Toride Yama Koizumi-jo

 Toride Yama Koizumi-jo   {citadel mountain Koizumi castle}   
                                                           Stronghold of the Koizumi Dai Ichizoku   

population of the landhold is approximately one million, it is the most densely populated landhold on Nejiro   


In a valley of the Akashi Yama {redstone mountains} formed by a fault the right angled face of a palisade three kilometers long was gashed nearly at its foot by a narrow horizontal slit four meters high permitting entry to the caverns interior. Inside is a maze of small caverns linked together with a gigantic vaulted bubble of rock too high for any torch beam to illuminate, fifty seven meters deep, tapering to forty five meters and forty two meters at either end. At the back eighteen different openings lead deep into further tunnel complexes. Springs of freshwater circulate in several of the tunnels. Nothing of the natural face of the mountain, a rugged cliff with a hanging curtain of rock two meters thick, was changed, but the inside was transformed into a beautiful, opulent, and ornate, almost byzantine living space. The lip of the cave was filled in with native rock so that the addition would look natural, leaving a wide opening that would serve as a main entrance. The doors were made of a solid bronze alloy, and embellished by local artisans with symbols important to the Ichizoku. A ramp was formed out of blocks of crushed rock and slagged solidly into place before the natural courtyard and steps were cut into the sides of the ramp. The space just inside the rock wall was chosen for offices and living quarters for the administrators,the Chatelaine (currently Karen Wynn), and the Seneschal (currently Anne Todd Caffrey). An inner wall was built up paralleling the natural curtain, and levels began to be floored in, with windows cut evenly into the rock face and each window is fitted with tight shutters of the same bronze alloy as the doors. Natural chimneys leading from the interior caves to the clifftop provide ventilation and deep artesian wells and surface water sources in the tunnels allow for water to be pumped right into baths and sinks throughout the complex. The thermal layer under the ridge provides heat that with the flip of a lever can be diverted out of the complex. The communications tower is built high on the outer cliff with a long winding stair leading from inside on the ground level. The complex is regularly occupied by more than five thousand people. Out of the rubble quarried from the caverns were built outbuildings and residences for more than ten thousand in the east end of the valley near Tengu Lake {raven demon}. The one to three story stone buildings are built on pilings for circulation of air and flood protection with varicolored slate roofs and bronze alloy shutters that have decorative bands of color that represent family, ichizoku, corporate, and guild affiliations engraved, enameled, or painted on them. The lake was named for its shape resembling a ravens outstretched wing, its deep depths - three hundred and thirty two meters at its deepest, and more than occaisonal flooding. The fifty six kilometer long and seventy four kilometer wide freshwater lake accomodates both commercial and recreational fishing (especially popular are the king threadfin salmon) and boating, while the sandy beaches and fields of wildflowers are a favorite recreational venue of the Ichizoku and tourists alike year round. There are also several pastures for domestic herd animals and poultry, along with dozens of greenhouses that grow everything from wildrice to orchids in the ninety seven square kilometer valley. The above ground outlet of Tengu Lake the Ishikaribetsu {greatly meandering winding river}, flows for about two thousand kilometers southwest in a broad arc and empties into Mikadzuki Bay {crescent moon}, east of the Kapula Koichizoku landhold, and finally into the Same no Umi {shark ocean}. The underground outlet of Tengu Lake flows into the Kasukedo Taki {cascade waterfall} which plunges out of the side of Yu Shan {jade mountain}, at six hundred cubic meters per second, over seven hundred meters above the Tang Wan Shuichi {punchbowl pool} - itself approximately three hundred meters deep, west of the Irokane Valley {gold bronze alloy}.