[Location] ~ Château Mavloix

Crimson · May 15, 2008, 06:13 PM

In the very heart of Jaedaxia’s southern quarter, in the Mavloix district, fifteen streets – some of them major thoroughfares – moulded together into a massive, ten lane roundabout, which encircled “le Parc d’Idylle.” This accounted for the enormous length of the circular street, just over a half a mile. All of it was constantly bustling with carts, coaches, horses, and carriages, bumping and jostling over the cobblestones. Almost all traffic in the southern quarter, and even beyond, eventually found its way to that roundabout, except for those that knew to avoid it, and more importantly knew how, whether that was a fluke or the careful (or devious) plotting of city planners.

The park was a place of incomparable majesty. Taking up a third of the square mile, it was also undoubtedly the most sizable in the entire city. Even “le Parc des Roses” in the residential quarter was dwarfed by the voluminous plot of land of flourishing gardens, lush green grass, and many tall, noble trees clustered in groves or standing solitary in the open. That is, when there was not a thick blanket of snow draped across all life in the city. Paths wended their ways through the luscious gardens and tiny wood lots, from the rim toward the centre. Many found it a beautiful reprieve from the grey stones and bricks of the city. Frequently denizens of the dull stone houses; drab offices, and tedious jobs strolled along those paths, idly admiring the serene gardens. These boasted a wide myriad of flowers and plants, things that, in the urban setting, with its overcast skies, were like jewels scattered in a field of gravel and granite. While there were lilies, lilacs, pimpernels, and trilliums, no flower was more prominent than the rose – red as blood, canary yellow, and the deep, foreboding black of a moonless night. Anywhere one went in the city, from grand estates, vast parks, or balcony gardens, roses were found in abundance, prospering and blooming. In the winter their frozen petals were crisp and fragile, as though they were made of glass, rather than ice and flower. Yet in the sun they glittered and scintillated like the wings of a faery, or a diamond placed in a pool of crystal clear water. Their delicate beauty, thorny and hidden bite, and romantic symbolism were an impeccable match for Jaedaxia: a city of love, charm, and unexpected thorniness from its haughty, highly sophisticated inhabitants.

In those winter months which were so common the city, dominating the era with its icy clutch, as though it were a corpse clinging to the ankle of a frantically fleeing child, the park was frozen in pristine white exquisiteness. With winter came the scenic wonderland that annually came along with it. Layers of glassy icy coated the branches of barren trees, which glimmered and twinkled in the starlight of clear nights. Everything had about it a sense of cleanliness – as with the rest of the city – of purity and a cleaned slate. All the tarnish of the seasons before was frosted over, covering each and every blemish, replacing it with an idyllic world, faultless in appearance. But like things so paradisic, it did little more than mask the blemishes. Not in that park, though. Beneath the snow and the frost and the glaze of frozen water was the unbridled magnificence of the vivid gardens and marble fountains.

However, there was more to that park than just its expansive, well-groomed lawns, its flowerbeds, and groves of trees. Looming high above the city’s skyline, surpassing the roofs of even the tallest of buildings, was a castle, le Mavloix de Château. Despite all the grandeur and architectural craftsmanship in everything from the theatres to the government offices, this was no doubt the most astounding sight in Jaedaxia – the one thing that visitors were fools to miss. Of course, it was almost impossible to do so, the peak of its highest tower, a clock tower, was visible from all ends of the city.

Covering at least a quarter of a square mile it was no modest affair. Clearly it had once been the home and stronghold of some long forgotten, ancient noble house that, by the sight of its impressive enormity, had to have rivaled the Caradoses themselves – if it had not once been their very own. Most speculated that it was the castle of the obscure lineage of the Mavloixes, the most obvious answer, for it was after them that the castle was named. But that line had been consumed by the mists of time, and any heirs were untraceable. If the family had not deteriorated into squalor and unimportance, the name lost through sons that never married and daughters that did, its name had been absorbed by other blue blooded houses. When the castle had been built though, a full six centuries ago, there was no doubt of the wealth of whichever family was responsible for it.

There was no perimeter wall surrounding the castle, but there was no need for it. Such a formidable structure seemed indestructible, capable of defying everything from the elements to the marching armies of Jaedaxia’s foes. Out of the soft lawn it erupted. Dark grey, almost black stone climbed high above the heads of all, at least nine stories up, and in each corner there continued a tower going even further, spires that looked to pierce the very heavens, suitable stairways for the gods if ever they chose to descend. Rising up from the very heart of the castle, out of the centre of the slanted, ornate, black brass and stone roof was the tallest of all the towers, the clock tower. On each of its four faces was the circle of a clock. Their hands were wrought of gold and black brass. In the area above the grinding gadgets and complex clockwork, where the roof began, there were many bells, which sang every hour, worked by an unknown phantom that dwelled in the bell tower, never seen, or never recognized, by the public. At night, thousands of lanterns were light behind the glass clock faces, highlighting the numbers and hands, so that time was kept throughout the long hours of darkness.

