Oldcastle
From Changeling Venue
Contents |
Origins
Now commonly known as "Oldcastle", the common hollow maintained and used by many of the Lost of Edinburgh is said to have its beginnings in the time before the appearance of the Maze, in the far-distant days of the Gododdin and the first rise of Din Eidyn to prominence.
The old tales speak of a grand communal fortress, maintained by the freehold en masse, resting at the heart of a network of subsidiary hollows and guarded trods. Store-rooms over-flowed with the products of goblin-fruit and hedge-crafters, and the feasts held there mirrored those held by the now-legendary mortal king Mynyddog the Golden.
When the Gododdin fell, the land and its residents passed to the rulership of the Angles of Bernicia, and then in turn became a war-ground for the contesting realms of British Strathclyde, Pictish Fortriu, Scots Dalriada, and Anglian Northumbria.
Though many of the locals came to speak the English tongue of their most common rulers, the Lost of the region tried to retain as much as they could of their old society. For, while mortal generations bred and fought and died, the Lost were perpetually renewed by fresh victims torn away from their mundane pasts and futures alike. Unable to breed, Lost found their heirs in those they taught, and created their legacy in the passing on of traditions and shared strength.
Behind the Maze
The shared hollow began to assume its present form around the time of the appearance of the Maze. With the development of a potent barrier within the Hedge, warding the seat of the freehold from attack by the recently-appeared Reavers, the military role of the central hollow declined. Indeed, the Maze itself consumed a number of the trods and lesser hollows, and has often exerted its influence over the outer boundaries of Oldcastle itself.
Once Lost came to appreciate the use of the Maze as a hiding place, and the growing presence of the In-Between provided other options for safe havens, the central hold lost a good portion of its resident population. However, the hollow was never deprived of its pre-eminent role in the social fabric of the freehold, and certain resources - most notably the communal collection of prophecies - were almost always kept within its bounds.
Though it periodically fell out of favour, had dishonest castellans and seneschals plunder its resources, and more than once lost its outer portions to the Maze, the old centre of the Lost community never quite disappeared.
Within the Between
The current entrance to Oldcastle, guarded by a pair of worn griffin shaped statues that are said to breathe fire in times of danger, lies in the Inbetween where it intersects the heart of Edinburgh Castle. Most of the hollow is located within the castle rock, entrances opened at random from within the castle likely find themselves in basalt bedrock, which is a potent defence. Unfortunately other parts of the Inbetween have now grown around some parts of Oldcastle's outer walls, introducing vulnerabilities that would never have been tolerated in the castle's heyday.
Present Resources
- Cartographic Workroom and Stores: Though often mere adjuncts to the Ministry of Keys or even the junior Ministry of Seers, the Cartographers have included among their numbers some extremely productive and capable map-makers and explorers. Some of the most famously useful maps have, of course, been purloined over the years, but the resources contained within the Cartographic Stores can sometimes prove literally life-saving. Of course, some maps are sorely out-dated, while others are fakes or the dangerous products of less competent cartographers...
- Library of Prophecy: Under the care of the Ministry of Seers, the library is the one portion of the freehold to have always remained at least partly open. Spanning almost every language ever spoken by Lost over the past thousand years, and having been subjected to dozens of different cataloguing and organisational attempts, it is a tangled mess that one might need the gift of prophecy to navigate with confidence. Added to by every successive Minister and various private members of the freehold, its records mostly concern Edinburgh, the Maze, and the Lothians, though one can find plenty of lore on Scotland and the British Isles, and prophecies from around the globe are scattered here and there amidst its books and scrolls.
- Grand Feasting Hall: Equipped with a long enchanted table of polished wood from which dishes and plates of wood and china can appear on command, huge polished mirrors, chandeliers of bronzium and a magical musical box that can produce the sound of a baroque spring quartet, this hall is the largest chamber in Oldcastle and has recently been restored to fine condition.
- Halls of the Seasons: Adjoining the central entrance hall of Oldcastle these four chambers, one for each of the seasons, provide a place for the sovereigns to hold court. Currently only the Spring and Autumn chambers are in use. Doors exist for the others, but close examination shows these to be painted on the walls. The Spring chamber is a light and airy dancing hall, with a floor of blond wood and walls covered in growing plants, flowers and branches that knot together overhead. At the further end gilded patio doors open onto the formal gardens.
- Gardens: At the rear of the Oldcastle are gardens, hemmed in by tall walls and overhung by branches. Near the castle proper is a lawn with topiary in geometric shapes, while the further part contains somewhat withered and overgrown tangles of goblin plants gone to seed, as well as a woodpile, compost heap, and small tool shed.
- Throne Room: Directly above the entrance chamber is a room for the monarch to accept petitioners, deliver judgements and make proclamations. It is spacious enough for a large number of courtiers to be present but only has very few seats. The Throne fits itself to each monarch and has the ability to lower through the floor to its position in front of the 4 doors for each season.
- Tunnels and Cellars: Below the more civilised chambers are many tunnels, cellars, and chambers, including kitchens and damp echoing wind cellars. These chambers are occasionally lit by enchanted lights upon the walls, but these are few and far between and leave many pools of inky blackness. Many of the spaces here are unused.
Members
The following Lost have some sort of investment in the Oldcastle Hollow: Arthur MacAodh, Danny Axon, Galtharion, LX, Magellan, Obadiah, Quill, Scarlet, Sid the Slater.
Game Statistics
| Amenities: 5 | Quill | Evie | Galtharion | LX | Sid | ||
| Archive: 3 | Scarlet | Danny Axon | Quill | ||||
| Doors: 3 | Magellan | Quill | Aleksander | ||||
| Size: 5 | Arthur | Quill | Galtharion | Acarlet | Sid | ||
| Staff: 1 | Sid | ||||||
| Wards: 4 | Quill | Galtharion | Scarlet | Sid | |||
| Workshop: 2 | Magellan | Sid |
| Freehold of Edinburgh | |
|---|---|
| General: | Edinburgh (VSS) • Edinburgh Who's Who • Edinburgh Offices |
| Places: | Oldcastle • The In-Between • The Maze • The Innocent Railway |
| Other: | Scotland • Domain Info |
