Governor's Residence (Port Belliotrix)

Once thought to be an enormous temple to a god now long forgotten, the Governor’s Residence in Port Belliotrix is a re-purposed step pyramid that dominates the cavern in which the colony is based. Whilst some have been able to block out the stories of the macabre things found within, others think that the mere presence of the structure in the cavern means that the colony should never have been planted there and that the Colonial Governor and his family are cursed for inhabiting such a structure.

Purpose / Function

The building’s original purpose is supposed to have been the worship of some now long forgotten deity that the humanoid culture of Zastral venerated in years passed. How exactly the space was used in this capacity is shrouded in mystery, but the presence of bloodstains, which have resisted all attempts to remove them in the rooms of the top story, indicate that the sacrifice of animals and potentially other humanoids was commonplace.
Now, the building is used to house the Colonial Governor of the Port Belliotrix colony. The building not only provides residential space for the Governor, his family and retainers to dwell in on its middle floors, but also provides office and administrative space on its lower floors for the many aspects of colonial business that the Governor has to have involvement in and oversight of.
The macabre bloodstains, the discovery of humanoid and animal bones and the presence of ritualistic artefacts in the upper floors of the building mean that these floors are not utilised by the Colonial Governor, his staff or his family. Instead access to the rooms is kept locked, with access only being granted by the express permission of the Governor. However, it is whispered within the colony that whenever the Governor has a meeting that he wishes to keep secret, it takes place in the upper floors. There are some even viler rumours that suggest that those who the Governor takes a dislike to, or who challenge his authority are taken up the upper floors of the residence to be killed, their bodies being added to the piles of ancient dead that have remained there.

Alterations

A huge amount of alterations were carried out on the structure to make it fit for purpose as the Governor’s residence. The lower floors were cleared and kitted out so that they could be used as an administrative space, whilst the middle floors were made more habitable for use residentially. Amenities such as kitchens, toilets and bathrooms were also added. An enormous amount of time and effort was also taken to provide the rooms of the lower and middle floors with windows, which was done by meticulously chiselling out openings through the granite blocks, some of which were several metres thick.
No alterations are known to have been made to the upper floors, other than sealing off any access routes through the installation of heavy, iron bound doors.

Architecture

The residence was constructed by unknown hands in the form of an enormous step pyramid, the top of which is less than ten feet from the top of the cavern in which Port Belliotrix is located. Because it was constructed in the step pyramid style, the floors which are housed in the structure’s hollow interior start out as being quite large on the ground floor, but get increasingly smaller the closer to the top of the pyramid one comes. The very top of the pyramid is a cuboid stone construction, which is thought to have an interior room housed somewhere within it, but access to this room has not been discovered.
There are twelve floors all in all, the three lowest and largest of which are classified as being the lower floors, the next four as the middle floors and the remaining six smallest floors as the upper floors.The whole structure is built from monumental granite blocks that must have been painstakingly quarried, shaped and then polished, giving them a mirror sheen.
The whole structure was then covered in intricate carvings, some of which are pictorial and are thought to depict episodes in the building’s life or myths associated with the long lost civilisation; some of which are passages of writing written in an unknown and as of yet undeciphered language.

Founding Date

Original construction date is unknown, renovations and conversion began in 443AIF.

Type

Government complex

Parent Location

Port Belliotrix

Ruling/Owning Rank

Colonial Governor

Owning Organization

The Imperial Colonies