Each of the castle’s facades were lavishly decorated in a gothic style that was common in neighbouring Arkdun, but there were also certain features, newer additions, that were clearly of the baroque style that the cultured Jaedaxia had adopted. Countless upright, small, rectangular windows lined each of the four facades, in lines and rows up and down the nine flights. Framing each one was a curving design, the curves narrowing nastily into spikes so that it gave vampiric, bat-like impression. The corners were rounded, and jutting out from the walls, making the towers appear to be individual structures that had simply been absorbed by the expansion of the castle. At the top of those walls there were battlements, ancient and worn, yet still there, defiant above all else. Perched amongst them were the marble statues of gargoyles and griffins, pegasi and unicorns, dragons and rearing lions. They peered over the battlements, leering down at those below, forgotten by all but those who looked up. Behind them was the black brass roof, slanting upwards. Spines adorned every few feet of their faces, and those curved into measured spikes as well. Every ten feet a spike with a knob beneath the tip protruded upwards. They met at the centre, but had been cut to allow the clock tower to stand up amongst the clouds, bursting from the very core of the structure.

Le Château Mavloix, though, was more than just a castle. It was, in fact, the most famous and prestigious art gallery in the city of Jaedaxia. While the previous owners had abandoned it for centuries, there had been but the briefest of intervals between them and the second line of owners, who used it as an art gallery. All of its halls and corridors contained the finest art in all of the Aelyrian Empire. Paintings and tapestries of immense value hung from every wall. Frescoes and marble sculptures sat on display, open to be viewed by any, for but a small fee at the entrance.

And that, the entrance, was on the south wall of the building. Grand mahogany double doors towered over the heads of any normal person, framed by an ornate archway and marble pillars wedged between the heavy ceiling of the wide balcony between the terraced steps and doors. Inside was a well-lit entrance hall, carpeted in scarlet and amethyst. A finely dressed, clean shaven, and highly respectable middle-aged Medonian human stood with his hands folded behind his back while greeting patrons to the gallery as they filed in. He collected the twenty Crowns entrance fee which was but pittance to the high-class, haughty aristocrats, intellects, and social leaders that whiled away their time, marveling at the treasures within. Those were the most magnificent in Aelyria, for le Château Mavloix was easily the premiere art gallery in all of the realm – in all senses incomparable.

Secrets :

Ped · September 3, 2008, 05:42 PM

It took Ped almost an hour to navigate his way through the alleys and over the roof tops to the fancy district of Jaedaxia, what he termed the 'Gold Purse' district. Huge earnings, IF one had the courage to brave local militia and private guards.

It had been easy to slip along the hundreds of hedges and bushes that lined the streets here, and even easier to slip up to the castle undetected. What was not so easy was actually getting into the castle itself, then up the stairs, all the way to the clock tower, without being seen by the guards, wait staff and museum staff.

Ped lay on the ground beneath a hedge at the moment, surveying the back of the castle, where two guards stood outside the door into the kitchen. Inside was a flurry of activity as the cooking staff prepared a multitude of foods for the nightly party that was happening out on the museum floor for the rich people who had nothing better to do.

"This could work." Ped muttered, pulling back behind the row of hedges that ran all the way around the castle. The laughable thing about it was the hedges were taller then Ped, allowing the halfling to run on the other side and the guards being none the wiser for it. He circled around to the front, pulling his slingshot out from his bag. A childhood toy, it had nevertheless proven to be quite useful for provoding distractions.

Such as the one Ped was about to try. Digging along the ground, he found three stones of the right size, then took aim. Two spins around his head and he loosed the first stone, directly into the glass window of a carriage that was just arriving. Before the first alarms he had sounded Ped was sprinting as fast as his little legs could take him, going down to the corner of the hedges a hundred feet down.

His next target was much larger and wont to attact much more attention, which exactly what Ped wanted. The sling whirring overhead, he launched a stone at one of the huge windows along the museums main floor. The stone impacted with a thunderous crash, shattering the window and sending people screaming and scattering. Ped grinned as he took off into the darkness, unable to stop himself from chuckling as the rich people freaked out over something as simple as a rock through a window.

And just as he planned, the guards along the other side of the castle, guarding the kitchen, had been summoned inside to the otherside, where outraged guests were demanding explanations. Many others were outside combing the huge front lawn for the criminal, unaware they had done exactly as Ped had hoped.

Running across the epanse of open ground, Ped skidded to a stop near the door, looking not in, but up. Here he had noticed the corner of the roof was lowest, and he bent down and readied his rope and grappling hook. He had only a minute, so he wrapped the hooks of the hook in some spare socks of his to muffle it, then took several steps back and began spinning.

Spinning it as hard as he could, Ped threw the hook with all his strength, his heart sailing with it. He almost jumped with joy when the hook sailed over and caught something, anchoring it. He ran back to the bottom of the wall and secured his bag, then pulled his other boots from his bag. Made of study leather, the child sized boots had been fitted with nails stick out the front of the toe, making them ideal for climbing.

Within a minute Ped was shimming up the rope and onto the roof, pulling the rope up behind just as the guards returned and took up station in front of the door. Removing his boots and stowing them his clothes, Ped quickly changed into a black cotton suit that covered him from head to toe and fastened a pair of climbing hooks onto his hands, leather gloves with a hooden plank across the palms that had short metal spiked sticking out that aided in climbing.

Leaving his bag hanging from a spike in the darkness, Ped set out across the roof barefoot. His thoughts had crystilized with perfect clarity, and the only thing existing in there now was one thought; climbing the central tower without notice and sneaking inside via a small door he knew was hidden in the face to enable clock workers to fix and clean the main face.

Crimson · September 3, 2008, 06:02 PM

To be continued here: http://www.playbypost.com/forums/jaedax...n-private.html