the night.
The fourth and final floor was left open and converted into a massive library as Harnel's gift to his lovely Cessie. A place so well stocked with lore, both arcane and mundane, that I'm certain no one could possibly read every tome amongst its shelves. From here the stairs only lead upward to the Aerie, which has been equipped with guard-rails and no slip coatings to ensure that no one takes a nasty tumble to their doom while enjoying the pleasant view.
Because honestly, who builds a tower with roof access and then doesn't install guard-rails? Incompetent contractors, that's who.
Individuals Living In The Keep:
Spoiler
Cessie Mithar: Noblewoman and mage. Human, with black hair and blue eyes. Harnel is her husband.
Harnel Mithar: Nobleman, though he rarely seems the type. A Half-red dragon/human, he's the man of the house, but is sometimes a bit daft.
Cora and Bastion Mithar: Less than a year old, these two are twins, and the children of Harnel and Cessie
Kirin: Catgirl and maid, she looks unhealthily thin because of her metabolism and eats enormous amounts of food.
Notes:
Spoiler
Other things of note include the extensive tunnel complex the land was built on, now fully integrated into the design to allow quick access to all of the buildings on sight without exposing the people inside to an enemy siege. These tunnels also join to a rather well built cellar/bomb shelter and Harnel's underground hoard of adamantine bars. An interesting fact: All the metal fixings, including faucets, doorknobs and hinges, were made from this very stash.
The keep is overlooking the city of Inside, on a cliff above. Built into the cliff are natural caverns. Though most have been collapsed, a few, the only entrances remaining leading to the towers themselves. This is where Harnel stores his treasure horde, including the massive stockpile of adamantine.
Keep in mind, the whole place, like so many other locations in the nexus, is dimension locked and warded against scrying.
Thread Rules:
Spoiler
This is the cut standard here. Don't destroy the keep, don't godmode, etc. etc. generally, if you need to ask about something, ask. It may end up makking things acceptable rather than if you had simply dropped the situation on us.
As this is a home thread, We aren't worried about things getting a little intense in scenes between characters. Nothing that would offend a moderator, but don't complain if a scene gets a little sexy. That's part of what this is here for.
Once Harnel left, Cessie turns to Agatha. "So I'm assuming it reverts itself once you calmed down miss Ayrshire? I imagine this must be very distressing for you." She were all too familiar with sudden transformations, especially in that area. Agatha just looked bizarre in her eyes though, poor girl. "Have you done any research for a cure?"
Cessie's Study
"Not only once I calm down. I can control how long the transformation lasts, and occasionally cause it, but the triggers are instinctual I think." She explains. "And...well...I'm not sure I want to get rid of it." Agatha admits with a slight flush. "I mean, if this turns out to be the difference between life or death at some point, then I'd much rather have it."
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"I see." The mage replies in a neutral tone. Guess it was a way to be 'special' she supposed. Better then just being 'ordinary'.
"How much of a problem is it usually? Do you transform like this often?"
"I... don't believe so, no," Harnel says ruefully. That was pretty well his fault, wasn't it? "She should be feeling better in a while if you're willing to wait around, and I'll bring some of the casserole up to her."
For the record, the casserole looks something like this, but lacks nuts. He knows nut allergies are common, after all
Oh. Well, we can wait, I suppose, Dorota says as she starts nibbling on her cut of the casserole. I wanted to talk to her about Gar and some other projects she mentioned...
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"Not very often, no. Like I said before, it's only been defensive so far. When I feel exposed or in distress." Agatha explains. "And I generally have a much better grip on it."
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Syela gigs into the food when it's served. "Mm..." She swallows. "This is so good." Before shoveling in another mouthful, she pauses to ask. "How old is Garn anyway?"
Kirin will eat any food set before her, too busy feeding her rampart metabolism to answer Syela's question. The fairy apple does nothing to help her problem, it seems...
If anything, it might be worse since now she's unabashed about her appetite. Before she was moderate, but now she might be a risk to the pantry.
"I see." Cessie replies thoughtfully. "Well, I supposed you could be here for a while and see what happens. I can't promise you full-time employment but you will get paid as long as you work here." She explains. "Do you live somewhere or do you wish to use a guest room?"
Agatha's relief is plainly visible when Cessie agrees to let her work there for a while. "Thank you so much. I promise I won't be in the way." She swears. "I have a place in Riverside I'm staying currently. It doesn't take long for me to get here though."
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"Good, now I guess we should be discussing your salary and work days. Generally I would need you during the days since that's when I work..." The other details, which probably are pretty boring to discuss can be hand waved however.
After the terms have been decided over, Agatha nods with a smile. "Thank you so much. Do you want me to come by tomorrow then? And are there any projects you'd like my help with?" She asks cheerfully, already wanting to dig her nails into a project to work on.
