Old Imperial Palace

"This whole city was founded when the Lomian Empire came here. Right here by the river's mouth is the first place prince Namoh's expedition set up camp almost 200 years ago. It has remained the main hub for the Empire in Tosormi ever since, and later became its provincial capital.
So, of course they needed to have a palace for the nobles here, which should also be fitting if the Emperor himself wanted to come visit. This building was built over two years and was made to show all of us "primitive" Tosormians what splendor looked like. And it is definitely quite the sight, don't you agree?
It would have been a shame to let such a building get demolished when the Empire was driven out so instead the palace was repaired and turned into the centre of knowledge and study it is today!"

— Guide at the Old Imperial Palace

Current Use

After the Empire left, the new leaders in the city spent a lot of time debating what to do with everything the Empire left behind, especially more permanent things like buildings. The Imperial Palace was still the center piece of the city and thus it was decided to repurpose it into something that could benefit Tosormi.
It started out with the west wing becoming a national museum. At first the focus was on the Empire and the history of their invation, but with time it has expanded with exhibitions inspired by the whole of Tosormi.
After this what had been left of the Imperial Library got renovated and books started to get collected from all over to expand the collection.
Due to the palace's size there was still a lot of space left and it didn't take long for scholars and scientists to just not leave when doing research in the library and the museum. After several disputes due to the unorganized nature of this, the city council stepped in and rebranded the whole place into the Tosormian Institute of Knowledge.
Today, even though people still refer to the building as the old Palace, it is the main hub for knowledge and research in Tosormi.

by VED

History

The Tosormian Imperial Palace, as it was called then, was finished in the year 501 in the provincial capital. It was then home to prince Namoh and his staff, as well as every visiting person of rank or position.
While the city was still very much under construction, the Palace served as home to all important people who didn't yet have their own house or estate built.
This function as the political hub of the colony remained throughout the Empire's time in the continent. It was also the place where all the most important social happenings were, and missing the balls and galas at the Palace could be detrimental to your social and political standing.
The top floor of the main building was from the beginning reserved for the Royal Family only, and it is to this day closed to the public, although it is a bit fuzzy why exactly.