Floor 2, the Painted Ceiling

 Directly above the library is this awesome illustration of imageries of people and cosmos. There was lots of blue, purple, black and yellow inks and paints used. In general references to what is exactly painted up there there is an oversized naked goddess in yellow ribbons, celestial worlds, strange planets, a solar system possibly our own, an elvish baby in blue suckling the tit of its saintly mother, almost floating forgotten ancient places, a red crazy haired goddess in a chariot pulled by fiery lions in outer space she races for a kingdom of crystal mountains,  blue clouds, crystal castles and odd landscapes not known to Titan, tarot cards featuring only the major arcana, portraits of village people and farmers with pointed ears, gods and demons that look Oriental or Arabian dancing with these people by pyres, strange animals being hunted, and a giant dragon-like Pegasus, and people with glowing blue fists as if having psy powers. The painting of outer space is fancy and done in 3D not 2d.

Above the music room is where the suckling infant starts, above the library is the yellow ribboned seductive goddess floating in space without a care she rather resembles Venus, and above the glass lounge is the celestial paintings. Along the walls of the library on the left is the white flying horse, tarot cards and villagers, and on the right is the red haired vixen in the chariot and the strange worlds she's chasing. The question is what do they all mean? Lord Azzur was very specific in the details. The ceiling took an entire year to paint and everything in it is nothing that exists on Titan. Someone might decipher it and say it looks like its from Femphry or far eastern coasts of Allansia. The Painted Ceiling depicts secretly Azzur's hidden heritage and lineage from his mother's side, to her ancestors home on another planet, their culture and belief system were taught to Azzur as a child by Zelakar. The man who raised him. To anyone in Titan, any scholar reading the ceiling without having zero knowledge of the Gith would deem impossible to understand. The questions raised is Lord Azzur a Gith or just remotely a fan of them? His mother claims she has hereditary background of it, but it is unknown if she's telling the truth because she died when he was born leaving only scrolls of slight information. As far as Lord Azzur knows, he's human 100%. Azzur owns a replica Githblade of gold and has many scrolls and books on the Gith world that either Zelakar told him about or that he made up himself. The images in the Painted Ceiling are of the gods and goddesses, peoples and creatures, places of the Gith World. The suckling infant may be Azzur himself as a celestial child in a far away land with his mother. There must still be more research done on Lord Azzur's background to determine what his true nationality is. The ceiling cannot answer these questions. According to Titan, this Gith propaganda is indeed foreign, and the cosmos painted above is where they exist. But in Titan's timeline of 200s AC there are no spaceships in the medieval lands so it's impossible to even know these places survive still or that there is even a way of getting to them. Its all nothing but a marveling prodigy. There is even a question as to why Lord Azzur dreamt of a Beholder, as this creature does not exist either in Titan. Perhaps more will be explained later.

Banquet Hall, turn to .

Glass Lounge, Library, Music Room, turn to .

Floor 2, Glass Lounge, Library, Music Room

 It is named the glass lounge because of the windows and glass drinks bar. The windows starting from the floor and all the up to the ceiling like a tremendous bay window are tinted blue, the view from them is the backyard below, one can see the little huts and stables and barn and fruit trees. The bar where hard liquor is served is also made of same tinted glass, there are glass shelves holding all sorts of wine and spirit bottles. The bar has stools to sit at and it is also where all the glass wine goblets are stored. This area is not a single room, in fact it shares the same space as the library which is located in center, and the music room which is situated at the front. So it is a massively huge room. We will account them by divisions on this page.

The glass lounge is where one may drink booze, it serves no other purpose than that.