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Harnel will have given a decent amount to everybody, splitting it so that there's some for everybody, incudling a bit left over for Cessie later.
"My understanding is that he's around two months old. Or, at least, that's around the point when Cessie introduced us, which I assume was fairly quickly. It makes sense that he doesn't really know much yet."
Harnel will sit down to have some dinner as wel, eating slowly and not shoveling everything into his mouth like he normally would. there's company here! Kirin, in her current state, may find this change in behaviour strange though.
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Dorota rests her chin on her hand.
Hmm. Sizewell could speak at that age... but Garn might be a different case. I look forward to helping teach him, if Cessie wants. We did do a good job teaching Sizewell, didn't we? She asks, looking at Crissy and Syela. Sizewell rumbles in confirmation.
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Crissy smiles broadly, nodding as she swallows a mouthful of cassarole. "Yup! But that was mostly you, love," she says with a blush as she looks to Dorota, clearly, for the moment, unaware of anyone else at the table.
"I have two projects going on at the moment, I'm researching my husbands sword and one involving fey-spiked apples. I can tell you more once you get here tomorrow but it might take you a while to get into. I trust you're already familiar enough with these things to know they can be a bit dangerous if you aren't careful." The sorceress replies.
"Oh?" Agatha asks with a raised eyebrow. "I could probably help whatever you're doing with the apples more. I don't practice weaponry myself. If you don't mind me asking, what do you need for the apples? I can spend tonight researching and give you my thoughts in the morning." She says, nearly bouncing in joy in her seat. She loved good problems and she hoped this would be one.
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Syela nods, deciding not to speak at the moment seeing as her mouth is full. She swallows. "You just need to talk a lot. It really helps with that." She's pretty sure she heard that somewhere before. Most likely overheard.
"I'm thinking of getting him to sit in on some of the stories that I tell to the twins," Harnel says, "They're a good way for people to learn how to speak, as I understand."
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Dorota blushes under Crissy's adoring look, but manages to stay on topic.
It does sound like it'll help. Teaching a construct to speak is not unlike teaching children. You need to make him understand the simplest concepts first, then move on to the more complicated ones.
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"Currently I'm looking for a way to counteract the effect they have one people." The sorceress replies. "It brings out a more mischievous side out of people, almost like being drunk if what I have heard is to be believed. But even more curiously they cause those who eat them to change in appearance, generally taking on forms which are associated with fey if you know what they are. It also let certain individuals to be able to handle aether while under the effect." She explains. "While not outright dangerous I would like to be able to control the effect more. Do you have any suggestions perhaps? If you want you could go return here tomorrow with a number of ideas how to handle it."
"Perhaps the issue in the discrepancies reaches beyond the golems themselves, and into the magic systems used to create the golems. Slight differences in definition and usage might result in a more obvious change in the end product. It ultimately depends on the precise details of how each magic system treats animation and bestowing intelligence."
Kirin then resumes being quiet and looking thoughtful.
Were she any less well-studied, the description of the fey-apples would surprise her, but Agatha merely nods. "Well, if you have an apple, mind if I take one with me to examine back in my lab at home? That way I have more than just mere guesses to bring with me tomorrow."
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"I... suppose you could get one. I strongly advise against eating them in your condition however considering the effect food seem to have on you. The seeds within are even more concentrated so their effects are even more astonishing from what I have seen." Cessie replies before standing up, draggin her chairs backwards.
"Just follow me, might as well have you see the lab as well."
Agatha gets up after Cessie does and spends an extra second to reach down to pick up the remains of her shoes from when her feet turned to hooves during the transformation. "I'll be careful with it. It's generally a good rule never to eat or drink something that you're examining."
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"Indeed, I have used a few test subjects already though." Her sometimes-idiot for a husband for example.
The sorceress unlocks the door to the lab and let's Agatha inside. "The apples is in the cupola over there. I only got a few left but I'm growing more in the greenhouse outside." She explains before opening the cupola to hand over the apple to her would-be assistant. "I already have a few ideas how to counter react it but it's rather dangerous to handle so all alternatives are welcome."
Agatha takes the apple carefully, looking it over to see if there are any special markings or features that tell it apart from any other kind. "Well, the biggest question I have at the moment is whether you know if the effect is magical like an enchantment on those who eat it, or if it's a physical response like alcohol's disorientation." She questions before putting the sample into her pouch. "If the latter, I'm going to have to distill and purify the apple to try and separate the compound."
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"It's hard to say really, the apples are from a young dryad named Terrie and have been created by aether." Cessie explains. "I myself have difficulty extracting the exact compound which cause the effect. When dealing with aether you have to get used to the fact that the whole material in fact just is in fact a concept and works differently then terrestrial material. So until we are able to find if there is a specific material or aspect in the apple that causes it, I would assume it's your first theory that's correct."
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[Nexus] Mithar Keep II: Electric Boobaloo
