Burnt Palace

Purpose / Function

A secure residential building dedicated to accommodating foreign dignitaries without proper means of housing themselves. Ambassadors, special officials and their staff who are given rooms here generally not important enough to be granted room and board within the "Prison of the Gods", but still worthy enough for special treatment.

Design

Circular Space

The outermost layer between the two recent version of the building follow the traditional layout of the talud-tablero style. More space was needed when it was reassigned from the city's war temple to a luxury complex, so the core of the man-made mountain was partly excavated to create more rooms.

Entries

Foundation

The charred rubble was cleared into a raised foundation, complete with 130 steps. As a former place of human sacrifice, many of the crumbling steps are stained with old uncleaned blood that shadow the place where a heartless corpse tumbled to the ground.

Sensory & Appearance

Cinnabar Colour

An opaque, orangish red pigment derived from powdered cinnabar is painted across the outer façade of the central building. Different concentrations of the paint during the mixing process left behind alternating bands of orange and red.

It commemorates the flames that collapsed the original central palace.

Alterations

Four Enlargments

The original central palace was not rebuilt immediately after it burned down.

1. Qish'tallel put up a wooden and canvas palisade from where she held her impromptu court for ten years.
2. It would be replaced with a stone improvement by her successor.
3. Using the talud-tablero method, a solid mass was raised by filling in rooms in the earlier structure with rubble.
4. As it grew over the years, offerings of precious goods were ritually buried within its ever-expanding layers.

Architecture

Talud-Tablero

Consists of an inward-sloping surface called the talud, with a structure perpendicular to the ground sitting upon the slope called the tablero. To maintain the ingrained angles, those panels rest on crushed boulders, with gravel and sand filled in-between to form a solid, sturdy mass.

History

The Burnt Palace got its name for the old palace site that burned down during the Women's War.

Swan Siege

From the then central palace, there was a three night civil battle among the personal guard of Uetzcayotl's remaining widows.
It was supposedly triggered by the bear throne spontaneously catching fire. Though no one died, several accusations of treachery followed that enflamed mistrust.

Tourism

Embassies

By invitation of the Great Speaker, cities send delegates to represent foreign leaderships and send state gifts.

Bad Diet

A delegation of 200 nobles from Bad Step cities with powers in commerce and legal say in the pursuit of war.

Toik Observers

A small team of the College's many experts in matters of which the government knows nothing.

Altepetl Delegates

Every other city-state wanting relations with Sangsalgu and the Triple Alignment send an ambassador(s) who are often housed in the God Prison.

Type

Apartment building / Tenament

Parent Location

Sacred Precinct

Owning Organization

Triple Alignment