The center of the room has the library, shelves on either wall, that are two storey high balconies. In between them is a circular lounging couch set in the floor, and within the circling couch is a giant firepit spewing blue flames. It is a good place to rest, read a scroll, and put your feet up to keep them toasty. Ladders that slide can be used to go up to the second landing to search more books or whatever is on the shelves, and in the cabinets. All of Azzur's books are here from necromancy, interstellar sciences, physics, tarot reading, palm reading, leaf reading, sorcery, spell books, ships, herbology, plants and flowers of Titan, animals, pet care, grooming books, sewing, castles, blueprints, maps, scrolls with ancient texts on them, bottles of potions,  religion, outer space, astrology, metaphysical, spiritual, mathematics, personal journals and diaries by Azzur, time travel, creatures and monsters of Titan, seas, mythology, cook books, carpentry, masonry work, stone cutting, jewelry making,  health books, anatomy, embalming, mummification, pharaohs, all types of kings and queens, deities, demonology,  world maps, pirates, clothing, fabrics, textiles and materials, divination, witches, angels, weaponry and armory, gods and goddesses, history books, books by scholar academies and many others. Everything is all wood and the floor is set in white. The ceiling however is painted in intricate strange and questionable art just like the Sistine Chapel. The room is not just made up of the three sections, there is an Elvin tree growing up out of the floor by the pendulum room doorway. When the palace was being built the tree had rumored to suddenly sprout without stopping after Illios Valentis was hanged and Azzur said to just build around it. Someone has decorated the tree with purplish and white twinkly lights. The circular lounge in the floor is in themes of paisley blues and whites with cushions and pillows strewn about it. The firepit is made of marble. Around all the exits of this great room are metal flowers, which grow in crazy veined and blossoming bursting spouts, and although very colorfully gorgeous, they are as razor sharp as a knife so it takes a special gardener with a special machete to trim them before they start getting out of control. They make good guardians and can quickly block doors. The library on the left side also has a big wooden wind-up clock that chimes, and on the right side opposite the clock is this aptly placed mirror? It is unknown as to what the mirror signifies or if it might have something to do with the clock? Perhaps more secret divination ideas.

The music room is closed off by a heavy velvet red drape with golden tassels, in the music room is set into the wall a brass and wood organ, there is a big gold harp, and a few wooden benches for sitting. Besides the organ piano is a hidden door that goes back out into the Great White Hall. Little naked flying Cupids adorn the room with ribbons.

Two large doorways of the library area lead out into a corridor, this corridor will take one back out to the second level foyer stairs and also across to the Banquet Hall. The doorways have a sheer curtain for privacy.

***

Most impressive you think, miracles of art can indeed be invented, for the room is busy and so full of eye candy you don't know where to start. Above you is a very wide arched ceiling painted in images of things you do not understand or can translate or decipher. It would take you months just to go through the library in total, but what does his lordship write about? What might go through the mind of a dictator? You're not in the mood for drink so you skip the glass lounge. The firepit gives off a steady warmth with its blue flame, to modern times, one may say it's natural gas, but the flames are blue for a reason. One summer during the building of the palace there were forest fires everywhere because everything was so scorched and dry. Lord Azzur put a fire ban on his palace, so those who installed the torches, lanterns, stoves, candles, fireplaces, indoor fire pit had to use sorcery to recreate the flames. The result was them turning blue. So if one lights a match outside, the flame is normal, but once it comes inside the palace it becomes blue. It still gives off heat but will NOT catch fire to anything. It was a safety precaution implemented. You read that somewhere, you just can't recall where, but that is one fact you know. You go up to the second level balcony of the library scaling one of the ladders and spy a diary by Lord Azzur, in it he writes about...birds. Apparently he likes birds and owns a red parrot and a vulture somewhere. He also likes tending honey bees at his forest dwelling chateau. He writes about how to preserve honey, care for bees, and how to look after bats. You half expected him to talk about destroying the entire world! but nope. He has another diary on his dreams and how to understand them, apparently he dreams about other planets, flying through outer space, and befriending a Beholder. One other diary is about Giths, and you are unfamiliar with that species, but he goes on talking about their world and you realize sharply that the ceiling above also depicts this fictional place and peoples. You wonder what he's going on about because it makes no sense. Either he's crazy and overly imaginative or he's really been to this other planet somehow. You slam the journal shut hard sending up a cloud of dust which causes you to sneeze. You can now examine the ceiling further or leave this room entirely.

The Painted Ceiling, turn to .

The Banquet Hall, turn to .

Floor 2, Pendulum Room

 It is the room that separates the dining room from the Glass Lounge. The room is circular with a large dripping pendulum of silver hanging above by a metal thread. Below it is a disc full of yes no maybe answer runes. There is a semi circle mosaic glass window up above that when the sun shines through it the beams hit the pendulum just right and the tip of the pendulum shines a light down upon the disc, so anyone using divination can get a quick answer either every dawn or dusk. There is an archway leading into the next large room. A secret doorway that goes up to the third levels and back down to the scullery in the kitchen is concealed behind a wall of stone that must be opened using a hidden lever. Small metal tables hold hour glasses filled with the sands of the Desert of Skulls, there are wood and metal world globes, and glass boxes with different types of sand in them on the floor, some of the sand appears to have spilled out of some of them and no one has swept it up yet. It is unknown what the sand is used for.

This room only serves the purpose of scrying and is located here because of the sun's positioning. It may be used by Lord Azzur or even his priests. The floor is all stone but networked in fancy designs and the walls are lined with stone beams making the room look like a twisting cylinder.

