Uada, Palace of Sirru

In the heart of the Melqart Garden district of Sirru lay the old royal palace, surrounded by a circle of roads all streets in Melqart Garden route through. The palace is a marble abomination, constructed over generations as home to the Sirru royal family in varying styles according to the tastes of the reigning king. The family was extensive, and all held apartments within the palace, the better to administrate the City and the entirety of Canaan during the brief millennium it was an independent nation and major contributor to trade on the Mare Nostrum. As the wealth and prestige of Canaan grew, so did the royal family, with some 700 members all living under it's extensive roofs, all with elaborate apartments. One of the royals-no one is certain who-bound Aesma the husband strangler to service, dispatching the creature to remove rivals for the hand of a cousin who would be queen. Although a wandering exorcist dispatched Aesma, the family was quick to conjure forth various creatures from the pits of Man’s debasement to advance their petty schemes. Being royals, they were not content with the lesser rabble but summoned up the greater unique beings that held greater status among their kind, heaping scorn on those poor members of the family who whistled up mere pit fiends, even those who held a titled rank beneath an archdevil. Mystic cages and sigils held these greater beings, though some were granted greater freedom as pampered pets than others, and the walls of the palace complex enchanted to hold the creatures in the event the family member they to which were bound should die and liberate the creature. By the time King Pumayyaton sacrificed the High Priest of Melqart to Baalzebul, every member of the royal family was keeping at least a duke of hell leashed to their whim. When Baalzebul was done, Pumayyaton was gibbering mad, obsessed with a statue he made queen and publicly adored while he held court. The dukes ran Canaan as a puppet of the Hells until Iranshar crushed them, but the palace proved too complex an enchantment woven over decades, and the Magi barred admittance to it until they fell to Alexander. The Succession Wars saw Canaan fall to diabolism even as those wars bled them white. The Empire gobbled them up as an expedience for Octavian getting his troops to Khemet, taking minimal notice until he attempted to stabilize the region from it's historic capitol, as the Empire did with new conquests. Matters were so bad Octavian gave control of the matter to the Silentium, who ordered a Temple investigation, then sealed the entire complex on the investigation’s results, appointing a legion to keep the place sealed and decreeing automatic crucifixion for those who left the Forbidden Circle, as the road around the palace complex became known. Outside the Silentium, the facts of the matter were suppressed and gave way to rumors of the mad ghosts supplying the shadows seen moving through the windows, and the accursed palace became known as the Uada. Residing here are none other than the many dukes of hell, bound by ancient pacts and sealed by elder magicks. They cannot venture beyond the walls without a mortal host and an undead legion crucifies any who deviate from the Forbidden Circle onto the grounds, much less entering the buildings. The basileus forbade living legionnaires when the impromptu crucifixions generated numerous fell spirits eager to free the devils or manipulate them, and as the basileus cannot determine how to isolate the creatures for individual containment without freeing all at once, He abides with the growing army outside their prison. The interwoven enchantments of the Uada keep both groups isolated from each other, and the permanently stationed legion keeps the spirits in line. Should an enterprising spirit or one of the devils bound within the Uada contrive a means to communicate, the complex of buildings would be a foothold of the hells in the world. As it stands, each of the luxury apartments holds one of the dukes, most loyal to Baalzebul or one of his faction. While imprisoned, the dukes are separated from the Hells and inactive in those politics, leaving their superiors weakened from their loss.

Purpose / Function

Uada was intended to be the ruling offices for the mercantile empire of the city-states of Canaan, home to the royal family and their attendants with lavish apartments for supplicants and such postings as required.

Alterations

The stones have been woven and bound with fairly powerful interlocking enchantments that imprison the greater devils inhabiting the palace and any spirits who venture within.

Architecture

Although marble, it is of varying qualities and appearance, varying by the monies available for construction and the quarries accessed.

Type

Palace

Parent Location

Canaan

Owner

Basileus of the Empire

Ruling/Owning Rank

Basileus

Owning Organization

The Silentium