Shimmer Castle - Valtaska
The Shimmer Castle is by and far the most important district to Valtaska. With the Shimmer Castle glistening below the Footing of Holona and various Administrative, Educational, and Military buildings, anything important to the city or the Alliance takes place within these walls.
Simply getting into the Castle District requires authorized passage. Those that are not recognizable on sight, such as Royals and the Head's of the various Councils, must first acquire an escort or a special Badge to pass the gates. Illegal entry is difficult due to Shimmer Wisps watching the boundaries and the guards standing at the gates. Even the sewage below holds guard's that few know about.
Inside, the buildings are kept immaculate. Several custodians have teams dedicated to various upkeep tasks, and many of the top guild's in Tanaviak send their shining pupils to help upkeep any damaged buildings. There are no idle people, everyone that is standing still is a guard, anyone else is moving from building to building in order to attend to their next tasks. Only in the various gardens that sit between each administrative building will you find anyone relaxing, usually over a meal or smoke.
Security and Encounters
Without exceptions, there are guard's stationed outside every building in pairs. Each guard is often hand selected for being exemplary in duty and provided with exquisite gear that often holds a blessing from Holona on it. Many of the guard's are full Paladin's sworn to Holona, though they all wear traditional Royal Guard Plate. If guards are alerted, more elite guards will appear from nearby buildings, often bringing clerics and casters ready to augment any threat. Mixed with these guards will be Alliance soldiers, often of the same caliber but in uniforms signifying their duty to the alliance. If the threat proves to be too difficult for the mortals, most carry alarms to call on higher defense. Shimmer Wisps, permanently on watch in the city, keep vigilant eyes for lawbreakers. If they detect something is off, they investigate, and attempt to subdue for the guards to come. When the wisps are not enough, and the mortals are having difficulty, Deva's have been known to be called on, dealing with the threat more directly. If a full assault were to occur, or even the Deva's had difficulty dealing with the threat, the Shimmer Castle has two of Holona's Embodied standing guard; the Diamond Guard twins Alistria and Kolvak Rann.Potential Threats
The largest threat to occur to anyone in the Shimmer Castle is from someone approaching unauthorized. Wisps continually watch visitors for badges when they are not officials of the Castle or work at the various buildings. Unauthorized access, if discovered will often alert all the guards in quick order. Event Ideas:- The PC's see a man acting hysterical as Shimmer Wisps surround him. He claim's he should be there, but his bade looks altered.
- A Diplomat for another city passes by, swearing loudly. If he believes one of the PC's to be of another city, he may make a loud and rude comment at them.
- As the PC's try to enter a building, the guards can be heard bickering with one another. They seem to be from different cities and have strong opinions about one another.
- In the courtyard where the Rann Diamond Bodies stand, you believe you see them shift, an impossiblity for the embodided unless there is a threat.
- A small group of priests appear to be getting ready for a hike to the Seat of Holona, but there seems to be a problem.
Services
As the seat of the royal bloodlines and administrative center to the Valtaskee Holdings and the greater alliance, there are no services available.Interesting Facts
- Most of the lamps in the Shimmer Castle are actually resting spots for the Shimmer Wisps.
- Alistria and Kolvak gave themselves defending Valtaska against Benira before the Alliance was formed.
- The macabre sounding Blood Court is actually a small, detached mansion dedicated to housing close relations to the other monarchs.
- Despite constant traffic, the main gates are kept closed when no traffic is coming and going. Being a gate guard is considered a punishment
- Deva's have only shown up in the Shimmer Castle on four occasions, while the twins have woken five times.
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