***

You leave the dining room finally and arrive in this peculiar room, above you is a hanging teardrop of silver and glass crystals and at your feet is some sort of circle of runes. You turn a large hourglass upside and watch the sands fall through into the chamber, it's an hour one, but there are various other sizes too that help tell the time. It's not quite the correct time of day to ask the pendulum a question and expect an immediate answer, you'd have to come back in a couple of hours. If you did want to ask the divination tool a question, what would it be? Through the arched doorway you spy an impressive room beyond and don't waste any more time in here.

The Glass Lounge, turn to .

If you wish to retrace your steps, you can always do so by going to the

Dining Room, turn to .

Floor 2, Dining Room

 Dining Room

It's a giant open floor plan and not as well lit as the Great White Hall is adjoins. Guarded by two oriental dragon windows, the room is divided into two sections. On the left side are three pillars decorated with large broadswords and shields. There are two twenty foot golem statues against the wall, and long flowy tapestries of Lord Azzur pinned to the walls beside them. These three pillars hold up a heavy wooden ceiling full of fancy beams. The theme is all stone, and stone that's in the least bit exciting. Torches line the walls giving the left side a dark ambient feeling of a dungeon.

On the right is where the extra long dining table sits. There is also a staircase against the wall behind it that veers up to a walkway, and a rather useless one and that, as it appears to serve no purpose. The dining table can seat up to twenty people, and has a throne like chair at the end of it obviously where Azzur might sit. The tabletop is all mirror, and above it reflects Turkish lamps of various colors. The most magnificent thing though of the entire room is the main wall on the right, it's made entirely out of iron lattice and lets in the air outside. On the railing of the useless walkway are heavy brazen incense burners along the balustrade most likely burning granular Dragon's Blood or myrrh. The exits to this room being the main archway one, is a door on the very far end of it leading into some dark hallway. There is another heavy wood door atop the stairs which leads out to a guard post. At the base of the steps is a third twenty foot statue of a soldier.

This room only serves dining for guests with an appointment with his lordship, Lord Azzur does not eat in this room. It's more like for meetings.

It has three twenty-foot soldier statues that can come to life with the pikestaffs and attack. Not much detail had been given to this place, except that Azzur wanted a castle feel to it and nothing spectacular.

***

On the dining room table is a large glass bowl of fruit. You grab a grape, and here, you also eat that lemon you stole from the officer lounge. You wonder why it looks so drab in here, so lonely and destitute. It's still beautiful, large and regal, it's just you've seen better dungeons in Vatos than this. You sit in Lord Azzur's throne chair and pretend to eat. If he caught you doing this, you'd be dead meat.

You now go up the stone stairs to see what's beyond that wooden door and see only a tiny place outside with a firepit. This is a guard post, you can see the tall tower outside from here too. You close the door after going back in and head down the stairs to another door nearby, beyond it is a short hall that leads into this very strange room.

The Pendulum Room, turn to .

Floor 2, The Great White Hall

 The Great White Hall

Spanning the entire length of the front the right side of the palace, this well lit hall has eight narrow slit windows and a bar over each to cover with a white curtain. There are many cannons resting here, a massive fake fireplace set in gold, taxidermy animal heads such as elk, tiger, deer and polar bear, and many coat of arms from various regions of Titan. The floors, walls, and softly vaulted ceiling are all white. The ceiling is adorned with carved leaves and vines and carrying the brunt weight of three golden and brass chandeliers each holding up to thirty candles. There are many fancy tapestries, flags, and a life-size portrait above the fireplace of Lord Azzur seated upon a black horse and not in his blue well-known armory but in all his regal black robes. The picture is in a dark forest, the steed has glowing red eyes and fiery hooves. The frame of this painting is set in gold trimmings and carefully painted by some unfortunate unknown artist. The fireplace is all marble and carved with red coral and has real large wood logs in it, obviously never fired up.

The view at the start of the hall is a bone staircase behind a porcelain lattice wall going up to the third floor, the area lit by sky windows and glass.

Going further down the great hall and away from the bone staircase, the hall ends at an Arabian door which opens to a mini balcony. The balcony does not seem to serve much of an important venue except the empty view of the grounds below and a big tall stone wall where the guards frequent. On the immediate left, is going into a dining room, it has a big arched doorway having that of two oriental dragons carved right through the wall and made to appear like windows.

The Great White Hall's lights can be seen from outside as the sun sets, the hall is mainly used by those using the dining room, music room (which has a secret door by the fireplace) and can be completely avoided by utilizing the second floor walkway of the foyer to just go up the bone staircase. The bone stairs are hidden from view by the lattice wall however and cannot be seen  from the foyer stairwell and the Great Hall also cannot be seen from the foyer areas.

