Grandmasters Chambers
The Grandmasters' Chambers are located on the level above the Guild Hall.
Purpose / Function
This was intended to be where the grandmasters of the Worldbuilding Guild meet to conduct business, discuss the weighty matters of the their trade, and debate the great issues of the day. In practice, it's a more exclusive version of the Guild Hall, with the same sort of gossip, banter, and random backbiting, only with higher standards for the quality of the snarkiness.
Entries
At one end of the chambers are a pair of massive oaken doors, equipped with sturdy iron hinges and a large lock (the key for which has long since been lost). A sign above the doors has gold letters inlaid into a plaque carved out of a scale from an Arrakin sandworm. The letters read, "Grandmasters' Chambers". Unfortunately, when the sign was commissioned, a key detail was left out of the specification and the sign is in the Freman language.
The stairs down to the Guild Hall are located outside the doors.
At the other end of the hall is a smaller door. A handwritten sign written in many, many languages states "NOT THE WAY OUT!" On the other side of this door are the stairs up to the Chambers of the Inner Sanctum.
Sensory & Appearance
Ever since that unfortunate incident when a broken chair was tossed out and dropped forty feet onto that cluster of apprentices, it's been considered good form to shout "Look out, below!" or "Watch your heads, you scurvy dogs!" when chucking anything out the windows.
The chambers tend to be rather untidy, as apprentices are not permitted and the grandmasters tend to consider themselves above such menial tasks as housekeeping. The draft on the chimney is not particularly effective, so there is a low-hanging cloud of smoke in the room for much of the winter. In the summer the windows are usually thrown wide open in order to catch the cool ocean breeze. Some of the grandmasters who are neater than the rest use this as an opportunity to eject the accumulated rubbish out the nearest opening.
Apprentices can be often be found picking through the heaps of trash outside the windows, looking for discarded ideas.
Alterations
Originally the room was designed with a number of small workshops clustered near one end. When grandmasters began sleeping in the chambers these were remodeled with four to six beds in each. These are all single beds, so there is no need to argue over who gets the top or bottom bunk. This also means that there are fewer injuries among the grandmasters caused by falling when getting in or out of bed after a particularly long night of "work".
As the number of grandmasters has grown, space has become somewhat tight and new individuals have occasionally had to make do with space in the broom closets and storage lockers while new rooms are constructed. A few grandmasters have actually chosen to stay in these quarters as the mops and supplies don't snore and tend to smell better.
Architecture
The chambers were designed along the lines of a traditional upper-class club, with rich, dark wood panels; brass lamps along the walls; and large, comfortable chairs. The decor is a bit tatty now and the majority of the grandmasters are in agreement that the lemon-yellow polka dot curtains were probably a mistake. The newest additions were made in something of a hurry after the inrush of new grandmasters with WorldEmber and even the casual observer will note that the instructions included in the new furnishings were either ignored or misinterpreted. When pressed on the issue, the Swedish grandmasters will deny all knowledge of the acquisition and assembly of those items.
Type
Room, Conference / Meeting Room
Parent Location
Connected Rooms
Owning Organization
Comments