***

To you, seeing this, the first thing that comes to mind are the animal heads along the wall... did Azzur hunt these creatures or were they gifts? For someone so apt not to eat meat, it must mean then he does go hunting just won't eat them. You do not know what any of the flags mean, being a tourist of Allansia you're not familiar like he is of other nations. So him displaying these means perhaps he is a fan of those places? Or were they conquered by him? The banners are of royal people who you also have no idea of. The hall is as white as a snowflake. Above hang these ominous chandeliers almost too large for the hall but stunning nonetheless. You assume the cannons, like in the Water Citadel, fit into the windows? The cannons have not a drop of dust, rust, or old oil on them. It's so pristine in here you feel like you should remove your shoes in here.

The painting back at the foyer area of Baron Sukumvit's palace was painstakingly brushed by some madman with a lot of unnatural patience. His house is not built upwards like Azzur's home but outwards with lots of land to cover and mountains in the background. It must be an amazing palace to be in, but no one has ever seen its interior. Why Azzur had decided to even have a portrait like that done up is a mystery but so are other things you've seen so far. It's obviously a homage as they are indeed friends. You can tell that much craftmanship was created here, you can slightly imagine workers and artists busy at work: chiseling, painting, hammering, and decorating as if their lives were in peril if they didn't get it right the first time. How many artists died in the making of the palace?

As for the staircase made of bones, you will come back this way later after you've seen all of the second floor. The sky windows are all squares set with shady glass for windows, there are twelve windows in total starting from the bottom and all the way up to the ceiling! but it surely brightens up everything, it makes the area chirpy, merry, and happy unlike the gloom of other rooms. The lattice wall is smooth and off white, you deduce that it's there for privacy so no one in the foyer areas can see someone using the third floor staircase. The stairs are behind it, you couldn't see that at the foyer steps, but now you know. Looking out one of the windows you can see the front yard and the wall that surrounds the fortress. Guards meagerly walk by along the top of the wall, bored out of their tree, unaware they are being observed by you. If you poke your face against the glass you can even see the exterior of the lobby below. It has a vaulted roof and sticks out like a sore thumb, the windows from up here just look like color stained glass, you cant really make out the details of them as you did when you were in there earlier today.

When you go back to the Fang painting and look up at the ceiling there is this disgusting creature with its back embedded into the ceiling. Who in their right mind would use such a beast, an ugly thing, in their house like this? To what serves such a purpose? It may be some sort of prisoner here, but you also do not want to know what it is meant for, something unpleasant no doubt, and if you stand around long enough gawking at it you just might find out. You quickly head down the Great White Hall towards that dining room you've seen earlier.

Dining Room, turn to .

Floor 2, Top Staircase Landing

Floor 2

Top Staircase Landing

At the top of the stairs of the foyer, it divides off to either the right or left corridors of the second floor. The top is all open, only being overlooked by railings of the floor, above is embedded a giant Swamp Monster with a jewel for a third eye, and it acts as a minimum light for the area. It does make some movements of its long tentacles and blinking two eyes. Resting against the wall of the top landing is a six foot tall kite shield of Azzur's crest, adorned by two royal blue drapes. The crest is of a dragon with extended wings, it's belly the shield having the image of a caravel sailing quietly under the darkness of a sun and moon, below the shield is a House of Azzur credo in a foreign runes, the dragon's two hind feet stick out. There is also incense smoke of frankincense seeping out of the dragon's beak. The crest is painted in blue and silver and its metal hammered. In each corner of the wall are two eight foot golem guards of crystal holding onto a pike, its base stuck into the floor. They are in fact Crystal Warriors imported from overseas and enchanted to stay put unless the palace is under attack, they can detach from their corner and walk. The strange light creature above if provoked can come to life will grab is victim and tear him to shreds in a violent bloodbath. The landing also has carpet runners of blue Persian design. Starting on the left is a dark hall going further backwards into the palace, its walls are in dark green silky wallpaper and wood, the floor is polished green jade, and it has a short spanning railing that ends at what appears to be some iron wrought lattice cage, without knowing what lies beyond it. It's possibly a window. To the right of the landing the theme is white with a long banister of wood stretching towards the front of the palace. This walkway of sort is decorated by a massively long rectangular painting spanning that entire wall. It depicts Baron Sukumvit's gigantic palace in Fang painted in random colors of purples, white, silver and pinks. Above this incredible painting are four candelabras holding each four candles. This area is a bit more lit with natural lighting from all the sky windows on the front of the palace, blocked off from any other view by a giant porcelain lattice wall, for privacy no less for someone coming from the Great White Hall to the stairs behind. The Great Hall is unseen but bends around the corner top the right of the house. There is a mini corridor from the walkway going towards the back of the palace.

Going up to the walkway on the right, one may peer over the railing to the foyer below, examine the painting, and walking further will take you to the Great White Hall on the right and a bone staircase behind the porcelain wall going up to the third levels.

The foyer and upper landing area is one open plan most likely designed to showcase the Swamp Beast above, which can detach also from the ceiling if enraged enough and acts as a guardian as well.

***

Going up the stairs from the main Foyer you find yourself at the top of a very busy landing with an incredible view. You do look at the crest and recognize it, it sometimes depicted on gold coins of Port Blacksand and upon flags therein taverns and such. You will not investigate any of the two corridors yet as they appear to be attached to main large unknown rooms you have not explored yet. It's the bright light of the area at the front of the palace that attracts you, so you'll start there. You realize that there is a big hall off to the right over there too, so there you'll go next. When you turn to give the foyer one last look below, you notice a white and blue glass-stained half crescent window above the lobby doors letting in speckled sunlight. You didn't notice that before! Quite superb discovery, it's pretty no doubt but depicts no imagery.

The Great White Hall, turn to .

Floor 1, Kitchen extensions rooms

 The Preservation Room

A worker stays in this tiny room of the kitchen to can in glass jars all kinds of fruits and vegetables. This process is done all summer with squash and pumpkin in Autumn. The foods from this room are usually consumed in winter months. Jams, peaches, sandwich spreads, herbs, nuts and seeds, and even sugared fish line the wood shelves and there is a tiny work table.

The Salting Room

This twin room to the preserving room is where beef, fish, and vegetables are dried, salted, and placed into containers for winter. Pork hock is famous here, even zucchini, carrots, and potatoes are made into thin salty crisps for a snack. Chocolate is ground here for hot cocoa, most spices created, including herbs, teas, coffee, and plants from the veranda. This room must be cared for continuously by the exterminator to avoid aphids and other insects from spoiling the goods.

The Butcher's Cold Room

It's not necessarily that cold like a refrigerator, it's the mud in the hole that makes it a bit chilly. Carcasses hang from the ceiling and whatever needs to stay cooled like fish or seafood goes into the hole. This room has to be protected from rats, mice, and bugs. On extremely hot summer days this room is useless, but in colder months like the Fall, Winter, and Spring it's ideal for use.

Return to the kitchen, (turn to ) or if you've already seen everything you may now go to Floor 2, (turn to ) .

Floor 1, Royal Dinnerware room

 Candles are placed strategically in here to illuminate all the glass and crystal. There are gold trays on display, silver goblets, glass plates, silver utensils, oversized fancy platters on the walls, some dishes or trays are etched with red or blue designs. The walls are designed with colorful mosaic glass pieces, two glass shelves in center of room, and more glass shelving on the walls. They hold preciously dishes, large plates, cups, and bowls, and the utensils are fanned out decked in fine metals and gem-studded handles, all rested upon a lace doily. The room gently sparkles and appears expensive yet fragile, and Azzur probably doesn't even know this room exists as he rarely or never frequents the main level. Whatever belongs directly to him to be utilized had better be in its best, untarnished and harshly polished, condition... or else. The dinnerware room screams quality and he had actually collected these items himself so that is why they must stay preserved and looked after daily. The theme was to make the room look like it's made entirely out of glass, and to be done artful compared to the many other places of floor 1.

***

Walking in here you feel like that if you accidently bump in to something the whole room will break and collapse! Does Lord Azzur really eat off these? It's utter madness it is. There are two big glass shelving units full of things on it, you examine a crystal cup and put it back gently. You decide to stand safely in one spot and observe, the walls are overly decorated, for some crazy person with a lot of patience to conquer the devil has painstakingly glue or pinned the teeny mosaics piece by piece. Could it be the same individual who did the clam shell wall in the lobby? Azzur must have a serious yet deadly eye to detail to showcase a room full of his dinner stuff in a nutty but fashionable sense. His eatery items are kept separate from the kitchen's low class dinnerware in a snobbish and regal manner. Do these candles burn 24/7? Even they have a daunting hardship. Now that you've toured floor one, it is time to return to the foyer and head upstairs.

To look at the extra rooms in the kitchen before you go, you can visit the preservation rooms, (turn to ), otherwise, you can just head up to Floor 2, (turn to ).

Do you prefer to retrace your steps to view this floor again?

You can go back to the foyer, turn to .

The kitchen, turn to .

The veranda, turn to .

Floor 1, Water Citadel

 Guarded by two heavy doors of the veranda, it is nicknamed the water citadel due to its ceiling which is of heavy glass chambers filled with water; the roof creates a fun ripple effect onto the room below. It is called a citadel for unknown reasons; it's more like a fake mausoleum and museum. It has three iron statues in the center: one of god Titan, naked, and grasping onto the world as if it's heavy and he might be in danger of dropping it, the second statue is of a male Gith in futuristic clothing holding onto an orb in one hand and pointing up to the skies with the other, and the third is of a man fighting with a flying octopus, it appears to be trying to engulf his face with its desperate tentacles. The statues and whatever they depict is a mystery. There are many confusing interstellar paintings on the wall too, not portraits but painted directly onto the walls. There are six narrow slit windows facing the front and side of the grounds each accompanied with a cannon. There are three tombs set in the wall. Wild moss now grows out of the stone floor. It seems that the room is abandoned, and why Azzur had it built the way it is is perplexing.

***

You must force the doors open, it's as if they were closed years ago and never touched again. The water roof surprises you, it's most impressive though. The statues are bit confusing and when you look into the tombs set in an alcove of its own in the wall, you're stunned not to see human remains, but a skeleton made out of stone. Skeletons carved of stone in these strange vaults? And the skull of one has some strange helmet on of anything you've ever seen before in your life. The black helmet is bulbous with a dark glass rounded visor. To anyone of the future, perhaps, this mask makes more sense but to someone of medieval standards it's just creepy and ludicrous. What does it all mean exactly? Grass and moss and mold have taken over the room so the smell isn't' overly pleasant. There are six cannons by a window, which would be stuck into the window and fired at anyone invading the grounds during a siege perhaps. The sunlight tickles the waters above and it kinda looks like the roof has a blue hue to it, like the waters of a tropical island. The bizarre room raises many questions but no one can answer them unfortunately. You go back to the veranda and take a seat by some leafy plants, and now that you've seen a majority of floor one, you wonder what the second level hides? On to the next...

Royal Dinnerware Room, turn to .

Floor 1, Herbal Veranda

 It's a porch alright, a type of Romanesque one with pillars and flowy sheer drapes hanging down, and the fairy gardens are just located across, so the view is quite a peaceful and pretty one. The veranda has hundreds of herbs, edible flowers and plants like aloe vera, cute stone flowerpots, a stone bench for sitting and a metal table. If someone from the kitchen wanted to take tea or eat they could do so out here. The Water Citadel adjoins this area sealed off by two blue doors.

***

You would eat out, have breakfast instead of in the kitchen because it's most beautiful here and to be surrounded by all these plants. Everything is set in stone too and stunning bleached floors, walls, and ceiling. Azzur cannot hide the fact that he has a green thumb, for this palace is ripe with all kinds of flowers, trees, and plants. He must be a student or fan of ancient cultures.

Water Citadel, turn to .

Floor 1, Kitchen

 The kitchen is a large room to cover for details, for it takes up the entire length of the back end of the palace and is the major room for dining, cooking, preparing foods, laundry and keeping warm by the hearth in winter. The room is divided into three parts; the dining section by the barracks, the center, and the far end on the right is the scullery. There are also three extra tiny rooms: the preservatives room, salting room, and butcher's cold room, and one door off the scullery is Lord Azzur's personal dinnerware room. There is one massive fireplace, two exits to outside, one locked door of a hidden stairwell, and one portcullis to the herbal veranda. Four exits extra: one to the barracks, two that go down the corridors that lead back to the foyer, and a closed off door to a hidden abandoned stairwell which is now barricaded behind the scullery. 

Starting on the left of the kitchen is referred to as the mess hall where guards and staff eat; it has two long rectangular tables and plain chairs, it is by the portcullis, hidden stairwell Lord Azzur uses, and the barracks. The veranda is full of edible plants and herbs, the door to the stairwell used by his lordship whenever he leaves or arrives at the palace, his carriage usually parks out back, this stairwell goes down to the basement as well as way up to the 4th levels.

In the center of the kitchen, is a very long sturdy old table that is used by the food preps, bakers, cooks, and the butcher. The table is in front of the fireplace and an outside exit, so whoever is at it gets a hot, uncomfortable, and sweaty disposition. There is a large cabinet against the wall that holds bowls, plates, cups and cutlery, cutting boards and baking equipment. Hanging from the ceiling above the table are pots, pans, skillets, metal sheets. There are overhanging baskets full of whatever fruits or vegetables were picked that day from the gardens, could be grapes, olives, tomatoes, lettuce, radish, apples for pies, bell peppers, and purple onions. As well seen in visible view are sacks of grain, lentils, flour, beans, oats, barley and rice. Hanging herbs decorate the kitchen such as oregano, parsley, basil, dill, coriander and long strings of garlic. There are dishes of all sizes, non decorated, just plain stoneware; butcher tools, knive blocks, baking pans, and granular blocks of salt and sugar. There are lots of torches, candles, and lanterns places anywhere its possible for as much light as possible. All kinds of salted meats like pork, fish, and goat hang down, ready to be prepared the next day.

Now, onto the right end of the kitchen where the scullery rests. This is where the laundry personal work, including the seamstress and dishwasher. They wash clothes, curtains, drapes, bedding, horse blankets, and many other things that can be washed. Garments are sewn, created, and mended here, and dishes are done here as well. It's the hottest part of the kitchen and extremely unbearable due to the steam, blistering vinegar water, and lye. Lord Azzur does not want anything dusty, pet hairs, stinky and moldy so the staff in this section work long hours cleaning things that don't even need to be cleaned. The head housekeeper also visits this area barking angrily about keeping to the time sheets.

Lord Azzur is not on the same schedule as his staff, he eats whenever he wants and even when he doesn't request food, it's prepared anyways at all times. There is an around-the-clock menu, nights included. He does not eat meat due to risk of poisonous contamination or parasitic infections, he is a vegetarian. In winter, the kitchen keeps its hearth lit nonstop for meals, warmth, and to prevent the items in the kitchen from freezing. There is also a rodent exterminator who's main purpose in his miserable life is to catch and kill rats, mice, and insects. Surprisingly, the palace is so well kept that it doesn't suffer a horrid vermin problem like most castles. Every morning, the aroma of fresh bread fills the halls and foyer and someone can be heard singing out a cute operatic tune as they work hard with the rising and falling of the sunlight.

***

If you had to be a worker in the kitchen what would your shift look like? Having to meet the demands of your dictator all bloody day and all bloody night, cook, clean, launder and not just for him but for everyone who lives in that palace. You can see the room when it might be filled with workers, including people eating at the tables. A kitchen that never stops at least until the quiet hours hit of 3am to 5am. Two hours to sleep. Workers hollering, squished in, moving about to their next station, rattling of pots and pans, bubbling pots in the fireplace, dough banging on the table as it's being kneaded, hot fumes and steam from the scullery barrels, foods being chopped, diced, and seasoned. Heaven forbid the summers are scorching, you'd probably die in this kitchen. The angry cook chops up a carcass he killed earlier this morning, fancy platters are being made up for Lord Azzur and carefully decorated for him in painstakingly detail like an unfortunate radish being carved by a small knife into a flower now. All the fruit and vegetables that can be turned into a work of art so he doesn't get mad. It's difficult to get a second chance with him if the person messes up the first time, death could result for serving an orange with its skin still on. Butter and milk are churned, the hen coup outside voided of its brown eggs and maybe one chicken for a stew. You can smell the wondrous reminiscent lingering aromas of cinnamon cake, roasted pork, and hot apple pie. There's a faint scent of the rosemary herb, the green stems of cherry tomatoes, and freshly cut salads. In the night, you can imagine the head cook resting in his chair by the fireplace, snoring and having his tattooed arms up over his potbelly. As the dawn makes her way up through the dark skies, the kitchen that fell asleep for a nap wakes up yet again. Amazingly, you kinda enjoy being in here; it's hearty, warm, and has a kind welcoming feeling, your stomach is starting to grumble, just the thought of the good foods is making you hungry. 

You walk passed the mess area to a doorway blocked by a portcullis, and see a Greek-like veranda outside which is full of greenery. there's nothing else of interest here, you've poked your head into the preserving room and seen nothing but glass jars, dried fruits, and vinegar, the other room beside it was filled with salt and dried up meat and vegetables, and as for the butcher's cold room? Just a hole dug out in the floor where he temporarily stores his fish and carved meats until the next day. You did however notice a room off the laundry area by one of the corridors, it was a room with sparkly crystal and dishes. 

You may go outside now, all you need do is pull the chain down to lift the portcullis, you'll go back over to that dinnerware room later.

Veranda, turn to .

Floor 1, Barracks Area 2

 It is all bunkbeds, a tiny crude looking rectangular table that's seen better days surrounded by rickey chairs and stools. From another doorway the kitchen can be seen, there are jugs of rum everywhere (some emptied) and all the beds are made up nicely. There are two trays: one for cheese and one for bread, three large casks of bitter ale on the floor, and one apple bowl.

***

Once again there's not a lot to this room, it's much like the first barracks room, and you assume that the room can sleep roughly up to ten men, those fortunate guards lucky enough to get a roof over their heads on a rainy or wintry cold day. Obviously, if the officer barrack is locked or occupied, the men must then enter here via the kitchen route. They'd come in to freshly crisp baked bread and warm beer and a mattress instead of a hard floor. The room is very clean too, for housekeeping does a superb job. You head to the kitchen now.

Kitchen, turn to .

Floor 1, Officer's Barracks

 For the head guard with no family, he gets a room to himself, a fancy but not too posh suite. The room is situated at the front of the palace and has an oak framed bed with perfect thread count sheets and fur blankets. there is a table with a fruit tray and wine on it, a bit of lounging furniture, a wood burning stove, bowls filled with nuts and seeds, casks of passionate ales, plush stools, and a jug of well water and rum. the room is just another extension of the barracks area 2, whereas area 2 goes back towards the kitchen.

***

You think to yourself that the head guard, whoever he is, sure rests in luxury compared to his comrades, for the room is also snug and cozy with that mini wood stove on heating up the place in comparison to other rooms which are drafty. You do however with a quirky smirk steal a lemon, throw it up into the air and catch it like a baseball. The ale smells like peaches and probably tastes very sweet. So, before the guard returns here to retreat for a kip, you head through the next door.

Barracks Area 2, turn to .

Retrace your steps?

Barracks Area 1, turn to .

The Foyer, turn to .

The Lobby, turn to .

Floor 1, Barracks Area 1

 Barracks Area 1

Stretching towards the backend of the palace is this odd plain and very narrow corridor-like room filled with boxy rooms, which are only suitable for one person each. There are twelve of these tiny bedrooms, their doorways covered by a sheet for privacy., and at the end end is their loo also privatized by curtains. The walls are basic stone and wood and the ceiling is wood with straws stuffed within to keep out the cold drafts. There is a door across from the red door which leads into the Officer's presumptuous barrack.

***

There isn't much to see here, the details to this room is not quite ideal, it's as if it was left undone and forgotten. Surprisingly however the toilets are scrubbed viciously clean by housekeeping. In each individual barrack here is just a cheap cot with wool blanketing and a pillow. You decide to go through the next door and investigate more of the barracks.

Officer's Barracks, turn to .

Floor 1, Guard's Lounge

 The door opens to a fairly large dark room lit by candles in wooden or brass holders, the room is furnished with cushioned chairs, stools, carpets, tapestries and a billiards table by the windows. There is a small Bard's stage complete with a lute, small hand harps and a chair. The stage is by a wooden door that has an extra door of iron cell bars, so when the main door is opened to let in fresh air the room still maintains some of its security with the gate having one single lock. The fancy dim lounge has a few small oil lanterns, casks of ale, wine bottles line shelves, books, scrolls, maps, ottomans, cushions on the floor, keyrings on the wall, weapon racks, foot scrapers for taking off mud and snow, and cape racks. The theme of the room is blue, stone, and wood. There are two narrow slit windows that face the front yard, a nearby backgammon table set in beautifully polished teal, ivory and green velvet. There are tiny card tables, marble dice and fancy chips. For some strange reason there are two empty cages on the floor. In the opposite wall from the windows are two narrow doors that lead into a small armory room; the armory holds cannonballs, broadswords, chest guards, bits of plate armor, bows and arrows, two cannons, staves and clubs, casks full of oil, and hay strewn about the floor.  

***

You can imagine some lazy fat guard asleep in the big cushiony chair, while the door is open to the sound of crickets on a long summer night. A few guards come in chatting and demand entertainment, so the palace Bard is summoned and takes the stage to sing, as the guards sit in the night playing games and gambling, drink, and listen to music. Yes, you think to yourself, and then examine a scroll of a map of some unknown island also having weird languages and you wonder why it's even in here? This is truly a guards getaway and a posh one at that. You wonder what they bet in here during games because if their lives are in the palace and they can't go out into the city then what good is gold pieces? What would the bard sing about? You can't seem to find any music notes. The room also smells dank and of old tobacco pipes. Seeing enough now you head back into the foyer and walk over to the red door by the bench.

Barracks Area 1, turn to .

Main Foyer, turn to .

Lobby, turn to .